THE "biggest ever" shirt sponsorship deal in Scottish Rugby's history could help provide funds to strengthen the country's two professional teams, Mark Dodson, the union's chief executive, promised yesterday.
Speaking as the agreement with BT Sport was unveiled, he said it allowed the union to go "from strength to strength" in funding the two clubs. He added that the size of the new deal vindicated the decision to leave Glasgow without a shirt sponsor last year, a move that caused a lot of controversy at the time.
"It is the most lucrative shirt sponsorship in the history of Scottish rugby by some margin, a multi-million deal over four years that dwarfs anything signed in the past," he said
Glasgow have already spent heavily this summer, adding players such as Tyrone Holmes, the flanker from South Africa, Jerry Yanutanutawa, the Fijian prop, and Gabriel Ascarate, the Argentinian centre, so attention is likely to concentrate on where coachless Edinburgh decide to spend the offer of extra money.
First, the club are in the market for a new head coach, though that could be resolved as early as next week, when Alan Solomons is widely expected to leave his position as director of rugby at the Southern Kings in South Africa – they trail 26-19 after the home leg of their relegation play-off against the Golden Lions – and take over at Edinburgh.
When he arrives, he almost certainly will find some slack in the existing budget to use up first, but if he needs more recruits and can find the right players, Dodson made clear that the money will not be a problem.
"We will always be looking for the best players possible," Dodson said. "If that means the player budget rises as a consequence, that is what will happen. I've given both coaches [Gregor Townsend at Glasgow and whoever is lined up for Edinburgh] the reassurance that if there is a top-class player out there that they want, who wants to come to Scotland, we will fund it."
At the moment, it seems the Edinburgh players are not too worried about having Steve Scott in charge as caretaker head coach while they wait for the full-time appointment, since the summer focus is always on strength, fitness and conditioning work with the tactical side of things taking a back seat.
However, the first pre-season match is three weeks on Friday, so time is running out for the new man to arrive and make a difference before the action starts. "At this stage, the coach doesn't have much input, it is all about physical work and getting the players ready," explained Tim Visser, the international wing.
"We are not worried about that at all but at the same time it would nice to make sure a coach is there before the new season. I am sure they are trying to get the best candidate for the job and if that takes more time then that is the way it is. "Where we are as a club it is better we get in someone who is going to be better in the long term rather than just get a quick fix, which is not what we need. We need someone who can take control, take the club forward and put some solid foundations in place. If we have to wait longer, then that is the way it is."
As Ross Ford, the hooker who missed all the summer's action with a torn calf muscle, pointed out, two weeks is the maximum time players get to prepare for an international, so he cannot see it being a problem if the same timescale applies to adjusting to a new club coach.
"I am sure the SRU are working hard behind the scenes to get the right man for the job," he added. "They are not going to jump in, they are going to wait for the right person. We trust that they are working hard and we are doing the same [in training]. I just get on with it. They will appoint a coach when they are ready. I'm not that fussed. I just play rugby."
The BT Sport agreement will start immediately, though Marc Watson, the head of TV for BT Retail, said the company sees it as a sponsorship deal only and has no immediate plans to broadcast the clubs in action.
"We will look at all opportunities to broadcast sports as they come up and if an opportunity to broadcast rugby teams were to come up, of course we will look at it. I would not want to prejudge that," he added.
Part of the attraction would seem to be that the deal allows BT to get round a dispute with Sky over advertising the new BT Sport channels, which launch later this week. The satellite broadcaster is already committed to showing some games featuring Glasgow and Edinburgh and their new shirt logo in this season's Heineken Cup and it is also due to become the lead broadcaster for the RaboDirect Pro12 next year.
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