Hamilton Rugby Club get temporary coach in form of Stuart Eynon

Nov 19 2009 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

HAMILTON Rugby Club 2nd XV coach Stuart Eynon has stepped into the 1st team hot seat - but only temporarily.

The ex-Bulls captain takes over from Ian Morrison, who earlier this month resigned after nine years as head coach of the Laigh Bent club.

But Eynon’s appointment will only last until the end of the season or “until an appropriate successor has been found”.

Eynon will be supported by backs coach Craig Sangster, forwards coach Richard Maxton and team manager John Lindsay.

Iain Pritchard replaces Eynon as second XV coach and will be backed by their team manager, Roddy Wallace.

Club president Donald Woodrow announced the appointments after the committee and senior figures within the club met to discuss a replacement for Morrison.

Woodrow said: “We have invited Stuart Eynon to take on the role of head coach for the remainder of this season, or until an appropriate successor can be found and are delighted to report that Stuart has accepted this challenge.

“In this role, Stuart will ultimately be responsible for and will have the final say on playing matters within the senior club.”

He added: “Having now discussed and agreed our medium- to long-term requirements in more detail, we will now commence the recruitment process to appoint the appropriate personnel to take the club forward.

Eynon (32) joined Hamilton as a player in 2000 and was captain of the club between 2002 and 2007, when the Bulls moved from National League 4 to Premiership 2.

An inside centre, his playing career was curtailed in 2007 when he broke his pelvis in a training accident just days after Hamilton bagged the Premiership 3 title.

Eynon, who was brought up in Bearsden and previously played for West of Scotland, is a quantity surveyor by profession and lives in Glasgow.

He said pressure of work plus his impending marriage in December were limiting the time he had available for rugby.

However he added: “It is a great honour to be asked by the club to be head coach but if I am honest, it’s not something I planned.

“I am going to give it my best season but I am not able to commit to next season.”

Eynon acknowledged that the 1st XV, trounced by Ardrossan on Saturday, were going through a bad run.

He added: “We have a good team and a good bunch of guys and I will be aiming to pull them together and get them enjoying their rugby again.

“The club have had success over the last few years but maybe we have not planned for one team coming to an end and another team beginning.”

Iain Pritchard, a Welshman, joined the club this season after moving to the area to join the staff at the University of the West of Scotland.