DOUGLAS MORGAN has been at the heart of Scottish rugby for over 30 years. Very few have had a closer identity with it at club, district and international levels and the contribution continues, with enthusiasm undimmed.

Morgan, a 49-year-old chiropodist, was capped on 21 occasions lord Scotland between 1973 and 1978 and in his last year in international rugby captained his country. He played against Ireland four times and, as he says himself "the balance is even, we won two and lost two."

One of the matches for which he is especially remembered was in 1978 at Lansdowne Road. In that game Ireland led 9-12 and the match was in the eighth minute of injury time when the Scots were awarded a penalty to the left of the posts from a very kickable position. Morgan, Scotland's place kicker as well as their captain, decided to go for broke and instead of taking the kick at goal, opted to go for the try. The Irish held firm and won the match.

Morgan was severely criticised at the time, but, even in retrospect, does not regret the decision. It was a.the first match of the championship and a draw, in any ease, would have killed the Scots' Triple Crown hopes. He went on to captain the side throughout the series that season his last in international rugby.

His memories of Ireland-Scotland matches are of "extremely hard games, but always enjoyable and often unpredictable. I would expect another in the same vein on Saturday. As both countries are out of the championship, that to an extent will, I suppose, relieve some of the tension. We need a win, having lost to Wales and England, and with France to come in Paris, the belief is that Ireland's visit represents Scotland's best chance of a victory," he said.

Morgan shares the view held by so many about the way rugby has changed and not for the better in many respects. But despite all the changes, his attitude is we must get on with the game.

When Morgan retired as a player he turned his attention to coaching and has been deeply involved at all levels. His contribution to Scotland has been immense at every international stage. Closely associated with Ian McGeechan, Morgan was assistant coach to the senior side when McGeechan was coach from 1989 to 1993. When McGeechan completed his term as coach, Morgan took over for the next two years.

He then stood aside voluntarily having in effect had six years with the senior team. But next he took over as manager of the Scotland A side, a position he now holds. "The A, under-21, schools and development teams are of crucial importance to Scottish and indeed Irish rugby," said Morgan, who is also manager of the Scotland seven-a-side World Cup squad.

"If you look at England's results against both Scotland and Ireland this season, you would say the gap between England and the rest of the home countries is getting wider. In addition, professionalism has imposed further demands on the game in the two countries with players going to English clubs. But that could be counter productive for England. I thought that the results of England's matches against Ireland and Scotland were rather flattering.

"The smaller the playing base, the bigger the challenge and in terms of numbers and clubs England have a huge advantage over the other countries. But then they have always enjoyed that advantage and we have managed to live with it and must do so now.

"Professionalism does not help. We must therefore do everything possible to get the best possible return from our players and that is why the national teams below the top level are so vital for developing our players and giving them experience. The European competitions are also very important for the Irish and Scottish regional teams."

Nor does he believe that it is in the interests of either the Scotland or Ireland teams or, in the long term the players, for them to sign for English clubs. "Rugby has been going through trying times since the advent of professionalism and things will gradually settle down to a more smooth pattern. But not alone in the interim but in the long term it is going to be an ongoing challenge for countries such as Ireland and Scotland to keep up with the top nations."

But, as he said, those issues will not be a factor when Ireland play Scotland at three different levels this weekend.

"A Scottish hat-trick would be very nice but that will also be very difficult. We have lost quite a few top-class players in a relatively short time and are, you could say, team building again. But, again like Ireland, we seem to be constantly team building. It is harder for us and for Ireland to replace experienced players as we do not have the depth."

But he will not give any passive acceptance to his country beings resigned to a secondary role: "We must do everything possible, whatever the difficulties, to meet the challenge of the times."