A HERIOT'S Rugby CLUB Article
FOSROC SUPER SERIES | SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT
Heriot’s Rugby Head Coach, Ben Cairns, and Defence and Collision Coach, John Hardie – Credit: Malcolm Mackenzie
CHAMIONSHIP 2023
Looking back on the 2023 Championship itâs still hard to get away from the disappointment in how it finished. I spoke to the players in our huddle post-match, after the Semi-Final loss at Hawthornden against eventual winners of the competition Stirling Wolves, about not allowing one match to define our season. To look past it and appreciate the successes we did have and the shifts we made as a group.
Whilst we didnât lift the trophy, we did top the league by five points (19 points more than Stirling Wolves) and finished with a record of 10 wins, one draw and two losses. We scored five more tries than anyone else, with 77, and topped the table for total points for and had a points difference which was 90 more than the other sides. It wasnât a bad season.
We won the league with a game to spare versus Watsonians at Goldenacre, but it was probably our first meeting at Myreside, which will be the stand out moment from the season. A 64-0 away win, where everything clicked, and will go down as one of the clubâs biggest ever victories against our city rivals.
There were also a number of individual successes through the season. We had 19 players make their debut for the club, 8 make their 25th appearances and our first 4 players making their 50th appearances at Super Series level (Ronan Seydak, Josh Scott, Ross Jones and Michael Liness). Furthermore, a key goal for us each season is to have as many players as possible coming through our environment and going on to higher representative honours. We had 9 players involved with the pro teams – training and playing for their âAâ teams – and two of whom played in Edinburghâs pre-season match versus Connacht (Matt Davidson and Liam Richman).
SPRINT 2024
A lot has happened since the Semi -Final last year, including the changes to the pathway within the Scottish game and the announcement that the Super Series will not continue beyond this season.
That means one more opportunity for this group to get their hands on some Super Series silverware and we intend to do all we can to lift that trophy.
The guys have been back in the gym since the start of the year and we started with rugby training beginning in early March. Itâs been a short intense block but the players have come in heavily motivated to improve in their final competition together.
The squad remains largely unchanged with 21 of the 29 players with us last season. Three of the eight new signings have come up from the Heriot’s Blues plus the former Herioter Fergus Wood joins us via Newcastle University. So there are four players who are brand new to the club (Lawson Porter, Seamus Smith, Christian Townsend and Finlay Callaghan) and Iâve been pleased with how quickly they have integrated into the group.
We cannot wait to start the season at Goldie against one of our biggest rivals, Watsonians, on Saturday, 20 April, 3pm KO. We hope everyone gets behind the team and we can get off to a winning start.
- Ben Cairns
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT
FORWARDS
Chris Keen
Josh Scott
Euan McLaren
Lawson Porter
Ollie Blyth-Lafferty
Duncan Hood
Cammy Fenton
Michael Liness
Jamie Campbell
Ronan Seydak
Pat Spence
Euan McVie
Charlie Jupp
Ruairidh Leishman
Sam Wallace
Wallace Nelson
Callum Anderson
Jason Hill
BACKS
Seamus Smith
Euan McAra
Sinjin Broad
Liam Richman (C)
Christian Townsend
Fergus Wood
Angus Hunter
Matt Davidson
Jack Blain
Sam Pecqueur
Lewis Wells
Dan King
Finlay Callaghan
Jack Hocking