January 16, 2005

Time for wise heads - Gordon Bulloch

Posted by Editor on January 16, 2005 12:34 AM | One comment | Print | E-mail author

Gordon Bulloch (right) wants closer links between pro-teams and clubs
Glasgow's Gordon Bulloch acknowledges he was "stunned" when he heard about David Mackay's departure, while training with his teammates this week.

In his column in today's Scotland on Sunday, Gordon talks about his thoughts on last week's dramatic events at Murrayfield. He also discusses whether concentrating on success at pro-team level would lead to a more vibrant Scotland set-up.

"We've visited Northampton and Toulouse recently, and while they're not necessarily representative of their countries, the difference between their resources and ours is staggering. It's like Exeter visiting Manchester United. If we could narrow that gap a little, and make our pro-teams more competitive week in, week out, then we would speed up player development and Matt Williams would find the players who arrive for Scotland squad sessions would be more confident and better prepared.

"The other thing about Northampton and Toulouse was how obviously involved with the community they are. We need that too, and the best way is to try and forge links between the pro teams and the clubs. Earlier this season I played for Glasgow against Edinburgh at Anniesland, and Glasgow Hawks played Aberdeen Grammar beforehand - it was a double-header which was a great success and is the sort of thing we should be doing as a matter of course.

"We all have a vested interest in the state of the game in Scotland, not least those players with families to support and mortgages whose contracts run out in two months' times. Most want to stay in Scotland, but for all of us this is a difficult time. As players all we want to do is get on and play rugby, and the almighty stushie at Murrayfield is an unwanted distraction."

You can read Gordon's article here

Comments
Posted by jinty on January 18, 2005 11:49 PM | Reply to this comment

I think it is quite shocking how the players have been treated.
It is not their fault that the governance and administration of the game is in such a shambles.The SRU is lucky to have any players left in Scotland - no wonder Jason White went off to Sale.
Obviously the SRU doesn't know that the most successful organisations treat their employees as assets to be valued not just cost units.

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