Scotland scour the country for domestic talent

Scotland head coach Steve McCormack and his assistant Dave Rotheram led an assesment programme this week in Edinburgh.

Their purpose was to see what kind of depth of domestic talent will be available to them for this year’s European Championship.

Each team in the European Championship must fill a quota of five domestic-based players in their squad, so the programme was an important part of the selection process for the coaches.

The players were taken from the Scotland Club XIII, Scotland Under-19s and Scotland Students teams, and underwent a series of tests and drills, as well as an interview.

Ten players have been earmarked for development programmes as a result, drawn mainly from Edinburgh Eagles and Aberdeen Warriors, with six of those players having previously represented the Scotland Club XIII.

“The event was a great success with players coming from all over Scotland,” said Scotland RL chairman Keith Hogg.

“A number of those who attended showed considerable potential and have been identified as future Scotland internationals. They’ll now be put on an individual development programme.

“This was a very encouraging day for the development of rugby league in Scotland with the high standard of all those who attended.”