Youssef Salem grew up playing rugby in Rome – but has found his home at Aberdeen Grammar.
The fourth-year mechanical engineering student has embraced the challenges of moving to a new country and continuing his passion for the sport.
He joined Grammar at the start of this season and has since become a regular in the side, as they seek to stabilise in National One.
“I’m in my fourth year so I just wanted to find a team that could give me a challenge,” said Salem. “With being in National One, that sounded good to me.
“In my first year I played with the university team and before that, I just played at home in Italy. My uncle used to play, so he brought me into the game when I was five years old.
“I think it was the penultimate year where European students got the same fees as Scottish students, so that was maybe the reason for me coming over.
“As a university city it’s been really good. It’s big enough so that you have all the things you would expect from a big city, but not necessarily the distractions.
“This is my fourth year here so it’s basically become home.”
Aberdeen Grammar a ‘good environment’
Salem was cited by Grammar captain Tom Aplin last week as one of the younger players who had been ushered into a leadership role.
The forward has enjoyed being in his new surroundings and feels like Grammar have a strong dressing-room mentality.
“You follow your team-mates and since most of them are from Aberdeen or have been here longer than I have, they tell you the places to go,” added Salem.
“My team-mates are really friendly and I’ve felt welcomed since the beginning. Everyone comes to say hello and getting to know everyone, they’ve been pretty welcoming.
“Most of the guys give lifts to and from training and everyone has been supportive, especially the older guys. It’s not always a given they are so supportive, but they have been really good and with positive communication.
“There’s a lot of guys who are at university or are younger but I’ve not heard anyone complain about the environment, even with the tough losses.
“We have a good environment between team-mates and that’s one thing we cannot complain about this year.”
‘When you start with a negative streak it’s difficult to turn it around’
Results have been hard to come by for Grammar, with just two to their name following relegation last season.
They were beaten heavily at home by Kelso last weekend and on Saturday will finally get renew their north rivalry with Highland, after the two previous attempts to play the fixture were postponed.
“The impression that everybody got while playing these games is that one-on-one, each player was not worse than the player in front of them,” said Salem.
📣TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT📣
Our 1XV team to host @KelsoRugby at Rubislaw this Saturday has now been confirmed!
📍Rubislaw Playing Fields
⏰1.45PM KO#GrammarGranite pic.twitter.com/ob1nx5nqs2— Aberdeen Grammar Rugby (@ABDNRugby) December 2, 2022
“There was not a difference player-for-player. We’ve just encountered teams that were maybe a little more organised than us and that’s probably what’s made the difference.
“When you start with a negative streak it is difficult to turn it around. Maybe that’s been the problem as well.”
The 6 Nations is a while off yet but there may be gentle ribbing once any Italy-Scotland games come around.
“I don’t know if there’s a rivalry, since we often lose, but there’s a lot of banter about it that’s for sure,” added Salem.
“At least we’re the only nation that can’t be hated, out of the whole of the 6 Nations.”