We can't be doing everything wrong...

This article from Americas Rugby News has certainly set debates on the rights, wrongs and technicalities of eligibility criteria within rugby alight, and especially around the Scottish situation. Is it good use of the eligibility criteria to our advantage, a struggle to produce players of International quality or potentially a combination of both? Or is it a chance to look at where our ‘homegrown’ International players have come from and see what we can learn from these environments and journeys? So with a little bit of Google, Wikipedia and searches of a few articles to gather some information (hopefully it’s all accurate), perhaps a look back to what has worked might help us with the future. I think we must be conscious of the fact that in recent years we have produced some of the most exciting and sought after players across Europe- so there must be some things that we are doing right.... players like Russell, Hogg, Laidlaw and the Gray brothers have gone on from playing for Edinburgh or Glasgow to earn acclaim in England or France and in some cases both. Surely that’s not by accident or luck? Going back further, players like Redpath, Townsend,?Armstrong and Weir did the same. Clearly the latter group all learned the game in the Scottish Borders, but where did our current 6 Nations?‘homegrown’ players (of which there are 18), learn their trade and is there something within those development pathways to take stock of???

Starting with the pack, Strathallan school, near Dunblane, features heavily in this area, being part of 3 players pathway towards pro contracts and ultimately into the National Team. Both Fagerson brothers and Jamie Ritchie all attended Strathallan prior to entering the ‘Performance Pathway’. It should be noted though, as with some rugby players who end their education at Scottish Independent schools, many often attend there for the final years of schooling as a result of their abilities on the pitch and/or desire to play in the top Scottish Schools Conference. Both Fagersons attended The High School of Dundee prior to going to Strathallan and Jamie Ritchie attended Bell Baxter whilst also playing for Howe of Fife. Another?school that features in two players pathways is Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow. Both players also progressed into the Glasgow Hawks programme - Scott Cummings going direct, with Ritchie Gray going via West of Scotland. Although not part of the 2024 Six Nations squad, brother of Richie- Jonny, appears to have taken a different path to getting capped - via Rutherglen Academy and Cambuslang Rugby Club. The final home grown forward to come from an Independent?school programme is hooker George Turner who came through the ranks at Edinburgh's Stewarts Melville College. Another interesting fact is that Stewarts Melville have produced 3 hookers who all featured for Edinburgh Rugby in the professional era- Andy Kelly, Stevie Laurie and George Turner all whilst Scotland capped hooker Graham Ellis was a teacher at the school around the same time.??

From state school programmes or Club based programmes in the pack we have Jamie Bhatti, Luke Crosbie, Grant Gilchrist, Glen Young and co-captain Rory Darge. Most have a fairly straight forward pathway and appear to have less movement between environments than players who go through the independent? schools system- Darge only being at North Berwick, Young from Jed-Forrest before going to Newcastle Falcons, Crosbie starting at Livingston before going to Currie, Gilchrist going from Alloa to Stirling County and Bhatti being the most travelled starting at Hillfoots, going to Stirling County and then to Melrose.??

Moving into the backs and we can again start with Strathallan-?featuring in George Horne’s journey into the Academy system, again via Bell Baxter school and Howe of Fife. Both Blair Kinghorn and Harry Patterson learned their rugby at Edinburgh Academy, although Patterson also appears to have featured for Currie. Stafford Macdowell attended Edinburgh’s?Merchiston Castle School, but also played with Dumfries and Stewartry in Dumfries and Galloway. The final 3 ‘homegrown’ backs all have different journeys. Kyle Rowe attended Queen Victoria School before turning out for Falkirk and then Glasgow Hawks, Darcy Graham progressed through the Hawick Youth programme whilst Finn Russell attended Stirling’s Wallace High School before playing at Stirling County, Falkirk and then Ayr only then going on to a professional contract. The last 2 schools/youth programmes should be considered further. Hawick have also produced Stuart Hogg and Rory Sutherland of recent times (Sutherland also played for Biggar and Gala). However, what is also interesting is that both the Hawick youth programme and Wallace High School are not only producing male International players, but also in the Women’s game too. Lisa Thomson and Lana Skeldon both attended Hawick High School however due to no Women’s or Girls Pathway in the town at that time did not represent Hawick after primary school. Wallace High School are producing many age grade female players who tend to progress into the Stirling County programme. So, what is it that these environments were doing when these players were learning the game, providing the foundation for them to go on and become, not only the best ‘homegrown’ players, but actually the best players within the National team? Who were the driving forces that were around at that time and are there lessons to be learned from them. One last area to consider is Jed-Forrest (and Jed Thistle) where Glen Young progressed from, but not only him, recently retired captain Greig Laidlaw. How is one of Scotland’s smallest towns producing 2 of the Countries best male players, but again, crossing over into the Women’s game, with Chloe Rollie coming from Jedburgh. It will never be down to one person, but the likes of Rocky Johnson and Kev Barrie would have played a big part in both Hawick and Jed’s development programmes respectively around the time these players were progressing through their formative years. This highlights the great work development officers can have on youth rugby.

I think it’s always difficult to gauge how successful a development programme is in producing performance players as the result of the test is often over 5 years apart. There is a constant drive for people to be working in different ways and adopting the latest techniques however, should we consider what the above mentioned players were doing during their youth rugby programmes? Who was having positive influences on them and why? Obviously, the player, their attitude, etc will all play a huge part but if we have environments and people that are producing players of this quality consistently, we need to understand what is working as much as possible.??

This post is an attempt to look at the positive work that has went into producing some of Scotland's best players through different pathways and environments. It maybe raise more questions than answers. It would certainly be interesting to hear any thoughts that people have on this.??