CGI sponsored Southern Knights kick off the new FOSROC Super6 Competition against Watsonians this Saturday, August 6 at the Greenyards at 4:30pm.

This first match will demonstrate a new approach by Head Coach Bruce Ruthven who wants to put a greater emphasis on developing young Scottish players from around the region.

Ruthven said: “With a greater percentage of young players, we have a more aligned approach towards the FOSROC Super6 Directive of Improving playing standards, by better-developing Scottish players, coaches and match officials to feed talent into the full-time professional game.

“All the players within the squad will get opportunities to train, play and develop no matter what stage of their career they are at, whilst performing in a creative and ambitious environment.

“We understand as a group that the Southern Knights are in a rebuilding phase, and it will take time for us to reach the levels we did in 2021, but that’s an exciting challenge for me, the coaches, and management. We look forward to the Championship Season where we look to continue to grow and develop”

Following the FOSROC Super6 Sprint Series four Southern Knights players were called up to the Under-20 Summer Series Squad; Ben Afshar, Keiran Clark, Rudi Brown and Murray Redpath, all four having played during the sprint series, appeared in the U20 match day squads against Wales, Italy and Georgia.

Ruthven adds: “The support that the Knights receive from our sponsors, and especially our headline sponsor CGI, allows us to create a development environment for these younger players where they can reach the levels required to progress in the game. “

Southern Knights Director of Rugby, Rob Moffat, said: “We are very thankful for the continued involvement of CGI with the Club and our community.

“Their support over the pandemic and in the period since we returned to playing rugby has been critical to ensuring that the Southern Knights were able to train and prepare for this new championship season.

“They have also helped us to ensure that our youth rugby programme was able to flourish at a time when restrictions around Covid brought added costs to the Club.”