Five North Berwick High boys start for Scots U-18

North Berwick High School has developed a strong relationship with North Berwick RFC in response to the nationwide struggle to maintain rugby on the school curriculum and in extra-curricular work.

The school has long had a reputation for supporting rugby, and, in the past decade, the local rugby club has stepped in to offer regular coaching as pressure tightened on the curriculum and PE teachers’ efforts to maintain a consistent programme through the six years of secondary school.

Teachers and rugby coaches work together to ensure a seamless progression through the youth/schools ranks, involving also other sports in East Lothian.

The result of that partnership was never better illustrated than in Grenoble in France on Tuesday, where Scotland under-18s faced England in the semi-final of the Justin Bridou elite division FIRA-AER championship – effectively Europe’s U18 championship – with five North Berwick teenagers in the starting line-up.

Flanker Scott Burnside, Lewis Carmichael, a second-row, and loosehead prop Reece Paterson were all named as North Berwick pupils, while their two former team-mates, right-winger Ruaraidh Smith and stand-off Henry Slater, appeared respectively under Oakham School – in the Northampton Saints catchment area – and Merchiston Castle School, whom they joined on scholarships last year.

Although the Scots went down 25-12, the performance was a marked improvement on their heavy defeat by the same opposition in Darlington at the beginning of the month.

And the North Berwick contingent acquitted themselves well, with Smith and Paterson scoring Scotland’s two tries as the team fought strongly to claw back a 25-0 deficit. In particular, the three forwards among them would have been pleased to hear head coach Eddie Pollock’s assessment after the match.

“What pleased me was the way we hit back in the second half and that we secured a lot of good ball,” he said. “I thought we scrummed excellently.”

The five now move on to face Ireland on Saturday in a game which will decide third and fourth places in the competition.

One of the early stars of North Berwick rugby was Ross Cook, who finished his career in Parma after spells with Newcastle and Northampton and is now the UK marketing director for new Scotland kit sponsor Macron.

But the North Berwick rugby factory is really motoring now. Tommy Spinks left North Berwick to complete his education at Fettes College and is now at London Scottish. He started for Scotland under-20s against France this month, while the Aberdeen Grammar lock Stuart Smith is a former under-18, under-19 and under-20s cap from the East Lothian town.

With independent schools widening their reach in order to maintain the strength of their rugby teams and to fulfil their charity commitment to offer opportunities to the wider community, a number of state schoolboys are pushing through the ranks under their “finishing school”.

Ex-Bell Baxter scrum-half Murdo McAndrew spent his last year at Strathallan and played for Scotland U18s. He is now developing in the Clermont Auvergne academy in France. Eyemouth High School prop Scott Wilson moved to Sedbergh College on a scholarship, duly earned a professional contract with Newcastle and, after under-16 and under-18 caps south of the border, made his debut this year for England at under-20 level.

The SRU would like to see more come through in the navy blue than the lilywhite, but the North Berwick model of pooling resources, and the commitment of teaching staff and volunteer coaches to it, provides a promising route to talent development in a country striving to compete with a neighbour which boasts 20 times the number of teenage players, and current financial backing of around £1m, which is more than 100 times greater than that which underpins Scotland’s youth pathway structure.