We catch up with 1st XV player Callum Lauder…
Ist XV back-row Callum Lauder is now safely back in Australia with his family due to the current climate, but he has been looking back on a great year at Myreside.
The 19-year-old back-row played a key part in helping a young ‘Sonians squad sit in mid-table in Tennent’s National League Division One before the campaign was declared null and void by Scottish Rugby this week.
Callum grew up in Brisbane and started playing rugby at Souths Rugby Club aged seven.
He continued playing for Souths through the juniors and then into the under-20s set-up while also playing for his school St Laurence’s College.
So, how did his move to Edinburgh come about?
“I came to Watsonians for the 2019/20 season, I was at university back in Australia and needed a break, playing overseas was something I’d always wanted to do and with my dad, having being born in Scotland, helped me to reach out to a handful of clubs,” he explained.
“From there Watsonians head coach Bruce Ruthven got in contact with me and said that the club would be happy to have me and I got on the plane and one week later and was playing against Gala.
“A memory I will remember will definitely be that first game against Gala, Kerr Stoddart passed me a ball in open space with the line wide open, but I mustn’t have been used to the wet conditions because I dropped the ball”
“Another - better - memory from the season was beating Melrose at home, we gave them a proper beating [44-10 on December 14] and it was probably the best game we played as a team - there was also all the ‘old boys’ from the club watching that day as well so it was awesome to give them a win.
The Stirling game was another great highlight, we had to dig in and defend our line for a good 15 minutes towards the end of the game, but we did and won [20-17 on December 21].”
It is safe to say that Callum loved his time in the capital and we may well see him back in maroon and white in he future.
“I made a lot of great memories with the boys at the after game functions in the clubhouse while the guys from the team showed me the pubs and the clubs around town which was awesome,” he stated.
“I was lucky enough to live very close to the Royal Mile which was weird to me as most of the buildings there are older than Brisbane!
“I made a lot of mates and was lucky enough to live with the 1st XV vice-captain Tom Richardson for most of the season which was a great and I also worked with our two Croatian international stars kreso [Coric] and Luka [Rosso].
“The old heads around the club were awesome, like Hoss [Gordon Smith] our forwards coach who I lived with for my first two weeks in Scotland, he definitely had an old school approach to training with lots of hard work and it paid off.
“Stan [Buchan] the team manager always brought a smile to the changing rooms while Dennis [Carmichael] is an absolute legend along with countless others
“Due to the Covid-19 virus I had to return home to see the family which was bittersweet, I was very keen to finish off the season strong with the boys, but it is good to be back.
“When things get back to ‘normal’ I’ll continue to play rugby in Australia and hopefully return to Scotland at some point.”
Words by Gary Heatly
Main image by Graham Gaw, more here
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