"I don't know how many pro-teams we will end up with, whether it's two, three, none or four. The strategic report will determine that. But short term we have to look at our cost base and say we just can't do this. We cannot go on fully funding three professional teams. As I see it we have some guidelines to follow.
"We must loosen their financial dependence upon Scottish Rugby. We must get a winning attitude into the pro teams. We must come up with a structure that stops the 'us and them' attitude or we will become a niche sport and end up ranked 30th in the world. We must look at private income and resources both in terms of finance and effort. But while we need outside finance we cannot relinquish control of the pro-teams completely, given their importance to the national squad.
"I am worried that the SRU is getting into the business of running rugby teams outside the national squad."