Scott joins rugby's brawn drain

Orrell this afternoon after having moved there from Edinburgh Accies

just before Christmas. The game is against Leicester, and the crowd will

be around 11,000. The match is sold out. How life changes.

Last week, the news broke that Gregor Townsend has signed forms for

both London Scottish and Northampton, and Andy Nicol departed for Bath,

joining a celebrated list of Scottish rugby players in England, the most

recent of whom are Derrick Paterson and Rob Wainwright.

So why go? ''Look,'' said Scott, at home after a gruelling session,

''in Scotland I could honestly say that I was getting only one hard game

in four. I'm down here to test myself against top-class players every

week. I am not surprised at Gregor Townsend moving, either.''

He cites the approach of his new masters. ''Take tonight, for

instance. My car wouldn't start -- so they sent a taxi. Can you imagine

that happening in Scotland?

''Everybody down here is really into their weights. I go with Dewi

Morris. When we get to training on a Tuesday night there is an edited

video of Saturday's game on TV in our changing room, and we watch that,

and talk about it, before we go out. The attitude is professional. So

much preparation goes into each game.''

We know the attitude is professional, but is the rest?

''I spoke with Eric Peters, and he, like me, says there is no money at

his club. But we know it's down here all right, no doubt about it,'' he

says. ''Orrell isn't a rich club, so we don't have too many well-off

rugby players, but you can get all the kit you want, and, like Scotland,

there are the sponsored cars and individual deals to be had for lots of

lads in England.''

That professionalism comes easy in a part of England that has, on its

doorstep, a plethora of rugby-league clubs, and Orrell have frequent

liaisons with Wigan.

''Frano Botica comes down to train us -- he's amazing -- and we learn

a lot from them, and their training routines, in general,'' he says.

''That's why everybody at the club is so big into the weights, and the

power running, all from league rugby.''

My first real sight of Scott was when he scored a try for Edinburgh

Borderers in a surprise win over David Sole's World Cup team as they

prepared for the 1991 tournament. It was raw and rich potential that was

tapped only when Scotland toured Australia and he won his two caps.

Since then there has been a lean spell.

The well-worn Scottish practice of discarding players who had forced

their way into a side on tour came into force when Scott was displaced

in further A games by Gala hooker Ian Corcoran.

''It has been frustrating. I didn't seem to be getting selected, and

there have been injuries. Even now, I haven't been to a single session

in preparation for the World Cup, so that's why I'm keen to improve,''

he says.

''In comparison to the English boys, I suppose they're bigger, and I

get much lower than them in training, but I'll see how I get on against

Leicester. They seem to stay on their feet longer, and maul, whereas I

tend to get down early and ruck. What strikes me is that they don't seem

that much better than the lads I played with at all. They're just bigger

-- bigger and stronger, I suppose.''

Scott is network manager with the Army, looking after all their

communications systems in the north of England, and, like all of the

players who have taken the A74 south, the job -- it being an amateur

game, of course -- was as important as the rugby. For Scott, the job

also meant promotion.

I think that it is sad that our players feel they have to go down to

visit our English pals to get decent competition. But, for goodness'

sake, we don't even appear to make the effort to keep them. All we do is

shrug our shoulders.

Scott agrees and adds: ''So far it has all worked out pretty well. I

hope that I can hold my place in the team. The competition down here

will be immense. And . . . no, I don't think I'll be back for a while.''

I shrug my shoulders. I give up.