After a brief run of guest speakers who were not front line rugby people, normal service was resumed for GROGS at the November Lunch, in the person of Matt Vallance, sometime freelance rugby sportswriter for The Herald, The Scotsman and the Sunday Times and an enthusiastic ‘blogger’ writing under the intriguing nom- de-plume, Aristotle Armstrong – Scottish Rugby Philosopher. Listeners might have been confused about which sport Matt was most interested in as his initial remarks were all about football and, in particular, junior football, the mainstay sport of the Ayrshire mining communities in which Matt had grown up. Real men, he said, played junior football while rugby was reserved for others, more light on their feet! He is proud of his own club, Cumnock RFC, founded in 1962 and now home club to more than 300 young players. Matt regaled us with stories about his playing days with generous sprinklings of names which he felt might have resonated with the audience, including Billy Herbertson, Jacko Quinn, Jock Craig and Robert (Rab) Dale. Regardless of their familiarity, one name will surely be remembered, that of “Stiffy” McClure, a former Ayrshire PE teacher. Inevitably, Matt broached the subject of current day rugby in Scotland. Mourning the loss of friendly matches with the advent of the leagues he feels the fun has gone out of the game. Clearly not a fan of the Super Six, he expressed a personal view that the motivation behind its creation was more fiscal than the development of the sport. Although he wishes the nominated clubs well, he has reservations as to whether they will all manage to survive in their current form, especially with 3 franchise clubs in Edinburgh and not one in Glasgow (a view loudly supported by the audience). He sees the creation of a Scottish Junior Rugby Union representing the interests of the amateur game not outwith the realms of possibility. Matt ended with a proclamation of shame about what the rugby media has become. From the heydays of such luminaries as Bill McLaren. Norman Mair, Brian Meek, Bill McMurtrie et al he feels no-one is carrying the journalistic torch for Scottish rugby any more. To give him solace, Chairman Alasdair Graham rewarded him with a bottle of GROGS whisky.