Ben: I’m ready to hit ground running
NewCountySuper6coachcan’twaittogetstarted
taken 11 points was massive. It really was an epic night’s squash from start to finish and we owe a huge debt of thanks to Karen and Pauline who volunteered to join us for the long journey down and helped claim five vital points.”
They got off to the best possible start with Karen Robertson claiming an impressive four-game victory at No.5 but skipper Stewart Penman – playing at a career high No.2 – went down battling all the way 3-1.
Former Edinburgh and Scotland centre Ben Cairns will be Stirling County’s new Super 6 head coach.
He will leave his current post at Currie Chieftains where he has been for the past seven years to take up the position next month and begin recruiting back room staff and playing squads alongside the on-field rugby preparations for the inaugural campaign, which begins next season.
Cairns – and the other successful Super 6 coaches Peter Murchie (Ayr), Rob Chrystie (Melrose), Steve Lawrie (Watsonians), Ciaran Beattie (Heriot’s) and Graham Shiel (Boroughmuir) were interviewed, recruited and will be employed directly by each individual club.
Scottish Rugby was involved in an advisory and oversight capacity, with the final recruitment decision made by each club.
The new Stirling Super 6 coach retired in 2014 after 116 professional club games and seven caps for his country. He rejoined Currie in 2011 as a player and skills coach, progressing to defence and skills coach, head coach and, latterly, Head of Rugby last year.
Throughout this time, he has combined club and school coaching with George Watson’s College with various international age-grade and representative coaching roles.
He has been head coach of Scotland U19 and the Scotland U20 development side since 2017 following assistant coaching roles with the Scotland U19 developments side (2015), Scotland U18 (2015-17), Edinburgh U20 (2015 and 2016) and East U18 (2015-2017).
Cairns was also a recipient of the John MacPhail Coaching Scholarship in 2015 and is a UKCC level 4 accredited coach.
He said: “It’s always been a big personal ambition of mine to be a full-time coach and work at the highest level and I’m delighted to get this opportunity through Stirling and in Scotland.
“Stirling County is a club I’ve always liked the look of and it has a lot of good people involved.
“It’s a proper rugby club, which I like, and has a lot of similarities to the club I’m joining from and grew up with.
“It’s a good fit for me and I’m really honoured and excited to get the opportunity to lead them into what will be a new era for the club and Scottish rugby.”
He added: “Initially I see a big part of my role being to get up to speed with how the club currently operates. I want to immerse myself in the club and really get to know the individuals who make it tick so I can hit the ground running.
“I’m also excited by the partnership the club has with the University of Stirling and look forward to growing this and working with them to enhance their rugby programme.
“From a playing, refereeing and coaching perspective the Super 6 is designed to be a more professional environment and should therefore be a better shop window for those with ambition to play, coach and officiate at the highest level they can.
“Having this new tier of competition should help and I see it as an opportunity to keep pushing up the ranks towards as a full-time pro coach.”