Scottish Rugby to ditch Super 6

Scottish Rugby is to scrap its Super 6 club series and reinstate a national "A-team" as part of a comprehensive restructure of the professional game.

URC clubs Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors will also add second-string A fixtures and develop academy structures.

The Super 6 has been a halfway house for five years between the national league and the two URC clubs.

But the six clubs involved will not have their licences renewed.

The competition involving Ayrshire Bulls, Boroughmuir Bears, Heriot's, Southern Knights, Stirling Wolves and Watsonians will end in November.

The clubs will take part in consultation with the SRU's club rugby board on a transition towards a new structure for the domestic game.

Those talks will also involve the current 10 Scottish Premiership sides, with the SRU promising to be "as fair to as many clubs as possible", cause the "least disruption" to the 10-team national league structures and regional leagues.

The new plan is designed to develop more home-grown players and provide "a better alignment between the domestic and professional game".

Scottish Rugby vice-president Keith Wallace, who also chairs the club rugby board, pointed out that: "This has been a very extensive process taking views from across our game and comparisons with other nations.

"It brings a very aligned structure which should see capital invested focused on those with the highest potential and free movement of players.

"It is tailored to suit Scotland and perhaps closest to the successful models of Ireland and New Zealand."