Season has been tough
Hamilton Rugby Club coach Alex Edmonstone admits this season has been a challenge, but hopes to have the bonus of squad selection for their Tennent’s National League 2 clash at home to Falkirk on Saturday.
Edmonstone says the club are in a transitional period as they bring in younger players for departed older stars.
For the first three games, which have all ended in defeat, Edmonstone says what was available was what they went with, but hopes to have a full squad this weekend.
Saturday’s 46-22 defeat at Dumfries Saints confirmed Bulls’place at the bottom of the table, but Alex reckons they can start to take positive steps forward.
He said:“i’m happy to be back playing, despite the results.
“We’re making improvements in every game, I would say.
“At the beginning of the season we discussed, as a coaching team and as a club, that we’re in a bit of a transition at the moment.
“A lot of the older players have moved on, we’ve got quite a young, exciting squad – which is obviously excellent to see coming through – but we’re taking a bit of time to gel, to be honest.
“We’re making improvements in every session, which is all we can really do, despite the results, which obviously are the big focus.
“The second and third games had quite a lot of positives in them; the scoreline in the game against GHK didn’t really reflect the game.
“The Newton Stewart game, as a team, management and players, I think we were disappointed with the game, we didn’t do ourselves justice so that was the one we were most let down by.
“In the Dumfries game, it was always going to be tough going down there, they were one of the best teams in the league when we last played, but we struggled to get momentum, to keep hold of the ball, and when you do that you’re going to struggle to win a game.”
Alex added:“it’s small steps.
“The goal at the beginning of the season was always to get as many people as possible playing rugby and that will stay the goal, but it has been a challenge.
“The buy-in at training sessions hasn’t always been as many players as we would want, which then impacts on our games, but we’ve actually seen a bit of a marked increase in the last week or so.
“I’m looking forward to the weekend because the seconds are at Hillheadjordanhill, which will give them a good run-out, and for the Falkirk game on the Saturday this could be the first time we’ve had selection discussions to have, as opposed to‘these are the players available’.
“It’s little things; I’m hoping we put together a performance, look after the ball a bit better and have a bit more shape to our attack, and make sure we work on our transition into defensive patterns as well.
“We will get there. As a coach you’re looking for little gains, but the thing that everybody sees is the scoreline and the place in the table.
“I’m thinking the rewards will come.
“We are getting better and just need to work on it.”