Sean Lineen believes the new Super6 league will be a major step to creating a development pathway for players and coaches similar to rugby in his native New Zealand.
But the former Glasgow Warriors coach also warned that the system won’t be an overnight sensation.
Lineen is in charge of on-field development of the Super6, which launches this weekend.
“It will take a while, it won’t be right straight away but it will give young players the chance to play regularly and put our coaches at a level where they can really challenge themselves,” said Lineen, who arrived in Scotland from Auckland in the late-1980s to play club rugby for Boroughmuir, and has ended up becoming part of the fabric of the game in this country as a player, coach and administrator.
“I equate it to the third tier in New Zealand but not with the same level of players at the moment.
“It will be like the Mitre10 – at that level, below the All blacks and Super Rugby – except here it will be below Scotland and the two pro teams. We will have a really good level of competition and some good level of cross border competition.
“When you reduce from 10 teams to six it concentrates the player base a bit more,” he reasoned, when asked why he believes the new competition will be a step up from the Premiership, which was previously the top tier of the Scottish club game.
“From the top down, we are looking for consistency. You can’t rest your best players – you have to be on your game every week.”
Each Super6 squad consists of 35 contracted players, including five at each club who are stage-three players of the SRU academy programme, having been identified as the nation’s best young players who are most likely to progress to the senior pro and international game.
“The academy guys are 18 to 20 years old and I would say it will take two or three years for them to come through at the top level,” said Lineen. “Talking to the players, the coaches and the supporters, we can’t wait to get Super6 started now and let it grow.
“There is a lot of great talent there, and now they will playing against quality opposition with good coaches week-in and week out. They will be under the spotlight and be more accountable.”
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