Image: Bryan Robertson
YOU can’t assist however chuckle. One main cause why Super6 (now Super Series) was arrange was to provide young coaches a possibility to point out what they may do. Instead, las 12 months’s Championship was gained by Stirling Wolves, coached by the wily old fox that’s Eddie Pollock; a person who has been across the block extra usually than a bobby on the beat, simply two months shy of his 67th birthday.
The Super Series Sprint begins tomorrow [Friday] with the Bulls internet hosting the Wolves in a rerun of November’s Championship remaining, whereas the Southern Knights play Edinburgh Rugby’s A-team.
This would be the final hurrah for the part-time skilled tier, a minimum of in the interim, thanks in no small half to the monetary shambles Mark Dodson bequeathed to Scottish Rugby, and it’s evidently an irritant to Pollock that the winners of the primary occasion should not being granted a place in subsequent season’s Premiership.
“They should have found a way to have everyone involved,” he says with the weary resignation of somebody whose low expectations are not often met. “They could have had an A & B league or a 14 team league.
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“It hasn’t been the best thing for Scottish Rugby. It is what it is and we will deal with it. Now we need to finish off the Super Series (Sprint) as well as we can because there is no point in doing it unless you do as well as you can.”
Pollock is likely one of the nice survivors of Scottish Rugby, a well-kent face who has executed all of it and has the scars to show it. He labored for Murrayfield for a lot of years, teaching the nationwide under-21s with David Leslie from 1996-2003. When he moved to educate the Scotland under-18s, Pollock says he nonetheless helped out with the 20s (because the aspect turned) and was assistant to John Dalziel when Scotland’s 20s completed fifth on the planet in June, 2017 after beating Australia.
Fast ahead to right this moment and he might be discovered sporting the colors of Dollar Academy or Stirling County, however all his appreciable energies are at the moment centered on the upcoming “Sprint” and he insists that the Wolves have recruited nicely.
He bandies a number of names just like the “explosive” former England age grade breakaway Macenzzie Duncan who has been launched by Bristol Bears, the enormous 6ft 8ins lock Olujare Okugtibeju, of Nigerian heritage however Scottish certified and at the moment coaching with Glasgow, and Steve Longwell, the massively skilled tight-head who pretty lately discovered himself with out a membership when the Jersey Reds went to the wall.
But when requested to select one participant who we should always hold tabs on, Pollock affords up the leggy winger Ross McKnight.
“He was let go by Glasgow [some time ago] but he had a great season for us, he just got better and better. Now he is back training with Glasgow, he has been since Christmas, so we are hoping that with the new set-up that he will get back in at some point.”
Ross McKnight was high try-scorer within the recent Super Series Championship with 15 touch-downs in 14 matches, together with two in his staff’s play-off remaining win over Ayrshire Bulls. Image: Bryan Robertson
One factor we are able to all agree upon is that each one these aspiring skilled gamers want common rugby to develop and develop and it merely isn’t occurring.
Pollock cites the case of Ben Salmon, an thrilling prospect at outdoors centre/wing. He will play for Glasgow’s ‘A’ staff this weekend however Pollock reckons he has had not more than six matches all season. Where would Finn Russell be now if he had managed simply six aggressive video games a 12 months as a youth!?
Pollock argues that getting a aggressive aspect at under-20s degree requires aggressive fixtures for under-16s and under-18s and, whereas he doesn’t recommend how this will likely occur, he does level out that the Super Series was by no means designed with the Scotland under-20s in thoughts.
“It got tied into the under-20s scenario and it wasn’t designed for that. It was designed to produce players for the pro game,” he says, earlier than reeling off a protracted listing of professional gamers who benefitted from Super6/Series, together with Tom Jordan, Stafford McDowell, Murphy Walker and Max Williamson, who appears to be like the true deal.
I provide him one want and he asks to return to the beginning of professionalism, for the second time, so he can begin 4 pro-teams/areas or, maybe, three “plus a Connacht-style development side”.
I tighten up the laws and take away the time machine, as a substitute insisting he has to take care of the right here and now?
“I’d replace the Super6 with a Super8,” comes the assured reply.
And the money will come from?
“They have to find the money somewhere,” Pollock retorts. “The reason we don’t have enough money at the moment is because we are spending too much on the pro teams. Take money off them and use the Super Series as your ‘A’ team or whatever you want to call it. I will put money on the fact that in three to five years time we will go back to a Super Series.
“My big worry is what happens going forward? Where are young players going to get the opportunity to show what they can do?
“We had 120 guys play 20 games a season in the Super Series. Gregor Hiddleston [the Wolves’ hooker] plays in the European Cup against Exeter and he is outstanding! Now he is obviously training with Glasgow as well as us but how is that going to happen for the next Gregor Hiddleston out there? He must have played 30 odd games for us!”
Pollock thinks formidable young gamers ought to journey the globe looking for alternatives they will’t discover in Scotland and he has some extent; Russell was a lot improved by his sojourn in France, however the coach additionally acknowledges that Murrayfield is at the moment at a crossroads.
“I think the next appointment [of a High Performance Director] is really important,” he says. “There are a lot of good people at Murrayfield but the next decision is massive.
“If we get it wrong we could be in real trouble.”
Super Series Sprint: teams announced for Friday night lights campaign opener
