'I guarantee there are two or three Darcy Grahams running about the streets of Hawick... the talent is still there'
Rob Moffat repeatedly claims he is on a mission, a quest to revitalise the rugged Borders heartlands of Scottish rugby. The Borders have bestowed upon us so many rugby giants and so much rugby greatness. But the region that delivered John Rutherford, Jim Renwick and Gregor Townsend has grown alarmingly barren with the onset of professionalism.
It’s not that the talent no longer exists. But for whatever reason, it isn’t emerging as prolifically as it did for decades. Those that do make it are consistently among the best. Greig Laidlaw and Ross Ford are modern-day titans of the Scotland team. Stuart Hogg is its new captain and the best chance of a Lions Test starter and, more recently, Darcy Graham and Rory Sutherland have taken the Six Nations by storm.
Moffat, like all of them, is a man steeped in Borders rugby. A hugely respected mentor, he coached at Edinburgh, Glasgow and the now-defunct Border Reivers, was an assistant with Scotland A and led the national sevens team. He guided Laidlaw, Townsend, Chris Paterson and a glut of other internationals, and is spoken of in glowing terms by many of Scotland’s finest players.
These days, Moffat is back in the Borders and back at the Greenyards for a second spell where he shares the director of rugby role with Colin Meager. He is determined to play his part in changing the narrative in this rugby land of plenty.
“The last Melrose player to play for Scotland is Kelly Brown,” said Moffat to RugbyPass. “Other Melrose players have been capped but they have come into Melrose later in their careers. Now, Kelly made his debut 15 years ago and there is something wrong if a club like Melrose hasn’t got an internationalist in that 15-year period.
“Darcy Graham, just a wee guy from Hawick, 5ft 9ins tall, but he’s got a huge heart. He has backed himself and he has come through. I guarantee there are two or three Darcy Grahams running about the streets of Hawick – there are. But some of them are a wee bit wary of leaving Hawick and moving somewhere else. It’s a mix of everything but for me, the talent is still there. I’m on a mission to do something about it.”
Although Scottish Rugby runs an academy in Galashiels, only four Borders-based players were selected in the most recent Scotland U18s squad of 40. Five Borderers were included in a 29-strong U20s squad, but not all are still playing in the region. “There should be more Borders players in Scottish U18 and U20 teams – that’s the bottom line,” Moffat continued. “It’s no criticism of the academy down here, but we have to drive it a bit harder.
“Rugby is for everybody, of course it is, and I’ll never be called elitist because I love working with anybody, but we need to push the really talented ones and get them through. It’s too generic. I don’t think they look at people as individuals. A lot of people would have looked at Darcy Graham two or three years ago and thought he was too small. That’s rubbish.
“Damian McKenzie at the Chiefs, if he was here, somebody would tell him, ‘Oh son, you’d be better playing scrum-half’. Seriously, that would happen. It’s crazy. There’s not enough individual detail.”
Since the demise of the Reivers in 2007, the Borders have had no professional team on its doorstep. What it lost, in the words of the towering Jim Telfer, were heroes. Jason O’Halloran, the departing Glasgow attack coach, said kids needed to be shown that flitting to Edinburgh or Glasgow to play professionally was “not like moving to Mars”. The pathway from clubland to the elite is blurred and distant to the local youngsters.
“One coach I spoke to at Jed Forest thought some of the boys had lost the ambition and the drive, they just didn’t see the pathway,” Moffat added. “I was really surprised at that because, hell, three of the best scrum-halves Scotland have ever had are from Jed (Roy Laidlaw, Gary Armstrong and Greig Laidlaw), but I don’t know if that is maybe too far away from them. Greig’s not that old, but to the young boys there, he’s on another planet.
“Greig’s living half a mile from me and we’ll drag him in to help before he goes to Japan! Ross Ford is a Kelso boy coaching at the Southern Knights. I want to see the next internationalist from Melrose and other Borders clubs. That is great for the youngsters because they can then see that.
“Dan Gamble is a Kelso boy and he has just signed for Edinburgh; Rufus McLean is from just outside Melrose and Glasgow have signed him. It’s good to see that. And that proves to me that the boys are there, but it’s about giving them confidence and giving them a chance.”
"And are you going to shell out £300-400k for a slightly-better-than-mediocre Super Rugby player, or do you develop young guys?"
Jason O'Halloran talks realpolitik with @JLyall93 ; recruitment, Scottish academies, Nakarawa & Borders talent going to waste https://t.co/0lJ8TI49ef
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 21, 2020
In the absence of a third professional team or the money to form one, the role of Scottish Rugby’s Super6 tournament becomes all the more important. The semi-professional competition is designed to bridge the gap between the club game and professional rugby. The Southern Knights, who play at Melrose, are its sole Borders franchise.
Although the league’s inaugural season was halted by coronavirus, and it is thus hard to gauge its fitness for purpose, there have been loud critics. Scotland prop Gordon Reid told the BBC’s Scottish Rugby podcast that the Super6 was not strong enough to prepare players for the professional game.
Outgoing Glasgow coach Dave Rennie was frustrated at the red tape which prevented his fringe players from running out for Super6 teams when not involved with Warriors. “Because having two pro teams is very narrow, you have got to really drive that Super6. You want people to be thinking, woah, this is above watching a Premiership match,” reckoned Moffat.
“The whole aim of that should be not winning the league but driving the standards of the individual players. We want to have six props at international level instead of three or four. We want far more competition. The Super6 contracts are not worth a lot of money (maximum salary is £12,000 per season). They’re not enough to keep guys going, but that has to be pushed to a much, much higher level than the club game, not a nice, cosy bit for club players who are not going to go any further.
“Someone has got to look at it and say, that player is not good enough. You put a lot of young boys in there and they kick on. Because otherwise what will happen, and Scottish Rugby will not like it, but the players will leave Scotland. It’s a big world out there. No wonder Newcastle Falcons keep sniffing around, quite rightly, and players will go.”
Since rejoining the club in the summer, Moffat has been hammering the phones, ringing over 100 Melrose men to gauge their interest in playing and lobbying those who aren’t sold – he wants the Borders clubs to help each other and tap into the deep well of rugby knowledge on their doorstep.
“What happens down here is that Melrose tends to want to look after Melrose and Hawick want to look after Hawick,” he explained. “It’s the ‘it’s aye been’ syndrome. But actually, it’s not good enough, it’s not. A club like Melrose, who have got a 4G pitch and good lights, should invite other clubs in the middle of winter to come across and use that facility instead of training under poor lights in the mud.
“We’re on a mission to make sure we get two teams at every age-group at a club. I’m out and about a fair bit and if you go to virtually any club they don’t have the number of teams they used to. In a lot of ways, Scotland does really, really well for a small country. Scottish Rugby will say we are developing more talent and you would find that hard to argue.
“We’ve got the talent; we’ve maybe got to accelerate that talent. If you’re an All Black, you get better and better and if you don’t, you’re not an All Black anymore. We don’t have that sort of culture enough.”
For @RugbyPass, Matt Scott on the maddening nature of his Edinburgh exit.
'My wife was really looking forward to staying for another three years and we were looking to start a family. It was just gutting, to be honest.'https://t.co/gIkGXER6j7
— Jamie Lyall (@JLyall93) June 28, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Did footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
10 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
10 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
34 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
34 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to comments