Aberdeen Grammar have been on the recruitment drive ahead of making their return to competitive rugby next month.
Grammar, who were relegated from the Premiership last season, endured a chaotic year with injuries and illness making it a near-impossible job to field a regular side.
A change of coaching staff over the summer saw head coach Ali O’Connor take a back seat and players Nat Coe and Greig Ryan were promoted to the new management team.
Their reliance on the student population to bolster their squad has not changed and Coe admits they will be stronger once the university term starts up again.
But they have recruited young stand-off Matt McMillan, who impressed at Watsonians last season, and Texan Gregor Gourlay, who has family in the north-east and has come over to play rugby.
‘No smoke and mirrors’
“We’re always honest about what we are as a club,” said Coe. “We’re fortunate that we’re still in National One and we’re a good club with a family feel.
“That’s what we say to players. There’s no smoke and mirrors or special offers to anyone. We just try to give people rugby and make things a bit more honest up here.
“Gregor has come over from the States and has got family in Aberdeen, so he’s coming over to play and live here for a year. Matty has come up to study and we’re really excited to see him play.”
This weekend we host @MarrRugby for our final preseason match!🏉
📍Rubislaw Playing Fields
⏰ 3pm KO
🤩 FREE ENTRY FOR ALLCome along to support the guys before we kick off the season!💪#GrammarGranite #ABDNRugby pic.twitter.com/RAC8pmLIPG
— Aberdeen Grammar Rugby (@ABDNRugby) August 17, 2022
Grammar play their final pre-season friendly on Saturday at home to Premiership champions Marr and like some of Scottish rugby, have again by touched by player availability issues.
They had friendlies against Deeside and Falkirk pencilled in for last week but had to call them off, meaning their only warm-up game so far has been a 27-19 defeat to Howe of Fife.
Experienced and reliable core
“We started in the middle of June so it’s been a good 10 weeks we’ve been training,” added Coe. “From what I can see a lot of teams have been pulling out of pre-season friendlies and it’s no secret the numbers of players in Scotland have diminished in the last four years.
“We rely on a big bank of students when they arrive in September, so we’re looking forward to them arriving and joining up with the squad.”
Grammar will still rely on an experienced, reliable core. O’Connor is now the club’s attack coach and Iain Stanger leads the backs.
Centre Tom Aplin will be team captain and Ben Inglis takes on the role of pack leader. Duncan Crawford will skipper the second team.
“Tom has loads of experience and with the younger players coming in, we thought he would offer stability,” said Coe. “Ben was chosen as he leads by example on the field.”
It has been a crash-course for Coe, who has taken on his first coaching role at the age of 27 after calling time on his playing career due to concussion issues.
“It’s a lot of work but work we enjoy doing, to prepare the team as best we can,” he added. “The boys are really fit, which is a positive, and hopefully we can bring a different spin to some things on the field.
“We’re realistic that following relegation things are difficult and we’re hoping things come together for Kelso (first league game). We’re hoping to get winning pretty early so boys enjoy their rugby again and get the club into a stable part of Scottish rugby.”