Ayr Rugby Club are back after a two week lay-off

Mar 25 2011 Ayrshire Post (main ed)

FINALLY there is a sense of continuity to Ayr's season.

After a two week lay-off, they will be back in action at Old Anniesland on Saturday when they face Hawks in the quarter-final of the Premier Cup and the possibility of six weeks of cup and league games without a break (writes RON EVANS).

Peter Wright's troops beat West37-19 on Sunday and now lie in wait with both revenge and a place in the semi-finals in mind.

It is honours even between the two old foes at the moment this season, Hawks having taken the spoils at home by 19-15 then Ayr winning at Millbrae 19-11 so advantage has so far gone to the home side. It remains to be seen whether the fact that they have been idle for the past two weeks will have an effect on Ayr's performance.

Certainly one benefit will be that Kenny Murray will have a bigger squad to choose from, his only loss being Robbie Fergusson who is currently a key part of the Scotland U18 squad but there will be an encouraging list of returnees available.

Grant Anderson, Richard McCallum, Andy Wilson and Mark Bennett in the backs and Stuart Fenwick in the pack will give the coach options.

And with the recent return of Scott Sutherland now bringing the forwards back to almost full strength, it does suggest that still being in contention for the Premier Cup, the Premier Championship and losing out narrowly on a place in the semi-finals of the British and Irish Cup while operating without most of those listed above is quite remarkable.

The winners of the Hawks v Ayr clash will take on Boroughmuir in the semi-final at Meggetland on April 9 with the other semi contested this weekend at Malleny Park between Currie and Melrose), 'Muir having beaten the side Ayr can consider the nearest anyone comes to a bogey team, Dundee, with the last kick of the game on Saturday to win their cup and league double header 6-5.

The most concerning thing about the six match – if it comes to that – run in is that only the final game, the league clash with Currie, will be at Millbrae.

Although the competition organisers at Murrayfield have to be commended for the way in which they are bringing the season to an exciting close with the league almost ending up in a play off scenario for the top four, there will have to be some serious thinking about the way the season and indeed the game, is structured.

As in the past, the competition which will come in for the most scrutiny is the cup. It has been suggested in some quarters that the three Scottish sides who qualify for the British and Irish Cup opt out of the domestic cup competition but since the cup holders are quite likely to be among those three, then that is taking away their opportunity of defending the trophy.

That, though, is tinkering around the edges. More and more a groundswell of opinion is gathering that a radical re-structuring of the game in Scotland is needed and this was revealed only a few weeks ago when a paper presented by Ayr to the Premier One forum was leaked to the press.

It was a confidential document containing proposals which all the Premier clubs had been asked to present individually as the way forward.

The fact that the Ayr document was leaked suggests that someone has it in for Millbrae but no matter, it was what it contained which was significant.

The main suggestion was that there should be a Premier League of eight clubs and from that I have heard suggestions as to how it might work, not all emanating from Ayr.

Scrap the two professional sides, come out of the Magners League and the Heineken Cup, invest the money in the top league and apply for the top three sides to represent Scotland in the Amlin Cup, the rugby equivalent of soccer's Europa League, and the next three sides could be entered in the British and Irish Cup.

The other two sides would be allowed to compete in the Scottish Premier Cup thus giving them a 14 match league programme and the subsequent matches in the Amlin, the B and I Cup and the Scottish Cup.

It is all about money and when you consider that the Scottish representatives in the British and Irish Cup this season, Currie, Melrose and Ayr, were playing Welsh sides who get £90,000 from their governing body and English Championship sides who each get £320,000 from the RFU it is hardly a level playing field.

Yes, Scotland's top players would have to play their club rugby elsewhere in Europe but it would also free young players from Glasgow and Edinburgh whose only chance of a start is during the Autumn Tests or the Six nations and for them to be given the chance of playing top class club rugby and in European or British competitions.

That is surely a better option than kicking their heels without a game or being drafted to clubs where they very often find themselves on the bench since coaches don't want to disrupt the continuity of their side.

It will take a massive shift in the mindset of the governing body but we have to accept where we are. The international side went into Saturday's match and successfully avoided a whitewash and the wooden spoon but for that to be considered the highlight of the season shows just how far we have dropped.

The pro sides are both thankful for the presence of Aironi in the Magners League otherwise one of them would be propping up the table and our U20 age group side, despite some valiant efforts, failed to collect a win in their Six Nations campaign.

The fact that Ayr were shown to have harboured such thoughts as an eight team Premier set-up, considered to be heresy in some quarters, indicates that they at least are looking to the way forward but it will take a huge shift in the current thinking for it to happen.

If it doesn't, however, as one of my old friends at Millbrae remarked last week 'In four years time we will still be having the same discussions and we will be in an even bigger mess.'

To more immediate matters though. This Saturday Ayr embark on a series of games which they have to win, potentially five on the road, if they are to achieve that ultimate prize, a cup and league double.

It is a huge ask from Murray's men but if past experiences are anything to go by, they have the belief, the desire, the spirit and the players to do it.