Last week in a dismal draw with the Dragons Beattie was one of the few to make a positive impression on the game. He crunched into contact; he raced into defensive holes; he absorbed fallen balls; he put his hand up; he shouted. We are told that he is not currently injured and we have seen that he was capable of playing 65 minutes in Newport. Now we are told that he missed out because there must be a reward for guys like “Ryan Wilson for the outstanding form they’ve been showing.” Guys like Ryan Wilson are rewarded with a start, sure, but Beattie is not even on the bench.

For balance it is fair to point out that Moray Low is also not in the squad, despite being fit. His situation is hugely different, though. He is having a crisis of confidence. After first being dropped he played for Aberdeen Grammar in RBS Premier One and was yellow carded before he had a chance to make an impact. He then came back to Glasgow but has not elbowed his way back to the front of the queue. He is not going to be out of contract in the summer, though, and he is needed by Scotland. Glasgow will be using him again soon.

As for his back-row cohort: it must be frustrating. A good performance after being out in the cold is followed by a week of no rugby. He is not back with Ayr* for their trip to Tralee Park to face Munster ‘A’ in the British & Irish Cup. He has history in that competition having played in Ayr’s win over Plymouth a few weeks back, scoring the winner at the death. This not only showed he could still be in the mood for a rugby game, but also that he was fit enough to play. He isn’t playing.

For now he is missing opportunities. Lineen has said that he and Low will get other chances but for Beattie the clock is ticking. There are breakaways ahead of him in the pecking order right now and his contract is up in about six months time. If he does want to leave, is he still in the shop window?

As I pointed out in my piece ‘Rory Lamont: Free Agent’ it is becoming acceptable for a club and a player to agree a mutual termination if it is not working out for either. Lamont did it to move from Toulon to Glasgow and Euan Murray did it to move from Northampton to Newcastle. This week it happened in another way. Peter Stringer of Ireland moved ‘on loan’ to Saracens because he was not getting any game time at Munster and the London club were having issues with their scrum-halves.

Now I am not saying a mutual termination will happen or even that this is the best thing for both parties. Nonetheless, with Beattie out in the cold and Aviva Premiership teams like Worcester having a back-row “mini-crisis” perhaps a loan could be possible. Perhaps a change could happen as the prized elephant trumpets a reminder to Mr. Robinson.

*Ayr have been given Low, Callum Forrester, Murray McConnell and a rehabilitating Fergus Thomson for their away trip to Munster ‘A’. Here’s the team:

15. Grant Anderson
14. Richard Dalgleish
13. Ross Curle
12. Mark Stewart (captain)
11. Cammy Taylor
10. Robbie Fergusson
9. AJ McFarlane

1. Gordon Reid
2. Hayden Wisnewski
3. Moray Low
4. Josh Dunning
5. Colin White
6. Andy Dunlop
7. Robbie Colhoun
8. John Willis

16. Fergus Thomson
17. Stuart Fenwick
18. Craig Davidson
19. Scott Sutherland
20. Calum Forrester
21. Murray McConnell
22. Sylvain Diez

23. Murray Beckwith

Best of luck goes to Currie and Melrose who also have important B&I Cup ties.

Example: This Rory Lamont is causing a bit of a bloody furore!

Everyone is getting into a bit of a tizzy over Lamont’s valiant, if somewhat capricious, return to Glasgow. Suddenly the chat from the proclaimed Warrior Nation has turned to how Lemi, Lamont and a fit again DTH Van Der Merwe could possibly become one of the most dangerous back threes in the Pro12. Everyone knows that the team have been scoring at a poor rate but maybe, just maybe, they can keep winning and score lots of tries.

It is as amusing as it is exciting. Thought for years to be Scotland’s second team the SRU have recently made funds available to sign new players and add top competition experience to this young Glasgow side. It almost looks like SRU CEO Mark Dodson has donned a fur-lined red coat and pointed his quill westward.

Of course as Lamont drives through the snow to enter the Scotstoun training ground –flashbulbs popping as he collects Glasgow kit issue at the door –others are keeping their heads down and getting on with it. “I’ve gotten consistency from playing games,” young full-back Stuart Hogg tells me, demurely, “but I also have good people surrounding me.

“It becomes second nature. If selected it is just about composing yourself.”

Composure is something that one would not expect from a 19 year old signed on for a development contract this season. However, Hogg has been ever-present for the Warriors, playing in big wins against the likes of Bath and Cardiff away. He has very little firsthand experience of games like these so how does he remain calm? Taking an honest tone he lets me know.

“You just keep working hard. Look at the weekend. I didn’t play against Dragons, but we all drew a line under it. We drew that and we lost against Leinster away in the Heineken Cup before. In that game we started too slow in the first half and we gave away silly points. I think we gave them a 21 point lead! But then we played well in the second half. We showed how we can play. You just have to draw a line under it and move on.

“For me I can become consistent by playing and getting enjoyment under my belt. I’ve played more RaboDirect rugby and the physicality has been unbelievable. Now we go back to the Heineken Cup and everyone wants to win. There’s physicality; there’s speed; there’s unbelievable skill. Big Internationals.”

 You have certainly come on and played very well but what about, um, that noise in the background?

“From a team perspective it is fantastic. For me: your position is never settled. There’s competition everywhere and there are loads of wingers that can play full-back. There are centres that can play back there. I’m really looking forward to the challenge if I’m honest” –and here giggles spill out that neither of us expected, a by-product of the confidence that Hogg is uncovering, an assuredness that comes from giving youth a chance to express itself –“If my name is read out for this week I’ll be delighted but I’ll just keep training hard.

“Rory is an international full-back and a really nice guy. I hope we grow to be friends off the pitch…but I’m going to try and take that full-back jersey off him!”

He knows what he wants. He always had confidence, but now he obviously feels he can show that at this level. I was going to ask him if he would consider playing 13 or if that would best suit Glasgow now that Lamont is there but he has already answered my question by constantly talking about that coveted full-back jersey.  So I change tact and ask him if Lamont’s arrival has made him press for a full contract.

“I’m hoping for a pro contract sooner rather than later, but at the moment I will have to take everything week by week. First we’ve got this double against Montpellier in the Heineken Cup…”

So if it’s week by week you won’t have given too much thought to those saying you should at least be able to train with the 6 Nations squad because of your current form?

“Someday, maybe…”

For now he is ignoring the furore and letting others talk about a contract behind closed doors. He has a Heineken Cup double to work for and after that an 1872 Cup series with Edinburgh to look forward to. Glasgow claim that the “initial allocation[of 1872 tickets] has been virtually exhausted”.

If this upstart full-back gets his chance in those games in front of a large Scottish crowd and impresses then maybe he could find himself on the back pitches of Murrayfield someday soon. Alongside his new mate Rory.

In rugby terms there is a sense of shift. No longer can we justify the notion that the World Cup had to be in a top 10 country. The World Cup in New Zealand has been a great advert for the country and it all seems to be going quite well as an event, but I still feel that 2011 should have been Japan’s year. In the future the RWC must be held in North America, too. We must actively seek change.

The cynic in me says that this is because rugby must move into emerging markets. Broaden its horizons. Rugby must risk trying new things, whatever the stuffed shirts say. The purist in me just wants to see exciting new instances. My generation love explosive change.

You only have to look at the rise of social media to know what I am talking about.

10 thousand people follow Rugby World Magazine on Twitter. 65 thousand follow Will Carling, 59 thousand follow Bryan Habana and a whopping 60 thousand follow Quade Cooper. That is a lot of influence and a lot of people that could be targeted through marketing. Think of what would happen if all of these guys were selling a £3 T-shirt. Now think of what would happen if either Habana or Cooper scored the try that won the World Cup.

Frightening.

So in order to keep pace everyone has to evolve. Every team has a Website. Every team has a Facebook page. Every team has a Twitter feed. Hell, every major Union has a Twitter feed. The CEO of the USA Eagles updates fans regularly with his twitter feed (should Mark Dodson, SRU CEO, do the same?). We have a constant bombardment of facts, competitions and markets. We know all.

This in itself gives rise to a unique 21st Century problem, for rugby at least. A continual open dialogue means that someone must constantly keep it running. From 9 to 5 someone at the RFU is paid to man the iPad. Some clubs have what is called a ‘Social Media Manager’. Players must be coached on what is acceptable to say, and not to say, lest they have a shocker like Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu.

To take a Scottish example, Edinburgh and Glasgow have sites. They have Facebook. They have Twitter. With 24-hour news and a multitude of fans online, they need fed lines regularly. So we have videos. We have player blogs like the one we have with Richie Vernon. At this moment in time the SRU has stoked up a lot of new sponsors, and their marketing team have done well here. From a social media perspective, then, we get drip fed images and adverts about these new sponsors. It makes no sense to have all of the info out there at once; what link would we click on tomorrow?

For people like me this is great. I am aware of the irony. I am writing about the need to regurgitate writing regularly. It is how modern sport works and we all love it. That is why we have Sky Sports News. We need to fill seconds with events and sound bites. We must feed the 24hour beast.

As a two-way process this throws up some interesting propositions, though. We all get our say. People may not listen, but we get our say.  

England are having issues with this right now. Blog after blog has criticised them, despite them having 9 points from a possible 10. They have won twice, yet some players that are laptop happy, like James Haskell and Toby Flood, have divulged every detail about ‘Clear the Air Talks’ in their camp to waiting fans. These fans have a right to know what is going on but they can also create a monster. They can misconstrue and coax officials into shrinking away or coming out roaring. Under the spotlight Johnson has been through every emotion and tried every tact. We all watch on.

As Scotland unleash videos and WebChats they seem more demure by comparison. The fans seem calmed. We are comfortable talking about allocated subjects at allotted times. We are catered for, but there is no glut of words.

In this instance fans can chat and chat. Message boards light up. Some conversations are had with players online, but not too much. We can talk about what we’ve been given and what the expert press push us towards. Teams can be torn apart and statements scrutinised.

With the two-way street? Sometimes a message gets through. A re-Tweet here, a mention there. A few hundred likes of your creation: the Facebook page. All of a sudden there is a huge support campaign and you have got thousands agreeing with you. That is how official inquiries start and how coaches reconsider their squad.

For the game against New Zealand Marc Lievremont has selected Morgan Parra to play 10. He is normally a scrum-half but for this pivotal game the coach has picked Parra as his pivot. Some people may think this is crazy but after 20 or so minutes at fly-half against Japan where he looked assured many in France felt that, since he kicks often anyway, he was a sensible choice. Some experts were even calling for it. A message got through and Lievremont moved with the times.

Laidlaw and Parra: Similar? thanks to Roz Galloway's Flikr

This also serves as a direct example that is similar to one in Scotland. The example of Greig Laidlaw.

Laidlaw was arguably Edinburgh’s best 10 last season and rightfully got promoted to the Scotland training squad. He missed the cut for the World Cup and was rather upset about the whole thing, understandably. Many pundits felt he should have gone as a scrum-half option and a back-up 10.

Edinburgh were delighted to have him back, of course, but he was also given the captaincy, possibly in an attempt to keep him happy. Then we get ‘surprised’ a few weeks later when Twitter/Facebook/Newsletter informs us he has signed a new contract. Public pressure got him something –something he deserved –and all parties were happy. –ish.

He could have been playing like Parra in New Zealand, but he has moved on. Our gaze has moved on. We read something new and campaign for something else. Even Greig has moved on. He is on Twitter now, soaking up adulation and criticism in equal measure. Some messages may even get through.

One thing is for certain, though. In postmodern, socially networking, market balanced rugby you need a thick skin. That is one thing you can never change.

Over a plate of biscuits Sean Lineen assured me of Glasgow’s focus and of his renewed passion for the game on the west coast. Last season the Warriors finished in a lowly 11th place and there was talk of the head coach being courted by Aviva Premiership outfit Bath. This time round, though, the former Scotland centre is looking to rebuild and get the best out of a young team.

“We’ve changed how we play. People might not know but we had a period that was like being in a darkened room for a week looking at the coaching group.

“Of course people are going to say “they’ve been there for a while now, maybe it’s time for someone else” but it is how we [the coaches] learn from our mistakes. Last season we had a lot of injuries but you can’t use that as an excuse- we didn’t deal with them very well. I’m not going to let that bother me, but you’ve got to learn and listen as a coach.”

Learning is certainly something that this Glasgow team will have to do. Described to me by a spectator as ‘The Glasgow Babes’ the Firhill side have several youngsters and many guys new to the professional environment.

So when I put it to Lineen that in the opening game against Ulster there were a few rudimentary errors that contributed to the loss and missing a bonus point, despite the levels of weight training and number of conditioning sessions, he was fairly receptive.

“It comes down to experience. It comes down to decisions.

“When you get to professional rugby all guys are fit and strong. We can be fit but so were Ulster so when you get to that stage of the game it is the decision that you make.”

He gave me a specific example. One of Chris Henry’s try from a pick at the back of a 5m attacking scrum. “The decision that all three players made in that instance was a high tackle, and with a scrum that close to the line it is something that they will learn. Chris Fusaro went high, Rory Pitman went high and Troy Nathan went high, but two out of the three there are very young.

“It’s not that they didn’t want to tackle -my God, Chris Fusaro had an outstanding game- it’s just tackle selection.

“With Munster [this week] it is all about another M word: momentum. They are incredibly physical; they know how to get around the field; they put a lot of pressure on the opposition, especially at the contact. I know they had three guys yellow carded last week. Discipline doesn’t seem to worry them that much! It takes a strong referee to continually penalise them when they lie on the ground and make it difficult to get the ball away.

“They’re just very sharp.”

So how do Glasgow overcome the mistakes of the Ulster game and steel the kids for a battle against a physical Munster?

“You’ve got to look at the basics. The basics don’t change and the set-piece is crucial. That’s where the game starts. We had a lineout in the first 10seconds of the game last Friday, 10m from their line, and we didn’t win it. That’s disappointing, but the players are better than that and they’ve worked hard this week. At this point in the season it is all about learning and getting the basics right, and against a team like Munster it doesn’t matter if you’ve got 55 flash moves: if you can’t win the ball, look after the ball and have a platform you are not going to do well.”

At this point Lineen grabbed another custard cream and I found myself agreeing with him. Not with his biscuit selection –I’m more of a Digestive man, myself- but with acceptance of realities. He knows Glasgow need to improve, both on the Ulster game, specifically, and on last season.

Glasgow suffered from being overrun last term and he has looked to address that by having more players capable of playing. Lineen tells me that when you consider that games now have 260 collisions, on average, in it there must be a greater degree of squad management.

Kids like Stuart Hogg and Chris Fusaro have been brought into play more, to harden them. Newcomers to pro rugby like Scott Wight, Gordon Reid and Nick Campbell have been given a chance to play. Experienced players like Nathan Seymour and new signing Rob Verbakel (who I am assured has a one-year contract, a Dutch passport and an athletic game) have been brought in to augment Lineen’s squad.

Now all they need is consistency and a sense of the bigger picture.

“It is not just game on game that you have assurances,” he reveals me. “Players have goals set in pre-season. You look at how we want to play and that doesn’t change. It’s more to do with, “OK. Now we’re playing Munster. It is all about us: it is not what they do but what we do.” That is what you need with a group that is coming together. Particularly a young group.”

This Friday at Firhill the Warriors fans will hope to see the first win of the season. They will hope that players like Dewey, Fusaro and Hogg continue to progress nicely. They will hope that their team believe.

And how has a laid back Lineen (who by this point seems to be strongly suppressing the urge to say something a little stronger than Gosh or My God!) managed to rejuvenate and reenergise himself?

“Two years ago we came together and finished third in the league, making the playoffs which was brilliant, and even the year before we were fifth so there were a couple of good years there that we were building towards. Then we lost it.

“If you look at the Scotland squad out in New Zealand there are 17 guys that were with Glasgow in the last four years and we’ve lost eight players. It is how we look at the new players and guys like Duncan Weir, Ryan Wilson, Pat MacArthur, an impressive Peter Horne and Chris Fusaro and Stuart Hogg. Young lads to get excited about.  

“I love Scottish rugby. It would be difficult if it was the same group, but it’s changing every year. There’s another batch coming through and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Here’s the Glasgow Warriors team to face Munster this Friday at Firhill (kick-off 7.30):

15 Stuart Hogg

14 Federico Aramburu
13 Rob Dewey
12 Troy Nathan
11 Colin Shaw

10 Duncan Weir
9 Henry Pyrgos

1 Ryan Grant
2 Pat MacArthur
3 Mike Cusack
4 Tom Ryder
5 Nick Campbell
6 Rob Harley (captain)
7 Chris Fusaro
8 Ryan Wilson

SUBSTITUTES

16 Finlay Gillies
17 Ed Kalman
18 Gordon Reid
19 James Eddie
20 Rory Pitman
21 Colin Gregor
22 Scott Wight
23 Peter Horne

Not considered due to injury: Johnnie Beattie (knee), Alex Dunbar (knee), Calum Forrester (knee), Dave McCall (hand), Peter Murchie (shoulder), Tommy Seymour (back), Fergus Thomson (shoulder), Jon Welsh (ankle).

It was not so much that Ulster were that much better or that Glasgow were missing too many -Ulster themselves may have had the core of their usual starting team with the familiar 10-12-13 of Humphreys-Spence-Cave but they were also missing 9 at RWC2011- but just that inconsistencies within the game that killed the contest.

Analysts pointed out that Glasgow missed 6 of their own line-outs and Lineen himself intimated that the thrown restart is normally a strength of the Warriors’.

In truth, though, every form of set-piece (and I include kick-offs in this) were shaky for Glasgow. Sure MacArthur struggled to find his man, but the scrum ebbed and flowed as well and never looked 100% settled. Sometimes Kyriacou looked to be getting the better of Cusack, sometimes Grant (on for Welsh early doors) and MacArthur were happy to take the hit and let Cusack work. Ryder seemed more intent on getting a run at 12 from the scrum.

The great shame of this is that sometimes the scrum looked solid, even belligerent, and gave a good platform for attacks to be launched from.

So when you consider that line-outs were a no-no, scrums were 50/50 and kick-offs unpredictable it is a wonder that the backs managed to gain so much ground. But they did in the opening exchanges.

Led by Rob Dewey, who looks determined to recapture his form of a few years ago, the Warriors crashed like waves on Ulster bluffs and worked their way towards the line. With phases secured and defence appearing sturdy they managed to repel the Ulsterman and keep the game scoreless for the first 8 minutes.

On 9 minutes and 44 seconds debutant Troy Nathan pushed past Tom Ryder 5m out and demanded a pass from Colin Gregor. He was never going to pass the ball but he spun, champed and willed his way over the line, taking a few men in white and red with him.

As good a start as this was, though, it went some way to showing how inconsistent Glasgow Warriors were.

After 10 minutes Colin Gregor was marshalling play, Nathan was getting into the mix and players like Dewey, Eadie, Fusaro and Seymour were looking for work. Even in the later stages of the first half things looked to be holding up okay.

Some of these names went from covering themselves in glory to ducking for cover, however.

I will refrain from saying “Bless him”, but Colin Gregor, normally an enigmatic play maker who could perform the basics, had an erratic and disappointing game. Scrambling for a kick in the first half he slid in and tried to pop a pass to the retreating full-back, Stuart Hogg. The ball never made it to Hogg. Ulster centre Darren Cave tore on to the ball under Hogg’s nose and dotted down under the sticks.

Gregor also gave away a series of penalties in the game and refused to settle in to play, something I’m sure Duncan Weir needed in a game he was capable of controlling.

I will not blame the loss on Gregor, or indeed the line-out. As previously stated it is inconsistency that kills the well drilled side. I feel for Dewey, Hogg and Ryan Wilson in particular. The no.8 never knew what type of ball he would get, the full-back (who despite a horrible forward pass and some hot-headed moments seemed comfortable at 15) never knew what kind of kicks he would field as Humphreys imperiously nudged the ball out of hand, and the centre worked tirelessly.

Troy Nathan, who started so brightly and had some commanding moments, faded badly in the second half.

His kicking became poorly placed and when he rotated into first-receiver for Weir he drifted so far that wingers Seymour and Shaw struggled to see any spaces to run into. Because of this Seymour in particular had to work in field to find ball and Fusaro and Harley were dragged to the edges of play in attempts to clear up the breakdown.

I will not go into great detail about Ulster’s other 2 tries as they came down to defensive error. The second try was a stroll round the side of a ruck 5m from the line because there was no blind-side defence; the third was because of awful tackling as no.8 Chris Henry picked from the base of a solid scrum, 10m out, and barged over for the score.

With a score line of 28-14 Glasgow were not blown away, and did not allow Ulster the bonus-point try, but they were their own worst enemy as they gave away ball from line-outs and penalties.

Next week against Munster I fully expect to see Nathan retained at 12 to continue his first receiver swap with Weir. I also expect to see Aramburu on the field in place of Shaw and Pyrgos on for Gregor. The fans will expect better line-outs. Gary Mercer will expect better defensive shape and commitment 5m out. Lineen will expect better.

Glasgow Warriors are capable of better.

ULSTER 28
Tries: Cave, Marshall, Henry
Cons: Humphreys 2
Pens: Humphreys 3

GLASGOW 14
Try: Nathan
Pens: Weir 3

Ulster: D’Arcy, Gilroy, Cave, Spence, I. Whitten, Humphreys, P. Marshall, McAllister, Kyriacou, Cronin, Stevenson, Tuohy, Wannenburg, Faloon, Henry.

Replacements: Brady for Kyriacou (67).

Not used: Carey, Macklin, McComb, Diack, Porter, Jackson, Nelson.

Glasgow: Hogg, Seymour, Dewey, Nathan, Shaw, Weir, Gregor, Welsh, MacArthur, Cusack, Ryder, Harley, Eddie, Fusaro, Wilson.

Replacements: Horne for Seymour (54), Pyrgos for Dewey (62), Aramburu for Shaw (52), Grant for Welsh (12), Kalman for Cusack (52), Campbell for Eddie (66), Pitman for Wilson (58), Gillies for MacArthur (75).

Ref: Leighton Hodges (RFU).

Starting his 5th season as Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Sean Lineen has heard and said these several times. Now, though, he must know that he has this season, and this season alone, to try and turn things around after last term’s near disastrous plummet to the foot of the Magners League.

Let us not fool ourselves, either. Just because Gordon McKie is no longer Chief Executive does not mean that the regime that hauled Rob Moffat out of Edinburgh would not be one to tell Lineen to move on half-way through a campaign.

A lot of people would perhaps want this.

Lineen, however, is the man in possession and he will be under no illusions that if he cannot secure some wins while the likes of Leinster, Munster, Cardiff and the Ospreys are weakened then he could be having regular meetings at Murrayfield.

It must also be said that Lineen cannot be blamed for trying to create the impression that there is a fresh start at the Warriors. New digs in Scotstoun; 4 faces most of Scotland have never heard of before in Cusack, Nathan, Seymour and Pitman; garish new kit; a new captain (for the friendlies at least) in a newly-fit Rob Dewey.

You cannot play down the importance of players like Dewey.

Experience goes a long way in professional rugby, particularly at a time when players will be off at a World Cup. 5 years ago, before having some personal issues and several injuries, Dewey was one of Scotland’s most devastating players, terrifying defences in the Magners League and leaving a physical impression on international sides. He has restarted at Glasgow after struggling at Ulster and finally looks set to play regular rugby again.

On top of this the Warriors, like Edinburgh, have profiteered from the advent of a full-time 7s squad. Players like Eddie, Gregor and Horne are Warrior assets when Graham Shiel doesn’t need them and Glasgow have managed to augment their squad without breaking the bank. They have retained experience for a bargain price.

Against the Falcons tonight, then, Glasgow will start with a team that only has 1 player that started almost all games last season (Harley, from the bench). There is an assuring familiarity about the squad, despite this. Somehow there is the air of freshness using the same components of last year’s squad.

Lineen and Shade Munro could be lucky. Old heads could do their thinking on the pitch for them, young legs could do the running and team unity like we saw in 09/10 could spring from an unlikely source.

They will need such unity, because even when they get Ryan Grant and Rob Harley they could struggle against Rabo League packs. They could yearn for turnovers. If they are actually as fit as Lineen claims then the rest of pre-season should be dedicated to defence with Gary Mercer. In 09/10 they were in the playoffs by way of harrying and harassing other teams out of the way. They need to start like that this term.

When the season starts players like Wight, Reid and, fleetingly, Nick Campbell, will find it tough but they will regularly be asked just to cope with the basics. Instead, any direction, leadership and spark will be asked of Weir, Dewey, Eddie and, if he is up to it, Troy Nathan. Harley and Welsh will be asked to do what they do and Ryan Wilson and Colin Gregor will be asked for cameos.

The rest of the pressure must come down on Lineen. In the past he has been guilty of blaming individuals when things go wrong but praising individuals when things go right. Let us treat him and Munro in the same way. They have 4 home games in the first 7 matches.

 “The boys are itching to get out on the pitch and show the pride they have in the Glasgow jersey, and the coaches are the same: we can’t wait to get started” Lineen said when the fixtures were announced.

 By the time the 1872 Cup comes around we will know if fans want Lineen as a permanent fixture, or if it is time to really start again; afresh.

It is that time of year where the pro teams court club sides and fans to attempt to foster that relationship “that just wasn’t there last season.” Indeed as Melrose found out last night the charm offensive has already started in earnest as fans are torn between supporting club rugby or seeing the big boys come the 2nd of September. We see the same adverts and hear the same appeals on STV (only) and a select few radio channels. Don’t forget about the Rabo-League!

It is also apparent that despite restructuring and new directives; fewer ‘elite’ teams and the same fixed number of B & I Cup places, Club rugby is gearing up for its new season much as it has every other year.

The bigger clubs do the rounds ‘asking’ players their plans for the year, some players finally achieving success hang up the boots. Some of those rather ‘miffed’ at relegation retire rather than swap clubs. Some players swap clubs like night-out t-shirts. The merry-go-round whirls undeterred (I will analyse the Prem 1 pre-season and offer up my own predictions for each team just before the RBS Premier 1 season begins on the 27th of August).

We also realise that the full-timers have their squads almost set in stone now, with the flitting of the 7s players to be taken into account and no new signings looking likely to swell ranks. The news of Hugo Southwell officially becoming a Wasp is no surprise. Edinburgh and Glasgow, it seems, are happily left to their own devices as every focuses in on the Big Team’s World Cup Preparation.

Oh yeah. That Webb Ellis thingy.

It’s time to step up our build-up to RWC 2011.

In the next few weeks we will be looking at New Zealand’s preparation for the tournament, analysing our group opponents, analysing our potential squad and, perhaps most importantly, evaluating our selections and form leading up to the first match against Romania.

Rory will do what he can from the ‘Ends of the Earth’ but back in Blighty I will be doing what I always do: conducting interviews, dissecting official statements and press conferences and trying not to be toooooo negative.

 Tomorrow I begin my countdown to the Rugby World Cup 2011 with an Interview with a Kiwi and Haggis flavour, and from here on out everything is focussed on the glorious return of Rugby.

In the meantime:

What do YOU think of the Scotland team to play Ireland this Saturday in the first EMC test?

15 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) 104 caps and 783 points

14 Nikki Walker (Ospreys) 22 caps and 30 points
13 Joe Ansbro (London Irish) 6 caps
12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps and 15 points
11 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 55 caps and 40 points

10 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) 6 caps and 8 points
9 Rory Lawson (Gloucester) 27 caps CAPTAIN

1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh) 55 caps
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh) 48 caps and 10 points VICE-CAPTAIN
3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh) 5 caps
4 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester) 31 caps and 5 points
5 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 10 caps
6 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester) 19 caps and 5 points
8 Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors) 15 caps and 15 points
7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) 6 caps

 Substitutes

16 Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors) 34 caps and 5 points
17 Alasdair Dickinson (Sale Sharks) 19 caps
18 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) 32 caps and 5 points
19 David Denton (Edinburgh) uncapped
20 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh) 1 cap
21 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh) 24 caps and 5 points
22 Jack Cuthbert (Bath) uncapped

 Me? I will reserve judgement until Friday, and then I will have a match review on Sunday. Still wanna go to the game? Dont panic. You can still get tickets:

•  Online – at www.scottishrugby.org until 12noon v Ireland and 3pm v Italy.
• From the 24 hour hotline- 0844 335 3933 until 12noon v Ireland and 3pm v Italy
• Or in person by cash or credit card at specially designated ticket sales outlets located in front of Murrayfield Stadium, off Roseburn Street from 9am until kick-off. (FINALLY!)

For rugby teams this can also be true. Some teams thrive on the perpetuation of a team ethos; a mission statement, almost. It is what endears and creates long term fans. It is what attracts players to play a brand of rugby. It is what makes a team a commodity.

Look at Leicester and Munster with their rumbling, snarling packs that chew up territory. Look at Leinster’s sweeping and explosive play. Look at Ospreys attempts at total rugby and even look at Edinburgh’s near religious adherence to the principle of “let’s chuck it about a bit”.

On Scotland’s West coast this is no different.

Glasgow Warriors enjoy being seen as Warriors because the name inspires images of bloodied heroes that have been through Hell to meet their ends. Glasgow love being the gritty scrappers of European rugby.

Judging by the last few season’s results, Glasgow have won games against opposition through sheer bloody mindedness and disregard for their bodies. Look at the away fixture in Toulouse in 2009: a true underdog’s performance.  Even when they beat Gloucester the following season 33 to 11 it was more from pressure and Parks 23 points than any rugby extravaganza.

When they went to the Magners play-offs it was a great thing for the club and for Scottish rugby. However, despite winning 11 and only losing 5 regular season games they never could be said to have played consistently silky and exciting rugby. Their biggest winning margin came against a weakened Leinster side already looking to the play-offs. Most wins were within a score or two (bearing in mind this was the season ‘Punt It’ Parks was a 6N saviour).

I am in no way belittling Glasgow’s achievement there. They deserved to get to the play-offs and they were inspiring to watch, at times. The issue is that the personnel Glasgow and Lineen tend to opt for are the kind of guys that are used to having their backs against the wall.

When they took a risk on the Hurricanes’ Super 14 top try-scorer, Lome Fa’atau, in 2007 it backfired as he failed to adapt to the wet west coast conditions. This ‘risk’, though, was backed up at the time by the signing of veteran defensive centre Daryl Gibson. This kind of safety shot is a regular one for the Warriors.

Recent players like Andy Newman, Scott Barrow, Tim Barker, Steve Swindall, Donny Macfadyen, Kevin Tkachuk and Dan Turner were all good team players but they didn’t have anything that could win a game with brilliance. They were battlers.

Glasgow have signed some new guys, but will they be Warriors or something different?

Troy Nathan has played with Connacht so knows about slogging your way to narrow wins. I hope he is capable of a more complex game. If Glasgow are to progress and do something different then a centre-come-10 who can control an inventive backline is a must.

By the same token it is necessary to wait and see what happens with Tom Seymour. I’ll admit that even my Ulster contacts can tell me very little about him, but it would have been nice (if he is the runner I believe he is) to have seen him operate on the opposite wing from Evans. Alas, Max is off to France.

As for Cusack, Wight and Pitman it will be a case of doing what we know they can do. No doubt Shade Munro is already looking for another flanker/lock who can fit into the lineout but be versatile when Gray and Kellock are back. In the perfect world he would also be fast.

So as we anticipate a new season with a depleted Warriors looking to scrape some wins in the opening Pro12 games maybe, just maybe, the script could be thrown away. I would love to see the youngsters throw caution to the wind and try to score innovative tries. Glasgow have already finished second bottom of the league. What’s the worst that could happen?

Oh… Lineen could risk his job?

Perhaps we will be holding out for some close ones and one Heineken Cup win after all, then.

A kilted kiwi never changes it’s spots, I would assume…

The pro-teams have been let down in terms of funding, but to say that both teams play in grounds devoid of atmosphere is, from what I have seen on TV a bit harsh. Of course I am not talking about Murrayfield which holds true of every criticism levelled at it last season – too big, too empty, too immune to the feelings of season ticket holders. I’m talking about their cousins in the west, who instead of battling SRU bureaucracy, are battling the Old Firm in their own heartland to try and snaffle a group of regular supporters.

Sure the crowds are not massive but it seems to me that Glasgow are certainly trying to build the sort of fanatical and supportive crowd that has to be the key element of a team’s support – especially in Glasgow where they take fanaticism seriously. When I’ve seen it on TV it always seems noisy, supportive and good fun. Having never been myself I felt I should do a quick poll on Twitter, here are some of the comments that came back:

“Given the size of the crowds the atmosphere at Firhill is great especially when the team need backing.”

“Crap compared to the French grounds, but still a good atmosphere. Better than most other grounds in the league!”

“Firhill is always noisy, plenty of kids support and crowd involvement. The sound that hits the other stand is amazing!”

“Obviously never been to a Glasgow game at Firhill! Maybe they went to Firpark??”

“No comparison. Firhill is small enough to have a good atmosphere even with the (sadly) smaller rugby crowds of the modern era”

Thanks to the tweeps for their comments, which go some way to show that there is indeed a strong vocal support for Glasgow: a core around which to build a fanbase. Mission for next season: get along to a Glasgow home game!

Then just as I thought I’d figured it out and I (plus chums above) was right and everyone else wrong, I saw this discussion over on the new rogue 606 and another can of whoopass is opened on Firhill, this time by Ruan Pienaar. We can probably all agree that the pitch does often look a little like a rabbit warren in a sand-dune, although it’s not totally clear if that is what he meant. Still, if I gave up the sun and surf of Durban to play in the Rabodirect Pro12, I’d be bitter too.

My initial opinion was that Glasgow were some way ahead of Edinburgh in terms of developing a community spirit (if not a pitch). They have great training facilities, seem more involved in the community, regular chat on Twitter and all that. Plus Sean Lineen seems to have made a few astute signings in Troy Nathan and Tommy Seymour and while the crowds lessened somewhat last season, a few good results could see things on the up at Firhill again.

Weir is a proven player at Celtic League level, Hogg has had some experience and is an incredibly confident individual and Bennett has had well documented flirtations with full time rugby here and in France. They do, however, go into the competition with a typical Scottish pack: one that struggled in scrums against the French, the Welsh and English and now faces a South Africa side, first up.

South Africa are notoriously physical, and the nation is yearning for success. They want to win more than a junior World Cup Bronze, especially before the defence of the senior World Cup. Scotland’s forwards may get steam-rollered.

On foreign soil, however, it is not unthinkable that Scotland can beat the likes of England, and particularly Ireland, in their group games.

At the ages of 18 and 19 I feel players are nowhere near their full development. In my opinion more needs to be done to bridge the perceived gap between ‘junior’ and ‘senior’ rugby. Weir, Bennett and Hogg have all shown it is possible to step into pro environments and not be obliterated. More kids need a shot.

Thankfully the days of the ill-conceived centralised ‘National Academy’ are gone, in favour of a more hands-on, pro-aligned Elite Development or ‘apprentice’ programme. Still more needs to be done, though.

It is always shocking when props, hookers and 10s (all positions that require growth, technical learning and, above all, experience) are told at 19 and 20 that they “cannot improve any more”. For me this is nonsense. Look at late comers Geoff Cross, Andrew Sheridan or former All Black and Edinburgh man, Dave Hewett. If they had not stuck at it and been allowed to grow and learn they would not be full internationals. Even look at pros Sam Vesty, Barry Everitt and Nick Easter: guys allowed to play their way up and grow, because people took a punt on them.

For this reason I feel that the B&I Cup, and MacPhail scholarships are amazing openings for young players to explore.

As usual I will take my chance to be radical and propose some developmental avenues that the SRU, Graham Lowe, Bryan Easson, Ian Monaghan and Ian Brierley, Stevie Gemmell and Graham Shiel can explore. It would involve stepping out of the comfort zone.

The B&I Cup is an amazing experience and can bring players forward, as well as show them their limitations. It is much tougher than any club rugby in Scotland. Would it be possible to emulate it at under-20 or under-18 level?

We already have Regional sides (Caledonia, Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Borders). Could they be used to play equivalents in Wales, England and Ireland throughout the season? Maybe the winner of the district championship, only, would go forward. Increased competition could bring players on and there would be a necessity for better coaching.

This is just a suggestion, as schooling and work commitments would have to be taken into account. In the summertime, though, we have the opportunity to send youngsters away to learn rugby abroad and hone their skills via the MacPhail Scholarship.

In the past 1 player was sent to NZ to evolve. This year the SRU have sent 3 boys. I applaud this step forward, but again ask: could we do more?

Firstly, if we can afford to send 3, why not scrape a wee bit more together and send 5 or 6? The SRU already pays for the vast entourage out with the playing and coaching side to travel to World Cups (more on this in a sec…).

Secondly, why do we still have this romantic obsession with NZ? They are the best rugby nation in the world, sure, but will they aid our youth development? Scotland can imagine they play similar rugby but in reality this is not true. The national side now plays, and has done for the last 8 or so years, a game based on defence and taking point when we can.

For this reason players should be sent to learn all over. It would also help strengthen ties, globally.

Any back-rower or 10 they want to work on their off-the-cuff skills, sure, send them to NZ. However, any front 5 player and 10 looking to control a game with the boot should be sent to South Africa. Their game is built on kicking and brusque physicality. Flyers and centres who play unstructured rugby should go to Australia (only because France don’t do summer rugby!).  NZ does not hold all the answers. Not for Scotland.

Of course it comes down to money and in the end no one wants to take responsibility for development. Who is in charge of all development in Scotland? I am led to believe it is ‘Director of Performance rugby’ Graham Lowe. He has a remit that covers the ‘Big’ team and all the under-age teams as well. He has input into everything.

For me, though, his focus should always be on the youth. We all want a brighter future. Perhaps this is what saddens me when the SRU officially confirmed for me that Lowe will be at the RWC with the senior side in September. While many youngsters and former club and age-grade players will be looking to evolve or even being with pro-teams for the first time, and the Celtic League, B&I Cup and domestic Leagues rage on, Lowe will be in NZ. With a Scotland side that has been preparing for months and alongside Andy Robinson’s dedicated coaching team.

I know where I think he should be…