Rugby: Calder leaves Stew-Mel for pro contract bid in London

FORMER Scotland under-20 captain Lewis Calder is ready to follow his dream of a full-time professional rugby contract by leaving Stewart's-Melville and joining London Scottish.

Calder, son of 1984 grand slam hero, Jim, played his last match for Stew-Mel when their relegation from Scottish Hydro Premiership One was confirmed by a 26-13 defeat against Watsonians at Myreside on Saturday.

However, back-row forward Calder's plans were already made as he explained: "London Scottish have big plans to get promotion from English national league division one to the second tier, based on a number of full-time players. With the English (15-a-side) season finishing a little bit later than in Scotland it makes sense for me to get down to London early and hopefully impress enough to secure one of the contracts that could be on offer."

Captain of the Stewart's-Melville College side than won the national schools cup in 2006, Calder had a spell with Exeter after completing university studies.

Earlier this year he returned to Edinburgh but now feels heading south again is the right move.

"London Scottish like to play a more open, attacking game. Hopefully that will suit me and I look forward to contributing to a club with a huge history but which is also really ambitious and with a good coaching set-up."

London Scottish were forced to drop down to the bottom of the English leagues a decade ago due to financial difficulties brought on by the advent of professionalism.

Since then they have climbed the ladder to stand one promotion away from competing at professional level just below the Guinness Premiership.

Calder added: "The idea of helping London Scottish push on is quite an exciting prospect as they are not happy playing away without trying to better their league position."

While disappointed to be leaving Stew-Mel on a low note, Calder is convinced they can quickly return to the top flight. Reflecting on what was his fifth successive league appearance since returning from Exeter, he said: "The spirit was back against Watsonians. In previous matches we were defeated before kick-off because it has been such a difficult season (only two league wins).

"Watsonians, like ourselves, prefer to play open rugby but can be a bit frail at times. That helped us be more competitive. I'm confident that despite going down Stewart's-Melville will continue to retain a good core of players.

"That, along with absorbing the lessons learned from being in the Premiership, should ensure a quick bounce back."

Some of the players on whom Stew-Mel are depending for a speedy return were highlighted today on the club web-site which refers to the defeat at Myreside in positive terms, saying: "We did enjoy some barnstorming runs in the second half from Sam (Blackwood), Angus (Lean), big Chris (Sutherland) and Lewis (Calder)."

Behind the scrum, Richard Borthwick, Alex Cox, Michael Doneghan and Craig Marshall were also praised as well as Calum Williams, who is described as having "a real hunger about him" and "running some lovely lines".