Grant Gilchrist, Harry Leonard and George Turner are the joint recipients of the 2011 John Macphail Scholarship.
The trio, who are all to be attached to Edinburgh next season as part of the Scottish Rugby Elite Development programme, are currently a third of the way through an 18-week placement at the Canterbury RFU International High Performance Unit in Christchurch, where they are receiving expert advice and attention from some of the biggest names in the New Zealand game, as well as turning out for local club sides.
For the first time, a coach is also to benefit from the scholarship, with Glasgow Warriors Elite Development coach Iain Monaghan flying out two day ago to join the players.
Gilchrist, Leonard and Turner kindly sent us the following progress report:
“As we are now into the sixth week of our trip we thought we would send you an update on how we are all getting on. Firstly we are all fit and well. Harry has now played two games since coming back from his shoulder injury with no problems, while Grant played his first match following his ankle fracture at the weekend and alo suffered no ill effects.
As luck would have it, we were all involved in the same match: Lincoln (Grant and Harry) Vs Burnside (George). It was played in probably the wettest weather we have ever experienced (which says a lot coming from three Scottish boys) with George coming away with the bragging rights 13-6 in what was a close and well-contested game.
All three of us are really well settled in our respective home environments. Harry is based with John Haggart, who runs the IHPU programme, Grant is with with Ross Haggart (who is connected to Canterbury rugby through John, his brother) and George lives with Pete Manson, head coach of the Burnside club for whom George is turning out.
The players involved in the IHPU are changing all the time, as guys generally don't come for as long as we are. At the moment, there are three Fijian players, three Japanese, a Russian, an American and an Australian. We all get on well with the other lads and are enjoying mixing with players and people from different places, cultures and rugby backgrounds and styles.
As well as training and playing hard, we managed to get away for a long weekend camper van trip over the Easter holidays when there were no games. We all chipped in to hire the vehicle which was built for two small adults and a child. It wasn't ideally suited to three rather large rugby players (especially with one that is 6'8").
However, we somehow managed to squeeze in and get a couple of hours sleep each night. It was a great opportunity to get away from rugby and experience some of what New Zealand has to offer.
We left Christchurch on the Friday, headed for a town called Kaikoura, which is about two and a half hours to the north and is a stunning spot. After dinner, we set off through the dark to Nelson in the north of the south island and had our first night’s sleep squashed up in the camper.
On the Saturday we spent the day in Nelson's town centre before heading to our first Super Rugby game (Crusaders v Highlanders) in the evening. Unfortunately, the Canterbury team lost but we still had an enjoyable time watching some high quality rugby.
After another uncomfortable sleep we set off back south, this time through the mountains in the centre of the island (Lord of the Rings country). We stopped at a place called Maruia Springs; natural hot pools set in the hills with breathtaking surroundings.
After a hugely enjoyable time there and stopping off in Hanmer (halfway between Maruia and Christchurch) we arrived home to our comfortable beds for a good and much appreciated night’s sleep.
It was really nice to experience more of the country and culture (which we plan to do as much as possible), but it has been good to get back into our training routine over the last few weeks. We are all enjoying working hard and improving our game."
