Growing the Future: Boroughmuir set a new template for youth rugby

01/27/2025 10:36 AM

UNTIL relatively recently, age-grade rugby in Edinburgh was unarguably the domain of the capital's cohort of private schools, institutions steeped in the traditions of the game and historically serial providers of district and international players at youth level and indeed in the upper echelons of the senior game. 

And little wonder. Excellence in rugby at these schools was in their DNA and moreover became part of their marketing strategy, ultimately sparking an arms race that demanded a much more professional approach. This embraced professional level coaching in addition to all the add-ons, such as strength and conditioning and video analysis that are vital components of the player production process, all of which made the gap between the haves and the have-nots even wider.

Fine, for the fortunate few attending any of these establishment who ruled the rugby roost. But what about the other side of the picture: thaT of clubs and state schools in Edinburgh, which struggled to emulate the standards set by the independent sector, and which led to the impression that, for rugby, private schools equated to excellence, while the rest were …

Also in this series:

Growing the Future: coach development key for ambitious Stirling County

Growing the Future: focus on basics and game-time key as West of Scotland plot return to powerhouse status

Growing the Future: Mackie flying the flag for North East rugby

Growing the Future: GHA profit from expanded horizons

Growing the Future: Currie Chieftains building for success at youth level

Growing the Future: Dumfries Saints settle into life in the top flight of youth rugby in Scotland

Of course, it was not quite such a black and white situation. State secondary schools in Edinburgh such as Royal High School, Trinity Academy and Portobello High School have all enjoyed spells in the limelight, while clubs like BATs have been successful at mining local talent. But the reality is that the above schools and clubs were never able to seriously rub shoulders with the likes of Merchiston, George Watson's, Stewart's-Melville and Edinburgh Academy when it came to rugby.

Such an imbalance might still have been the situation today had one club in particular not challenged the hegemony of the private schools sector in Edinburgh. That club is Boroughmuir, who, some years ago drew up plans to create a youth section that would offer state school boys and girls similar opportunities and routes to the top, to those who attend independent schools.

By creating an environment that allows young players to develop to a high standard in rugby, Boroughmuir essentially replicated much of what the private schools do. That approach certainly produced results, to the extent of the Meggetland club dominating the top tier of club conferences over the past four seasons. Moreover, Boroughmuir has enjoyed the satisfaction of  seeing several of its youth players selected for national age-grade teams, most notably back-row Liam McConnell, who captained the Scotland under-20s side and is now beginning to break into the Edinburgh professional team.

Further confirmation of the efficacy of the Boroughmuir youth system has come from the Meggetland club's ability to compete on equal terms with quality opposition from south of the border in the annual Merchiston rugby festival and indeed against the host school itself.

Having established a successful system, Boroughmuir are now seeking to tweak their modus operandi, as the club's Academy and Performance manager,  Alex Toolis, who along with his twin brother Ben played professional rugby for Edinburgh, explains: "This year all our youth team players will be part of our Academy but we've selected a group of players who will go into our Player Development Pathway (PDP).

"That's aimed more at high performance rugby and will involve gym sessions three times a week, extra pitch sessions, performance skills as well as mental skills and nutrition. The PDP programme  has an intake of 32 boys and 8 girls out of a total of 443 who are in the youth Academy. We're looking to extend the number and we're also wanting to put some of our under-18s into the Bears Academy (senior rugby academy). It's also worth pointing out that the PDP programme is never a closed door and we recognise that young players develop at different and often later stages.

"We also want to bring in new under-15s for six months so that they will be ready for under-16s rugby," says Toolis. For younger age groups the Boroughmuir programme has introduced what Toolis describes as “physical literacy”, which is to say teaching 13 and 14 year olds basic running skills and giving them an introduction to strength and conditioning. "It might just be lifting a wooden pole but it's important to teach the correct way of lifting. We do a lot in the area of running properly and control of the body," Toolis outlines.

"In the ideal world we would have all our players in the PDP programme but we don't own the gym at Meggetland so we don't have control over booking times. We are looking at getting a new gym, but until that's in place we have to go with what we've got," states Toolis.

With such a well established youth programme in place, it's fair to say that Boroughmuir is a sure bet to be part of the proposed ‘Open Conference’ next season, a competition that aims to bring together the best schools and clubs in a top flight league. "We certainly meet a lot of the criteria for membership," says Toolis, adding: "But if Scottish Rugby wants it to work they will have to support the clubs.

"We don't have many of the advantages that schools enjoy and to match them we would need to employ, for example, a full time S&C coach and an analyst. We would need to have this expertise if we're to be competitive. Right now, we're well behind where the top schools are," argues Toolis.

All of this would necessitate funding, and that, as Toolis points out, is a raw issue at Meggetland. Without minimising the extent of the problem, Toolis goes straight to the point: "We've got 17 schools in our catchment area but we're getting the same level of investment as smaller clubs".

On the playing side, Toolis is clearly satisfied with the under-18s winning the top tier conference. Losing to Stirling County in the quarter-final of the Cup represented a blip but it does not seem to have dented confidence: "The boys have moved on – you can't win them all. I was pleased that the under-16s won their Cup. Our under-15s have potential. They're a good group of players but we need to work with them on PDP."

Meanwhile, there has been recent successes for the Banshees – girls teams – with a combined Lasswade-Boroughmuir under-16 team becoming National Quaich champions earlier this month, swiftly followed by a combined under 18s Currie-Boroughmuir side winning the National Bowl.

Pleasing too are the numbers arriving at Meggetland. This season Boroughmuir undr-18s have a squad of nearly 60 players which means that the club is able to field two teams at this age level. The numbers at Meggetland are in part due to the large secondary schools (Boroughmuir HS has nearly 2000 pupils, James Gillespies HS and Firhill HS) in the catchment area, but it's also a lot to do with the success of the club.

As well as being Academy and Performance Manager, Toolis effectively doubles as Boroughmuir's Development Officer which entails doing block sessions in schools, running sessions after school, involving himself in teacher CPD (continuous professional development) and in promoting women's and girls' rugby. In primary schools, Toolis and his team do three-week taster sessions and try to concentrate on P6 and P7, arguably the vital age at which to recruit youngsters into the game.

Toolis has been three years in his present post and feels an attachment to the city he now considers home. "I came to Edinburgh from my home country of Australia and played for Edinburgh before returning back home after signing for Melbourne Rebels,” he says. "Unfortunately I got a career altering neck injury in my first game out for the Rebels and was out of action for 12 months. Then there was a cut back in numbers at the pro teams in Australia. So I went to Japan and after that came back to Scotland, picking up a job with Livingstone RFC, then doing regional coaching before getting this opportunity at Boroughmuir.

"I now feel settled in Edinburgh with my wife, Amy. I'm happy here and love Scotland," declares the man at the heart of driving forward Boroughmuir's ambitious plans.

Driving Boroughmuir's 'shop-window' youth team, the under-18s, is head coach Richie Lockhart, who believes that the set-up at Meggetland is acting as a magnet. "Boys and girls come to Boroughmuir because they see how good it is and recognise that it's a performance environment," avers Lockhart, who is currently undergoing his advanced coaching certificate course.

Since he took over as the under-18s coach, Lockhart has enjoyed three years of National One Youth Conference successes. This season's win, however, was perhaps not as straightforward as the previous two because of what Lockhart describes as the"'challenge of injuries". He believes that his side were particularly badly hit for their Cup quarter final against Stirling County which they lost 14-15.

But Lockhart does not offer this as an excuse, and generously praises the Bridgehaugh side: "Stirling were well worth their win. They are well coached and had good game management on the day. Stirling also played well in what was an entertaining and intense final at Murrayfield".

Success in youth rugby at any club should translate into success at senior level but right now that formula does not appear to be working at Boroughmuir, whose 1st XV is third from the foot of the table in National One. And with three to go down the situation is causing nervousness at Meggetland.

Pre-Super Series, Boroughmuir was one of the leading clubs in Scotland but after the disbandment of the semi-pro experiment the Meggetland club was dealt a poor hand and like Stirling were placed in the second tier of the amateur game. That in turn caused a flight of leading players meaning that Boroughmuir essentially had to reinvent itself.

The hope is that the club's youth programme will see a flow of talented players step up to the senior team, and bolster a revival. The signs are positive according to Lockhart who reveals: "Over the past two seasons, 25 or more under-18s have moved into senior rugby at Meggetland.

"Clearly quite a few move away for university or other reasons," says Lockhart, who thinks that club loyalty can be built and youth players can be retained. "We've set up a programme run through the Bears Academy that deals with issues like mental health, nutrition and even financial education. We want to develop the whole person because that builds loyalty."

As for Lockhart's under-18 Conference winners, this second half of the season offers less challenges. Six of his side are now playing senior rugby and for the remainder there is the East of Scotland Cup to contest and in April a short tour to Harrogate.  Beyond that there is a sevens season, including Boroughmuir's own tournament at Meggetland in May. That same month Boroughmuir have been invited to take part in the Melrose 7s’ under-18 competition.

Perhaps the most important focus this term is on the under-17 group of players who will form the nucleus of next season's under-18s, and seven of whom have been involved recently in the regional rugby programme at Oriam. "Additionally there are 13 others who have been involved with regionals in one way or another" Lockhart points out, adding: "Then there's Alex Boldor with Romania under18 and Eliot Ibarra Craig, who will be training with Mexico with a view to playing 7s at the 2027 Pan American Games [in Lima]".

The self-effacing Lockhart might be too modest to mention that his son, Will, who is in the Scotland under-18 squad has already played a number of games for Boroughmuir's 1st XV and the same is true for his team mate Harry Jackaman.

Lockhart believes that the successes at under-18 level are down to teamwork both on and off the pitch. "We are lucky to have a brilliant team of coaches at under-18 and in our Director of Youth Rugby, Scott Freeborn, the beating heart of the club, a person who makes makes so many things happen".

As to the future, much will depend on how Boroughmuir adapts to the Open Conference requirements and how successful the business brains at the club will be in finding extra funding for what will be a necessary expansion of the existing programmes.

Whatever happens in the next few seasons, Boroughmuir has already set a template for the future of youth rugby in Scotland and if imitation is indeed the best form of flattery there has to be some satisfaction gained from seeing other clubs adopt the Meggetland masterplan.