Scotland Rugby League is set to live up to its name by reintroducing national league competition this season in a move that should protect the organisation’s right to field an international team.
Fixtures have been put in place for a four team league starting in mid-May and running through to a Grand Final in August.
Aberdeen Warriors and Strathmore Silverbacks, who met one another in play-offs last season to decided which would take Scotland’s place in this season’s Challenge Cup, with Aberdeen prevailing, will be joined by Carluke Tigers and Edinburgh Eagles.
Two more teams, Easterhouse Panthers and Bon Accord, will play friendly fixtures with a view to being able to join the competition next season.
Scotland has made huge strides on the international stage in recent years, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2013 World Cup and winning the following years European Championship which gained them entry to last year’s Four Nations where they performed creditably against Australia and England before creating the biggest shock in the history of the international game when drawing with then world number one New Zealand.
The domestic game has lagged behind, however and pressure is mounting on Rugby League Scotland to address that, to the extent that they will no longer be eligible to field an international team following this season’s World Cup unless they can provide evidence that they are developing homegrown talent through a league system.
The game’s ruling bodies have decreed that there has to be league competition involving eight clubs in place for teams to play international matches, but Keith Hogg, chairman of Scotland Rugby League said he was confident they would be able to fulfil those criteria by next season.
“As well as the national league competition which we expect we will be able to expand next year we are close to finalising a competition involving four student teams which should be in place in October,” he explained.
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