World Cup display not behind Watson sacking: MacKay

Scottish Rugby Union executive board chairman David Mackay maintains Scotland’s poor World Cup display was not the sole reason for the dismissal of Bill Watson as SRU chief executive yesterday.

Watson paid the price for a culmination of problems, including the financial state of the game in Scotland and a lack of progress in developing players, with the termination of his contract.

SRU bank borrowings stand currently at £16m (€23m) while the World Cup year has meant a loss of £4.5m (€6.5m) in revenue from the autumn Test series.

Watson also oversaw the controversial introduction of professional teams in Scotland with Glasgow and Edinburgh Rugby formed in 1998 before the arrival of The Borders last year.

Mackay said: “The buck stops and starts with the chief executive and then moves on.

“But saying farewell to Bill is not the answer for the malaise in Scottish rugby by any means and is certainly not regarded by me as a panacea for all ills.”