With the first match of the Greene King IPA Championship season now just nine days away, Scottish trained against World Cup opposition yesterday as preparations continue.

The squad visited Cranleigh School in Surrey to face the Pacific Island side, and it turned out to be a hugely beneficial session ahead of the season opener against Moseley on Friday, 4th September at 19:45 at the Athletic Ground.

Both teams used the session to build on set-pieces, with scrums and line-outs focused on before a brief run-through, which put the Scots to the test against the 11th best team in the world.

Head of Performance Gruff Parsons saw it as an invaluable test for the team ahead of the new campaign: “It was an excellent opportunity for the boys to try out the moves acquired over pre-season and to recreate a game environment.” 

He added: “There's nothing quite like match practice so to recreate the game environment against a team like Tonga was hugely worthwhile for the squad.”

See the full interview with Head of Performance Gruff Parsons and Academy Bursary Player Alex Brown here: