Promising Scotland fly-half who made history aged 17 signs for Newcastle Red Bulls

Jake Dalziel, the son of Scotland assistant coach John Dalziel, has been announced as one of seven players to agree rookie contracts with the Gallagher Premiership outfit. He became the youngest player to ever represent Scotland Under 20 this year when he turned out for the national youth side aged just 17-years-old.

The stand-off started all five games for the Scots during the Six Nations, and made the four-man shortlist for player of the tournament across all six teams. Dalziel came through the ranks at Melrose, where he represented their first XV, and also turned out for Merchiston Castle School.

Son of Scotland assistant coach sings with Gallagher Premiership outfit

He moves to Kingston Park where Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend currently serves as a part-time consultant. The other young players to agree deals with the North East club are Charlie Dinneen (fly-half/full-back), Will Graham (hooker), Harry Hawkins (wing/centre), Euan Oakes (back row), Nathan Rickerby (prop) and Alfie Warwick (wing).

Red Bulls academy director John Fletcher said: “The rookie contract is a full-time standardised contract across all of the clubs for two years which gives the players a good opportunity to live as a full-time professional, and we have seven lads coming to us on that basis.”

Head of academy James Ponton added: “We had a strong Under-18s cohort this season and it has been difficult selecting which players to contract on a full-time basis, but we’re really excited about this year’s intake. The increased number of players joining our senior academy is a reflection of the ability within the group, and we’ve really bolstered our resources as an academy to give the guys the appropriate level of coaching and infrastructure in supporting them coming through

“It feels new and different to how the senior academy has worked before, with having such a big group, but we’re looking forward to it. As well as increasing our coaching and support staff we’re also looking at getting the guys out playing more rugby alongside their programmes here, be it clubs, universities or a combination of both.

“We’re strengthening those links all the time in putting the players’ development at the forefront, because playing regular rugby is incredibly important for them.”

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