The introduction of South African teams to turn what was the PRO12 into a PRO14 competition may have accentuated an inherent unfairness in the tournament structure, but the men running its Scottish representatives have both refused to be drawn into calling for change.
Questions have been raised about the competitive integrity of the season-long competition that continues while leading players are on international duty, since some teams are naturally worse affected than others by those calls.
That, in turn, reinforces the view held by some that what began as the Celtic League has been substantially more than a development arena, having effectively been treated as such by the Irish teams in particular throughout its existence.
While there is a slightly different attitude in Scotland, that is understandable given that the only tournament success achieved by a Scottish team this season was Glasgow Warriors’ PRO12 triumph three years ago, but the prospect of their season-long unbeaten league record at their Scotstoun home being challenged by a full-strength Cheetahs side saw their head coach Dave Rennie invited to register concern.
In responding, he suggested that the prospect of mismatches might be something that organisers would have to keep an eye on, saying: “I’m sure a lot of thought goes into this time of year. There is no doubt that some teams are heavily understrength, like the Italian sides and the Scottish sides.
“Scarlets are providing a hell of a lot of Welsh players and Leinster are providing a hell of a lot of Irish. Some teams are heavily affected and some teams aren’t at all. You would hope that some thought is going in to the make-up of the draw around this time.”
However, he also recognised that it is a difficult thing to manage and pointed to the fact that there are benefits to be gained in terms of bringing players through, saying: “With only two African sides, they play each other three times [so] I’m sure it’s not an easy process, but hopefully some serious thought is going into trying to make it as even as possible.
“We don’t talk about what’s fair and what is not fair. We are going to have a really good side on the field. We’ve got good depth and we’ve played a lot of the season without internationals. Because we’ve had a lot of injuries, a lot of these young men have played a lot of rugby for us.
“We have got to get out there and do a job at home. It’s got to be a challenge, as this whole period is, but we’re pretty excited by that and we have a good enough side in the paddock to do the job.”
In similar vein, Edinburgh will have more of their leading players unavailable for tonight’s challenging and vital trip to Belfast, but again their head coach Richard Cockerill made it clear that all concerned understood the nature of the tournament.
“Look I am used to it in the Premiership and the PRO14.
I think we just have to get on with it. We don’t worry about who we are missing, we have to worry about who we can get out there,” he said
“Around the integrity of the competition, look there are a lot of Test matches now, Scotland have an extra one next year too, but we have to focus on what is in front of us, everyone is missing players, Ulster are missing four and we’re missing six due to injuries.”
He also pointed out that it has been Scottish rugby’s decision to have just two teams housing so many members of the national squad.
“When you only have two pro teams then that is the way things will go. Scottish teams are dealt the cards we are dealt and have to get on with it. Last week Leinster were missing more than us, so you just have to take the rough with the smooth.”
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