Expectation on young front-row talent is too high

Rugby reporter

Tuesday 25 September 2012

One of Scottish Rugby's leading technical experts says clubs around Scotland need to ramp up their skills and conditioning programmes for young front-row players if indigenous talent is to be developed.

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Alasdair Reid

Eddie Pollock, the former Stirling County prop and director of rugby, who is now the SRU's specialist coaching co-ordinator, was speaking in response to Herald Sport revelations concerning the number of front-row players who have been recruited recently from overseas and accusations from club coaches that age-grade scrummaging laws do not equip young players for the senior game.

"Those laws are international," said Pollock. "They are the same all around the world, so it's not just a Scottish thing. They were put in place for safety reasons and that's not going to change."The clubs which have brought players in from abroad are getting them from countries where they maybe mature a bit earlier, but a lot of those who come in are already pretty old and experienced. I'm really not convinced that the laws are a problem. They've been in place for a long time."Pollock also suggested that clubs' expectations of young front-row players have become unrealistic over the past few years. "Looking back to the 1980s, when I was playing, I can remember that most clubs had under-21 teams, so young players generally didn't go straight into senior rugby," he said."Back then, some clubs had six or seven teams. Typically, players were 21 or 22 before they got into the first team. They didn't come into the team straight from a junior side; that just didn't happen. "But in the past few years, people have wanted that to happen for various reasons, one of which is that there are fewer players playing front row nowadays. But it just isn't the case the players were capable of playing front row when they were 18 or 19 because of the laws at the time. They weren't."Pollock acknowledged that coaches are now under greater pressure to deliver results and are therefore more tempted to look abroad for short-term solutions to their problems. Moreover, the need to have designated front-row cover on the bench had reduced the amount of game time props and hookers could expect."Coaches have a difficult job," he said. "They're trying to win games but they also want to develop players. It's a balancing act and it's not easy because they're trying to keep all the players happy while at the same time they have pressure from the players and their committees."A problem now is that if young guys don't get into the first or second team straight away then they tend to drop off or go to another club. "So the first thing to do is to up-skill the players technically so they can handle an adult scrum, and the biggest thing there is that they have to be physically capable. The only way you can accelerate that process is by going on weights programmes. "The question I would ask of guys at club level who are not involved in the national age-grade programme is how many of them are doing that?"However, Pollock, who also operates as the Scotland under-18 head coach, stressed that help is available from Murrayfield for clubs that want to speed up the progress of their young front-row players. "If the clubs need scrummage assistance or advice on weights programmes we're running sessions all the time," he said. "If people need support in these areas we are there to help. We're trying to help coaches all the time. If you do need help with specialist skills I'm the point of contact. That's certainly a message I would like to get out there."

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Expectation on young front-row talent is too high

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