Glens reap rewards of community commitment

GLENROTHES’ reward for their 100% start to the season and their continuing community work is to be Scottish Rugby’s Club of the Month for September, writes Steve Scott.

The Carleton Park club has long been committed to rugby development in central Fife and started the 2012-13 season with six wins from six to stand on top of RBS Caledonia League Division 2 Midlands.

Club president John Tennant explained: “We are reaping the benefit just now of the strong association we’ve had with a number of the local schools, which in turn has led to a strong youth set-up.

“Our first XV are mostly young players, still with a lot to learn but now starting to mature, and we’ve rebranded our second XV as a development XV to emphasise the importance of sustaining interest and involvement beyond youth level.”

With the help of the Wooden Spoon charity, Glens have branched out into schools in towns like Buckhaven, Methil and Leven, where rugby has rarely ventured.

Mr Tennant added: “We have our own minibus at the club and basically we’ve gone and collected a few of the pupils who’ve been involved in the Wooden Spoon project and brought them along to the club and got them playing rugby.

“We’re involved in this project not purely to recruit players but because some of the children have a lot of issues and challenges to deal with and it’s the right thing to do to give them this chance.” EDINBURGH HEAD coach Michael Bradley challenged Saracens to break out of their one-dimensional game ahead of the opening Heineken Cup clash at Murrayfield this afternoon.

Bradley’s Edinburgh stunned European rugby by going all the way to the semifinals of last year’s competition and, while the squad feel the greater expectation this year, the coach believes the pressure is on the big-spendingAviva Premiership club in today’s Pool 1 opener.

Sarries were the only English club to reach the last eight of last year’s competition and were humiliated in the quarter-finals, beaten 22-3 at home by Clermont-Auvergne, underlining the belief of many that their conservative style, while effective in domestic rugby, doesn’t cut the mustard in Europe.

“They’re a well-drilled, well-organised side that play percentage rugby,” said Bradley.

“They are physically big, fairly combative, good ball-carriers and have a shrewd kicking game.

“But they will be struggling to win the Heineken Cup playing just a onedimensional game.

“They’ve made noises about playing more counter-attacking rugby but they haven’t shown it so far.”

Edinburgh’s free-scoring style was a feature of their successful season in Europe last year, but Bradley accepted that they could not be a surprise to anyone this year.

“There is a bit of pressure on because the expectation last year was not great. We had just been to the quarter-finals once before, while this is now the year after we got to the semis,” added the coach.

“We feel a bit of pressure because of that, to be honest, but that is a good thing because in the last couple of minutes of the match that might get us over the line.”

Two successive defeats in the league against Dragons andTreviso may not count for much considering the vast difference between Edinburgh’s performances in the Heineken Cup and Rabodirect PRO12 last year, but Bradley wants greater consistency

Edinburgh head coach Michael Bradley gathers his squad together at training ahead of the clash with Saracens.