ANDY Robinson's decision to name Mike Blair and Chris Cusiter as joint-captains makes such obvious good sense that it is hard to see why anyone should question it.
The pair have been on a see-saw ever since Bryan Redpath retired after the 2003 World Cup, with now one up, now the other. Both have been on Lions tours, even if Blair was given sadly few opportunities in South Africa this past summer and Cusiter had
to play second fiddle to the excellent Dwayne Peel on the ill-managed Clive Woodward expedition to New Zealand. They are, that's to say, two of our few world-class players, and the pity is that they can't be on the field at the same time, no coach having dared to experiment with Blair at 10 outside his partner-rival at 9.
But this of course is the point: that they won't be on the field at the same time. We have three international matches coming up in three weeks, and, whatever decision Robinson made about the captaincy, it's unlikely that either of the pair would have started all three games.
Moreover, it is nowadays unusual for a scrum-half to play all 80 minutes of an international match. He usually comes off around the hour mark, to be replaced by "fresh legs". But replacing your captain may be a bit hazardous. So it makes sense to bring on your other captain instead. (Actually, I suspect this may not always be what happens, because it's surely probable the admirable Rory Lawson will start on the bench for at least one of the autumn internationals.)
Teams have been successfully captained from almost any position on the field, even wing three-quarter. But setting the matter of personality aside, some positions do seem more suited to the captaincy than others, and scrum-half is one of them. In modern rugby it tends to be the scrum-half, rather than his fly-half partner, who determines the shape of his side's play. Admittedly the All Blacks have almost always had a forward as captain (though their only World Cup was gained when their captain was scrum-half David Kirk).
There is evident merit in giving the captaincy to a forward, if only because he is saying "come on" rather than "go on" to the pack. Scotland's 1984 and 1990 Grand Slam-winning sides were each captained from loose-head prop, by Jim Aitken and David Sole respectively. Yet, unless you have an obvious captain among your forwards, scrum-half is the best position for your leader, and Mike Blair and Chris Cusiter are both intelligent players, and both at their best inspirational ones, the kind who make things happen. So I reckon Robinson has got it right.
Last Saturday was a happy day at Philiphaugh with Selkirk at last reproducing last season's form to beat Heriot's 30-12 and pick up a bonus point in doing so. The man-of-the-match award went deservedly to Scott Tomlinson, though it might equally well have gone to right-winger Scott Hendrie, who had a splendid game. Tomlinson has had a tremendous career in which he has played at scrum-half and centre as well as in the back row.
I've watched him since he was playing mini-rugby, and that's almost a quarter of a century ago, and have never seen him give less than 100 per cent effort. Now in his old age – in rugby playing terms – he may have lost a yard or more of pace, but he compensates by his astute reading of the game. He is the sort of player every coach wants, one who almost always does the right thing.
There were two examples of this last Saturday, one a high angled kick deep into the Heriot's 22, the other a long floated pass to Ross Armstrong. Each made a try. Jim Telfer once remarked to me that he could always relax when David Leslie got hold of the ball because he knew he was going to do the right thing with it. Over the years a succession of Selkirk coaches must have felt that way about Tomlinson.
Heriot's played some good rugby, too, which made for an adventurous and attractive open game.
Nevertheless, on this evidence one rather fears for their prospects in the cobbled-together Anglo-Scottish Cup. It seems, however, that both they and Ayr are going to be allowed to include two or three guest players. This may be necessary, but still calls in question the wisdom of matching amateurs with professionals. If this is to be done, it might have been wiser for the second Scottish place in the competition to have gone to the Scotland Club International XV rather than individual clubs.
Meanwhile, I intend to watch Selkirk Youth Club this afternoon. They have had a remarkable season so far. Coached by Cameron Cochrane and Darren Hoggan they have scored more than 600 points in ten League matches and have yet to concede a try. Quite a record to have to attempt to maintain against Melrose Wasps.
