At the last game of the 1st XV season as auld enemies Richmond and London Scottish go toe-to-toe at The Athletic Ground, there will be some returning royalty from previous seasons as the playing squad from the victorious National Three win in 2008/2009 will be having a reunion at the game.
Colin McIntyre has managed to get some of the squad together to reminisce about the good times and get down to the RAG where it all happened 10 years ago.
The former squad will be attending the pre game hospitality in the Members Bar before watching the final Greene King IPA Championship fixture of the current season and cheering on this season’s 1st XV.
It will be nearly 10 years to the day when the National Three side secured promotion. They beat Canterbury 38-22 to seal their promotion on 25th April 2009. The side had dominated National 3 South all season with an unprecedented unbeaten run – the only team in the National Leagues to go unbeaten that season. That win over Canterbury at the RAG put the seal on an incredible, near perfect season.
Buy tickets for the game against Richmond on 27th April here
London Scottish 1st XV – Squad 2008/09
Management and Coaching
Malcolm Gillespie – Director of Rugby
Brett Taylor – Head Coach
Colin McIntyre – Manager
Jim Kelly – Forwards Coach
Rory Greenslade-Jones – Backs Coach
Dean Sutton – Strength & Conditioning
Ian Taplin – Strength & Conditioning
Russell Kesley – Head Physiotherapist
Chris Wright – Backs Coach
Owen Scrimgeour – Forwards Coach
Ross MacGregor – Assistant Manager
Playing Squad
Captain – Gary Trueman, Vice Captain – Mark Soden
Hookers
Stuart Silvester, Ben Gotting, Dan Leek, David Box
Props
Andy Fahey, Matthew Johnson, Chris Johnston, Lorne Ward, Steve Millard, Raynne Bruce
Second Rows
Iain Fullarton, Andy Smith, Grant Livingston, Graeme Smith, Alex Karionas
Back Rows
Paul Volley, Mark Soden, Ledua Jope, Willie Lipp, Daniel Grinter
Scrum Halfs
Simon Amor, Owain Walbyoff, Matt Heeks, Callum Grant
Fly Halfs
James Brown, Scott Hadden, Lee Cholwea
Three Quarters
Rory Damant, Gary Trueman, Ian McInroy, Rory Greenslade- Jones, Stuart Peel
Back Three
Charlie Broughton, Ross Yiend, Gareth Swales, Roman Piotrowski, Frankie Neale, Anton Petzer, Lee Rust
EDF CUP Squad members – EDF Cup (5th Round)
Matt Baker, Lee Soper, Matt Fitzgerald, Nick Taft, Nimrod Kaplan, Colman McCarthy, James Colburn, Callum Morris, Chris Webb, Tom Mitchell, Phil Reid, Richard Finch and Rory Brabant.
Brett Taylor, London Scottish Head Coach for the title winning side said at the time, “the commitment and team spirit of the whole squad has been second to none. This is a just reward for all the hard work that they have put in over what’s been a long season. We may have gone unbeaten in National 3, but we are not resting on our laurels. The new look National 1 is going to be a tough league and we are aware that we will need to keep the momentum going if we are to secure further promotions.”
Following a damaging flirtation with the professional game in the nineties, and the club’s subsequent demotion to Herts/ Middlesex 1 – level 9 in the RFU structure – London Scottish had succeeded in winning an incredible six promotions in nine years as they climbed the RFU league ladder.
