Stewartry RFC’s promotion looks set to “change the whole future of the club”.
The Blacks defeated Aberdeenshire side Ellon in a play-off on Saturday to secure their place in the new Tennent’s National League Four.
Head coach, Sandy Currie, said: “I don’t know the last time we played in the National League, it’ll be the first time for the last 20 or 25 years.
“We’ve finished third, second, second, first in the covid season and second again. It’s very difficult to get out of the regional leagues but once we’re out it should be much more comfortable – it changes the whole future of the club.
“We’ll be playing a higher quality of rugby so it’ll just push us on. In terms of the West district, we were competing at the top but only have two or three competitive games a year in that league due to the gap, whereas playing national rugby we will be playing much more competitive games every week so it’ll make us a better team.
“It then means any of the youth players coming into the senior team are playing higher level rugby so it’ll develop them as better players all round.
“It should improve the overall performance and allow us to compete at that higher level and we’ll be travelling to bigger clubs with better facilities.
“We’ve boys in that team who have played regional rugby their whole career so it’ll be really good travelling across the rest of the country.
“We’ve got Strathmore, who are from north of Dundee, we have Perthshire, two teams in East Lothian, a team in Edinburgh and some in Glasgow plus ourselves.”
Stewartry’s promotion success came just seven days after their National Shield triumph over East Kilbride at BT Murrayfield.
And they needed late drama to do so at West of Scotland’s home at Burnbrae.
Ellon, who finished second in Tennent’s Caledonian Region Division One, led 24-22 as the game entered the final stages.
But a penalty conversion put Stewartry a point ahead before a try sealed victory.
Currie said: “We were the much better side, but we were just knackered. There was a lot of very tired bodies after the week before – physically and emotionally.
“It was the 23rd game over a nine month season so it was a long old season.
“There were a lot of celebrations to be had – but the weekend before was so big the boys were just knackered.
“That weekend was a massive high. We knew we still had a job to do on Saturday and it was almost like ‘job done, tick, move on’. The boys were just glad to get it done and go home for a cup of tea!”
The promotion and Shield double caps what has been an extraordinary season for Stewartry RFC as a whole.
Stewartry Sirens won all of their National League One fixtures to be promoted to the Women’s Premiership, while youth success including winning Sunday’s Moffat Tournament and the under-16s winning the West Region Shield.
Currie added: “The club is in such a good spot. I always think these things are cyclical and it’s just our time at the moment. We have a good coaching set-up, some really good players, a really good bunch of young players, a really good youth set-up, and a really good committee. It’s just a good vibe at the moment.
