Scotland U20 success reflected in expanded Glasgow and Edinburgh academies as recruit from South Africa included

Edinburgh have increased their coterie of ‘Stage Three Academy players’ from 15 to 23 and may expand further. Glasgow have gone up from 15 to 26. As well as bigger numbers, the expansion of the pro-academy group will now include players up to the age of 23, rather than under-20. This is designed to allow for the inclusion of later developing players.

Many of the new academy intake will train with the senior sides during the upcoming campaign. More ‘A’ team fixtures have also been promised, although no details of games have been released thus far. There will also be a player draft later this month which will see some members of the pro-academy allocated to teams in Arnold Clark Men's Premiership in the new season.

The expanded academies are in line with Scottish Rugby’s new ‘Male Performance Pathway’ which was announced in February with the aim of putting and keeping the national side in the world’s top five over the next decade. Scotland are currently ranked sixth.

The plan has at its core a focus on developing more home-grown players. Around half the current men’s national squad was born outside Scotland but it is hoped that “a better alignment between the domestic and professional game” can produce more native talent.

The supply of players between the Scotland U20 side and the full national side has been a real cause for concern in recent years, with the pipeline of talent slowing to a trickle. Scotland U20 were relegated from the top-tier World Rugby U20 Championship in 2019 and failed to win promotion back last summer. Happily, they secured their return to the elite level last month by winning the World Rugby U20 Trophy convincingly on home turf and many of that successful squad have been named in the expanded academies, including highly-rated Scotland U20 captain and flanker Liam McConnell, brothers Ollie (tighthead prop) and Jerry Blyth-Lafferty (hooker), Euan McVie (lock), Tom Currie (back-row) and Freddy Douglas (back-row), all of whom retain their places in the Edinburgh pro-academy, along with Hector Patterson (scrum-half), Jack Hocking (full-back), Ollie Duncan (back-row), Jack Brown (full-back), Isaac Coates (fly-half), Harri Morris (hooker) and Mikey Jones (loosehead prop), who made his Edinburgh debut in last season’s Challenge Cup tie against Bayonne.

The ten newcomers to the expanded Edinburgh pro-academy are: loosehead prop Jamie Stewart, who makes the move north from the Exeter Chiefs academy, Scotland U18 lock Mac Rutherford, who joins from Gala RFC, scrum-half Hamish MacArthur (Merchiston Castle), stand-off Ross Wolfenden (Peebles RFC), centre Sam Leweni (Watsonians) wing Nairn Moncrieff (Gala), centre Findlay Thomson, scrum-half Conor McAlpine (both Watsonians, lock Christian Lindsay (Loretto HS) and highly rated winger Lewis Wells who came through at Linlithgow RFC then played in the Super Series with Heriot’s and was invited by Gregor Townsend to train with Scotland.

Sean Everitt, the Edinburgh head coach, welcomed the expansion. “It’s a testament to the talent coming through our system and a clear indication of our commitment to developing homegrown players,” he said. “With a larger group, we have a fantastic opportunity to nurture these young players and prepare them for the challenges of professional rugby.

“The recent World Rugby U20 Trophy showcased the potential of our young players. Many of them excelled on the international stage, and it's thrilling to see them return to Edinburgh with a hunger to develop further. This expanded pro-academy group will provide them with the ideal environment to progress their careers.”

Intriguingly, Glasgow’s 26-strong intake includes the Scottish-qualified scrum-half Brent Jackson, who moves to Scotstoun from the Hollywoodbets Sharks U21 set-up in South Africa. There are also eight players from the successful Scotland U20 squad, including standout back-rower Jonny Morris and tighthead Callum Norrie. They are joined by fellow returning pro-academy players Kerr Yule, Ryan Burke, Johnny Ventisei, Fergus Watson and Mathew Urwin.

Wingers Amena Caqusau and Kerr Johnston also return and there are eight further players are set to be involved in the U20 academy cohort for the first time, including prop Jake Shearer, who came off the bench in Scotland’s victory over the USA in the final of the World Rugby U20 Trophy. Former Scotland U18 captain Joe Roberts and fellow front-rower Ollie McKenna – comfortable at both loose-head prop and hooker – join Shearer in the intake, as do a brace of back-rowers in the form of Archie McMichael and Rory Purvis.

Dan Halkon will combine his academy duties with a Business Studies degree at the University of Strathclyde, with Dumfries Sains centre Alex Brydon completing the first-year intake amongst the U20 group.

Joining Morris and Norrie in the newly-expanded U23 contingent are an additional nine players, including Duncan Munn, who made his senior professional debut off the bench in Glasgow’s 17-13 victory over Cardiff at Scotstoun in March.

Having impressed for Glasgow Warriors A and Ayrshire Bulls in the FOSROC Super Series Sprint upon his return from injury last season, Richie Simpson is similarly included in the U23 cohort, alongside loose-head prop Tom Banatvala and centre Ben Salmon.

A pair of Stirling Wolves alumni will link up with the Glasgow Warriors senior academy for the first time, having each trained with Glasgow Warriors during the closing stages of last season; former Scotland U20 and Ealing Trailfinders second-row Jare Oguntibeju and ex-Bristol Bears academy back-row Macenzzie Duncan each bring a dynamic athletic presence to the Glasgow Warriors pack.

Former Southern Knights winger Aidan Cross is also added to the Glasgow academy after impressing during training with the Warriors last season.