The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[topofthemoon]

A year or two ago I remember reading from an SRU source, I can't remember who, that they had concentrated their efforts at Glasgow because with bringing Townsend in as coach after Lineen had steadied the ship, there was a very promising group of young players there which they augmented with the likes of Maitland, Seymour and Strauss etc. Glasgow's budget has been larger than Edinburgh's for a long time, this was down to them being successful and supplying more players to the Scotland squad during that period, it was the SRU rewarding Glasgow and after Toonie came a big budget coach in Dave Rennie.

That's all as it should be, imo, the Glasgow success on the park brought a bigger budget from the SRU, who then decided to increase Edinburgh's budget to try to emulate the progress made over in the west, but Glasgow didn't see a cut in budget at the time, at least it was never reported as being the case.

What I don't know is if Edinburgh budget has now overtaken Glasgow's, I would be very surprised if it has, I think the number of players from each club was nearly even Stevens at the world cup

It has long been reported that the Glasgow budget is bigger than Edinburgh's as there is an approximate 50/50 split which is then adjusted by performance - Glasgow obviously performing better than Edinburgh for almost every year in recent history. The quoted figures are usually around Edinburgh £4.8m and Glasgow £5.1 million - I think those date back to around 2020/21 so things may have changed through the pandemic and the turbulence in the English game. Obviously that is players only and doesn't account for facilities etc.

I think those figures were quoted by Mark Dodson at the AGM in October 2016. As far as I'm aware the differential between Glasgow and Edinburgh was eliminated during the Cockerill era so they should be operating off the same budget. There was a supporters' meeting last summer where it was mentioned that the budget for Glasgow was £6.5m for the 2021/22 season and it was getting boosted to £8m for 2022/23 (the increased investment in the pro game referenced in the most recent SRU accounts). It's possible it may have needed to come back down a bit but I doubt it's much below £7.5m for 2023/24.

[topofthemoon]

If your going to class Jordon as in IC , and Styn as an OC , we might as well class Johnny Matthews as a winger ( he will score more tries that the Edinburgh Wingers combined )

Ha! The Jordan as IC came from the Glasgow board, just like I said. His profile on All Rugby lists him as a centre, his Wiki page has him as a centre/fly half.

Steyn is listed as an outside centre on the Glasgow Warriors site.

In a sport where hookers score lot of tries off the maul Mathews is prolific right enough, over thirty tries I think so far, but you'd be better off saying that he scores more than the Glasgow wingers combined, he's not scored more than van der Merwe and Graham.

Depends on your timescale I guess. In the calendar year 2023, Johnny Matthews has scored 18 tries for Glasgow in 867 minutes played. Across the same period, Darcy Graham and Duhan van der Merwe have a combined total of 4 tries scored for Edinburgh in 800 minutes played.

If you add in all players who have played wing for Edinburgh you get to 6 tries in 2023.

If you add in all backs for all 16 games that Edinburgh have played so far in 2023, you get to 19 tries - 1 more than Johnny but from a combined 8,900 or so minutes of game time.

Glasgow's wings have scored 24 tries in 2023.

Correction on the Edinburgh backs figure - that should be 22 tries.

[KingBlairhorn]

A year or two ago I remember reading from an SRU source, I can't remember who, that they had concentrated their efforts at Glasgow because with bringing Townsend in as coach after Lineen had steadied the ship, there was a very promising group of young players there which they augmented with the likes of Maitland, Seymour and Strauss etc. Glasgow's budget has been larger than Edinburgh's for a long time, this was down to them being successful and supplying more players to the Scotland squad during that period, it was the SRU rewarding Glasgow and after Toonie came a big budget coach in Dave Rennie.

That's all as it should be, imo, the Glasgow success on the park brought a bigger budget from the SRU, who then decided to increase Edinburgh's budget to try to emulate the progress made over in the west, but Glasgow didn't see a cut in budget at the time, at least it was never reported as being the case.

What I don't know is if Edinburgh budget has now overtaken Glasgow's, I would be very surprised if it has, I think the number of players from each club was nearly even Stevens at the world cup

It has long been reported that the Glasgow budget is bigger than Edinburgh's as there is an approximate 50/50 split which is then adjusted by performance - Glasgow obviously performing better than Edinburgh for almost every year in recent history. The quoted figures are usually around Edinburgh £4.8m and Glasgow £5.1 million - I think those date back to around 2020/21 so things may have changed through the pandemic and the turbulence in the English game. Obviously that is players only and doesn't account for facilities etc.

I think those figures were quoted by Mark Dodson at the AGM in October 2016. As far as I'm aware the differential between Glasgow and Edinburgh was eliminated during the Cockerill era so they should be operating off the same budget. There was a supporters' meeting last summer where it was mentioned that the budget for Glasgow was £6.5m for the 2021/22 season and it was getting boosted to £8m for 2022/23 (the increased investment in the pro game referenced in the most recent SRU accounts). It's possible it may have needed to come back down a bit but I doubt it's much below £7.5m for 2023/24.

That’s pretty interesting. The English salary cap is £5m rising to £6.5m next year I think? That would put both Scottish clubs well beyond their English counterparts, although I suppose the marquee player could bump that up quite a chunk.

[Slick]

It has long been reported that the Glasgow budget is bigger than Edinburgh's as there is an approximate 50/50 split which is then adjusted by performance - Glasgow obviously performing better than Edinburgh for almost every year in recent history. The quoted figures are usually around Edinburgh £4.8m and Glasgow £5.1 million - I think those date back to around 2020/21 so things may have changed through the pandemic and the turbulence in the English game. Obviously that is players only and doesn't account for facilities etc.

I think those figures were quoted by Mark Dodson at the AGM in October 2016. As far as I'm aware the differential between Glasgow and Edinburgh was eliminated during the Cockerill era so they should be operating off the same budget. There was a supporters' meeting last summer where it was mentioned that the budget for Glasgow was £6.5m for the 2021/22 season and it was getting boosted to £8m for 2022/23 (the increased investment in the pro game referenced in the most recent SRU accounts). It's possible it may have needed to come back down a bit but I doubt it's much below £7.5m for 2023/24.

That’s pretty interesting. The English salary cap is £5m rising to £6.5m next year I think? That would put both Scottish clubs well beyond their English counterparts, although I suppose the marquee player could bump that up quite a chunk.

Will that budget be all players pay though? Or will it include travel, marketing etc. I’ve no idea

[Slick]

This Swiel chap having a tough 1st half

[KingBlairhorn]

Ben Healy has obviously been teaching the Scottish boys how to do a decent wrap around

[robmatic]

This Swiel chap having a tough 1st half

He certainly is. Embra are doing better than I expected despite that though.

[Slick]

This Swiel chap having a tough 1st half

He certainly is. Embra are doing better than I expected despite that though.

They look the better team so far

[Jock42]

WTF are they doing

[KingBlairhorn]

WTF are they doing

Shooting themselves in the foot as usual

[KingBlairhorn]

WTF are they doing

Shooting themselves in the foot as usual

Tbf they got away with it but more luck than judgement

[KingBlairhorn]

Big test here, 8 points ahead and just over ten minutes left. Can they manage a game against a team who seem to be even worse at shafting themselves?

[KingBlairhorn]

Big bomber hislop, got to be a win now. Still time for a bp.

[topofthemoon]

I think those figures were quoted by Mark Dodson at the AGM in October 2016. As far as I'm aware the differential between Glasgow and Edinburgh was eliminated during the Cockerill era so they should be operating off the same budget. There was a supporters' meeting last summer where it was mentioned that the budget for Glasgow was £6.5m for the 2021/22 season and it was getting boosted to £8m for 2022/23 (the increased investment in the pro game referenced in the most recent SRU accounts). It's possible it may have needed to come back down a bit but I doubt it's much below £7.5m for 2023/24.

That’s pretty interesting. The English salary cap is £5m rising to £6.5m next year I think? That would put both Scottish clubs well beyond their English counterparts, although I suppose the marquee player could bump that up quite a chunk.

Will that budget be all players pay though? Or will it include travel, marketing etc. I’ve no idea

That's playing budgets. Total spend on the professional rugby was £25.7m in the most recent accounts.

[Jock42]

Big bomber hislop, got to be a win now. Still time for a bp.

I'd have been happy with a LBP but it feels hollow giving away 2 LBP. I'm very fickle.

[Jock42]

I'm over the LBPs now. Great victory.

[KingBlairhorn]

That 15 minute wobble after half time was not great but after that they were well on top until they scored. Disappointing to see them drop away again but I think everyone had their rhythm badly impacted by the Ulster injury stoppage. Promising signs under Everitt.

I thought the young lads did well. Currie was class at 13 and Patterson looked good at fullback (nice to say that again!), he’s bulked up quite a bit since his debut.

[charltom]

All very encouraging I thought, but what a daft way to give away 2 BPs after 80 mins!

[topofthemoon]

It has long been reported that the Glasgow budget is bigger than Edinburgh's as there is an approximate 50/50 split which is then adjusted by performance - Glasgow obviously performing better than Edinburgh for almost every year in recent history. The quoted figures are usually around Edinburgh £4.8m and Glasgow £5.1 million - I think those date back to around 2020/21 so things may have changed through the pandemic and the turbulence in the English game. Obviously that is players only and doesn't account for facilities etc.

I think those figures were quoted by Mark Dodson at the AGM in October 2016. As far as I'm aware the differential between Glasgow and Edinburgh was eliminated during the Cockerill era so they should be operating off the same budget. There was a supporters' meeting last summer where it was mentioned that the budget for Glasgow was £6.5m for the 2021/22 season and it was getting boosted to £8m for 2022/23 (the increased investment in the pro game referenced in the most recent SRU accounts). It's possible it may have needed to come back down a bit but I doubt it's much below £7.5m for 2023/24.

That’s pretty interesting. The English salary cap is £5m rising to £6.5m next year I think? That would put both Scottish clubs well beyond their English counterparts, although I suppose the marquee player could bump that up quite a chunk.

That's the headline cap figures for the Premiership but would need to add on 2 excluded players (reducing to 1 next season), up to £600k home grown player credits, up to £400k injured player credits, international player credits of £80k per player - up to a maximum of £400k. Existing contracts also only counted 75% to the lower cap limit of £5m that was brought in as a temporary measure.

In 2021/22 with a cap of £5m, the average cash spend for a Premiership team on senior and Academy players was £8.2m.

[Tichtheid]

I'm just about to watch the game now, knowing the score.

Good win in a difficult place to play

[Big D]

Any win in Ulster is a good one. Sure 2LBPs are frustrating but it is a good win.

Currie should keep the 13 shirt. Patterson looks like he'll a j
good job.

[Tichtheid]

Nel is battering Kitshoff, and Schoey is having a field day

[Tichtheid]

Stevie Ferris never disappoints, does he?

[Slick]

Just watched the 2nd half. Good win without being outstanding.

Ritchie was immense, please relieve him of the Scotland captaincy. Price is a huge upgrade on Vellacot. Healy is quietly very classy and going to get better. Watson looked angry and good.

Special mention to young Patterson who I don’t think I’ve see before, potentially a very good player

[Biffer]

That’s a great win, makes last week all the more galling, but if we’d won last week and only got a BP this week I would have said we’d had a pretty good start to the season. The 1872 games are vital, we need a win and multiple bonus points there.

[Slick]

Stevie Ferris never disappoints, does he?

Genuinely unbelievable

[Tichtheid]

Jamie Ritchie was outstanding. Luke Crosbie carried with his usual venom, Mish looked liked a player with a point to prove, and he did just that.

[Slick]

Just seen the Instagram post of Paterson doing the “Edinburgh” song with a drum. Great to see stuff like that still happening

[Tichtheid]

Just seen the Instagram post of Paterson doing the “Edinburgh” song with a drum. Great to see stuff like that still happening

Love it

[Yr Alban]

That’s a great win, makes last week all the more galling, but if we’d won last week and only got a BP this week I would have said we’d had a pretty good start to the season. The 1872 games are vital, we need a win and multiple bonus points there.

I was thinking this. Winning away today makes last week less of a disaster.

[KingBlairhorn]

Stevie Ferris never disappoints, does he?

Genuinely unbelievable

My favourite was midway through the second half when Hume got pinged for jackling without releasing. Ferris talks across the replay about how it is clear he is on the ball and as he is doing so realises there was no release, you could hear the moment he realised which he decided to narrate by saying something like “and he did it all legally”. Barclay piped up with “you have to release after the tackle Steve”. I can just imagine him rolling his eyes while saying it. Barclay can be a bit one-eyed too but at least will be honest about what he is seeing and correct himself when he got it wrong.

[dpedin]

Must have been galling watching your prize marque signing Kitschoff being man shamed by a 37 year old Nel! Shoeman just destroyed both tight heads as well. So much fun to watch!

[robmatic]

I thought the pack were generally excellent. Hodgson and Sykes really showed up after not getting much of a look in so far this season.

[Jock42]

Special mention to young Patterson who I don’t think I’ve see before, potentially a very good player

Looks like he's put a bit of beef on. Thought he was pretty skinny last season.

[SomersetJock]

Excellent from Edinburgh last night. Let’s hope that last weeks 2nd half capitulation was just a blip.

Cant decide if Glasgow’s 1st half against Munster was as bad as Edinburghs 2nd against Benneton.

[Tichtheid]

Boan Venter signs a two year extension to his deal at Edinburgh. He'll be 28 and Scottish-Qualified by the end of it.

[robmatic]

Boan Venter signs a two year extension to his deal at Edinburgh. He'll be 28 and Scottish-Qualified by the end of it.

He's been a great pick up for Edinburgh. He'd only had 20 or so appearances for Cheetahs when he came over and I think he'd be a starter now for a lot of clubs in the URC - he just happens to be behind Schoeman for us.

[Tichtheid]

Boan Venter signs a two year extension to his deal at Edinburgh. He'll be 28 and Scottish-Qualified by the end of it.

He's been a great pick up for Edinburgh. He'd only had 20 or so appearances for Cheetahs when he came over and I think he'd be a starter now for a lot of clubs in the URC - he just happens to be behind Schoeman for us.

To be honest I didn't realise he was so young, and at those numbers he doesn't have a lot of senior pro rugby under his belt. He could well be an Edinburgh player for the next ten years.

I think he's been terrific for us at Edinburgh, much more so than de Bruin who I've been very disappointed with, for a man with the perfect prop physique, around 6ft and 20 stones, he's no scrummager - otoh, WP continues to show that it's not the dog in the fight etc

Venter is only a year older than McBeth at Glasgow btw.

[Big D]

Boan Venter signs a two year extension to his deal at Edinburgh. He'll be 28 and Scottish-Qualified by the end of it.

I forgot he joined in the February.

[Slick]

Went and watched the U18 schools final at Murrayfield last night. Christ, the game is unrecognisable from when I was at school, they all actually seem to know what they are doing....

Sir Ian Wood's grandson was MoM and looks a real talent, also a young 16 year old playing on the wing for Watson oozed class every time he got the ball, set up 2 in the first half and got one in the 2nd.