Off to pastures new

Preparations for 2017/18 are well under way, but there are a few faces from the men's 1st XV who are absent, having moved on over the summer.

Will Bordill, Craig Stevenson, Ross Curle, Archie Russell and Richard Dalgleish will be playing in other colours this coming season, and coaches Scott Forrest and Jonathan Stevenson also take up new posts elsewhere.

Back row Bordill will be playing for Chinnor RFC in Oxfordshire, whilst second row Stevenson is off to travel and play rugby in Australia for a year.

Centre Curle and winger Dalgleish will return to Millbrae in the BT Premiership but for different clubs. Curle has joined Stirling County and Dalgleish returns to his home club of Marr, who are readying themselves for their first season in the top tier.

Russell heads to Cambridge University in the autumn, where he will take his place on a masters course in technology policy at St Edmund's College. The young centre won a rugby scholarship to study at one of the world's best universities, and the sport will very much be part of his time at Cambridge.

Backs' coach Forrest and strength and conditioning coach Stevenson leave Ayr RFC to concentrate on other coaching opportunities within rugby and gymnastics respectively. We thank Scott and Jonny for the huge contribution they have made to the club over the years.

We wish all our leavers the best of luck at their new clubs and organisations.


The club has welcomed several new players to training over the past fortnight and we will have more information on our newcomers next week.


All photos copyright George McMillan. Please seek permission before reproducing for commercial purposes.

Ayr youngsters on French tour

40 young players from Ayr-Wellington Youth Rugby set off on a two-week vocational trip to France today.

The U16 boys and U15 girls, as well as a team of coaches led by Stuart Fenwick of the Ayr Community Rugby Trust, will make their first stop at Castres Olympique in the south of France. Here, players will work with coaches from the academy of the Top 14 club, and Fenwick and his team will have the chance to take part in continuing professional development too.

As well as training and learning all about French flair at Castres Olympique, the group will visit the medieval city of Carcassonne and undertake team building at Cap Decouverte, before heading to Montpellier for two days of beach rugby. They will then return to Castres Olympique for further training before heading home.

Ayr RFC is familiar with French flair, with past player Sylvain Diez hailing from the south of the country, and the group will meet up with the former Ayr Community Rugby Trust development officer during the fortnight.

The trip has been co-funded by a grant from Erasmus+, an initiative from the European Union that aims to modernise education, training and youth work, and gives young people the chance to work, volunteer and train in different countries in Europe.

We wish the players and coaches a safe trip and look forward to hearing about it when they return to Millbrae in a fortnight's time.