THE PRO12, Top 14 and English Premiership may be soldiering on through the play-offs, but as far as Scottish rugby is concerned the 2016-17 season is now over. It cannot be classed as a vintage one, but if we assess the season as it went in four areas of the game - Scotland, Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh and club rugby - it is clear that there has been some sort of progress on three of those fronts.
Playing their last season under Vern Cotter, Scotland enjoyed five victories and suffered three defeats, but of those three only one constituted a severe setback. To lose to Australia by a single point in the Autumn Tests, as had happened a year earlier in the World Cup quarter-final, was arguably undeserved. The loss in Paris in the Six Nations was another match which in slightly different circumstances could have been a win, and although France were physically dominant there was the consolation of a bonus point for a narrow defeat.
At Twickenham, by contrast, there was no consolation at all, as England racked up a record number of points in the fixture. The 61-21 defeat will remain an unsightly blot on the history of the national team, and highlighted defects, perhaps psychological as much as physical, that will need to be addressed.
But, having said that, the fact remains that Scotland were good enough to beat Argentina and Georgia in the autumn, then Ireland, Wales and Italy in the spring. All five victories were at home, which makes it clear that the next step for the team under new head coach Gregor Townsend will be to learn how to win away, but on balance it was obvious that the team improved over the year.
The same could not be said of Glasgow Warriors, at least when it came to league form, as they failed to make the PRO12 play-offs for the first time since Townsend became their coach. Still, they stayed in the hunt until the second-last weekend of the campaign, which is testament to their determination even at a time when they were playing below their best. And although there were few rousing performances in their bread-and-butter competition, in Europe they played outstandingly well in several ties to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup for the first time.
The 23-14 win in the pool stages at Racing 92 was really heartening, but the most significant result was the 43-0 win at Welford Road against Leicester Tigers. Especially for those of us who had been at the same ground 20 years earlier and witnessed a 90-19 humiliation for Glasgow in the quarter-final play-offs, that 43-0 triumph symbolised how much the team has grown. They were unable to hit the same heights in the quarter-final itself against eventual winners Saracens, but the crucial thing for the Warriors is that they now know that they are capable of getting to the last eight. Going at least one step further has to be their ambition for next season.
Edinburgh got to the last eight of the Challenge Cup, but apart from that they had a dismal time of it, and the most encouraging thing that can be said of them is at least they have the chance to start afresh next season under new head coach Richard Cockerill. Whether the former Leicester man will be able to fit into the system that prevails at Murrayfield is a moot point, but his appointment is at least a recognition by the governing body that something drastic needs to be done.
At club level, Melrose won the cup and Ayr took over as league champions from Heriot’s, who emulated the Warriors in being in contention for a play-off place throughout almost the whole season but in the end just failed to get there. Perhaps the most significant achievement in the club game, however, was Marr’s claiming of automatic promotion from National One a season after being runners-up then losing to Gala in the Premiership play-off.
This time round, the Ayrshire club made no mistake, topping the table with 102 points after losing just one of their 22 games. Marr only ended up four points clear of Edinburgh Accies, who went on to lose the play-off to Hawick, but there was no denying that they deserved their promotion.
The key question now is whether - or for how long - they can retain their place in the top flight. Watsonians, champions ahead of Marr in 2015-16, did just enough to stay up in their first season back in the top flight, and the newly-promoted club will be hopeful of doing better than merely keeping their heads above water. Next season at least, with the same group of players who won promotion staying together for a crack at the top division, they should be fine. How long they stay up beyond that will depend on whether they can continue to grow as a club on and off the field, particularly when it comes to recruited talented young players from the local area.
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