“Our first contact with Michael came via Stevie Lawrie [Edinburgh Rugby’s forwards coach] who told us that Michael was interested to stay in Edinburgh for a wee while longer, and that he wanted to keep involved in coaching rugby, so I got in touch with him through Steve, and it all happened pretty quickly from there, to be honest,” explained Accies director of rugby Graham Bonner.
“I think Michael has some other irons in the fire with the SRU and other coaching assignments so he’ll be doing other stuff, but he’s really excited about working with us and helping us not just survive but continue to push forward in the Premiership next season. We’re just delighted to get a guy of that experience and calibre.
“My rationale [for appointing him] was pretty straightforward,” Bonner added. “He’s got the pro experience, he’s young and he’s ambitious as a coach. Plus he brings something that the Premiership probably hasn’t had a lot of before, which is he’s new and he’s from outside Scotland, and it just brings a vibrancy along with a determination to succeed, which I think will hopefully rub off on the players.
“Not that we didn’t have that anyway, because with Charlie Shiel and Simon Berghan, you’ve got two pros or ex-pros there, so there’s already that kind of hard edge to them as well as the rugby knowledge. For these guys, it’s about winning, and that’s what you’ve got to have.
“I said when I took over as director of rugby last year that the goal was to win National One and get back to the Premiership, so we have achieved that. And I’ve said this year to people around the club that we need to target winning the Premiership, and they kind of look at me as if I’ve got horns on my head, but if we’re not ambitious like that then there’s no point in doing it … and this is appointment is part of that.
“It’s a pretty strong coaching team we’ve put together now, who are all young, ambitious guys who want to get involved in coaching at a higher level, so the whole drive there is to be successful, and it’s going to help recruit players as well.”
Bonner said that there has been lots of positive conversations with players considering a move to Edinburgh Accies and while the club is not in a position to announce anything at this stage, he is confident that the squad will be bolstered ahead of returning to the top flight.
“Part of that is not just the fact we’ve got these guys coaching, but the whole environment is positive, and that’s the best way to recruit,” he reasoned. “The players are talking to other players about how much fun they’re having, and the enjoyment and positivity about the place. Of course, once you’ve won a league and get promoted, you kind of attract people as well, so it’s going pretty well so far, but still early days.”
In the meantime, the focus is on Sevens, with Accies’ win at Langholm last weekend moving them back to second in the Kings of the Sevens table, 11 points behind pace-setters Melrose.
“I said to the boys at training last night that we’re right in the mix with six tournaments to go, because that’s 60 points on offer and we’ve demonstrated already that we’re capable of beating Melrose and anybody else on our day,” said Bonner. “So, it’s just about believing in ourselves and how we can do what we did at Gala and Langholm on a weekly basis.”