Update from Scottish Rugby President Ian Barr on SCOG

To all Scottish Rugby Members,

I have been anxious for some time to report to you on upon progress made by SCOG in recent months.

Since Professor Lorne Crerar joined us at the start of this year as SCOG Chair, much positive progress has been made. I am able to report to you now that indicative, but detailed, proposals together with an oral presentation were laid before your Council earlier this week by SCOG. These proposals, I am pleased to say, received the support of your elected members and, SCOG believes, provide a real step forward, significantly enhancing the well-being of the club game and wider Scottish Rugby.

Additionally, SCOG has also had the opportunity to present to the Board of SRUL to set out the proposals we intend shortly to put before the members.

In brief, what has been proposed is the creation of a new body to be called “Scottish Rugby Union” which will be a company limited by guarantee (otherwise known as “SRU” or simply “the Union”). This body will be owned by and responsible to member clubs, and:

1. hold the assets of Scottish Rugby, including the shares of the current operating company (SRUL) now and in perpetuity;
2. exercise effective oversight of the activities of SRUL, to be managed via a new arrangement called a “Relationship Management Agreement”; and
3. report to members (the owners of Scottish Rugby) after each meeting with SRUL, a minimum of 4 times each year.

Additionally, we have proposed the creation of CRB – the Club Rugby Board – made up by individuals directly elected from the club game via our Forums (as they are currently structured). This is also a new body, formed to develop and implement a strategy for the domestic game in conjunction with SRUL’s Rugby Development Department. SCOG have proposed that the CRB will have a budget representing 15% of a rolling 4-year average of SRUL’s turnover, ring-fenced to provide funding for our domestic game.

It is now SCOG’s intention to refine the detail of its proposals with a view to shortly presenting a motion to all members at a SGM with an appropriate accompanying rationale. We hope this meeting can take place mid to late May and, if favoured with your support, it will enable the necessary paperwork for the proposed organisational transition to be prepared and laid before you for your final approval.

This message to you regarding SCOG’s current position and the work undertaken is brief but I felt that having received endorsement from the Council and support from the Board on the direction of travel, an exciting milestone has been reached in our process and, as a result, I felt it was important to provide you with an update just as soon as possible. I am very confident that SCOG’s proposals in relation to governance and organisational structures of the SRU and Scottish Rugby Union Limited will greatly enhance our capacity to deal with ongoing challenges and will enable us all, and together, to resolve the long standing perceived “governance problem”.

In the meantime, SCOG proposes to contact all Fora to arrange attendance to address in person queries from members. However, to encourage the fullest ongoing engagement, should you have any specific issue(s) you and / or your club might wish to address with SCOG, please contact us directly at [email protected] . We will endeavour to answer all queries in writing as promptly as possible and thereafter make our responses available online and available to everyone in the game.

Yours in rugby,

Ian Barr
President, Scottish Rugby President

Message from Scottish Rugby Board

“The Board welcomed the collaborative approach put forward by SCOG at a constructive meeting which allowed for a healthy exchange of views and further increased its understanding on the proposals being put forward. The Board is supportive of the direction of travel being proposed and has now asked for further clarifications on some key details as this new approach to governance in Scotland moves onto its next phase.”