New name, three new teams and two competitions in Super6 revamp

Edinburgh Rugby will enter an A side into the revamped FOSROC Super Series Sprint next month, with three new teams joining the six semi-pro franchises.
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Scottish Rugby has announced that the Super6 will now have nine teams and will return next month under the new name of the FOSROC Super Series, with Edinburgh and Glasgow A teams joining the other six semi-pro franchises initially.

The first competition of the year will be the Super Series Sprint starting next month. It will be followed by the Super Series Championship starting in late summer, when a Scotland A development side will be involved instead of the Edinburgh and Glasgow A teams.

How will it work?

Watsonians beat Ayrshire Bulls in the final of the FOSROC Super6 in October. A new structure and new teams have now been introduced. Picture: Ewan Bootman / SNSWatsonians beat Ayrshire Bulls in the final of the FOSROC Super6 in October. A new structure and new teams have now been introduced. Picture: Ewan Bootman / SNS
Watsonians beat Ayrshire Bulls in the final of the FOSROC Super6 in October. A new structure and new teams have now been introduced. Picture: Ewan Bootman / SNS
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The Sprint will start on the weekend of Friday 7 April. All six licence teams will play each other once in a traditional league format, as well as playing either Glasgow Warriors A or Edinburgh Rugby A. The professional A sides will play three fixtures at the start of the Sprint. Edinburgh Rugby A will play against Heriot’s, Southern Knights and Watsonians, whilst Glasgow Warriors A will play against Ayrshire Bulls, Boroughmuir Bears and Stirling Wolves.

After playing in the first three rounds of the competition, the professional A teams step down. Following a reset period in June, the Championship will kick-off in the last weekend of July and will be contested by seven teams. The six Super Series licence teams will be joined by a development team side which will be built upon the current and future Scotland U20 side.

What are Scottish Rugby saying?

Jim Mallinder, Scottish Rugby’s performance director, explained: “With its expansion to include more teams and a different structure comes a time to reflect on how that gap between amateur and professional has been bridged in the last four years.

“Since 2019, 34 players who were registered with Super6 teams have gone on to play professionally with either Glasgow Warriors or Edinburgh Rugby. In addition, 21 of those players have signed contracts with one of the two sides, with six earning full international caps for Scotland.

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“Six former Super6 Head Coaches; Pete Murchie, Pete Horne, Stevie Lawrie, Ciaran Beattie, Rob Chrystie and Fergus Pringle and two Assistant Coaches, Scott Lawson and Chris Laidlaw, have moved into full-time professional performance coaching environments.

“We’re committed to providing more high-performance opportunities for those players striving to become regulars in Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors match-day squads. Another commitment we’re making is to provide a higher-level competition and increased time in high-performance environments for our U20 players to ensure that we are best preparing them for the ever-increasing demands of international rugby.”

What are local teams saying?

Watsonians president Richard Kelly said: “The club is delighted that the original Super6 format is evolving, and Super Series is an excellent platform to grow the concept further. We are excited about progressing with Scottish Rugby through the next chapter.”

The Edinburgh side’s director of rugby Chris Hunter added: “The Super Series offers a fresh approach with the introduction of new teams.”

What about cross-border games?

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There will be no cross-border competition in this calendar year, but Scottish Rugby is in discussions with other unions and hopes to add this element into future seasonal structures of the Super Series. Fixtures for the for the Series Sprint will be announced in the coming days and broadcasting details will be confirmed in due course.