Ahh, where did summer go? Well nowhere since you ask because hopefully there is a good chunk of it to come but this column has always used that sentence when we have resumed after the break, so why change it now?
Anyway, the relaxing part of the summer is certainly over for the lads at Millbrae who get back to training this week, meeting at Millbrae on Tuesday then down to the nasty stuff at Auchincruive from Thursday onwards.

So who will make up this seasons squad, will they challenge for the (currently sponsorless) Premier 1 title again and what will their prospects be in the domestic (currently sponsorless) cup and British and Irish Cup. Well, as regards the first, you will as ever have read it here first and as for the rest, this column is well known as hardly being in the Mystic Meg class for predictions so lets just take it as it comes.

There was a real buzz of optimism in the way coach Kenny Murray spoke about the Ayr squad for next season but given the challenging task of helping coach the Scotland U20 squad during the U20 Word Cup in Argentina in the past month, his relief at getting back to club duties was hardly surprising.

The players had until the end of June to make their intentions known and with one exception all of last seasons squad look like being back in pink and black next term. The exception is lock Scott Sutherland who has apparently got stuck up a billabong somewhere in Oz but since skipper Damien Kelly and family are there on hols, perhaps he will dig him up talk some sense into him.
That means that the Kiwi crew of Frasier Climo, Mark Stewart and Jono Crossan will all line up again at Millbrae, last seasons itinerant-due to Scotland sevens calls-Grant Anderson will be a regular and they and the rest will be joined by some new and some returning faces.

Richard McCallum returns after his spell in France to augment the backs, former Ayr regular prop Andy Kelly will pitch up at Millbrae via Glasgow Warriors and GHA and flanker Julian Rae returns. Another returnee will be Scott Forrest who was last season drafted to Currie where he had an occasional game but was most prominent as captain of the Scotland Sevens squad but since contracts there have not been renewed this season, he returns to club rugby on a regular basis with the side with whom he won a championship medal two seasons ago and a quality addition he will be whether in midfield or back row.

New faces will include prop Nick Cox, until the end of last season captain of Hawks, who is moving to the town and two of the brightest young local prospects who could challenge for positions behind the scrum, Murray Beckwith from Troon and Mark Bennett from Cumnock.

The first opportunity to see some of the new recruits in action will be at the Hawks tournament on Friday July 31st, the penultimate warm up match will be at Netherdale against Gala on August 7th then on August 14th, London Scottish will be at Millbrae for the final warm up before the season kicks off on Saturday August 21st.

Premier Divisions 1 and 2 (currently sponsorless) will be played in a different format this season after the SRU AGM passed the proposal for a change which will ‘improve the performance and intensity of Scotland’s club game’ according to those who were cruelly dubbed ‘the gypsies’ (they are forever tinkering with the leagues). The proposal states ‘The two top premier leagues begin the season as normal until each club has played each opponent once (11 games). Then the twenty four teams from Premier 1 and 2 will be split into three divisions of eight determined by their position at that time. Each group of eight will then play a single fixture against their new league opponents (seven games) to determine the Premier title, relegation from Premier 1, promotion to Premier 1 and relegation from Premier 2 to Premier 3. It will also determine qualification for the British and Irish Cup’.

This one we will return to in much more detail but having mentioned the British and Irish Cup, it has now been announced that Ayr will be in a familiar looking pool for their cross border forays next season with away matches against Rotherham, Birmingham and Pontypridd and at Millbrae facing Doncaster and Llandovery.

It does seem like no time at all from when we were celebrating that unforgettable day at Murrayfield when Ayr won the cup and then the wait well into May before the league was decided and indeed only six weekends have passed since Ayr were scheduled to play their final league match at Selkirk and only six remain before they open their new league campaign.

Hey, where DID summer go!