Colin Robertson’s task as new Dundee HSFP coach could hardly be more challenging getting the club back into the Premiership while undertaking an almost complete rebuild of the team.
The agonising loss in the relegation play-off last year left Dundee in the National League and resulted in a turnover in personnel quite staggering even for club rugby, where it’s almost an annual rite of passage. Nine of the first team last year good enough to win seven Premiership games including Melrose home and away despite eventual relegation have moved on.
Robertson, who last coached with Dundee as Tom Dymock’s assistant 20 years ago, still has the foundation of the High pack now skippered by the perennial anchor, tight-head Alan Brown. Mainstays Richie McIver, Danny Levison and Chris Cumming will also return giving High outstanding quality and experience up front.
However, he’s had to find a completely new second row combination and, barring Andy Dymock at scrum-half, an entirely new backline. The new coach, the develop-ment manager with the Tayside and Fife Institute of Sport by day, is still relishing what’s ahead.
The only man to have coached all Scotland’s age-group teams had wanted to get back into regular club rugby and felt the High job, which became vacant on Ian Rankin’s retiral, was the perfect fit.
“I work in Dundee and live in Forfar, and Dundee’s always been the club I thought I would go back to,” he said. “It wasn’t until I got a call from Ranks telling me his plans to retire that I even considered it, because I thought this was an opportunity that might not come again.”
He didn’t quite expect to be building a back division from the ground up, but “the stark reality” is that’s what is required.
“Nine players gone is a huge challenge,” he said. “We have to be realistic and the side we see against Biggar on Saturday in the league opener might be very different to the team we see in September.
“But we have a fantastic group of guys with a great work ethic, and there’s certainly opportunities for all.”
It’s not all been a steady trail through the exit door, of course. Two New Zealanders,Bryce Hosie and Jack Stewart arrived this week, with Stewart earmarked for fly-half, a problem position for the club since Cameron Ferguson left. Both are Otago men and recommended by former Mayfield favourite Mike Kerr.
“We don’t know exactly how good they’ll be, but the intelligence from Mike is good,” said Robertson, mindful of last year’s disappointing Kiwi recruit, Brandyn Laursen.
“They’ll be opportunities for others as well, Stewart Walker did well for the seconds last year, and Ian Aitken has come from Panmure, while we have two good new centres in Johny Hall from Stobswell and Tim McKavanagh.”
Robertson doesn’t want to get away from High’s power game, though, where the choice of captain was obvious.
“I’ve known Broonie since he was 14 and I was SRU development officer in Dundee,” he said. “He’s a fantastic character, a skilful player with a tremendous rugby brain.
“He’s totally embraced being captain, I think he’s missed one session out of 18 we’ve had. He’s played age-group, representative up to club international, and with both pro teams, there’s few with that kind of experience in the National League.”
That experience and the raw power of McIver, returning to the club despite flirtations with the pro game, could be High’s trump card this season.
“Richie’s something else, he could be devastating in this league and we have to get him on the ball as much as we can,” said Robertson. “We’re looking to gel a team and we’ll have to rely on the likes of these guys and Dan Levison, Chris Cumming and Andy Dymock while we do so in the early games.”
Certainly High are not the only ambitious club in the National League with designs on getting into the Premiership.
“There’s going to be a lot of dogfights; Biggar on Saturday will be hard, they’ve been stacked with New Zealanders in recent times,” added the new coach.
“There will be no easy games, as some people might assume. Watsonians and Boroughmuir have recruited well, Selkirk have done well in pre-season. We have to be organised and not take anything for granted.”