Dodson on a mission

MARK DODSON has pledged to roll out four regional academies for the nation’s best young players within a year as part of his five-point plan to raise standards in Scottish rugby.

The SRU chief executive has been emboldened by an influx of cash from selling the naming rights for Murrayfield stadium to BT.

‘We’re hoping to launch the four academies within a calendar year so, if you imagine we start them in this coming season, we should have four between September and September 2015,’ said Dodson.

‘I’m trying to get them geographically based and broadly speaking, don’t hold me to this, where you’d sensibly look at putting them is Aberdeen; Glasgow or the West — Lanark; Edinburgh or East Lothian; and you’d put one in the Borders.’