Frostwick, Currie, Lamberton, Brown and Paterson coming to Myreside...

Five exciting young up-and-coming players have been aligned to Watsonians Rugby for the upcoming FOSROC Super6 season.

Scottish Rugby has confirmed the 30 players contracted to the FOSROC Scottish Rugby Academy for the 2021/2022 season.

And scrum-half Roan Frostwick and centre Matthew Currie - who played for Watsonians Rugby in 2019/20 - are joined by prop Cole Lamberton, back-row Rudi Brown and back three player Harry Paterson in being aligned to the club.

All contracted Academy players are evenly aligned to Glasgow Warriors or Edinburgh Rugby, enabling them to train daily with professional players and coaches, in turn helping them accelerate their development by being immersed in the pro-team club environment earlier and more often in their careers.

In doing so it creates a regular and closer association for talented emerging players and puts them under the eye of their respective pro-team Head Coaches.

Whilst based in the pro-team environment, the players will continue to receive individualised academy support through dedicated age-grade specialist coaches, strength and conditioning personal and physios, who will have responsibility to ensure the continued development of these players.

As well as pro-team alignment, all players also have a FOSROC Super6 team to enable further training and playing opportunities.

Of the 30 young men named as contracted Academy players last year, 12 played for a pro team in the 2020/21 season, four for Glasgow Warriors and eight for Edinburgh Rugby. Five of those players have signed pro-deals with either Edinburgh or Glasgow for the coming season.

Some 18 of the players announced today have been retained from last year, while 16 of the 30 were part of the 2021 Scotland under-20 Six Nations squad.

In this intake there are 12 new players who have signed as contracted Academy players for the first time.

As the contracted Academy players are aligned with the pro-teams, it creates an opportunity for the FOSROC Regional Academies to bring in more supported Regional Academy players, who will continue to be selected to one of the four regional Academy hubs in the Glasgow & the West, Edinburgh, Borders & East Lothian and Caledonia.

What they said…

Scottish Rugby’s Director of Performance Jim Mallinder: “Last year was the first time that the Contracted Academy players were aligned with the professional teams.

“Even with the challenges that Covid-19 has provided, a number of young players were able to gain valuable experience in the pro-team environment.

“To have 12 new additions who will be able to benefit from the support that the FOSROC Scottish Rugby Academy provides is fantastic.”

The 30 players aligned to Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby for the 2021/22 season are:

Glasgow Warriors (15 players)

Jamie Drummond – Ayrshire Bulls**

Alex Samuel – Ayrshire Bulls*

Rory Jackson – Ayrshire Bulls*

Christian Townsend – Ayrshire Bulls**

Finlay Callaghan – Ayrshire Bulls*

Robbie McCallum – Boroughmuir Bears*

Gregor Brown – Boroughmuir Bears*

Michael Gray – Boroughmuir Bears*

Rhys Tait – Boroughmuir Bears**

Euan Ferrie – Boroughmuir Bears**

Murphy Walker – Stirling County*

Angus Fraser – Stirling County*

Max Williamson – Stirling County*

Euan Cunningham – Stirling County*

Ross McKnight – Stirling County**

Edinburgh Rugby (15 players)

Ben Evans – Heriot’s Rugby**

Matt Russell – Heriot’s Rugby**

Michael Jones – Heriot’s Rugby**

Dan Gamble – Heriot’s Rugby*

Jamie Campbell – Heriot’s Rugby**

Nathan Sweeny – Southern Knights*

Jacob Henry – Southern Knights*

Cameron Scott – Southern Knights*

Patrick Harrison – Southern Knights*

Harri Morris – Southern Knights**

Harry Paterson – Watsonians Rugby*

Cole Lamberton – Watsonians Rugby**

Rudi Brown – Watsonians Rugby**

Matthew Currie – Watsonians Rugby*

Roan Frostwick – Watsonians Rugby*

* Retained FOSROC Scottish Rugby contracted Academy player from 2020/2021

** New FOSROC Scottish Rugby contracted Academy player

Harry Paterson and Matthew Currie are pictured, thanks to Scottish Rugby/SNS for the photos

Keep an eye on the club website and social media channels as the full FOSROC Super6 squad for 2021 will be announced soon