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Perhaps we should have realised. A new recruit had arrived at Peebles rugby club in the shape of a New Zealander called Dave Dillon. He had landed in Scotland only on the Wednesday, and played his first game for his new club on Saturday. And the press reports were quite specific: A Dave Dillon scored three tries and received a yellow card. So who is he?

I bumped into Glasgow and Scotland star Glenn Metcalfe at Hughenden. "He's an awesome player. I played alongside him and he is top class. Dave Dillon, yeah, I had heard he was here. Great player," he said.

Dillon is the Waikato Super 12 squad member and former Bay of Plenty NPC back row man, that's who he is, a well known rugby player in New Zealand who's been fighting his way back from injury.

"I tell you," he said when queried about his yellow card during his first sojourn on Scottish soil. "Your referees don't warn you over here do they?" Ah well, time will help him learn. From the house owned by the rugby club in the town he talked of his career to date. "I was in the Waikato training squad of forty early in the year under Kevin Greene and John Mitchell, and played for Bay of Plenty last year.

"But I've had shoulder and knee injuries and I'm just getting back from them. But I had also heard of the third professional team to be here in the Borders," he explained. How news travels fast, far and wide.

If Dillon had perhaps thought he might sneak into the country in the current climate of scrutiny of the New Zealand influence in Scottish rugby then he is mistaken. Former players like Gavin Hastings and John Jeffrey have united in criticism of the use by Scotland of Brendan Laney, and yet all the while clubs have recruited players, mostly from New Zealand it has to be said, to bolster their sides and it can happen at any level.

Peebles are in premiership division two. "I guess I came here because I have always wanted to play abroad and see the country," he said.

"It's not all about the third pro team but it is interesting. I've got a verbal agreement to go back to Bay of Plenty and I wanted to keep playing. I was at university with Cam Twigley the other Peebles players who's in this house and he said I should come over and try. I am here to help the boys at Peebles and working part time and just about to start at the Hydro, but I've got an educational degree and hopefully I will get some clearance so I might be able to teach.

"But I have friends over here playing for Hawick, and I brought a guy with me who's gone to Musselburgh."

And if that's as deep as we go then that's the story. But the reality is that Dillon is probably far too good for Peebles as it's not a regular occurrence for someone to step off a plane and run in three tries, even though one of them was a pushover try where his job was simple.

Dillon is unusual in that he is much better than the average New Zealander who comes to Scotland and ends up at a local club. He is more on a par with Cammy Mather, or Gordon Simpson, in being the kind of New Zealander who probably can't make it at the very highest level and get a cap in his homeland, but who is nevertheless palpably far better than the Scottish players he wants to nudge off the ball of aSaturday.

And in that, he does represent the truth about our rugby, which is that many of the truly influential players, from Tommy Hayes at Glasgow to the soon to be Edinburgh men of Brendan Laney and Todd Blackadder, are not really Scottish.

He was unwilling to be drawn on any of that, even though I suggested the English clubs might come for him once they find out he is here. "I actually thought Britain was beautiful after touring here with youth teams," he told me.

"Peebles is much like the farming community I grew up in, it's small and people are friendly and know each other. And I didn't want to be 35 or 36 and regret that I hadn't tried abroad.

"There are a lot of loose forwards in New Zealand, and I played against Marty Hola (the current All Black tourist) so when I am here it's about not letting my standards drop.

"I am keeping my options open but we are all training well, eating well and sleeping well and although some players may have had bad reputations in the past I am not here to rest and cruise. The night I arrived in the UK I went to the gym after not sleeping for 48 hours."

One noticeable facet of the New Zealander All Blacks when they were here was their sheer bulk, and it's in highlighting that size difference that Dillon hints at the scale of what's happening in New Zealand, too. He is one 1.87 metres tall, and 102 kilos. To you and me that's six feet one and 16 stone two of crash tackling back row man.

"I've put on a lot of size, as back in New Zealand there are a lot of powerful guys who can blow you off the pitch," he said.

So what do we make of these New Zealanders? They aren't to blame, of course, for coming here to progress their careers in a safer and definitely softer version of the game than they're used to back at home. A home where rugby is a tougher game than ours, both to play and in which to earn money if the truth be told. The reality is that Dave Dillon brings a huge amount to Peebles as a rugby club in both knowledge and experience.

On and off the pitch he will be an asset. Which are exactly the same criteria applied by Scotland in playing Brendan Laney, and before him John Leslie, and before that Sean Lineen.

These guys are better than ours and both the clubs and now the country appreciate it. What is ironic is that Peebles would never imagine themselves to have somehow cheated, as like the SRU they haven't broken any rules.

They played the best player they could, and if they managed to attract a top class player when nobody else was looking then more power to them. It's a skill David Murray at Rangers would love to be able to replicate.

I used to think we had far too many New Zealanders and foreigners in our game. I actually don't think that any more as our playing numbers are low enough to mean we need to take emergency measures to win. Both at club and at international level.

But I bet you Dave Dillon turns out to be too good for Peebles. As I say, perhaps we should have realised. Clubs, after all, are bringing in ever more imports.

Copyright 2001
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