Scotland's World Cup campaign ended in disappointmentTo some extent it could be seen as mission accomplished by reaching the last 8 but somehow I think the players and supporters have the right to be disappointed.
The loss to Argentina has also opened up a mildly interesting debate about the benefits of funding a professional rugby structure. Argentina have no professional club sides but do have a thriving domestic competition with interest, perhaps not surprisingly, on the increase at the moment.
Many of their best players, of course, seek professional contracts overseas (predominantly in France and other parts of Europe). This has led to the slightly bizarre suggestion that they base their International side in Spain and participate in an enlarged 6 (7) Nations competition. I say bizarre as such a move would surely hold back the development of Spanish rugby I wonder how we would have reacted to basing the Scottish team in London during the period when the team was dominated by Anglos?
Concussion
Some of those who saw Chris Patterson wobble from the pitch a couple of weeks ago might have wondered if he might have been obliged to rest for 3 weeks. But that guidance is now old hat as a much more scientific approach has been introduced to allow testing of players for adverse reaction and judge whether they are fit to play.
The tests look at reaction times and something called ‘cognitive response’ (used to be called having your wits about you). Players do have to submit to a pre-season test for comparison purposes. Anyway, one Hawks player, who will remain nameless, advised on Tuesday night that he has yet to pass the test…. Yes, without getting a bang on the head. But this tall, blond player who has been one of Hawks best performers this season, is now revising for his next test.