John Barclay looks back on Dollar glory days

Published on Thursday 2 September 2010 16:02

JOHN Barclay has more reasons than most to recall the Scottish Schools Cup final as the now Scotland flanker made an early call to play through the pain barrier to get his hands on the trophy.

The internationalist is currently recovering from tendonitis in an Achilles, but is hopeful of being back in action before the end of September. However, at the launch of the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cups for 2010-11 at Glenwood High School yesterday he was reliving the match in 2004 when, as captain of Dollar Academy, he enjoyed his second taste of a big Murrayfield crowd and second successive title.

He explained: "It was an interesting time because I had just been diagnosed with osteopubis through an MRI scan and was told I'd need to spend the next nine months out of the game. But I'd played with the groin problem for some time, and I felt that the Scottish Schools Cup Final was one game I did not want to miss, so I decided late on I think to play and I'm glad I did.

"It still now ranks as a highlight in my rugby career, even though I've been fortunate to go on and pay for Scotland, and I know how youngsters at school will be feeling now with the draw made. Getting to the final at Murrayfield is a huge goal."

The SRU has revamped the cup format and moved the under-15s to an under-16s competition so that it is in line with the new IRB safety directive. There were fears this could affect the number of entries, however, ten more schools have entered teams in the U16s than competed in last year's U15s event and four more are involved in the under-18s competition, taking the totals to 110 in each.

As part of the revamp, schools have been asked to determine their own strength and enter either the Cup or the Bowl competition, and the 16 who qualify from the cup's two qualification rounds will then be drawn into four pools of four to increase the number of games, and then the pool winners progressing to the semi-finals. The first two round losers will also go into a Plate competition, to extend their seasons, while the emerging schools' Bowl competition will progress through four regional rounds before turning national for the quarter-final onwards.

The new structure should ensure more competitive fixtures across the schools game, but appeals for an integrated schools and youth competition again failed to uncover enough support among schools and clubs to get off the ground.