Freddie Owsley explains move to England as he aims to leave Watsonians on a high

He says Watsonians are “massive underdogs” but Freddie Owsley is determined to go out on a high in Saturday’s Arnold Clark Premiership final against Ayr at Millbrae.

It’s the pacy full-back’s swansong for the Myreside club before he embarks on the next stage of a colourful career that has already seen him dabble in football and compete in elite athletics before a switch to rugby saw him score a stunning try for Edinburgh on the European stage and win representative honours for the Scotland Sevens team.

Owsley, 28, has agreed a deal to join Chinnor in the English Championship next season and has a new-found determination to return to the top level in rugby.

Freddie Owsley will play his final game for Watsonians in Saturday's Premiership final against Ayr. | SNS Group / SRU

He had a taste of it under Mike Blair at Edinburgh three years ago and made a brief return for the capital pro side this season when he featured in the friendly with Saracens.

His performance against a team boasting the likes of Fergus Burke, Ivan van Zyl and Andy Onyeama-Christie drew rave notices from Sean Everitt, the capital coach, and rekindled the fire inside Owsley. An invitation from Montpellier to play in their sevens tournament against the likes of Toulouse further inspired him and the player is now focused on pushing himself into the top tier.

“The Montpellier thing and the Saracens week with Edinburgh made me think, ‘you can give rugby a crack again’. I want to get back to the top level but obviously that's all down to me.

“People probably think of me as quite old. I’m 28 but I feel young, fit, healthy. I had an athletics background for five years. So in my head my rugby age is 23!

“As long as I keep playing and having years like this, hopefully people can see it.”

And it has been quite a year. Owsley has revelled in moving back to full-back with Watsonians under head coach Davey Wilson after years spending most of his career on the wing. He’s relishing the extra space in the back field and, as well as weighing in with 20 tries, he has been providing for others.

“It's been my favourite season ever, easily,” said Owsley who was born in Bristol but whose mother’s side of the family hail from Govan.

“After I finished with Scotland 7s and Edinburgh, I was kind of at a loose end. I was offered the chance to go to Hong Kong and I went and played the second half of the season, and we won the league out there, and I was top try scorer.

“I absolutely loved that, and that was really good for my rugby development, playing with a lot of Kiwis. I came back to the Super 6 with Watsonians and then this has been the first full, proper old school rugby season with lots of games.

“It's a 22-game season and I think I've played 19 games. I moved back to full-back, which is what I grew up playing through school, and with the Bristol Bears Academy. And Davey Wilson put me there first game, and I was like, ‘yes, I love this position’.

“You get the ball a lot more, so you get some space to run.”

Watsonians finished third in the regular season, a whopping 23 points adrift of runaway leaders Ayr and 13 behind second-placed Heriot’s. But the Myreside men seem to be peaking at the right time. They beat Heriot’s in the play-off semi-final at Goldenacre - Owsley was among the tries - and they are on the travels again on Saturday, with Ayr having home advantage due to their first-place finish. The Millbrae side have already enjoyed two narrow wins over Watsonians over the course of the league season and most are expecting them to make it a hat-trick in this weekend’s final which will be broadcast live on BBC Alba.

“Ayr are the team to beat and everyone's known that for a while,” said Owsley. “They did well throughout the Super 6, they did well before that in the Prem, and then they've had a lot going on at the club recently, building a lot more infrastructure and money going into the club.

“They've won the league convincingly, they've lost one game of the whole season. I think we lost seven, so we're massive underdogs going into the final.”

Freddie Owsley celebrates his debut try for Edinburgh against Brive in the EPCR Challenge Cup in 2022. | Getty Images

Ayr’s success has been built on their formidable pack and Owsley knows Watsonians need to stand up the physical challenge and maintain their discipline if they are to pull off an upset.

“If you give away penalties, they can just kick the corner and they've got a massive forward pack who, once they get going, can really roll you over.

“The game down at their place was a really tight game [Ayr won 12-7 in December]. I don't know, it could be different this time. Hopefully it's a bit drier, I much prefer a drier ball.

“I feel like Watsonians' backs can pack a punch against their backs, although they have some really strong players there as well. We've just got to match them up front and not give away too many penalties and we're in with a good chance.”

Owsley will be sorry to leave Watsonians and Scotland. Chinnor are based in Thame in Oxfordshire and the chance to play in the second tier of the English league system was too good to turn down. Ideally, he’d like to return north and win a contract with Edinburgh or Glasgow Warriors but he knows he has to impress down south first of all.

“I don't know whether I should be saying this, but my goals are still Scotland,” said Owsley who has been combining his rugby with a job in property marketing. “I still would love Edinburgh or Glasgow. That's still what I want to aim for. But if it's not happening this year, then I need to go and chase the higher level that's been offered, which is the Championship, and see how that goes.

“But I've still got one more game, still got the final, still want to prove a point there and win that.”

Owsley has already had one stint with Edinburgh Rugby. He joined the pro side in 2021 from Bristol Bears and played three matches. He rates his debut as his most memorable moment in rugby and anyone who saw his first try of a double against Brive in the Challenge Cup that evening will understand why. Latching on to the ball on halfway, the winger fly-hacked twice before outsprinting the French side’s defence. It was a stunning try, befitting a former GB sprinter and one-time member of the Bristol City FC academy, and Owsley was pleasantly surprised to see it again ahead of the Saracens friendly in March.

“Stevie Lawrie, the Edinburgh forwards coach, was taking us for the Sarries match and we had a meeting before the game. He starts playing a video and it’s that try. I was like, ‘what's he doing here?’ And he said: ‘By the way guys, this is Freddie. If people don't know, he scored one of the best tries I've ever seen’.

“It was a boost for my confidence and it was good to see the video again because I absolutely loved that game and it's still probably the best sporting memory of my life.”

A victory over Ayr at Millbrae would run it close and would be a fitting way for Owsley to sign off after a stellar season in maroon and white.