Scotland International Phil Godman Signs For London Scottish

Posted on May 18, 2012 in Edinburgh, London Scottish

Phil Godman, capped 23 times by Scotland, has signed for London Scottish from Edinburgh Rugby.

The 29 year old Edinburgh born fly half has also represented Scotland at U18, U19 and U21 level before winning his first cap for the senior international side against Romania in June 2005.

He made his RBS Six Nations debut against Wales at Murrayfield in February 2007.

Godman captained Merchiston Castle School to victory in the Scottish Schools Cup in 2000 before signing a professional contract with Newcastle Falcons. He moved to Edinburgh Rugby from Newcastle in 2004.

Godman: “I’m excited to be joining a club with such a prestigious history. Obviously, with its Scottish heritage, it was a definite attraction for me. After a few injuries recently, I’m looking forward to kick-starting my career and getting on the pitch for London Scottish.”

Director of Rugby Simon Amor is excited about the signing of Godman as the club continues its search for Scottish talent, with Godman being the third Scot signed by the club this month.

Amor: “A core part of the London Scottish philosophy is always being on the lookout for Scottish talent. The signing of Phil’s calibre not only fits into this philosophy, but his quality shows the ambitions of the club as we prepare for a second year in the Championship.”

Amor also believes Godman’s experience can only benefit players such as young fly half Dan Mugford.

Amor: “I’m hugely excited. Dan is an exciting young talent, proven with his accolades this season as top try scorer, top points scorer and voted the Supporters Player of the Season. Having two excellent fly halves at the club can only benefit us and Dan will learn a lot from Phil. This fits in with our philosophy of developing younger players who have the potential to play at the highest level.”

"Exciting Times Ahead" as Scotsmen McCall & Quigley Sign for London Scottish

Posted on May 10, 2012 in London Scottish

London Scottish have announced the signings of Dave McCall and Colin Quigley as the club continue to attract exciting Scottish talent.

Dave McCall

25 year old Dave McCall has signed from Rotherham Titans after spending the 2011/12 season at Clifton Lane. The winger had previously spent two and a half seasons with Glasgow Warriors, experiencing Heineken Cup rugby during his time there.

McCall, who went to school with London Scottish club captain Lewis Calder, is excited about the prospect of joining his new teammates.

McCall: “I’m excited about the way London Scottish play their rugby. After speaking to Simon Amor, I am impressed with the club set up and excited and ready to come into the squad.”

Head Coach Simon Amor said of McCall: “We were very impressed with Dave. He is a real quality Championship player, and will be a fantastic asset to the club as we continue to bring Scottish talent into the squad. He has genuine pace, and will bring strength and power to our backs.”

Colin Quigley

Colin Quigley joins London Scottish from Moseley after a year at Billesley Common. The 30 year old prop from Aberdeen had previously spent two years at Rotherham Titans.

Quigley: “I spoke to Simon Amor and I’m impressed with everything he had to say. Both he and the club have big ambitions and I have very much bought into that; there are exciting times ahead.”

Amor on Quigley: “He has been involved in the Championship for a number of years and performed exceptionally well against us in the recent playoffs, both as a scrummager and a ball carrier. He will add to what is already a very strong London Scottish front row.”

Scottish teenage prop makes international debut… for Pakistan

Posted on Apr 26, 2012 in Pakistan, Scotland, Scottish Rugby, smb

A teenage Scottish club rugby player has made his international debut . . .  for Pakistan in rugby league.

Shabaz Khan (pictured), an 18-year-old prop from RBS Premier Division 3 club Dalziel, ended up playing for the Pakistan rugby league side against their United Arab Emirates’ counterparts in a match in Dubai.

Shabaz, a Modern Apprentice with Scottish Rugby in partnership with the Waysiders/Drumpellier club in Coatbridge, takes up the story.

“I was born in Glasgow but my dad was born in a village just outside Peshawar in north-west Pakistan.   I had contacted the British Asian Rugby Association (BARA), which is based in Leeds, really to make them aware that I was British born, of Asian descent.”

BARA then got back in touch with Shabaz and invited him out to Dubai, where he ended up playing in the second-row for the Pakistan international rugby league side in a match against the UAE, which they lost 26-30.

“I checked beforehand that if I got this cap for league it wouldn’t stop me playing for Scotland because my dream is to play rugby union for Scotland,” Shabaz added.

“There were three training sessions before the match and I’d played a little bit of league last summer so I knew the rules.”

Dalziel confirmed that Shabaz has broken new territory for them – their first player to play for Pakistan rugby league and that his dream of playing for the full Scotland international side would also be another first for the club.

Esher’s Schmid – We can do it!

Posted on Apr 20, 2012 in Championship, English Rugby, Esher

By MARK BENGOECHEA

Mike Schmid is backing his Esher side to complete a sensational escape from relegation in Saturday’s winner-takes-all showdown at London Scottish.

Esher snatched a relegation lifeline with their emphatic seven-try bonus-point 42-17 destruction of Plymouth last weekend that closed the gap on Scottish to five points.

Now Esher need to repeat that feat in the final play-off game at Scottish and deny their local rivals any kind of bonus point to stay in the Championship.

It is a tall order but Esher coach Schmid believes his side can rise to the challenge and complete a remarkable escape from relegation.

Schmid said: “We know exactly what we have to do, the type of game we need to play, and that sets the mindset for the game, for the players.

“We can do it. We have the skills and the athletes to do it. We have just got to carry the momentum forward from last Saturday.

“Obviously, it’s our biggest game of the year. You can look back and think ‘if we’d only done this or that we might not be in this position’. But we are where we are. We can’t control the past. We have just got to take this as a one-off cup final.

“Scottish are a good side, a tough side to break down but the challenge is there for us and I firmly believe the boys can pull it off.

“The two teams are desperate for Championship survival so things are going to be tense and tough.

“Generally those games are tight anyway. The onus is on us to try and make sure it isn’t tight against a team that bases their game around a strong defence so it’s not an easy challenge at all.

“They beat us here but we had a lot of try-scoring opportunities that we didn’t take in that game which was disappointing. We have to take them this time. If we don’t, we go down.”

Schmid wants his side to play without fear and believes the side who can handle the pressure will win.

He said: “We showed what we could do last Saturday and we have to take that confidence with us into this game and improve upon it.

“It’ll be down to who can handle the pressure best and we must challenge ourselves to live in the next moment. Too often in the play-offs, when there’s been a mistake in a game, we’ve let that get to us and impact on us going forward.

“But there’s nothing we can do about that, just as there’s nothing we can do about those points we might have picked up in past games. All that matters is what you do next and that’s what you are judged on.

“We must just keep focused on the next job and try to do that one to the best of our ability.

“Can we do it? Of course we can. It’s very much within our capabilities. Scottish are a good team and we respect them and we know it’s not going to be easy but we can do it.”

Schmid was thrilled with the display against Plymouth that kept their survival hopes alive after four successive play-offs defeats.

Esher took a firm grip on the game from the start and tries from Seb Stegmann, Pete Synnott, Mark Atkinson, Ian Kench, Ignacio Elosu, Jonny Hylton and Sam Stitcher gave them a huge confidence boost going into their final clash.

Schmid added: “It was a great performance from us. We scored seven tries, went out with the right ambition because we wanted to push the tempo from the start and that’s what we did.

“Scottish getting the losing bonus point at Moseley takes the ambiguity out of what we have got to do this week. We have got to push the tempo, we have got to play and play well to win.

“I firmly believe in the boys and if we can pick off where we left off it’s going to be an exciting day. I loved watching them play on Saturday. They played with passion and did everything they needed to do and I was exceptionally proud.

“For the most part on Saturday our defence was good, our physicality was good and our discipline was good and we will need those things at Scottish.”

15 Luke Daniels

14 Seb Stegman

13 Tom Cheeseman

12 Mark Atkinson

11 Charlie Walker

10 Nicky Little

9 Clive Stuart Smith

8 Mike MacFarlane

7 Sam Stitcher

6 Peter Synnott

5 Matt Symons

4 Ian Kench

3 Ignatio Elosu

2 Stuart Mackie

1 David Millard

16 Kevin Corrigan

17 Ricky Nebbett

18 Perry Parker

19 Tom Alexander

20 Andy Garner

21 Jonny Hylton

22 Arran Cruickshanks

London Scottish v Plymouth Albion

Posted on Mar 30, 2012 in Championship, English Rugby, London Welsh, Plymouth Albion

Head Coach Simon Amor knows London Scottish will show ‘passion and desire’ going into Sunday’s game against Plymouth at the Athletic Ground.

Having suffered a 35-7 defeat last Friday night at Plymouth in an encounter that Amor describes his team as ‘clearly second best’, Scottish are determined to right the wrongs in front of their passionate home crowd.

Amor: "We were clearly second best on the night. But we go into Sunday with renewed determination and the passion and desire to right the wrongs and restore the London Scottish pride."

There is only one change to the starting line up that beat Moseley in Scottish’s last home game; Matt Heeks comes in at scrum half for Amor.

London Scottish side to face Plymouth Albion, Sunday 1st April kick off 2pm, Athletic Ground

15 Stuart Peel
14 Agustin Gosio
13 Ryan Westren
12 Charlie Hayter
11 Gerard Mullen
10 Dan Mugford
9 Matt Heeks
1 Alex Clarke
2 Adam Kwasnicki
3 Aaron Liffchak
4 Alex Karonias
5 Josh Thomas Brown
6 Adam Kleeberger
7 James Kellard
8 Mark Bright

16 Matt Johnson
17 Ollie Hayes
18 Alex MacKenzie
19 Steve Pape
20 Ben Lonergan
21 Jamie Stevenson
22 Ollie Grove