Latest news with #KennyMurray
Scotsman
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Scotland U20 squad named but coach in the dark over fundamental aspect of World Championship
Young Scots to face England, Australia and South Africa in Italy Sign up to our Rugby Union newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Kenny Murray has named his Scotland Under-20 squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy but the coach still doesn't know if there will be relegation at this summer's tournament. The young Scots are back in the elite competition for the first time in six years after earning promotion last season by winning the second-tier World Rugby U20 Trophy. Their 'reward' is an extremely testing group which has seen them paired with England, Australia and South Africa in Pool A. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It's a huge step up for Scotland but one which Murray is relishing. He has named a 30-man squad for the 12-team tournament but remains in the dark about whether or not the bottom-placed side after the play-offs will be relegated, even though the competition is kicking off a week on Sunday, with Scotland's opening fixture against England in Verona. Scotland U20 head coach Kenny Murray, centre, with some of his players. | SNS Group / SRU 'We're hoping to get confirmation before this tournament begins,' said Murray. 'There's discussions going on at World Rugby about expanding the tournament, so we're still waiting for final clarification as to whether that's definitely happening and whether there's going to be relegation or not. I'm hoping to find out next week at the latest. 'All I've heard is that there's definitely some motivation to go to 16 teams. That's as much as we know at the moment, but obviously we'll need to know before the tournament starts. It would be good to go there without that extra pressure of relegation.' After the opener against England, Scotland will play Australia in Viadana on July 4 and South Africa in Calvisano on July 9. They will then play two ranking play-off games to determine their final position. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Freddy Douglas and Johnny Ventisei will co-captain Scotland, with both having had experience of leading the team during the 2025 U20 Six Nations. Scotland U20's Seb Stephen played for Glasgow Warriors against Leinster. | SNS Group / SRU Douglas, who made his full Scotland debut against Portugal in the autumn, is one of a handful of players in the squad to have played pro club rugby. The highly talented flanker featured seven times for Edinburgh last season. Jack Brown, the full-back who scored a hat-trick in the impressive win over Ireland U20s last week, also made his Edinburgh debut and hooker Seb Stephen played for Glasgow Warriors against Leinster, impressing in a narrow defeat in Dublin. In addition, Reuben Logan made a brief appearance off the bench for Northampton Saints against Exeter in the Premiership. The squad is relatively experienced, with 29 of the 30 having played in either or both the 2024 World Rugby U20 Trophy or 2025 U20 Six Nations. Jed Findlay, the full-back who featured in last week's win over Ireland U20, is in a tournament squad for the first time. Forwards Will Pearce and Oliver Finlayson-Russell are the other players yet to feature in a competitive match for Scotland U20. Both were in the U20 Six Nations squad but did not make an appearance. Jack Hocking, the versatile Edinburgh back, is included after injury and could make his first competitive appearance since featuring for Hawick in October last year but Guy Rodgers misses out with a hamstring issue. Scotland U20 squad for 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Forwards: Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh), Dylan Cockburn (Melrose RFC), Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh; co-capt), Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh), Oliver Finlayson-Russell (Univ of St Andrews), Mark Fyffe (Univ of Edinburgh), Bart Godsell (Loughborough Univ), Dan Halkon (Glasgow), Reuben Logan (Northampton), Oliver McKenna (Glasgow), Charlie Moss (Montpellier), Will Pearce (Cardiff Metropolitan Univ/Bristol), Joe Roberts (Glasgow), Jake Shearer (Glasgow), Seb Stephen (Glasgow), Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh), Ben White (Melrose/Edinburgh).
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Douglas & Ventisei to co-captain Scotland at U20 Championship
Freddy Douglas and Johnny Ventisei will co-captain Scotland at the upcoming World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Italy. Having led the team during this year's Under-20 Six Nations, Edinburgh's Douglas and Glasgow Warriors' Ventisei will fulfil the same leadership roles this summer. Advertisement Nineteen of the 30-man squad are made up of Edinburgh (10) and Glasgow (nine) players. Three of the squad have made debuts for Scottish professional sides in the past season as Douglas, who earned a senior Scotland cap last autumn, and Jack Brown featured for Edinburgh in the URC while Seb Stephen recently made his Glasgow bow away to Leinster. Scotland will play England on 29 June, Australia on 4 July and South Africa on 9 July in the group stages of the competition. Head coach Kenny Murray said: "We've had a long preparation block with a wider squad and a really strong group to pick from. Advertisement "The group took some confidence from beating Ireland in the friendly last week, but there was also plenty for us to work on and we know we'll have to be better in the Championship. "The group-stage fixtures will obviously be tough, but we've trained well and the opportunity is there for the players to put in 80-minute performances that really show what we're capable of."
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Douglas & Ventisei to co-captain Scotland at U20 Championship
Freddy Douglas and Johnny Ventisei will co-captain Scotland at the upcoming World Rugby Under-20 Championship in led the team during this year's Under-20 Six Nations, Edinburgh's Douglas and Glasgow Warriors' Ventisei will fulfil the same leadership roles this of the 30-man squad are made up of Edinburgh (10) and Glasgow (nine) of the squad have made debuts for Scottish professional sides in the past season as Douglas, who earned a senior Scotland cap last autumn, and Jack Brown featured for Edinburgh in the URC while Seb Stephen recently made his Glasgow bow away to will play England on 29 June, Australia on 4 July and South Africa on 9 July in the group stages of the coach Kenny Murray said: "We've had a long preparation block with a wider squad and a really strong group to pick from."The group took some confidence from beating Ireland in the friendly last week, but there was also plenty for us to work on and we know we'll have to be better in the Championship."The group-stage fixtures will obviously be tough, but we've trained well and the opportunity is there for the players to put in 80-minute performances that really show what we're capable of."
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Cut adrift! Anger as Scottish Rugby 'brutally' axe youngsters as part of new strategy
Scottish Rugby have been accused of showing 'disrespect' and a 'lack of care' towards young players after announcing major cuts to their academy system. As part of the new restructure and pathway system designed by SRU performance director David Nucifora, some age-grade teams have seen their number of official academy players cut in half. Whilst the SRU insist the overall academy structure will be improved and better funded, it has left dozens of young players across the country fearing they have been cast adrift. The players who have been cut from the academies and released back to domestic club rugby were notified last week via a standardised email, with no personal feedback as to why they have been let go. Players and parents were invited to join a Zoom call on Tuesday night with Kenny Murray, Scotland Under-20s head coach and head of player transition, and Neil Graham, the SRU's head of game development. The plans were laid out more formally and in greater detail by Murray and Graham, but concerns have been raised to Mail Sport about how the whole process has been handled. 'The whole thing has been brutal,' said one source, whose anonymity has been protected due to their continued involvement with Scottish Rugby. 'I know a boy who left school in S5. He wanted to focus on rugby full-time and pursue a career. From the feedback he had from coaches, he felt it was achievable. 'Now it's just kind of been ripped away really unexpectedly. If he had known this would happen, he would probably have stayed in school and focused on his education. 'From what I can gather, this has come from the very top of the SRU. Even our coaches have been dumped into the s*** as well. They didn't know this was happening until last week.' In an off-the-record briefing with journalists last week, Nucifora laid out his vision for how he wants to revamp the pathway system. Despite still being based in Australia and only visiting Scotland during certain periods of the year, he has been entrusted to set the new structures to improve player development. Nucifora will rely on coaches and talent-spotters in the SRU to help inform decisions of which players are promoted through the system. After players are initially identified in the domestic club game, they will then embark on a six-year pathway towards playing for Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh and, ultimately, the national team. The National Talent Pathway will consist of players aged between 16-19, with another three-year academy block outlined beyond that. Nucifora was reluctant to commit to exact numbers, but sources have indicated to Mail Sport that it could be around 15 players at each level when numbers were previously closer to 30. These players in the academy system have access to various support structures which aim to improve their physical and technical development. But the numbers will now be greatly reduced to align with Nucifora's masterplan, essentially a streamlining of the existing academy system. Nucifora, who previously worked in a similar role for Ireland, has been criticised for overseeing the project from afar. With the SRU currently cutting back on foreign imports in a bid to get more Scottish youngsters playing for Glasgow and Edinburgh, there is also concern that they are cutting too many players adrift. 'How can you possibly be trusted to improve player pathway and development when you're not even in the country? He should be on the ground and going out in the field to watch these players,' another source told Mail Sport. 'You are dealing with young boys at the start of their career in rugby. They are 16, 17, 18, 19 years old. Because they are so young, a lot of them haven't really developed the resilience yet to deal with stuff like this. 'They have been told to go back into the club system and keep performing. They have been told the SRU will still be watching and there's always a way back for them, but I don't buy it. 'They have just been binned. The whole process has been poorly handled. The SRU have shown disrespect and a lack of care towards these young guys by just tossing them aside. 'I've seen guys like Henco Venter at Glasgow being cut because they don't want so many foreign players in Scotland, but they are making huge cuts to the academy. It doesn't really make sense.' A spokesperson for Scottish Rugby said: 'If any of our recent communications with age-grade players hasn't been appropriately delivered, that was never our intention and we will look at improving this area in the future. 'Our new High Performance approach will deliver more focused individual support to players with genuine professional or international-level potential. This will be complemented with additional support delivered locally to identified clubs and schools. 'Whilst no one is guaranteed a place, the talent pathway opportunity remains open to all players with potential and it will be normal for those with the right aptitude to leave and re-join the programme, at times, as they develop.
Leader Live
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Cheshire Oaks to host anniversary gig with secret headliner
Summer's Greatest Secret will feature an iconic 2000s music act, with multiple UK number one singles, and a catalogue of beloved hits. They will take to the on-site stage for a one-off performance on the evening of Friday, June 6, which will be free to shoppers and visitors. The headline and supporting acts are yet to be revealed but all set to bring high energy and big personality to the stage through the evening. The retail outlet will be giving back to its local charity partners including The Hospice of The Good Shepherd, Koala, Flynns Port in the Storm and Claire House amongst others, as well as its staff and their families, with exclusive golden circle access for the best seats in the house. Cheshire Oaks And for a lucky few, the experience will be even more memorable, with a select group of VIPs from the local community receiving the opportunity to meet the headline act in person. Kenny Murray, general manager at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, said: 'This anniversary is a moment to celebrate the rich history and vibrant future of Cheshire Oaks. OTHER NEWS: 'We have evolved continuously over the last three decades, and now it's time to celebrate in true style. 'Over our 30 years we've built a real sense of community that makes this centre special and we want to celebrate this milestone with the local area and people so close to our heart. 'This summer's music event, crowned by a secret headline act, promises to be a truly special experience, and a way that we can give back to the loyal customers who have trusted us to bring them the latest fashion trends since the 90s, we can't wait to enjoy it with them.' More information is available on the Cheshire Oaks website.
