REJUVENATED Edinburgh rugby ace Mark Robertson is ready to sacrifice a summer break to ensure he hits the ground running next season.
Until setting off for the Barclays Churchill Cup in North America with Scotland A, 23-year-old winger Robertson hadn't managed a full 80 minutes of professional rugby for a year due to injury problems and had to be content with an appearance from off
the bench in the concluding Magners Celtic League win at Llanelli.
But, in the tournament just ended, he threw off the shackles to help Scotland A reach the final where they eventually ran out of steam against England Saxons, going down 19-36. Now Robertson, son of former Grand Slam threequarter Keith, can't wait to put the lessons into effect.
"It was definitely worth the wait to get back and be involved with Scotland A," he said, adding: "I've got a fortnight off but I'll spend that time in the gym pushing weights. Of course it will be a long season in 2008-09 and it is important to get a break beforehand.
"But the fact I was out injured for so long coupled with not having to turn up at Murrayfield every day to do my training leaves me feeling I can work on my fitness while I'm on holiday."
Robertson's dynamism and urgency to get involved must have been obvious to all those who watched the Scots distinguish themselves well in a tournament where they beat Canada as well as the Argentinian Pumas. And he admits he had to make up for lost time.
"Seeking out work was something I had to do having not played for so long. It was my first-ever tour to play 15-a-sides and everything worked out well apart from that final match against the English. With a really strong performance we were capable of turning them over but a couple of errors crept in – it was disappointing."
One of the highlights for Robertson was operating alongside centre Rob Dewey who, returning from injury, began to recover the form that had made him a Scotland fixture earlier in the season.
"I'd never played alongside Rob before and it was a treat to see him running so strongly."
It was also on the trip that Robertson and his Edinburgh colleagues learned they had landed a Heineken European Cup draw that puts them in a pool with London Wasps, Leinster and Castres.
He admits that drawing Wasps will add extra impetus to the opening pre-season friendly against coach Ian McGeechan's team, saying: "There's going to be an edge to our opening game of the season even though it is a friendly but as for the pool itself there's no reason why Edinburgh can't qualify for the knock-out stages.
"The way we finished last season (with three straight wins] suggests there is even more to come while Wasps and Leinster have been beaten by Edinburgh at European level in the past."
According to Scotland A coach Rob Moffat, the experience gained by the likes of Robertson and several club-mates has made for a deeper pool of talent to choose from especially with rare opportunities being taken.
"One of the real positives was the performance of players who didn't manage a lot of rugby last season," says Moffat.
Among them was back rower Alan Macdonald who was able to carry on the man-of-the-match winning form shown for Edinburgh during the run-in.
Tipping the former Royal High and Heriot's star to use the A trip as a springboard to further honours, Moffat said: "Alan played well and can definitely be added to the mix so far as potential Test back rows are concerned.
"You could see players who hadn't had many chances to turn out for Edinburgh or Glasgow becoming excited by getting their chance at last.
"The more experienced players such as (Saracens stand off] Gordon Ross and Rob Dewey (Ulster] also contributed handsomely. Rob needed game time and the longer the tournament went on the more he showed how much he has been adding to his armoury.
"Against Argentinian Pumas he was particularly powerful and made a break that led to a try against England.
"Really, it's amazing the talent that is at Scotland's disposal if the players are given a chance. We set out to ensure everyone got a run in the opening two games and the policy worked well and after beating Canada 26-10 we had more to spare against Argentina (27-24) than the scoreboard suggested.
"As for England Saxons, we travelled with the intention of winning the tournament so to fail was a setback although the benefits of the trip easily outweigh any negatives – with Edinburgh guaranteed to gain particular benefits."
The full article contains 807 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
