Just two years removed from when he was Scotland’s longest-serving club coach, Scottish Rugby Union president Ian Rankin still gets twitchy when he sees his old training gear.
At the start of the new club rugby season this week, the relish gets even stronger. The president has been spotted at training sessions for two of his former clubs, Dundee HSFP and Howe of Fife, even before the season has begun.
Yet with a mandate from his landslide election a year ago, Rankin has a particular responsibility to promote the club game in Scotland which has been in what he describes as “some pretty dark places” in recent times.
Now, with BT sponsorship from the Murrayfield Stadium naming rights filtering down to the grassroots including the clubs, an opportunity exists for the domestic game in this country to thrive, he believes.
“There’s always that tremendous anticipation at the start of the club season, and even a year removed I still feel it,” he said. “But I also get a real feeling of optimism this year that with the BT money, there’s a real opportunity there for the clubs.
“Even from the old cynics, the glass half-empty brigade, there’s a realisation that it’s really up to the clubs themselves to make the most of this opportunity and make sure we don’t miss the bus. They know the way to build up the foundation of the game is available through their own devices.”
Getting all of Scottish Rugby singing off the same proverbial hymn sheet has proved an almost impossible task, but the clubs’ belief that the union didn’t much care for their troubles while it promoted the inter-national and professional spheres has been a major stumbling block.
Rankin hopes that there has been some measure of dtente there, with so much of the BT money destined for grassroots, and a “sea-change” of attitude within Murrayfield corridors that they have to be a more of a listening organisation.
“That’s the reasoning behind the director of domestic rugby post we’ve advertised,” continued the president. “The director of rugby has to deal with international, professional, sevens, academies and age-groups before he even gets to clubs. There was a feeling among club officials that there was no-one at Murrayfield you could speak to.
“When we’ve secured that appointment there will be, and there’s help coming from Murrayfield now whether it be practical or financial. It’s not going to be straightforward and there’s still stuff to be ironed out, particularly with sevens calls and pro teams’ reserve matches calling on players from the club game.
“But I’ve a feeling that there is a general consensus of the way forward now and the clubs have a crucial role to play in that.”
Rankin is “in no way embarrassed” to beat the drum for the two clubs he’s been most identified with, Dundee and Howe, as examples of best practice in the club game.
“Howe in particular are a fantastic example,” he continued. “It didn’t happen overnight and it’s taken a lot of work.
“There have been plenty clubs who have produced one or two good players for some brief success but not followed it up and Howe are no a flash in the pan it’s become self-sustaining.
“The other aspect to Howe is the not just the way that they’ve attracted local kids but the way they engage parents as well. The people who bring their kids to the minis have to get a connection with the club if they’re going to keep coming.
“And it works to keep clubs thriving. I guess every kid you ask at Dundee Eagles on a Sunday morning will say “I want to play for Scotland” but of course for most that can’t happen, but there’s still plenty of room in our game for them.
“As well as nurturing the talent for the elite end of the game, we really need just as much the guy who shows up at training a night a week to get a run-out in the second XV, we need the guy who has talent and likes to play but doesn’t want to be a pro and enjoys a couple of pints with his team mates after the game, we need the parents and enthusiasts to help us run the clubs. Participation at all levels is the key.”
Those two clubs he is connected with show the benefit of close ties with schools, and other examples have convinced Rankin this is the way forward.
“You look elsewhere, like North Berwick and ambitious, forward-looking clubs like Marr in Troon,” he says. “I want there to be no gap between schools and youth rugby, and schools connecting with clubs, because they generally have the best coaching, is the way.
“There are independent schools that have great coaching and facilities, but the way to grow the game is to go to places where those opportunities don’t exist, and the local club is the way to access those areas.”
Rugby still has the great shop windows provided by the international game at Murrayfield, and even from the success at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.
“What happened with the sevens at Ibrox (record crowds over two days for the games) was a fantastic thing for our game, and we want to piggy-back that a bit if we can,” he said.
“But we shouldn’t forget that cycling, swimming, judo and boxing all had very successful games as well, and in the end we’re all competing for the same kids to play our sport.
“We simply have to be better than others at getting them, and keeping them.”
The first action of the new club season sees a full Premiership card, while the National Legaue divisions play their opening round matches of the BT Cup competition.
The draw has pitched two juicy local derbies for the Midlands, with Dundee HSFP at old rivals Kirkcaldy at Beveridge Park, while Howe of Fife host Dunfermline. Perthshire are away to to National League One side GHA.
There are also the opening rounds of the regional Shield and Bowl events for regional league sides.
Matches this weekend:
BT Premiership: Boroughmuir v Stirling County.
BT Cup: Kirkcaldy v Dundee HSFP, GHA v Perthshire, Howe of Fife v Dunfermline.
BT Caledonia Shield: Mackie Academy FP v Glenrothes, Hillfoots v Highland, Orkney v Strathmore.
BT Caledonia Midlands Bowl: Crieff & Strathearn v Waid Aacdemy FP, Stirling Univ v Dundee Univ Medics, Fife Southern v Madras, Harris Acad FP v Blairgowrie, Alloa v Stobswell, Carnoustie HSFP v Kinross, Bannockburn v Panmure.