Edinburgh Uni RC set to play and train alongside Watsonians teams.
The club are thrilled to announce a new partnership with EURFC, which will see a range of benefits for both clubs, both on and off the field.
Director of Rugby Chris Hunter on the partnership, "This is quite a significant partnership with Dave Adamson and Edinburgh University RFC. We recognise the importance of widening our relationships and this one is a very good fit for both clubs."
As part of the deal, joint training sessions will be run with the University' Performance Rugby' squad, allowing us to share top-level coaching, analysis and S&C whilst providing the students with an opportunity to develop their rugby careers further. Just this week, the University 1XV & 2XV joined the respective WFC club teams for joint sessions at Myreside.
The Myreside club will offer assistance with coaching at the University across all levels. Fergus Pringle and Jason Riley will provide specialist coaching sessions; however, there will also be a big focus on the University' Futures' squad – where around 90 players can be training at any one time. The club will utilise a number of our current players weekly during the season. In preparation for this, Jason Riley has been running Coaching Courses for the WFC players assisting the University.
Hunter went on, "At Myreside we want to be able to offer rugby to those of all abilities – whether it be semi-pro with our Super6 squad, or, an opportunity to play some social rugby on a Saturday with like minded people. We already successfully run 3 men's club teams on a Saturday, so to have the playing numbers to add a fourth team is quite incredible in today's climate."
The newly created 2A's team will feature a large number of students and will play their home matches at Peffermill, the home of the University of Edinburgh sports.
With Haddington 2XV dropping out of East Reserve League Division 3, the 2A's will aim to fulfil the vacant fixtures on a 'friendly' basis (subject to approval from the teams within the league) and ensure that more people are playing rugby on a Saturday. This setup allows the University to get back into the Saturday leagues.
Conan Sharman and his 7s team will also link up with the Uni to bolster player numbers and utilise the facilities at Peffermill when Myreside becomes unavailable due to cricket and athletics. With us sitting only 2 points off the top spot in King Of the 7s, this will strengthen the club's chances of having a crack at the title whilst providing the students an opportunity to compete in the KO7's competition.
Off the field, Watsonians Media Manager, Matt Farnham, will provide a social media workshop for the students. We hope to be able to offer opportunities to join the 'Media team' at Myreside to assist on match days. Furthermore, we will be helping promote the University fixtures and events across our social media platforms.
We hope to develop a relationship with the Women's sections over the coming months.
"It is important to put on record the input of Fergus and Jason in pulling this together. Both guys have worked with Dave in the past and built a strong relationship. Jason has been instrumental in creation of the 2A's team which will hopefully help feed the 1XV over the seasons to come. Thanks also to Dave Adamson and the University for working with us – we believe this is the start of something special."
