THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

Top academy talent to play Premier One rugby this season

Published Date: 28 July 2010
By DAVID FERGUSON
A NEW DRIVE to improve Scottish club rugby will see the country's best young academy talent more embedded in the country's top 12 clubs and Andy Robinson's international management working with their coaches.
The successful bid by clubs and the SRU to introduce a split to the club season, which brings a new pool system into play after the first 11 games, has brought the release of 16 academy players linked with Edinburgh and Glasgow for that first tranche of the league programme. It is part of an agreement worked out through regular meetings last season between the Premier One coaches and Graham Lowe, the SRU's performance director, and Colin Thomson, the union's head of community rugby.

Ian Rankin, the former Edinburgh and Scotland A coach, now the rugby director at Dundee HSFP, believes the move will prove significant to club efforts to improve the quality and appeal of the club game. He also insists that it will enhance Scottish rugby's efforts to widen the net of players able to play professional and international rugby.

He said: "We had academy players involved at times last season, but they tended to be released on a Thursday night and sometimes had been beasted in training during the day and so weren't fit to train. That meant you couldn't bond them with the team or even be sure they'd be there, so many were standing idle on Saturdays, which was a total waste of talent.

"There is a lot more joined-up thinking now and the players will come to us on Tuesday and Thursday nights, and, barring injuries, be available for those first 11 games which means they will feel a much bigger part of the club and our clubs will benefit.

"It's been frustrating for everyone watching some of Scotland's best young players almost disappearing for a couple of years, sometimes for good, after being picked up by the academy or pro teams but not used.

"I know the guys need to work on their strength and conditioning, and become bigger, but they also need to play.

This article was originally posted on 28-Jul-2010, 06:48 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 28-Jul-2010, 06:59.