A club striving to harness schools of proven excellence

Though Glasgow Hawks are the only club representing the west of Scotland in rugby’s top division, there should be no great cause for alarm if at least one up-and-coming team fulfil their potential. Indeed, you will find a clutch of clubs who share the belief that they are the future of Glasgow rugby.

Around the middle of the past season, it appeared that the two west clubs in Division Three of the Premiership, Glasgow Southern and Hillhead/Jordanhill, would be joined by upwardly-mobile Hutchesons’/Aloysians and Kilmarnock from National League Division One. Admittedly, they looked as if they would also be joined by West of Scotland and East Kilbride, on the slide from Premiership 2, but both managed to scramble from relegation to maintain a Glasgow area presence in the division. Only Hutchesons’/ Aloysians made the jump out of the National Leagues.

It did indicate, though, just how many clubs in the district could make serious claims to becoming the third force in the west, behind Glasgow Hawks and West. One of the most ambitious are Hutchesons’/ Aloysians. ‘HAs’ were formed in 1990 by merging Hutchesons’ Grammar School FP and Old Aloysians, and have uncovered a rich seam of talent on Glasgow’s south-side.

Club president Bernard Dunn explains: "We have two of the biggest rugby-playing schools, Hutchesons’ Grammar and St Aloysius’ College, and we’ve finally started doing something about developing that strength. They put out 10 or 12 teams every week - which no rugby club in Scotland can do - but where do all these boys go? For those who enjoy their rugby, where is their natural home when they leave school? Far too many just disappear because there are not proper links and encouragement to senior clubs.

"In the past, it has been expected that they would join us, but it hasn’t happened. The Bulloch brothers, Gordon and Alan, went to Hutchesons’, but joined West to further their rugby - though Gordon was at our club first - and St Aloysius’ boys James Craig and Carlo Di Ciacca did the same, simply because we didn’t offer them much.

"What we are striving to create now is a club with a good enough quality of rugby and coaching, as well as a good, social side, so that boys coming out of either school who like rugby have just two choices - either join HA or sign a professional contract."

It is about time that there was recognition of the schoolboy talent in the city - St Aloysius’ share with Galashiels Academy the distinction of most Scottish Schools Cup wins (five) - and provision of a recognisable path to senior rugby. In fairness, though, the club have only recently recovered from a failed, strife-torn, merger attempt of seven years ago.

With Clarkston enjoying good facilities at Braidholm, and HA cultivating countless age-grade internationalists while relying on school facilities, a body of opinion felt that a merger would speed up the creation of Glasgow's third force. Many felt otherwise, and when they dug in their heels, and HA declined a tie-up, a host of leading players and officials left Auldhouse to join Clarkston who, a year later, changed their name to Glasgow Southern to reflect a new approach.

Dunn says: "I actually voted for the merger at the time, because I felt there were benefits it terms of improving squad sizes, finding administrators, and getting better facilities, but there were disadvantages too. Thankfully, we’ve both managed to move forward from what was a very difficult time, and I believe it would now serve little purpose."

But he adds: "The HA merger was a unique one, founded on the traditions of two good schools, and that’s why it works so well. I think we’re now of a size where we don’t need to merge."

That growth is clear in HAs’ continued development of age-group players, as well as an acquisition of top-quality personnel. Glasgow Hawks’ New Zealand prop, Gavin Walsh, joined as player-coach a year ago, and is employed by St Aloysius’ as a rugby coach, while Croatian international fly-half, Anthony Poser, and former Glasgow and Scotland A No8, Fergus Wallace, were vital to this season’s promotion push. Poser has departed, but Wallace remains, and is joined by former Hawk, Australian sevens cap Andy Plastow, who will make his HA debut at the Cartha Queen’s Park Sevens on Saturday.

"We don’t have a big budget," Dunn admits. "We do a lot of fund-raising and, as we share the ground with the school, don’t have the overheads other clubs do - and most of our income is spent on coaching, but we recognise that to get ourselves to a higher level we have to bring in experience and perhaps foreign talent.

"We came up to this level two years ago, but went straight back down. We have learned from that, and are much better prepared now - with improved personnel, a bigger playing squad, more competition for places, and greater ambition.

"It would be ridiculous for me to say we’ll cruise through this division, but with the talented young players coming through now from under-18 level, and good squads right through who recognise the club is now matching their ambition, there are signs that this is just the start."