MURRAYFIELD WANDERERS boss George Threadgall has called for a re-think on super-team player allocations to clubs, claiming that a current imbalance may have cost his side a vital victory in their latest match.
Currently lying third bottom of BT Premiership Division Two, Wanderers lost 31-22 at Kelso last weekend after the home side brought on Borders professional scrum-half Iain Fairley.
Director of Rugby Threadgall says that type of recruitment is a f
acility denied to Wanderers by Edinburgh Gunners.
"It is time there was a more equitable distribution of players because Wanderers are missing out. What should happen is that there is a level playing field for all clubs in terms of the distribution of pros," said Threadgall.
He added: "Instead of giving one club all top-line pros they will, in reality, never see, there should be a mixture of experience and youth.
"That way Wanderers at least would have a chance of fielding a pro in our ranks rather than the present arrangement which implies our scheduled allocations are too key to Edinburgh’s requirements to risk releasing.
"Some districts are more flexible than others - as our visit to Kelso clearly demonstrated.
"There the match was evenly balanced when they sent on Borders internationalist Iain Fairley, whose experience was vital in that he was able to stop us gaining quality possession at the scrum base.
"While I am in favour of pros returning to the club scene there has to be some equality because although Wanderers are bracketed with four Edinburgh players - Hugo Southwell, Joel Brannigan, Conan Sharman and Brendan Laney - there is effectively no chance of us being able to field them.
"All four allocated players are front liners and Edinburgh say they are already operating with a reduced squad. Proof came when Edinburgh recently had a free weekend and when we inquired about the availability of Conan Sharman we were told he had to rest.
"Wanderers are paying the price for having leading lights associated with our club whereas others in the area have had the benefit of players coming back from injury and surplus to requirements at Edinburgh."
With Murrayfield battling to keep above the relegation zone the club are now poised to enter the international transfer market with a view to bringing in a player who may not be Scottish qualified, which flies in the face of the purpose of the super-teams.
Threadgall said: "We are in contact with Eastern Province Rugby Union in South Africa about signing a back row player.
"The situation has arisen because one of our two signings from abroad permitted under Premiership rules suffered a long-term injury in pre-season training and we had no option but to let him go in these circumstances."
Tana Brott, from New Zealand, was released without playing a match.
Threadgall said: "While we are hoping a French prop forward with experience of representing Grenoble under-21s, and who arrived this week along with some colleagues to study at Napier University, proves useful we still plan to take advantage of league rules governing foreigners.
"French players are permitted under EU legislation and that still leaves scope for another overseas player alongside our Australian star, John Moore, in filling the vacancy quickly."
This weekend Murrayfield Wanderers await a Haddington side who hope to have New Zealand-born centre Campbell Te Rito back from a hamstring injury.
Haddington’s director of rugby, Peter Brownlee, is a former coach of Murrayfield Wanderers and warns his side to expect few of the favours granted to them last week in a 55-8 win over Grangemouth.
"We expect Murrayfield to provide a much tougher test," said Brownlee.
The full article contains 626 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
