All future Scotland players should be based north of the border according to the new national coach Matt Williams, who also called yesterday for the sport's administrators to invest more resources in the team or risk becoming "a very second-rate competitor in international rugby".
Williams, who coached at Leinster before taking over from Ian McGeechan after the World Cup, wasted little time in pointing out the weaknesses in the previous era as he set out his future plans yesterday.
The Australian-born coach fired a broad salvo at the country's rugby union and their lack of support, something he believes has left Scotland lagging behind the world's best.
"In my opinion the current national team is under- resourced. England spend more money on dietary needs than the total amount the SRU spends on the Scotland team," he said. "We have to align our resources with our goals."
Williams warned that changes must come quickly, as over the next four years Scottish rugby could "either prosper or become a very second-rate competitor".
Of the number of suggestions he put forward for improvement yesterday, the most controversial is that of basing all the Scotland players north of the border. Describing his policy as "Fortress Scotland" and using the World Cup as an example, Williams insisted: "Scottish players must be based in Scotland if they are to play for their country. Crucially the captain must be based in Scotland.
"Our policy of sending our players to England to save costs is counter-productive and it will lead to the end of Scottish rugby being competitive on the international stage.
"If you look at England, Australia, New Zealand and France, all their players were home based. Ireland have only two of their side playing outside the country. South Africa, on the other hand have very few of their players and they did not perform well.
"If players are not here we don't have control over them. If players are equal in form then the ones based in Scotland will get the nod.
"By the next World Cup our aim is to have every player that goes to that World Cup playing in the pro teams in Scotland."
While acknowledging that there is little chance of the likes of Jason White, who has signed a lucrative contract with Sale Sharks, suddenly returning from whence they came, Williams said the policy is aimed at the emerging players. "You cannot make legislation retrospective," he clarified.
Williams is also adamant that Scotland's three professional teams should each have no more than two overseas players, a policy he wants adopted by next season. He believes that, as in Ireland, professional sides containing experienced Scotland players would do well in Europe.
Scotland will move from their traditional base at Murrayfield under Williams, who said that the Scottish Institute of Sport at Stirling would be the team's new home.
"There are world class facilities in Stirling, and excellent accommodation for the players. So we will be moving our training from Murrayfield to Stirling and expanding the number of preparation days ahead of internationals," he said.
"The other benefit of that is Murrayfield becomes special and players will only come into the dressing room when they are playing for their country."
The 42-year-old Williams has brought into his coaching team the former Scotland captain Andy Nicol, who will advise on scrum-half play, and the former Scotland front-row George Graham as a set-piece specialist, while the former All Black Todd Blackadder has joined as an assistant coach.
Yesterday Williams also named a 44-man squad which will have its first session together from December 21-23. Significantly, missing from the squad is Gregor Townsend, who is now officially "retired" from international rugby. "I spoke with Gregor and explained that we needed younger players" said Williams.
Also gone from Scotland's World Cup squad are Kenny Logan, James McLaren, Glenn Metcalfe and Bryan Redpath, while Andrew Mower is injured. Among the 14 uncapped players named are the Edinburgh flanker Ally Hogg and the Borders scrum-half Chris Cusiter, both of whom are seen as prospects for the Six Nations squad.
Whether Williams can guide his side to success in that competition remains to be seen, but he was not making any rash predictions.
"A new coach is not a panacea. I can't guarantee we will win matches because the next 18 months will be difficult," he said. "I can guarantee that we will try and win every time the players go on the field. They will aiming to win and working their hearts out."
