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‘We must do better at all levels’

SCOTTISH RUGBY CHAIRMAN JOHN JEFFREY

By ROB ROBERTSON

1990 Grand Slam legend John Jeffrey has accused Scotland’s high performance teams — especially Gregor Townsend’s senior national side — of ‘flattering to deceive’.

The former Scotland international, now SRU chairman, also feels there is no consistency, cutting edge or enough of a ruthless streak in the Scottish game.

The 63-year-old didn’t miss with his criticism of the current overall state of Scottish rugby in a wide-ranging speech at the SRU AGM and at a media interview afterwards, over the weekend.

The straight-talking Jeffrey touched on all aspects of the Scottish game and even voiced concerns that young Scottish players may be having their leadership skills coached out of them.

Insisting things have to get better across the board, Jeffrey said: ‘On reflection, last season was a disappointment. For the most part, our high-performance teams have flattered to deceive.

‘We had some fantastic individual results but a lack of consistency is frustrating for all our supporters.

‘We need to develop a ruthless streak that is evident in all successful sporting environments.

‘After continual years of investment into our highperformance structures we now expect to see better and more consistent outcomes. There has to be a rise in our ambition and standards of delivery. This is true across the board — in age grade, pro teams and the men’s and women’s national team.

‘We’ve invested an awful lot of money in our high-performance teams — that’s not just the national team, it’s the under-20s as well, it’s Edinburgh and Glasgow — and we need to get a return on that.

‘As my headteacher used to say at the end of my school report: “could do better”. But my father always added: “must do better”. I will also say for our rugby: “We will do better”.’

Jeffrey was critical of the men’s team, who lost the three-match Test series 2-1 in Argentina over the summer, and said it was ‘non-negotiable’ that standards had to improve on and off the pitch.

He also made clear that with the 2023 World Cup just over a year away, Scotland head coach Townsend had to stop experimenting with his team selection and begin a new era of ‘hard-edged attractive rugby’.

‘Our men’s national team again had some wonderful moments but failed to find the consistency needed if we are to challenge for the top prizes, be it Six Nations or World Cups,’ said the man who won 40 caps for his country.

‘The days of isolated victories against top teams have gone. As we enter the build-up to the World Cup in France next year, we need to be producing more consistent results.

‘In Rugby World Cup 2023, we have the ultimate challenge. We have the two highest-ranked teams in the world in our group — South Africa and Ireland — and if we progress to the quarter-finals, we will likely meet one of the third or fifth-ranked teams — France or New Zealand. So, the task is already formidable.

‘Our team must develop a winning habit that sees experimentation come to a close, ushering in an era of hard-edged attractive rugby. In line with this greater intensity of approach, our players also have a role to play on and off the pitch to ensure the right standards are delivered. All of this has to be non-negotiable.’

Jeffrey also admitted he had been disappointed that the Scotland women’s team had performed so badly in the Six Nations, losing all their games and finishing bottom of the table.

‘The women performed superbly to qualify for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand but had a disappointing Six Nations campaign where they failed to turn some good performances into victories,’ he said.

‘I acknowledge that their season was designed to peak at the World Cup qualification phase and that it was very challenging for our women’s players to peak again so soon for the Six Nations.’

Jeffrey was critical of the inability of Glasgow Warriors to build on their 2015 Pro12 league success but predicted better times under new head coach Franco Smith and improvement at Edinburgh under Mike Blair.

‘Glasgow have endured a frustrating couple of seasons and

in recent years have not built on their winning benchmark in 2015,’ said the former British and Irish Lion. ‘The introduction of Franco Smith as head coach should lead to a renewed dynamism and edge to their performances.

‘Edinburgh Rugby enjoyed a refreshingly vibrant and entertaining season under Mike Blair but ultimately fell short at the play-off stages of both URC and European Challenge Cup. This hopefully will be a valuable learning experience.’

The Scotland Under-20 team lost all their games in the Six Nations and suffered an embarrassing 55-17 defeat to Georgia over the summer that deeply concerned Jeffrey, who put the blame on the system rather than the players involved.

‘Our age-grade teams have been a point of real contention as we struggled badly in the Six Nations and recent Eight Nations competition in Italy,’ he said. ‘We acknowledge that our results in this area have been unacceptable.

‘We knew that changes had to be made some time ago and we created a new management structure for our age grade programmes which is only just bedding in. We suspected that things would get worse before they got better, yet the performances in Italy fell well short of what was expected of any Scotland team.

‘This is absolutely not the fault of the young men in the squad nor Kenny Murray, who came into the head coach role just weeks before the start of the Six Nations.

‘We are in the process of signing a young player development agreement with the Italian rugby federation which will see greater cooperation and opportunity between our two countries at youth level for men and women.

‘Having recruited Franco, who is acknowledged to be the architect of much of the improvement in the Italian age grade system, we should see this co-operation and an ever greater focus on homegrown and Scottish qualified talent begin to deliver the kind of performances we know our stakeholders expect.’

Jeffrey also said he didn’t agree with England head coach Eddie Jones, who had courted controversy by claiming that private school pupils — Jeffrey went to Stewart’s Melville School in Edinburgh before playing for Scotland — had a ‘closeted life’ and lacked the ‘resolve’ to make them leaders on the pitch.

What he was concerned with was the possibility that all young Scottish players, regardless of their backgrounds, could be having their leadership skills knocked out of them.

‘I think some of these young boys coming through look to have that (leadership) edge,’ said Jeffrey. ‘And — I hope I’m wrong in this — I think maybe our coaching, our academies, develop that out of them, coach that out of them.

‘As for the background of players, we’ve got very small numbers playing our game, and I don’t care whether they’re at private school, grammar school or whatever. We’ve got to look after every single one of them, develop them — and if the private schools are coaching them every day and doing that, then that’s great. The more kids we have playing, the better. I don’t care which structure it is.’

Football

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2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-15T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/282905209340457

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