Sir Ian McGeechan urges SRU To nurture talent with London Scottish

Sir Ian McGeechan has called on Scotland Rugby to utilise London Scottish in order to create greater depth in its national talent pool.
Scotland’s 51-3 crushing by Wales brought down the curtain on another humiliating Six Nations for the Scots, who have claimed just 19 victories in 75 matches since Italy joined the party in 2000.
Scotland last lifted the old Five Nations championship in 1999 and their try-scoring has declined alarmingly – only four in this year’s tournament.
Club success in Europe has been negligible and with only two professional teams since Border Reivers were axed as part of a cost-cutting exercise in 2007, Scotland’s playing base has shrunk to dangerously low levels.
Lions legend McGeechan believes that needs addressing urgently and wants the SRU to look south to boost dwindling player numbers.
He said: “At London Scottish, you’ve got a group of like-minded people with good business support who’ve put the club back on the map. A strong link between them and the SRU would be good.
“Whether it’s through an academy link or something that reflects what used to happen before the game went professional, it’s just another good way of getting players through the system and giving them experience at a professional level.
“It’s particularly important with young players coming through, where they (London Scottish) could be part of the link into Edinburgh and Glasgow. It’s a about having a broad enough base to keep a pathway open for the best talent and, with a bit of extra SRU support, it could work.
“London Scottish have got a good side together and are very well run. It’s a good base to develop players at Championship level.”
London Scottish already have a number of promising young Scottish players on their books, including highly rated fly-half Lee Millar, Scotland A scrum-half Jamie Stevenson and Scotland U20s captain Tommy Spinks.
Club president Rod Lynch, said: “Scottish rugby has a problem. It’s only got two pro clubs, a very thin base to develop national sides from.
“When you have another Scottish club, albeit in the English structure, it would be a shame not to use it. The Scottish club game is amateur, so guys coming to us would benefit from a fully professional set-up.
“We’re having dialogue with Glasgow and Edinburgh and are constantly looking to strengthen, so what Sir Ian says makes sense.”
NEALE HARVEY