Did you hear the history of Scottish rugby, called Tries and Tribulations, on Saturday on Radio Scotland?

Were you fascinated, as I was, to find out that a try is so called because in the olden days you took the ball over the line and then you got a ''try'' at kicking the ball between the posts for a goal. The try was worthless. The goal got the points.

Did you realise that the Currie Cup, presented by Sir Donald Currie, was actually first played for by South African provinces as they tried to beat the British Lions, and Griqualand West were reckoned to be the best team and were so presented, by the Lions, with the first Currie Cup in 1891 when they only lost 3-0? That Lions side was captained by a fine Scottish player called Bill McLagan. The cup has now become the big one in South Africa.

Did you hear Bill McLaren's story about how, when he was a 17-year-old, the SRU president was the local manager of the Bank of Scotland and when McLaren was a boy he was large and used to tackle round the shoulders and throw players to the ground instead of going in around the hips and sliding down legs?

Well, in one excellent story which illustrates the SRU's continuous battle against foul or over vigorous play, a young McLaren was walking past the bank in Hawick when he noticed the finger beckoning him within. He walked, quaking, past the secretaries and into the great man's office. The SRU president told him not to tackle high any more. ''They dinnae like it,'' said the SRU president. From then on, McLaren went in at hip height.

Did you hear the bit about how the SRU have always been so strict on amateurism that one Scottish internationalist was never picked again when the SRU discovered that he had been given a gold watch as a token of regard and service by his then Welsh club?

I didn't know that sevens had been started by Ned Haig and Davey Sanderson of Melrose because the club had been having a bit of a hard time of it and needed the cash. So they organised a whole day of sports, where there would be races, an afternoon of various competitions, and a rugby competition.

Over the years the rugby has become more and more popular, and it took over, but that is why, to this day, folk in the Borders, you will have noticed, still talk of the Jed, Gala, Hawick, or Melrose ''sports.''

Or did you hear the Cliff Morgan story about how some Scottish forwards in his day were quite obviously born just a little offside. Or how Ken Scotland stood on the Murrayfield terraces and decided to become an international player.

Or the story which illustrated the impending demise of closed clubs when Ken moved to Aberdeen as an established internationalist and couldn't join any of the successful local rugby clubs in his new home as they were all closed.

Or the one about the Scottish player converting a try at Murrayfield after the war when half his foot had been blown away during conflict?

If you listened, then thanks. What I got from it was that we have been in crisis before, but mostly that we have a special game here worth fighting for. It has gone through so much change, and now the Southern Hemisphere countries are taking the game to a new and wonderful height, and if you don't believe me then just accept that even football fans marvel at the Super 12 and the other high level games.

I see things happening on the international pitch between, say, England and New Zealand, that I don't see in our domestic game. We just have to hope that it's a temporary blip and we must climb back up there. There is absolutely no point in being second best.

My favourite bit from the programme was a controversy about whether Scottish players should wear numbers on their jerseys in 1928 and the Scottish team took the field without them. James Aitken Smith, the autocratic SRU secretary of the day, sat beside King George, who asked why the Scottish players weren't wearing numbers. ''This sir, is a rugby game, not a cattle market,'' replied the SRU secretary.