Earlier this month Community Development Officer Ross Peacock and Club Development and Academy Manager Corne Du Rand flew out to revisit their friends at Modena Rugby Club in Northern Italy.

It follows a trip to Italy in May where Ross and Corne put in place the building blocks of a new partnership with Modena in a country where rugby continues to grow in popularity.

The pair arrived in Italy on Thursday, September 4 and ran a theory and practical coach education session for Modena RFC mini's coaches. 

On Friday Ross and Corne drove to Cesenatico where the focus was on the junior teams and primarily U16s and U18s.

They assisted and observed coaching sessions throughout the day concentrating on both attack and defence.

Corne said: “The next steps are to secure some funding to subsidise the project through sponsorship and possibly through a European fund for exchange programmes for children.

“We also plan for some of our age groups to tour Modena and play their relevant age groups and for some of Modena's junior teams to visit London Scottish on a tour and play some games on an annual basis.”

He added: “The idea is that the kids will experience different cultures, build rugby friendships and for coaches to learn from each other.”

Ross said: “This is a very exciting project with many benefits for both clubs.

“I very much look forward to seeing how the relationships grows over the duration of the season.”