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We Will Rock You - see it in Edinburgh this Christmas

Public school system provides bulk of Scots under-17 squad

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Published Date: 02 July 2009
A 30-STRONG Scotland Under-17 squad will fly out today for a two-week training camp in Spain.
A glance in the brackets after the names of those selected reveals Scottish youth rugby remains reliant on the public school base, with more than half of the squad coming from that system, but only four players come from another traditional heartla
nd – the Borders.

There are 16 players from private schools – 11 Scottish and five English. Of the rest, six come from state schools and eight from clubs. The regional breakdown is pretty even with Borders (4), Glasgow (8), Edinburgh (7), Caledonia (5) and England (6).

The players, management and support staff will spend an intensive fortnight at the camp in Valladolid, north-central Spain. The focus will be on technical, tactical, mental and physical strength and conditioning. The camp, led by Under-18 coach Grant McKelvey, acts as the transformation period for the youngsters from U17 to the U18 development side.

SCOTLAND U17 SQUAD: R Hislop (Hawick Wands); G Robertson (Earlston HS/Melrose), A Allan (Sedbergh School), S Cessford (HS of Dundee), J MacFarlane (Gourock HS/Greenock Wands), R Hood (Strathallan), G Turner (Stew-Mel Coll), F Wem (Hampton School/Wasps), C Ferguson (East Kilbride), S McDevitt (HS of Glasgow) , G Barnes (Chesterfield), M Eadie (Filton Coll), M Peacock (George Watson's Coll), M Walker (Boroughmuir), A Nagle (Jed Thistle), A De ste Croix (Boroughmuir) , M McConnell (Lenzie Acad/West), J Adams (Aberdeen GS), J Munro, F Gillies (both Edinburgh Acad), J Bradford (Worksop Coll), M Crawley (Stew-Mel Coll), M Beckwith (Marr Coll), M Bennett (Cumnock), J Urquhart (Dollar Acad), S Hogg (Hawick Wands), D Day (Paviours), H Jones (Robert Gordon's Coll), A McCall Hagan (St Aloysius), R Inglis (Calderside Acad/Hamilton).





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  • Last Updated: 01 July 2009 10:58 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Northern Soul,

Scotland 02/07/2009 07:36:41
How many coaches are going on this jolly? Surely in the current economic climate this camp could be run at Stirling/Heriot Watt
2

The Borderer,

02/07/2009 07:56:02
Well said northern soul!! But don't worry the SRU give good lessons on how to P*SS money against a wall.
3

Northern Soul,

02/07/2009 08:21:26
Yes another paid jolly. Plus 9 coaches for a couple of conditioning sessions a day..sorry but is that not what a lot of P1 players do anyway? "Given the time of day...." are they all on expenses for ice cream.
Not much wonder we're in a mess...
4

J.A.,

02/07/2009 09:05:56
#1, 3 & 3
How come you guys seem to miss the main point. I think you will find that this training exercise receives funding from other sources like the European Community programme which insists that it is carried out over seas.

The issue is the lack of boys from outside the public school system and what is the SRU diing to correct the balance. From what they have done to the Borders in recent years, they do not value rugby communities who do not rely on public schools.
5

eamon,

02/07/2009 11:25:31
#4

Not just the Borders. The way the Caledonian region has been ignored in recent years its a wonder we still have 5 kids in it. When you look at the number of people in the current Scotland team born in either Caley, or in the Borders, then it beggers belief why we dont have pro setups here for our kids to aim for.
6

Dirt Mad Lemon,

02/07/2009 12:04:13

If, as it appears the "Public Schools" (and there's an oxymoron) are providing so many boys at this level you'd like to think that someone from the SRU would look into their set up & replicate the good parts for State Schools & Clubs with youth set ups. You can start holding your breath now. Instead of moaning lets find out what the differences are and apply the best methods across the board.

I've no problem where the boys come from, they are selected on ability & that's the way it should be. However we have such a small pool of players that we should endeavour to maximise what we have.

The SRU should be co-ordinating all youth rugby.

Rugby clubs up and down the country stepped in to take over when the majority of state schools abandoned sports. My son's club have excellent mini, midi & colts set ups, with coaches giving up large amounts of time. As the club isn't in a university town they see a lot of this home nurtured talent being picked up for free by the city teams.

We should encourage everyone to play at the highest standard they're capable of & the boys do go with the good wishes of the club. However it would be fairer if clubs were able to sign them & receive a payment for these players that could be re-invested in the clubs. Who knows this may make some of the clubs consider their own youth policies, if it became more cost effective.

As for the trip to Spain, great, I'm sure there are facilities in Scotland that would have done equally as well, but let's reward the boys for the effort that they've put into getting to this standard. They'll probably bond better away from home.


7

Jaimeson,

02/07/2009 13:32:51
A misleading headline. Of the 30 strong squad 14 come from the non-private school sector, ie probably all from state schools now or in the past.
Anyway I think it is excellent that nearly half the squad comes from non-private schools when you consider that the private school system is the only one to provide organised rugby for pupils
8

J.A.,

02/07/2009 16:13:17
#5 The Borders have no public schools unlike the other three Scottish districts including Caledonia. If the SRU had used the Borders as a model for state school rugby, perhaps they would have gone some way to adressing the issue elswhere.
9

borders fella,

the valley of the coax 02/07/2009 17:00:30
No money for a 3rd pro team but lets send a bunch of boys off to a mickey mouse training camp in spain....aye that makes sense.

10

John Brown,

Glasgow 02/07/2009 23:13:45
The position is about to hit catestrophic proportions in the state sector with the new SRU "Are you ready for rugby" instruction. For example last year 9 schools entered the Ayrshire Schools league and 5 entered the development league. This coming year only 3 schools are able to enter a team in the league. A drop from roughly 280 senior players to less than 60! This last final was played out before a crowd of 700 in a wonderful advert for the game, more than many Edinburgh Premier 1 teams' crowds. Yet even at the AGM the Independent sector get to choose whether to comply with SRU governance or not in respect of combined leagues. There is no real interest in state rugby from Murrayfield. This year count the number of schools that COMPETE in the Cups, not those entering.
11

J.A.,

03/07/2009 08:28:52
Although I totally agree with your sentiments about a 3rd pro team, however, your assertions about the training camp in Spain are well off the mark.

 

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