'We've got to sharpen ourselves up... we're a bit frightened about upsetting English clubs'
In almost three years as a Scotland talent scout, Alan Tait grew increasingly frustrated by the bureaucracy that clogged his path. The operation was too cluttered and intransigent. Too many people at Murrayfield wanted their say on a player’s credentials.
Tait couldn’t alert the coaches at Edinburgh or Glasgow about a top youngster he had studied – rather, the information was relayed through what he calls “a system within a system”, slowing the process and discouraging sought-after athletes.
At times, he believes his Scottish Rugby Union bosses placed more faith in their structures than his significant expertise across 32 years as a professional player, dual-code international, British and Irish Lion, coach and director of rugby.
The former centre was hired as part of the SRU’s Scottish Qualified programme, which very publicly aimed to identify and recruit eligible talent beyond the national borders. His scouting territory was the north of England, while Ian Smith, another former Scotland international, scoured the south.
Tait spent an eye-watering volume of hours traversing his patch, watching school and academy games, forging fertile relationships with professional clubs who were initially wary of his presence and hostile towards his advances. But with the financial damage wrought by Covid-19 and the absence of any rugby to watch, he and Smith were let go when their contracts expired in the summer.
Having voiced his concerns privately to Scottish Rugby, Tait is speaking out now publicly in the hope of engendering change to a set-up that he argues must be streamlined to fulfil its purpose. “We have got to sharpen ourselves up,” he told RugbyPass. “Every club in England has got a scouting system – I know the Sale scouting system looks at 500 kids every weekend, it’s all covered. Newcastle is the same.
“In England, they are making it as hard as they can for us – they don’t want their players to go to Scotland and that is where we have got to be strong and step in and we’re a bit weak in that area. We’re a bit frightened about upsetting English clubs. But at the end of the day, they can’t all play for England and we are doing a lot of these kids a favour by giving them the experience of international rugby.”
The list of recent Tait captures for Scotland is impressive. He convinced Ewan Ashman, the Sale hooker, to play for the Scottish U20s having also been a part of England’s age-grades. Ashman was the top try-scorer at last year’s World Rugby U20 Championship.
Newcastle back row Tom Marshall was another who excelled in Argentina. Tait advocated strongly for Dan Nutton and Nathan Chamberlain, half-backs who went on to play for Edinburgh, and spotted the Melville twins, Ollie and Cameron, in action for Sedbergh School, propelling them to Scotland U18 honours.
“Gregor Townsend likes Ewan Ashman,” said Tait. “See, there’s a kid that we got to turn round. We knew about him, he was registered with us at an early age with his Scottish father, but England had him in their system and they really wanted him to get through. Just by talking to his father, working with him, he eventually came down the Scottish route and did really, really well for us.
“I got Tom Marshall up to Glasgow and we talked about joining the club. He ended up deciding to stay with Falcons. Newcastle weren’t very happy but at the end of the day, England promised him things, he didn’t make their squad, and he went with Scotland. He and Ashman were probably our best two forwards in Argentina. Hopefully, he will come through with Falcons this year. He enjoyed his time with Scotland and he is there for us now if Scotland need a No8.
“I pushed Fraser Dingwall at Northampton Saints and Cam Redpath, Bryan Redpath’s lad, really hard, but there had been nothing to link these kids into the Scottish system beforehand and England had already got into them. With players coming to the end of their academy contracts and going full pro, we have to be sharper.”
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The highest-profile recruit, right at the genesis of the SQ programme, was Callum McLelland. Tait watched the then-18-year-old playing rugby league for Castleford and saw in the fly-half a player with all the tools to take rugby union in Scotland by storm.
Scottish Rugby agreed on a fee with Castleford to release McLelland from his contract and place him in Edinburgh’s squad, but Tait was dismayed at how poorly the transition was handled. McLelland never made a senior appearance for Edinburgh but was brilliant for Scotland U20s in their 2018 Junior World Championship campaign. Just nine months after switching codes, though, he returned to rugby league.
“People wanted him to fail – some would rather see him fail than come through because of his background,” Tait said. “He’s from a single-parent home in Castleford and they put him in £700-a-month flat in Edinburgh and had him driving all the way down to Hawick to play because of the draft system.
“It should have been done better. Gregor knew what we had there. The kid was 18, he went out to the U20s World Cup and showed what he could do after four games of senior rugby union with Hawick. He was the gem I found. He could have been an absolute megastar. Hopefully, they have learned from it, but it shouldn’t deter them from signing league players again. I did get the comment, ‘oh we’ll never do that again’ from somebody. We lost a good talent.
“We should have bent a little to try and make it as easy for him as we could, not as hard as we could. Richard Cockerill hardly knew who he was. I should have been reporting to Cockers saying, ‘look, we’ve got this kid, get him in your system, he’s a real good kid’.”
This disconnect between scout and pro-team coach is a problem Tait stresses repeatedly. Checks and balances were necessary, of course, and Scottish Rugby is working behind the scenes to “sharpen up” as Tait would like. A scheme based on people is naturally unwieldy, with each player’s specific needs, age, goals and potentially education is taken into account.
But having picked the brains of his Irish counterparts, Tait felt it needlessly complex to go through multiple members of the Scotland performance arm before a player could be signed. “I couldn’t go direct to Cockers or Dave Rennie because there were so many walls beforehand,” he explained.
“Too many lads wanted their opinions – is this player good enough? Can he pass off his left hand? Can he kick off his right foot? I reported these players back and instead of being able to go to Edinburgh or Glasgow and go to the academies there, it goes through a system within a system and that delays the process.
“Professionalism, you have got to be more streetwise and sharper than that. For the best players available, you have got to be more urgent. Instead of which, we have got him having his say, him having his say, him having his say, and can the player come up for a training session to see if he is good enough. I’m telling you – I’ve watched him six times in matches, I know he’s a good player. They just had to pass so many tests.
“I spoke to Cockers towards the end of my time in the job. He just wants the best that is out there. I want to see Scottish kids do well, but if we have got a Scottish-qualified kid in England and he is really talented, a star in the academy games, then we have to seriously make a move and do things more professionally and sharper.
“We have got to put more trust in the scouts rather than going through all these hoops to get him there. We can’t dilly-dally and that is what we’re doing. We’ve got too many people with too many opinions and we are going to miss out on players.”
For now, Tait is back on the tools in the Scottish borders. A roofer by trade, he is looking for a cottage to renovate and sell on as his next project. Over the years, in many different roles, the union has been good to him, but he worries that fine young players will be lost without dedicated scouts to detect and monitor them, and a clunky procedure to get them from their schools and clubs to the Scottish Rugby system.
He is encouraged by the appointment of Jim Mallinder as director of rugby and the alignment of the national academies with Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors, allowing the burgeoning crop to run about with the pros. “I don’t want to be paid if I’m not doing any work. It’s pointless paying me if I’m not out watching rugby,” Tait continued. “There are worse things happening than losing your job, but it was a shame because we were three years in, the doors were opening everywhere and we felt we were getting somewhere.
“With Jim Mallinder coming in, he knows the Premiership and he is a great appointment, so hopefully it will improve. You are not pushing every player to the professional teams straight away, but when you find the diamonds, who are really sought-after by clubs, you don’t want many hoops to jump through or you will lose them.”
With its shallow player pool, Scotland can ill afford to squander such opportunities.
Comments on RugbyPass
What a difference Rodda and Carter made. Rodda has been out for ages but he is really the only world class lock in Australian rugby. Him, Carter and Beale made a huge difference on the weekend. If only they had a few decent props they’d be a much more dangerous team. Hamish Stewart was excellent last week as well. His carrying has improved significantly and has to be next in line after Paisami at 12 for the Wallabies. He’ll benefit hugely with Beale at fullback, there’s just no better communicator in Australian rugby than him and his experience will make a huge difference for the Force. No one sees space like Beale and he’s still sharp. I can see Force making a late charge into the top 8 if they can get some consistency.
2 Go to commentsRodda will be a walk up starter at lock. Frost if you analyse his dominance has little impact and he’s a long way from being physical enough, especially when you compare to Rodda and the work he does. He was quite poor at the World Cup in his lack of physicality. Between Rodda and Skelton we would have locks who can dominate the breakdown and in contact. Frost is maybe next but Schmidt might go for a more physical lock who does their core work better like Ryan or LSL. Swain is no chance unless there’s a load of injuries. Pollard hasn’t got the scrum ability yet to be considered. Nasser dominated him when they went toe to toe and really showed him up. Picking Skelton effects who can play 6 and 8. Ideally Valetini would play 6 as that’s his best position and Wilson at 8 but that’s not ideal for lineout success. Cale isn’t physical enough yet in contact and defence but is the best backrow lineout jumper followed by Wright, Hanigan and Swinton so unfortunately Valetini probably will start at 8 with Wright or Hanigan at 6. Wilson on the bench, he’s got too much quality not to be in the squad. Paisami is leading the way at 12 but Hamish Stewart is playing extremely well also and his ball carrying has improved significantly. Beale is also another option based on the weekend. Beale is class but he’s also the best communicator of any Australian backline player and that can’t be underestimated, he’ll be in the mix.
8 Go to commentsWhy do people keep on picking Ardie at 7 when he's a ball in hand 8? A modern 7 is the lead tackler and ruck clearer which isn't his strength.
14 Go to commentsSly dig there at Ireland’s propensity to back a non-Irish coach. Must really want it. I’m not sure I like ROG very much. Comes off as unpleasant. But he’d gain my respect if he took a number 7 ranked team and turned them into WC winners. Not even back-to-back. Argentina? Scotland? Or how about Wales? France would be too easy, no?
1 Go to commentsA bit of sensationalism, but surprised by the comments about SBW. I’ve always thought of him as a pretty authentic person. There is nothing worse than working with a colleague you’ve seen straight through.
9 Go to comments100% agree with your comment about Touch. I’ve been playing it competitively since Covid. It’s on a Wednesday night after work. It means the weekend is free for time with my family.
1 Go to commentsRodda back is massively important for the Wallabies. Kaitu at hooker important too coz he was very good a few years ago.
2 Go to commentsThe pink cabous might be eligible this year and the Boks don’t need him
8 Go to commentsNasser and kaitu are options for hooker. Especially Nasser. You forgot Rodda who touch wood will be fit at test time and if fit he’s number one. Great partner for the great Skelton and Oz best lineout caller. Third best lock is LSL whom I’d be inclined to sub on for Skelton around 60 minutes. Probably start valetini at 8 because I like a big body back there. Cale should play 6 at the brumbies. For Wallabies definitely cale in the squad but as an apprentice. Dunno who starts at 6 seru wright Swinton hanigan with Will Harris and Harry Wilson not far away. Seru and Swinton my front runners but Swinton is going. Still if we don’t cap seru then Fiji must coz they need his lineout skills and easily compensate for his lack of weight
8 Go to commentsYeah but who was it?
9 Go to commentsThink you might have written this just before the Brumbies got thrashed last weekend
8 Go to commentsI really do believe that Billy Proctor should be selected at least in the larger squad but also it would be my choice at 13, much more a center than Ioane who can still play at wing. Roigard if fit should play, otherwise it should be Perenara or Christie. Also, Iose could deserve a spot at blindside. Of course, being a Canes supporter I’m biased but I really believe that at least Billy P is deserving a chance and being Holland one of the Selectors, I’m having a little hope he could grab it.
14 Go to commentsI would not play Swinton I’d pick Wright or Hanigan. The rest are decent starters, but can’t agree on any subs except Tupou. My take on the subs: Gibbon, Ueslese, Tupou, LSL, Wilson, White, Will Harrison, and Petaia.
8 Go to commentsSBW the biggest moron to pull on a black jersey a park footy player at best
9 Go to commentsSBW is fast becoming a laughing stock, his misplaced comments & lack of insight Is actually pretty sad.
9 Go to commentsJust well you guys are couch 🛋 potatoes selector's, picking a team of greenhorns to play England! “What are you people smoking?” The halfbacks will be Christie, Fakatava, Perenara Props; Newell, Bower, Lomax, Tunga'fasi, Hookers; Asosa Amua when fit, Taylor, Samisoni,
14 Go to commentsQuite frankly, all this is a bit pathetic. The first time Wales get the Wooden Spoon in 21 years and everyone is on the bandwagon for a ‘play-off’ game. Wales have no obligation to Georgia and no obligation to the rest of the Six Nations to play such a game. If they want Georgia in so badly then they need to include South Africa into a Northern Hemisphere competition with 2 leagues of 4 teams with the top 2 competing for the Championship. Sadly, this will end Triple Crowns and Grand Slams forever. Is this really what you want?
4 Go to commentsI think Finau to start Blackadder to come on. Poss Prokter instead of Ioane, haven't seen much from Reiko so far this year.
14 Go to commentsJoe will have had a good chat with Dave Rennie, a smart move to begin with while it’s doubtful Fast Eddie will be consulted? Plenty of Aus players hitting top form so they should go OK.
8 Go to commentsMmm. Not sure I like this article or see it as necessary.
9 Go to comments