JONNY BARCLAY

RARELY has a gifted young sportsmen undergone such a test of character at the very outset of his career as Jonny Barclay.

As if the pressure of being the youngest player ever selected for a senior Scotland rugby team had not been enough when, as a 16-year-old, he represented his country in international sevens competition, he has had to cope with overcoming a potentially career-threatening injury, then with what many would have taken as a very severe snub.

Taking the field in last season's Bell & Lawrie Scottish Schools Cup final, Barclay did so knowing it could be his last game for a very, very long time.

He scored a try as Dollar Academy lifted the trophy and then it was time to get his head around the prospect of long-term re-habilitation to deal with a serious pelvic injury. The word was he would be out for at least a year and, indeed, he was only told he could play at Murrayfield that day because the damage was already such that he could make it no worse.

Yet having grown up as a boarder, separated many miles from parents who are based overseas, he had already demonstrated such maturity that Glasgow's pro-team coaches felt he was worth investing in and still offered him a professional contract.

What stands out to those around him, even more than his talent, is the drive that has helped get him back into the game much sooner than anyone had hoped.

"The way he has dealt with it has been remarkable, " said Stevie Gemmell, the Glasgow's academy manager. "If he had not done things properly he might not have played again.

"Privately we gave him a target of getting back by November, but the only way that would be achieved was by doing everything to the letter of the law, and the nature of the injury is such he will now have to take that attitude into his work for the rest of his career to avoid a recurrence."

Barclay was fit to play by the start of November, but a combination of the back-row talent available to Glasgow Hawks, his designated club, and his own commitments with the Scotland under-19 squad, restricted his training appearances at Anniesland, and have meant he has been unable to break into their side.

That, in turn, meant he was short of match practice, leaving his coaches to explain to him he should not play for the under19s when they meet Italy later this month.

While disappointed, Barclay has taken it all in his stride and when, across the city, they got the opportunity to sign him, GHA jumped at the chance, putting him directly into their first team.

Outstanding at every level so far, this openside flanker - according to Gemmell very much in the mould of Glasgow's potential Lion, Donny Macfadyen, as a breakdown specialist - can now show us whether that will continue among the seniors.

Just turned 18, he has packed a great deal into a short life so far, though, and having come through it, all that experience bodes well for the future.

ALAN MacDONALD

PLUCKED straight from school and, as a 17-yearold, placed into senior rugby at BT Premiership 1 level, Alan MacDonald made an immediate impact last season.

"We brought him on at halftime against Watsonians and from the kick-off, Bernie Hennessey carried the ball up only for Alan to hit him and dump him back 10 metres up the pitch, " recalled Phil Smith, the then Heriot's coach.

Smith, who was also an SRU development officer at that time, has since moved to run the Edinburgh professional team's academy, and readily admits that the flanker, who recently turned 19 and has just come back from a globe-trotting spell with the Scotland sevens squad, is the pick of his talented bunch of bright young things.

"He was at Royal High School but I knew about him through the agre grade set up, and so we brought him to Heriot's as soon as he left school. What was clear was that he was physically capable of playing Premier One rugby almost right away, " his coach notes.

His appetite for the sport is among the most striking aspects of a player who has not looked out of place when brought into Edinburgh's senior side for Celtic League matches.

"He got straight As in his highers and we'll encourage him to go to university at some point, but at the moment he's as hungry as can be and is so desperate to be a professional rugby player that is all he wants to do, and it is a delight to work with players to whom it matters that much, " Smith observes. With Donny Macfadyen, Glasgow's openside flanker, having had something of a breakthrough year which has had Sir Clive Woodward, the Lions head coach, describe him as a "world class" player, Scotland are well served in that position right now, but Smith believes this youngster has the capacity to provide options for the national team management.

"Alan brings something different, " he said. "He is big, strong and understands the game, his mistake count will be very low and whether it is tackling, supporting, nicking the ball or passing, he doesn't try to do things he can't."

Consequently, full international honours should be only a matter of time. "If there was a summer tour coming up he would be close to going, and the only question this year is whether he will be better to to to the under-21 World Cup or spending three or four months working on his development, but we will look at that very closely, " says Smith.