CLUB coaches are pulling together plans to resurrect the Scottish inter-district championship with the twin aims of providing club players with the opportunity to represent their areas and offer a fairer trial system for the Scotland club international side.
The championship was launched in 1953-54 with Edinburgh, the South and Glasgow each winning the trophy in its first three seasons, the North and Midlands first sharing the title in 1959 and winning it outright as the Caledonian Reds in 1996-97. The S
cottish Exiles also joined the competition briefly and won it in 1994-95 and 1995-96, but the tournament ran aground with the advent of the fully professional districts.
The plan has been talked about ever since the championship ended, but Gary Parker and Richie Gray, the Gala coaches and former SRU employees, formalised its re-introduction five years ago in a wide-ranging paper that won the support of Ian McGeechan, then the SRU director of rugby, and Jim Telfer. However, clubs failed to take it on board and put it to an AGM.
The pair are now working with club coaches to start a South team with one or two fixtures next season, in the hope that it may lead to the return of the inter-district championship. Gray said: "The coaches all feel very similarly – that there has to always be an opportunity for a player to step up to the next level and the gap at the moment between amateur and professional levels is too great for there to be a realistic stepping stone there.
"I worked for 13 years as an SRU development officer across Caledonia and the South, and they are two areas with proud rugby traditions that are struggling to keep their talent right now because young talent coming through is encouraged to head towards the city clubs and put themselves in the shop window for the pro teams.
"All clubs are trying their best to improve and develop and stand on their own two feet, but there's nothing worse than seeing their players moving elsewhere with the quote that it's to 'play at the next level'. Having spoken with many people, players, coaches and administrators, for some years about this, we feel the district championship would provide that next level for them, which would also allow them to remain at their clubs, and clubs could also benefit by sharing the proceeds taken from their own district matches.
"For players, it would also be a shop window for the Scotland club international side and for pro coaches looking for the next generation of talent. But it's been talked about for long enough and a number of coaches are keen now to move it on, so we're starting locally by setting up a couple of fixtures for the South this season and then we'll take it from there." Gray and Parker recently met with Borders club coaches and won backing from Kevin Barrie, the Scotland club international coach, so are looking at starting the South team with a fixture or two initially. However, John Beattie, the West of Scotland coach, believes that other districts would buy into the championship returning.
He said: "I think it would be a good idea, and after speaking with Kevin (Barrie] last week I have spoken to a number of our players and they are very enthusiastic about the idea of representing Glasgow and having a district championship to compete in. I think there is a general feeling that it would also be a fairer way to select the Scotland club international side."
Fraser Harkness, one of the stars of that team this season, and SHE Division One Player of the Year for his displays with Selkirk, is also enthusiastic. "I think it would be great," he said. "There is a lot of support in the Borders for bringing the old South back and players would love it. You do want a chance to play at a higher level and the British and Irish Cup may provide something, but it only involves two Scottish clubs. This would be far better and would give a lot more players a chance to show what they could do at a higher level."
Peter Wright will leave for Japan next week with the Scotland under-20 squad knowing the biggest challenge facing those players is finding the quality of rugby on their return to help them develop quickly into professionals. He is also director of rugby at Glasgow Hawks and a former Scotland and Lions prop, and admits the gap between professional and amateur/club rugby is a concern. "We desperately need something for club players to step up to. I think the inter-district championship is a decent idea, but my concern there is where you fit it into a congested league season."
On the question of when it could be played, Gray replied: "This needs only three games for each team, and could be floodlit. Played around Christmas/New Year, as it used to be, would help with trials for the Scotland club team."
