Ayr Rugby Club aim to be re-crowned league champions

Jul 23 2010 by Mike WIlson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

WHAT do you do to motivate the squad when your club has won the Premier 1 title and the cup, had your coach named ‘Coach of the Year’ and one of your players lifts the Player of the Year all in the space of twelve months?

“That is a question I was asking before I came to Ayr last season” admits assistant coach Peter Laverie.

“One of the things which stuck in my mind was the way Boroughmuir had gone off the boil in similar circumstances a couple of season before.

“Coming to a side who had won the title by a mile, I knew that it was one of the challenges we would have to face and when we were in France with some of Scotland’s top coaches, including Frank Hadden, I asked their opinion.

“The main thing I took from the advice we were given was quite simple. Have as many of the squad who had done the business back and get off to winning start.

“The real challenge is to keep things fresh and keep the players focused because we cannot afford to be complacent so we have to hit the ground running with the aim of being at the top end of the top eight after eleven games when the leagues split so we need to win our opening two games to set things up the way we want.”

And Laverie added: “This season the targets are a bit different in that we have eleven league games then straight into the B & I Cup before tackling our defence of the domestic cup and then the final seven games in the league.

“There is no doubt that our absolute priority is to regain the Premier 1 title.

“As well as having most of the squad back, we have got some quality players coming in as well.

“Scott Forrest will be a huge asset to the side as he was when Ayr won the title. Apart from being a very good player, he is an excellent communicator as you would expect from someone who was captain of the Scottish sevens squad, he has a great tactical brain and he is versatile in that he can operate at center or in the back row.

“Andy Kelly coming back to Ayr will give us very much needed cover in the front row and that position is strengthened further with the arrival of Nick Cox.

“He was a terrific player for Hawks and not just as a ball carrying prop but as captain, bringing the experience of having played with England under 21 and Gloucester so I think he will really enjoy playing at Ayr where obviously he will bring a huge amount to the side but will not have the pressures he had at Old Anniesland and will be able to concentrate more on his own game.”

So, with training in full swing and the pre-season warm up games edging ever closer, Ayr

are just about where they want to be at the moment although the return of messers Climo and Crossan will be delayed for another week.

They were part of the New Plymouth Old Boys side who beat Inglewood 25-23 with Climo notching two penalties in the Taranaki Premier Division semi-final on Saturday so will face up to old rivals Tukapa in this weeks final before heading off back to Scotland and, who knows, more glory?