Top team spot for Mull’s rising rugby star Ciaran

A rugby player from Mull has been named in the inaugural FOSROC Super6 Team of the Tournament after his first season playing at semi-pro level in Scotland.

Ciaran Whyte signed for Borders outfit Southern Knights in September last year and wasted no time in making an impact, scoring four tries for the Melrose-based team, being named Man of the Match following his team’s 46-27 win over Boroughmuir Bears in January, and playing a major part in all 10 of their games.

The tournament completed all 10 rounds of the regular season before the COVID-19 restrictions were introduced, with the Knights finishing fourth.

Super6 head coaches were asked to put forward players who stood out to make a Team of the Tournament, the only caveat being they could not select any player from their own squad.

From the players put forward, tournament director Stephen Gemmell and on-field lead Sean Lineen selected the final match-day 23 to make up the 2019/20 FOSROC Super6 Team of the Tournament. The squad was announced last week with 25-year-old Ciaran named on the subs bench.

Speaking to The Oban Times from his family home on Mull,

Ciaran in action.

Ciaran said: ‘It was a nice surprise to find out I had made the squad.

‘There are some big names on the list so it’s great to be named in amongst them.’

Having started his rugby career at Tobermory High School and Mull Rugby Football Club, Ciaran is working his way up the Scottish rugby echelons, rubbing shoulders with top players on the way.

Former Scotland stand-off John Rutherford, a founding member of the Garmony club, got the ball rolling by inviting the talented utility back to play for his home team Selkirk in the Scottish Borders for the 2016/17 season.

Following a spell with Premiership side Boroughmuir in 2017/18, during which he earned himself a cap with the Glasgow Warriors age-grade team, Ciaran jumped the border to join Ampthill RUFC where he played a big part in their promotion to the second tier of English Rugby Union.

A phone call from Southern Knights coach Rob Chrystie offering a place in the Borders’ new Super6 team saw Ciaran return to this side of Hadrian’s Wall for the 2019/20 season.

‘It was great to get back up to the Borders,’ Ciaran added.

‘It’s similar to Argyll in the lay out and the friendliness of folk in all the towns and villages. They love their rugby too and the area has a fantastic rugby heritage.

‘Playing at The Greenyards, home of the World Famous Melrose 7s, has been an experience. The synthetic pitch lends itself to the kind of fast-paced rugby I really enjoy.’

Having been furloughed from his part-time rugby position and his job as an activity leader at the MacKenzie School of English in Edinburgh, Ciaran is spending lockdown on Mull where he is helping out with the new family business at Salen Bay Campsite.

He is not being allowed to rest on his laurels, however, as Southern Knights strength and conditioning coach Ross Ford, Scotland’s most capped player (110), is still permitted to keep in touch, a duty which the former Kelso hooker is keeping on top of.

‘It is important we keep our fitness levels up. That’s one of the things I enjoy about the sport and I’m lucky I have the most beautiful of settings to do it in,’ concluded Ciaran.

FOSROC Super6 Team of the Tournament 2019/20: Ollie Smith, Ayrshire Bulls; Rory McMichael, Heriot’s Rugby; Joe Reynolds, Watsonians Rugby; Cameron Hutchison, Heriot’s Rugby; Jordan Edmunds, Boroughmuir Bears; Lee Millar, Watsonians Rugby; Andrew Simmers, Heriot’s Rugby; Grant Shiells, Southern Knights; Reynor Kennedy, Stirling County; Murphy Walker, Stirling County; Marshall Sykes, Ayrshire Bulls; Jamie Hodgson, Watsonians; Iain Wilson, Heriot’s Rugby; Conor Boyle, Watsonians Rugby; Morgan Innes, Watsonians Rugby. Replacements: Sam Kitchen, Ayrshire Bulls; Gordon Reid, Ayrshire Bulls; Dan Gamble, Heriot’s Rugby; Cameron Henderson, Stirling County; Jack Maclean, Heriot’s Rugby; Struan Hutchison, Southern Knights; Ross Thompson, Ayrshire Bulls; Ciaran Whyte, Southern Knights.

Left: Ciaran Whyte received the Man of the Match accolade following Southern Knights victory over Boroughmuir back in January.