What do you do to motivate the squad when your club has won the Premier 1 title and the cup, had your coach named ‘Coach of the Year’ and one of your players lifts the ‘Player of the Year’ all in the space of twelve months.

Since a call to Sir Alex at Old Trafford is probably not an option, I asked Ayr assistant coach Peter Laverie how he and Kenny Murray will get the side geed up for the upcoming Premier 1 campaign.

“That is a question I was asking before I came to Ayr last season” he replied “and one of the things which stuck in my mind was the way Boroughmuir had gone off the boil in similar circumstances a couple of season before. Coming to side who had won the title by a mile I knew that it was one of the challenges we would have to face and when we were in France with some of Scotland’s top coaches, including Frank Hadden, I asked their opinion. The main thing I took from the advice we were given was quite simple. Have as many of the squad who had done the business back and get off to winning start.”

“That situation had of course arisen again this season with Ayr having been runners up for the title and in the race to the very end as well as winning the cup so we really have to apply the same principals going into next season.”.

“As far as getting off to a winning start is concerned, we have two tough games in August, opening against Hawick at Mansfield Park then Melrose at home but that really brings us to the second point straight away. We have almost all the players who won the title then the cup back with us and there is no doubt that they have developed the habit of winning. They have a belief that they can win everything and this season starts on August 21st when it seems like last season has only just finished. The real challenge is to keep things fresh and keep the players focused because we cannot afford to be complacent so we have to hit the ground running with the aim of being at the top end of the top eight after eleven games when the leagues split so we need to win our opening two games to set things up the way we want.”

“Obviously we are coming off a great cup win and good performances in Premier 1 and the British and Irish Cup but this season the targets are a bit different in that we have eleven league games then straight into the B & I Cup before tackling our defence of the domestic cup and then the final seven games in the league. There is no doubt that our absolute priority is to regain the Premier 1 title and it is interesting to note that last season Currie took on every team we played the week after we played them and for many sides lifting their game two weeks in a row was difficult. This season we play everyone the week after they have taken on Currie and it will be interesting to see what impact that has.”

“As well as having most of the squad back, we have got some quality players coming in as well. Scott Forrest will be a huge asset to the side as he was when Ayr won the title. Apart from being a very good player, he is an excellent communicator as you would expect from someone who was captain of the Scottish sevens squad, he has a great tactical brain and he is versatile in that he can operate at center or in the back row. Andy Kelly coming back to Ayr will give us very much needed cover in the front row and that position is strengthened further with the arrival of Nick Cox. He was a terrific player for Hawks and not just as a ball carrying prop but as captain, bringing the experience of having played with England U21 and Gloucester so I think he will really enjoy playing at Ayr where obviously he will bring a huge amount to the side but will not have the pressures he had at Old Anniesland and will be able to concentrate more on his own game.”

So, with training in full swing and the pre-season warm up games edging ever closer, Ayr

are just about where they want to be at the moment although the return of messers Climo and Crossan will be delayed for another week. They were part of the New Plymouth Old Boys side who beat Inglewood 25-23 with Climo notching two penalties in the Taranaki Premier Division semi-final on Saturday so will face up to old rivals Tukapa in this weeks final before heading off back to Scotland and, who knows, more glory?