THE HERALD REPORTS

Beattie sure homegrown side can hold its own in top flight

NEIL DRYSDALE August 29 2008
John Beattie cheerfully describes his charges at newly-promoted West of Scotland as a "bunch of nutcases", but one suspects they will be tough to crack when the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership starts tomorrow.

For the past month, Beattie, and his captain and fellow former internationalist, Gordon Bulloch, have transformed Burnbrae into the oval-ball equivalent of a boot camp, coaxing, cajoling and committing their men to the sort of regimen which would bring Homer Simpson out in a cold sweat.

"They know the score, they realise that going up to the top division is a huge challenge, but they are 10 times fitter than they were a year ago and probably about four or five times as strong, because of the amount of physical effort which they have put in during the pre-season build-up," says Beattie, whose team tackle city rivals Glasgow Hawks in their opening tussle, a fixture which ensures a volcanic outset to their campaign.


"I have a lot of admiration and respect for Hawks - their coach, Peter Wright, is one of the most under-rated figures in the country - and I reckon they will be a force to be reckoned with again this winter, because they have revamped their structure, they are very ambitious, and that is the standard to which we must aspire.

"That's exactly what we want and I am excited about the championships, I can't wait for it to get started, and I think you will see an awful lot of youngsters throwing their hands up and looking for professional contracts. There are some real nuggets at the clubs and they all want to prove themselves."

It is less than a decade since West flirted with extinction, but the organisation which once revelled in a rich crop of Test stars, including Peter and Gordon Brown, David Leslie and Chris Rea, have rallied with a vengeance, not least as a consequence of the brio which Beattie has brought to the job.

His side has no household names, even in their own homes, and he has eschewed the policy of filling up his squad with peripatetic South Africans and Australians, but Beattie's West will not lack for courage, cohesion or collectivism on his beat.

Their main objective might simply be to remain in the highest echelon, but their mentor has loftier aspirations. "Boroughmuir romped to the title last time around, and they will clearly be a threat again," he said. "Melrose have a lot of good youngsters, as they demonstrated on cup finals day at Murrayfield, and Hawks have too talented people in charge not to be gunning for the title, but there is a pride and a fellowship among our guys which mean we have no reason to fear anybody."

He speaks highly of such youngsters as Robert Harley, Kyle Mathieson and Stuart Malone. "I have no problem with these boys chasing pro contracts and I think that some of them are definitely good enough. We at West have a good relationship with Glasgow Warriors and their coach, Sean Lineen, and if we can all work for the betterment of rugby in this country, then that is brilliant.

"I still worry that some of our clubs pursue quick fixes by signing up foreigners, but I have the feeling most of the smarter folk now recognise that isn't going to do either them or the game any good in the long term."

This article was posted on 29-Aug-2008, 06:48 by Hugh Barrow.