Northern Lights Out

It's been a pretty grim year for rugby teams north of of the Midlands. Leeds have been relegated (albeit provisionally; they await the result of the National Championship playoff finals, where only Worcester have a ground good enough for the top flight) from the Guinness Premiership, and Newcastle and Sale fared little better.

Meanwhile, in Scotland the two Magners league sides have had such miserable years that I gave up writing my monthly Scottish rugby roundup because nothing had changed and it was too depressing.

Everything is to do with money here. There simply is not enough being spent on teams in the north of Britain. This is a real shame considering the strong following the sport has in these regions, and the good talent that is produced there.

England's first choice and former Flyhalf, Toby Flood and Jonny Wilkinson, were both Newcastle players for example. They are not anymore. Indeed, they bolted pretty quickly once the Falcons were priced out by other teams.

The same is true of some notable Scottish talent. We will be losing Richie Vernon, Max Evans, Scott MacLeod and Frazer McKenzie this summer. Vernon and McKenzie are both heading to Sale, who at least seem to have rediscovered a bit of ambition.

The fact remains that Scottish clubs are only able to support wage bills equal to the lesser English teams. Who happen to all be in the North. Without the prospect of domestic success in Scotland though, our players will have move to these teams to seek any kind of glory. And there, like their English counterparts, they will discover that the only way to win is to head down to the moneyed south.

More has to be done to keep our domestic leagues competitive. Attracting investment is crucial if rugby wants to remain popular throughout the entire nation. It's just not fair on all of us up here in the rain-drenched parts of the country if we have to watch a cycle of our best homegrown players coming back and beating their former teams.

GM