Ex-Melrose player Peter Horne appointed as head coach for Scotland A
Former Melrose draft player Peter Horne has been named as head coach for Scotland A.
The Aberdeen-born 35-year-old, also an assistant to national senior squad head coach Gregor Townsend, takes on that extra duty ahead of the seconds’ home match against Chile on Saturday, November 23, at Edinburgh’s Hive Stadium.
Horne, at the Greenyards for the 2009/10 rugby season, picked up 45 caps for Scotland between 2013 and 2021, going on to coach Ayrshire Bulls in the now-defunct Fosroc Super Series before taking on assistant’s roles at Glasgow Warriors and Scotland.
He’ll be joined by Stevie Lawrie as forwards coach and Pete Murchie as defence coach.
Both, like Horne, are former Scotland internationals, Lawrie having gone on to coach at Edinburgh since 2019 and Murchie helping Glasgow Warriors win last season’s United Rugby Championship.
East Lothian-born Lawrie, 40, was capped once, in 2013, and Cumbrian-born Murchie, 38, has three caps to his name, from 2013 and 2014.
Scotland A’s match against Chile will be their first since 2022, that last one, a 45-5 win in Santiago, also having been against the Chileans.
Chile have since played a Scottish touring squad in July, losing 52-11.
Horne is looking forward to getting the Scottish A squad up and running again as an additional pathway for up-and-coming players, saying: “It’s a real honour coaching your country at any level and I am excited by the opportunity.
“I jumped at the chance when Gregor asked if I would lead Scotland A.
“The national team played Chile in the summer and they posed a real threat.
“It’ll be brilliant to see players grasp their opportunity against a national team and play in front of a good crowd at the Hive.”