VIDEO: Scottish Rugby release details of 'Super Six' semi-pro league

Scottish Rugby have revealed further details of their new semi-professional league at an AGM at Murrayfield this weekend.

A new top tier of the domestic game will be created for the 2019/20 season, entitled “Super Six”, which will be semi-professional and work to close the gap between the club game and professional teams in Scotland.

The move is being backed with £3.6million of new Scottish Rugby investment over five years reaching every club in Scotland.

According to their website: “All the Super Six teams will be overseen by Scottish Rugby’s High Performance department which will allocate funding for head coaches, strength and conditioning and analysis support. Funding costs for squads of 35 players will be split between Scottish Rugby and the clubs, with teams playing a 20 match season.

A new ‘Scottish Championship’ of 12 teams will be created beneath Super Six alongside a new three division National League structure, all of which will contain wholly amateur teams.

With franchises in the Super Six running for five years at a time teams in the Scottish Championship and National Leagues can build stronger community ties and focus investment on developing their clubs in the absence of player payments.

Clubs can apply to join the Super Six tier and will be required to bring their own investment to the table to complement Scottish Rugby’s financial support.

The teams will be geographically aligned with Scottish Rugby’s four regions Caledonia, Glasgow & the West, Edinburgh & the East and The Borders, with two floating teams, and partnered with one of Scotland’s two professional teams, either Glasgow Warriors or Edinburgh Rugby.

The National Leagues will be feeder clubs for Super Six teams in their region to ensure an upward flow of talent through the leagues to the top tiers.

Scottish Rugby Chief Executive Mark Dodson said: “It is a new beginning for our whole sport, not just the top clubs. It resets the ambitions of everybody and offers every club a fresh start.”

“For the first time since the game went professional this strategy involves all the clubs in the success of our national team. We want to create strong sustainable clubs that can play at the level which best suits them and that they can choose.

“We wanted to create a clear pathway for players, coaches and officials, alongside closing the gap between our domestic game and the professional teams so we can maximise the resources we have and allow talented players to develop in good environments and fulfill their potential.

“We want to see clubs invest in their infrastructures and future growth so the National Leagues will have amateur status and the Super Six will be where player payments make better sense.