Highland Rugby Club winger answers call from New Zealand club to play at Melrose Sevens
MAGNUS Henry answered a late call up from a rugby team from New Zealand to play at one of the most famous rugby sevens competitions in the world.
The Highland Rugby Club winger agreed to play for Te Awamutu at the Melrose Sevens.
Henry (27) who is a physical education teacher at Glenurquhart High School in Drumnadrochit, helped Te Awamatu reach the quarter finals of the competition.
He was recommended by one of his Highland RFC teammates to answer the SOS from the New Zealand club.
He said it was a fantastic experience being involved with the club and playing at one of the most famous sevens tournaments in the world.
He said: “My Highland teammate Callum Carson received a phone call from one of his contacts asking if he knew anyone who was available to play, because one of their players suffered an injury to their clavicle.
“They wanted a winger, so Callum put my name forward and the chance to play at the Melrose Sevens with a kiwi team is something I had to say yes to.
“I finished work and then drove down to Melrose to meet the guys and we had a training session on Friday.
“We all gelled quickly and played some excellent rugby during the tournament.
“It was quite an experience playing in a stadium in front of 8000 people and reaching the quarter finals of the Melrose Sevens.
“It was a bit different to playing at Canal Park!”
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Te Awamatu beat Glasgow Hawks in the first round and Gala in the second round before being defeated by Ayr in the quarter finals.
As well as having the chance to play at the Melrose Sevens, Henry also had the chance to be coached by Gordon Tietjens, who was the New Zealand Sevens coach for 22 years.
He was being inducted into the Melrose Sevens Hall of Fame this year and was helping coach Te Awamatu in the run-up to the tournament.
Henry said: “It was quite an experience to get some coaching from someone of his calibre and was an added bonus to the experience.”
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Henry has been involved with Highland Rugby Club for over a decade and first got involved at the club at under-18 level.
Henry is hoping Highland can have a good campaign and look for promotion back to National League One next season.
“It was a bit disappointing how last season finished with relegation. It is tough finishing eighth out of 10 and still end up relegated. But we knew the stakes at the start of the season and the goalposts weren’t changed.
“We want to get back to National One but also look to get back to how we play rugby as well.
“We are used to playing fast attacking rugby, but I’m not sure we got to that level last season.
“We will look to hit pre-season in July and look to get back to the way we want to play rugby.”
