The Herald reports


Lineen’s youth policy continues after terrific victoryKEVIN FERRIE May 05 2008
CommentAfter his faith in his youngsters was rewarded in Belfast, Sean Lineen underlined his determination to invest in home-grown talent yesterday by announcing three more signings and unveiling plans to trial the best SHE Premiership talent.

The Glasgow Warriors coach opted for an adventurous back-line on Saturday and saw both Evans brothers, Thom and Max score tries, while John Barclay, their brilliant 21-year-old international flanker got one of the other two in their fourth successive Magners League win at Ravenhill by 35-24 Following on from Edinburgh's last ditch triumph at the Ospreys on Friday courtesy of a last touch try by another hugely promising talent in Alan MacDonald, the win demonstrated why excitement is once again building about the future for Scottish rugby.

Rather than complain about the size of the budgets available for recruiting big names both Lineen and Andy Robinson, his Edinburgh counterpart, have embraced the need to focus on local talent and the Warriors coach believes they are only scratching the surface.

That explains the signing of John Welsh, a 23-year-old prop who has been bypassed by the system but has impressed with his performances for GHA and the Scotland Club international team. Along with Calum Forrester and Ruaridh Jackson, who have come through the national academy set-up, he has been contracted until 2010 and inspired by that Lineen is now aiming to find out how many other potential professionals are out there.

"I am inviting every Premiership One club to send their five best players to come and work with us and let us assess them," said the coach.

"I'm really excited by this find Welsh. John could well prove to be a real gem. He's working very hard in the gym right now but it just proves that there are players in the club game that can come through to the professional level.

"Discovering him has convinced me that there are many more out there and in the first instance we are going to the Premiership One clubs, but we will be spreading the net even wider because I suspect there will be even more players with real potential playing in lower divisions that we never get a chance to see.

"We may not be offering many of them contracts right away, but the great thing will be getting the chance to identify talent, being able to give them advice on what they need to do to step up a level and then being able to monitor their progress."

While flanker Forrester and stand-off Jackson have taken a more orthodox route into the full-time professional game it has become clear that it is by no means automatic that national academy players will go on to be offered contracts, but these two have earned their opportunities.

"Calum has been working with us for a while now and I've been very impressed with his attitude and ability," said Lineen. "He's been involved with the Scotland sevens team so I'm expecting big things from him and he'll be a great addition to our Scottish back-row contingent.

"I first noticed Ruaridh playing for Robert Gordon's College at the Scottish Schools' Sevens at Murrayfield," he continued. "He is yet to realise his full potential but I'm confident he'll get there by being involved in a professional environment."

Meanwhile, Lineen looked back on his side's bonus-point triumph in Belfast and labelled it the highlight of the year. And he backed his young guns to build on the Ravenhill romp when they go into battle on the Euro stage next season.

"Winning on the road in the Magners League is so hard at the best of times. But to do it against a side like Ulster on their home turf and score four tries is a remarkable achievement. And let's not forget that this is a very young and comparatively inexperienced squad. So the signs are very good for the future - next season and beyond, both in the league and in the Heineken Cup."

This article was originally posted on 5-May-2008, 06:57 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 5-May-2008, 06:59.