It's hard to believe that we are already five weeks into our 2016-2017 National One campaign. It seems only a short time ago, that we were celebrating the National Two championship success and planning our pre season! That's all in the past now, onto the future.

Firstly can I just start by saying how proud I am of the way the club is developing on and off the field at the moment. The atmosphere in the club is brilliant, with the squad in general being quite young, the potential of this group is great.

It's certainly been a challenging and whirlwind start, however we always knew it was going to be a massive step up. We have played five very difficult games so far, against teams that in my mind, are likely to finish near the top of the table. Our opening fixture against Dundee was a great game to be involved in, the club was buzzing and the energy amongst the squad in the build up and start of the game really was different class. To come away with only one point was disappointing however we showed real character to fight back and finish the game in a dominant fashion. The disappointments so far have been the games against Falkirk, Marr and Jed. In all three games we showed glimpses of the kind of rugby we can play but the performances were marred by poor defence and too many basic errors. In contrast Aberdeen at home was brilliant throughout. With the Scottish rugby TV cameras there, it felt from the start that we were going to put on a show. I really enjoyed that game, once again the atmosphere was outstanding and I know it gave the players a real lift as we came back from behind, showing real character to get the bonus point win at home!

We have a few notable 1st XV injuries, namely Richie Maxton, Taz McLaughlin, Ross Inglis, Steven Turnbull and Scott Whitlelaw who will all add something to the squads on their imminent returns. With Adam Ryan and Frazer Dunnachie also just back in the country after a summer of Camp America, they will also really add something to the squads.I've been really impressed with how a number of our guys that have stepped up and taken their chances with these injuries. In particular Andy Bruce at second row, the man mountain, is turning out to be a cracking big player and an important member of the squad. Andy Wilson is amassing a nice tally of tries early on and shows no sign of slowing up.

The next run of fixtures is hugely important, none more so than Musselburgh away next weekend. On the back of the sore defeat to Jed at home, I am certain we will see a positive reaction from the boys. Team morale is still good, we are a tight group and really do play for each other out on the pitch. A hard week of training is ahead, everyone knows that only 100% effort and commitment is good enough at this level. I look forward to seeing more familiar faces down at the next few games, cheering us onto some good wins.

Yours in Rugby,

Craig Inglis
Club Captain