Senior academy class for 2022-23 season announced

SCOTTISH RUGBY has announced the names of the 30 male players who will be on stage three [full-time] FOSROC Scottish Rugby Academy contracts next season. The group will be split evenly between Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors.

There is 13 new faces and 17 players who are carrying on from last season. Only 12 will be young enough to represent Scotland in the 2023 Under-20 Six Nations, which is a concern given how hard the 2021-22 age-grade side have found it to compete against opponents with more professional experience. Scotland Under-20s are on a 13-match losing streak, stretching back to March 2019. They lost 55-17 to Georgia last Wednesday.

All 30 players have also been allocated to one of the FOSROC Super6 teams and the hope must be that they will get regular game time playing at the level. This has not always been the case in the past, but there seems to be a genuine determination within the Murrayfield performance department to make sure it happens in the future.

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“It’s a really exciting time of the year for these players, and especially for the 13 new boys who will be immersed into the professional rugby environment for the first time, benefiting from all the support that the academy provides,” said Scottish Rugby’s Head of Player Transition Kenny Murray.

“To have more than a third of last year’s group sign professional contracts in Scotland is great as it shows the players that there are opportunities there if they work hard and show professional behaviours both on and off the pitch.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing these 30 players in the FOSROC Super6 Championship later this summer, with 12 of the players eligible for next year’s Under-20 Six Nations it will give them a good platform to experience senior rugby on, some of them for the first time.”

FOSROC Scottish Rugby Contracted Academy Players for 2022/2023 season –

Glasgow Warriors

• Logan Jarvie (Stirling County)*
• Callum Norrie (Stirling County)*
• Harris McLeod (Stirling County)*
• Ben Salmon (Stirling County)*
• Finlay Burgess (Stirling County)*
• Jamie Drummond (Ayrshire Bulls)**
• Archie Smeaton (Ayrshire Bulls)*
• Christian Townsend (Ayrshire Bulls)**
• Ben Afshar (Ayrshire Bulls)*
• Andy Stirrat (Ayrshire Bulls)*
• Euan Ferrie (Boroughmuir Bears)**
• Rhys Tait (Boroughmuir Bears)**
• Duncan Munn (Boroughmuir Bears)*
• Ross McKnight (Watsonians)**
• Tom Banatavala (Watsonians)*

Edinburgh Rugby

• Matt Russell (Heriot’s Rugby)**
• Ben Evans (Heriot’s Rugby)**
• Jamie Campbell (Heriot’s Rugby)**
• Dan Gamble (Heriot’s Rugby)**
• Nathan Sweeney (Heriot’s Rugby)**
• Harry Paterson (Watsonians)**
• Patrick Harrison (Watsonians)**
• Robbie Deans (Watsonians)*
• Liam McConnell (Boroughmuir Bears)*
• Mike Jones (Boroughmuir Bears)**
• Rudi Brown (Southern Knights)**
• Harri Morris (Southern Knights)**
• Cameron Scott (Southern Knights)**
• Jacob Henry (Southern Knights)**
• Finn Douglas (Southern Knights)*

** Retained FOSROC Scottish Rugby Contracted Academy Player from 2021/2022
*New FOSROC Scottish Rugby Contracted Academy Player

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