Oriam to host Scotland’s future rugby talent with launch of pilot National Academy programme

Oriam’s world-class training facilities will serve as a foundation for developing future generations of Scottish rugby players.

Scottish Rugby has today (Mon Sept 16) announced a new pilot National Academy programme to develop promising young Scottish male players.

An initial pilot programme consisting of four training camps will be held at Oriam, Scotland’s Sports Performance Centre at Heriot-Watt University, between now until the end of the year with further sessions planned as the concept develops.

A total of 45 of the country’s best 17-20-year-olds, selected from Scottish Rugby’s regional academies as well as from the senior academies at Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby, will be put through their paces by the Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend along with forwards coach John Dalziel, defence coach Steve Tandy, scrum coach Pieter De Villiers and skills/contact coach Pete Horne.

The block sessions will culminate in a Scotland Under-23s match against Italy on the weekend of 14/15 December.

The launch of the pilot National Academy programme further strengthens Scottish Rugby’s links with Oriam where both the men’s and women’s national teams regularly train.

As part of a long-term agreement, there will be closer collaboration with Oriam and Heriot-Watt University, looking at facility development and mutually beneficial projects across sports science, research projects and sports management.

Oriam’s Executive Director Ross Campbell, welcomes the National Academy, saying: “As Scotland's Sports Performance Centre, Oriam is proud to be at the heart of this exciting new chapter for Scottish Rugby.

“The launch of the pilot National Academy programme underscores our commitment to developing the next generation of talent.

“We're thrilled to host these young, promising athletes and provide them with world-class training facilities and services that will not only enhance their individual growth but also strengthen the future of Scottish rugby. Oriam has always been a home for the national teams, and we look forward to continuing this vital partnership as we help shape the future of the sport.”

The pilot is designed to capitalise on the availability of the national team coaches outside international windows to support the development of young playing talent.

The players selected are from the length and breadth of the country spanning Scotland’s U18s, U19s and U20s national teams and across every position.

Scotland head coach, Gregor Townsend said: “The creation of a new National Academy has the potential to be game changing in accelerating the development of the next generation of our best young players.

“There are many players with outstanding ability, attitude and toughness within Scotland and as a coaching group we are determined to do what we can to enhance the alignment from the regional academies and age grade teams into our professional sides – with the overall goal of producing more players that could represent Scotland at Test level.

“Along with colleagues involved in the Scottish Rugby pathway and high-performance department, we have identified a group of players we believe have a great future in the game and we look forward to working with them on a regular basis.

“We are grateful of the support of Oriam and Heriot-Watt University for the use of their facilities and enabling us to start the pilot programme this season.”