Edinburgh Rugby sign three Scotland age-grade internationals

Scotland U20 hat-trick hero joins capital club

Nathan Chamberlain impressed for Scotland in the U20 Six Nations, scoring a hat-trick of tries against Wales.

Edinburgh Rugby have announced the signings of Scotland age-grade trio Nathan Chamberlain, Ben Muncaster and Dan Gamble on FOSROC Stage 3 Academy contracts that put them on professional deals with the capital club.

Stand-off Chamberlain, 20, hat-trick hero in the stunning 52-17 over Wales U20s behind closed doors in Colwyn Bay just before lockdown, joins from Bristol Bears, while back-row Muncaster, 18, moves from Leicester Tigers, and promising Kelso tightead prop Gamble, 19, signs having featured for Heriot’s in the Super 6 this season.

Edinburgh head coach Richard Cockerill said: “It’s hugely important that we continue to develop and nurture young Scottish talent, so it’s brilliant that we’ve been able to sign three very impressive age-grade players.

Ben Muncaster is a Scotland age-grade international.

“Nathan – as most you will have seen in the recent U20 Six Nations – is a stand-off with excellent goal kicking ability, while his ability to read the game also stood out for us.

“Ben has come through the ranks at Leicester and has consistently improved his game year after year. He will only get better being involved and training with a talented back-row group here at Edinburgh.

“Finally, Dan is a player that we’ve liked for a while having watched him progress at Merchiston. He’s a strong ball carrier, who’s continuing to develop his own skillset at Super 6 level – we’ve been really impressed.”

Chamberlain joins the club following a standout 2020 U20 Six Nations campaign that saw the stand-off start all five matches, scoring 63 points in the process – including a 32-point man-of-the-match performance in that seven-try rout of Wales in Scotland’s closing fixture.

Born in Bristol, the Scottish qualified stand-off played Scotland age-grade rugby at both under-18 and under 19 levels prior to making his U20 debut against Italy in the opening match of the 2019 U20 Six Nations.

Chamberlain said: “I’m delighted to be joining Edinburgh Rugby at an exciting time for the club.

“This is a brilliant opportunity for me to continue to develop under a coach of Richard Cockerill’s vast experience along with his coaching team. Edinburgh has a great club culture and I am looking forward to meeting, working with and being part of the squad.”

Back-row Muncaster makes the move north from Leicester Tigers, having been part of the English Premiership club’s academy set-up since the age of 14.

Born in North Bewick, Muncaster earned a scholarship to Rugby School at an early age where he impressed enough to be picked up by Tigers.

On moving to Edinburgh, the 18-year-old – who has represented Scotland at under-18 and under-19 levels – said: “I’m extremely excited to be joining this club.

“I grew up in North Berwick and have always loved Edinburgh as a city, so to be joining the professional rugby team is a dream come true.

“Edinburgh are obviously a very strong team with a great culture. They have some exceptional players that I have looked up to for many years. I’ll hopefully try and learn from them as much as I can, certainly in the back row.

“It is such an honour to have been given an opportunity like this, I am very grateful for it, and I want to make the absolute most of it.”

Gamble came through the ranks at Kelso RFC, where the tighthead played his rugby until the age of 15.

At that point, Gamble earned a scholarship to Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh and has since gone on to represent Scotland at under-16 and under-18 levels.

The prop, 19, just finished his first year of senior rugby with FOSROC Super 6 club Heriot’s Rugby while he was named in the Scotland U20 squad for the 2020 U20 Six Nations only to miss out through injury.

He said: “I’m really excited to be joining the club. From already being involved in Edinburgh’s academy set up, it gave me a really good picture of how the club worked and what the environment was like.

“It’s a really positive and hard-working club that I really enjoyed being around and I am looking forward to the opportunity to be training full-time with the club next season.

“Like most academy players, it has always been a goal of mine to get a professional contract and it is even better that it has come from my home club.

“Hopefully the professional environment can really help me kick on in rugby and help me produce some really positive performances within the Super 6, and within the next few seasons I will be in the coaches’ eyes for selection for the professional team.”