Fresh from coming off the bench to help Edinburgh beat Benetton Treviso 21-9 in the Magners League last Friday night, Stuart McInally was today confirmed as one of 13 capital players who will be re-assigned to Premier A clubs following the mid-season domestic league split.

In accordance with their Premier A league standing, each of the eight clubs took their turn to select the players made available from the bottom four Premier 1 clubs who, following the split, will now compete in Premier B with the four qualifying clubs from Premier 2 for the right to play in Premier 1 next season.

McInally, last season’s Scotland under-20 captain, shone in Watsonians (39-30) defeat to Dundee before their demotion to Premier B giving Dundee head coach, Ian Rankin, no doubts about securing the services of Scotland’s most capped under-20 internationalist with his first pick.

Rankin said: “Stuart was the stand-out performer when he played against us and has been a prominent player throughout the age-grades so we’re delighted to have him on board.

"We’re all trying to raise the standard of Premier 1 and create a more professional environment for the players and these guys make that job that bit easier. They bring a professional attitude and lift the standard at training as well as when they’re on the pitch.

“I think the pro players see it as worth while – we’re helping them get game time and be ready for a call up – it’s mutually beneficial.

“The new league set-up has been really exciting and the players have enjoyed it more. Every week so far has been a big game and we now look forward to four massive games in the league so it’ll be full on for the next couple of months

“The restructure has been great, the domestic game needed something new and I think it’s worked well.”

Currently in eighth place, Hawick had first pick and opted to snap up the services of promising Edinburgh flanker David Denton.

Colin Thomson, Scottish Rugby head of community rugby, said: “With the split divisions decided and the fixtures drawn, we have redrafted the available pro-players to raise the intensity of the top eight.

“We will continue to work with the Premier clubs to raise the standards of the domestic game for the benefit of Scotland's club and professional players in both the short and long term.”

A third and final redraft will take place today (Monday 7 November) to allocate the professionals available for selection by Currie, Ayr and Melrose for their forays in the British & Irish Cup which begin next month.

NEW PLAYERS TO CLUBS THROUGH THE RE-DRAFT
AYR: Ed Kalman, Al Kellock, Bernardo Stortoni
BORUGHMUIR: Simon Webster, Tim Visser, Alex Grove, Craig Hamilton
CURRIE: Callum Forrester, Steven Turnbull, Henry Pyrgos, Dougie Hall
DUNDEE: Stuart McInally, Max Evans, Colin Gregor, Chris Cusiter
GLASGOW HAWKS: Jon Welsh, Colin Shaw
HAWICK: David Denton, John Houston, Kyle Traynor, John Barclay
HERIOT’S: James King, David Blair, Alan MacDonald
MELROSE: Lee Jones, Federico Aramburu, Netani Talei

PRO-PLAYERS DRAFTED TO CLUBS
AYR: Pat MacArthur, Ryan Wilson, Richie Vernon, Fergus Thomson, Richie Gray, Johnnie Beattie, Ed Kalman, Al Kellock, Bernardo Stortoni
BORUGHMUIR: Jack Gilding, Ross Samson, Chris Fusaro, Allan Jacobsen, Mike Blair, Ross Rennie, David Bishop, Simon Webster, Tim Visser, Alex Grove, Craig Hamilton
CURRIE, David Young, Andrew Turnbull, Andrew Easson, James Eddie, Ben Cairns, Ruaridh Jackson, Callum Forrester, Steven Turnbull, Henry Pyrgos, Dougie Hall
DUNDEE: Peter Horne, Peter Mutchie, Hefin O’Hare, Rob Dewey, Graeme Morrison, DTH Van Der Merwe, Stuart McInally, Max Evans, Colin Gregor, Chris Cusiter
GLASGOW HAWKS: Ryan Grant, Aly Muldowney, Andrew Kelly, Kevin Tkachuk, Esteban Lozada, Duncan Weir, Jon Welsh, Colin Shaw
HAWICK: Fraser McKenzie, Lewis Niven, Alex Dunbar, Scott MacLeod, Greig Laidlaw, Chris Paterson, Moray Low, David Denton, John Houston, Kyle Traynor, John Barclay
HERIOT’S: Robert Harley, Scott Newlands, Jim Thompson, Geoff Cross, Nick de Luca, Roddy Grant, James King, David Blair, Alan MacDonald
MELROSE: David McCall, Alex Blair, Mark Robertson, Fraser Brown, Ross Ford, Phil Godman, Lee Jones, Federico Aramburu, Netani Talei

This article was posted on 9-Nov-2010, 13:48 by Hugh Barrow.