Clubman

One of the club’s longest servants, Colin Telford has recently been appointed 3^rd XV coach. CT has been associated with the club for 22 years after joining as a boy in the U-15s, “I used to come here to watch the 1^st XV quite regularly so when I heard they were running a youth section I came along and I’ve been here ever since”.

What changes have you witnessed since you came to the club?

Well there’s the fantastic new clubhouse and state-of-the-art changing rooms, only joking. I worked on levelling the pitch and with the stand alongside people like Gordon Laidlaw and Norrie Rowan, that was good fun but the biggest change has been in personnel. There has been a huge turnover of players during my time and there’s been a fair amount of new faces off the pitch as well.

Do you think that this is a good time for the club?

Absolutely. It’s a great time for the club. We’re on a high and I think we have been for two or three seasons. Even the season we went down, we were playing some good rugby but by that time it was too late. The next year though we put ourselves in a great position, winning the second division and the cup. I think that that was largely due to Iain and Sean staying. They could easily have walked away when we got relegated but once they had made that commitment, I think all but two of the players stayed and we were able to bounce straight back up.

Also, the players we have lost to professionalism or retirement, have been replaced with the same quality. Ross Cook’s been a great bonus this season and Charlie Keenan’s the best finisher in Scotland at the moment. We’ve just got to try and hold onto them now but, with the third professional team coming in, that might hit us hard.  

You made your 1st XV debut a couple of seasons ago against East Kilbride, what was that like?

It was quite interesting actually. That morning I was playing golf in the club championship qualifier and someone came out to tell me that I was to play for the 1sts that afternoon. When that happened I was on the 16th tee and I was 1 under par and my next tee shot went straight out of bounds!

I got home, got my kit and drove breakneck speed to East Kilbride. With ten minutes left Iain told me I was going on and I was thinking ‘oh no, do I have to?’. When I did get on though it was a really great experience, especially playing with Calvin and Lindsey. It was even better because Hobbes broke the club’s try scoring record that day.

Why did you take up coaching?

Too old to keep playing. My shoulders are knackered and I do want to play golf for years to come so it was the right decision. Also Iain and Bruce asked me if I would be interested in the coaching and that was it. I did the course years ago so why not? It’s a good structure that’s being brought in and it was a great opportunity.

What do you get out of the coaching?

Loss of hair, especially at the start when we went eight games on the bounce without winning. I enjoy seeing players improve though. Ben Watson has come on a lot this year and Dave Lorimer is a player who I reckon, given a couple more years, will be a good player for the club. I like shouting at people as well.

How much do you have to put into the coaching?

Time wise, a lot. You have to make up training schedules and things like that which has to be done off your own back. There are times when it’s a bit haphazard though like recently when I was working with the backs and I had to think up drills as we went, thinking of things which might work.

How would you like to see the club develop?

I’d like to see the money from professionalism be put into the club scene but that’s never going to happen. I think we’ve got to go out and try to attract sponsorship to this club in a big way. We’ve got to use the fact that we’re double Scottish Cup winners, we’ve got to utilise that. We’ve got to go out and advertise the players, we’ve got to say that we’ve brought them into top quality rugby and get their faces known. We have to advertise.

What do you think your involvement will be in five years time?

Still coaching the 3rds. Maybe the 2nds if Gerry decides to retire but I don’t think that will ever happen, he’ll go on forever. I just want to keep coaching here and work my way through the teams and maybe one day get greater honours.

Where do you think the club will be in five years?

I think we’ll be doing OK. As long as we can replace the players that we loose then we’ll be fine. We already know we’ll be losing players next year and we’re looking to recruit beyond that and to put a structure in place for recruitment. I think within those fives years we’ll win the first division, I hope so anyway.

What has been your best moment at the club?

The tour to Texas. We took fifty guys and it was fantastic. My 1st XV debut obviously is high up there, all ten minutes of it. Bouncing straight back from relegation was great and both cup wins have been special, especially turning Melrose over last year.

What has been your worst moment?

You don’t need to ask that, that’s relegation. We got stuffed in the Cup semi-final and then to get told by the press the West had scored two tries in the last five minutes to get us relegated, that was a very bad time.

Do you think the 1st XV will win anything this year?

If we get through injury free I really think we can win the Cup. In the league we’ve got to have the right mental attitude for the away games, Currie and Hawick but I think the real test will be Aberdeen away. We go up there in January and there’s been two very close games in the last two years so we’ve got to be prepared for that one. It’s in our hands though, if we keep winning with bonus points then nobody can stop us. I do think the Cup is our best chance though.

What is it going to take to keep Boroughmuir at the top of club rugby?

Again, recruiting and retaining. The introduction of the foreign players has been a big help in the last three or fours years. Calvin and Ben have been great and this year with James and Mark. Ben’s been a huge influence on us this year. He’s been a good captain, he’s led from the front and he’s respected by the players. Recruitment is the big one though because we will inevitably lose players so we have to replace them.

If you could change one thing about the club what would it be?

Changing rooms. Without a doubt. We badly need a new clubhouse as well but the changing rooms are awful so I’ll go for that. Oh, and flat pitches as well.

Name your all time best Boroughmuir XV from your time here?

Simon Furnivall