Three Helensburgh Players Selected for Glasgow Warriors U16 Regional Squad

Helensburgh Rugby Club is proud to celebrate the achievements of three of our under-16 players who have been selected for the Glasgow Warriors U16 Regional Squad.

Struan Smith, William Mathis and Hugh Agostinelli (Shuggy) have successfully progressed through the Scottish Rugby Union player pathway, a process that began around fifteen months ago when clubs across the west of Scotland nominated their most promising young players.

The initial stage saw around 200 boys from across the Westregion – stretching from Dumfries in the south to Oban in the north – invited to trial. From that group, just 55 players were selected to form the Glasgow Warriors regional squad, which was announced last Easter.

Since then, the boys have shown real commitment. They have been travelling regularly to the national performance facilities at Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility in Motherwell, often making a 3.5hr round trip after school, to train with the regional squad up to twice each week.

Throughout the programme, the players have taken part in demanding strength, conditioning and fitness testing. All three Helensburgh players performed within the top percentile across the west of Scotland, and their physicality, work rate and skill have been evident on the pitch.

The programme culminated over the past three weeks in a series of fast and fiercely competitive regional tournaments against the other professional pathway teams from Edinburgh, Borders and Caledonia. Matches were held at Scotland’s elite rugby venues, including Oriam National Performance Centre, the national performance centre used by the Scotland team, and The Hive Stadium.

For three players from a community club like Helensburgh to reach this stage is a significant achievement. In a town club, the numbers are never huge, but the spirit often is. As the old rugby saying goes, a club is measured not just by its results but by the players it helps shape. On that measure,Helensburgh can take real pride.

It is also worth noting that all three boys began their rugby journey with Helensburgh as five-year-olds in Primary One. Over the past eleven years, the club has watched them grow from small boys with oversized shirts and muddy knees into strong young men. Their success reflects years of encouragement from teammates, coaches, and volunteers who have stood beside them through countless training sessions on dark, cold winter nights. In truth, players rarely travel alone in rugby. They carry the whole team's efforts with them.

Helensburgh Rugby Club would also like to recognise the Scottish Rugby Union for introducing an innovative approach within the pathway this year through the use of bio-banding.

At this age boys develop physically at very different rates. Rather than grouping players only by their birth year, Scottish Rugby carried out a series of assessments, including sonic bone testing, to estimate each player’s biological age alongside their actual age. This information was then used to organise squads into groups based on biological development rather than simply date of birth.

The result has been a series of extremely competitive matches where players are far more evenly matched physically. It allows skill, decision-making, commitment, and desire to come to the fore, rather than games being dominated by those who have matured earlier. The SRU deserve credit for introducing a system that places player development and fairness at the centre of the pathway.

With hundreds of the most talented young players across the region entering the pathway each year, having three Helensburgh players selected is something the whole club can be immensely proud of.

Everyone at Helensburgh Rugby Club congratulates Struan, William and Hugh (Shuggy) on their achievement and wishes them every success as they continue their rugby journey. As many before them have discovered, the lessons learned on a muddy pitch in Helensburgh often travel a long way.

There are three upcoming Glasgow vs Edinburgh games:

• 15 March – Oriam National Performance Centre

• 29 March – Dalziel Rugby Club

• 26 April – Oriam National Performance Centre