Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal has officially opened the Inverness’s new rugby club marking a new chapter in history for the sport in the north.
Princess Anne toured the Highland Rugby Club’s new leisure facilities at Canal Parks yesterday.
As patron of Scotland’s national rugby union team, and with a former England international for a son-in-law and a former Scottish Schools cap for a son, the Princess Royal proved she knows a fair bit about the sport.
During her visit, she strolled around the clubs outdoor pitch, speaking to pupils, teachers and volunteers, before heading inside to view the clubhouse’s interior.
Highland Rugby Club development officer Iain Chisholm spoke to Her Royal Highness during her visit, remarking upon her vast knowledge of the sport.
He said: “She was actually really knowledgeable about skill development and I was really surprised at how much she did know about rugby.
“I know she does go to every Scotland game and she was talking about the different between touch rugby and contact rugby; trying to build confidence through touch rugby and their catch and pass and aviation skills. She is really clued up.
“We also spoke about Gregor Townsend, the current Scotland coach, and spoke a bit about her favourite Ian McGeechan, as well as how these figures are really helping to push rugby on.”
To mark the occasion, 470 primary six pupils from 14 schools throughout Inverness attended the opening to take part in a festival of touch rugby.
Crown Primary pupil Amy Beattie, 10, said HRH The Princess Royal was really impressed with her class saying: “She said she was really impressed as we have never played rugby before. She was also impressed with Group 3, as we won the match. That made us feel very proud.”
The opening marks almost two years since work on the Canal Park Enhancement works began.
The development was part of the Highland Council’s contribution to the City-Region Deal investment and will be managed by High Life Highland in partnership with Highland Rugby Club.
Andy Little, chairman of Highland Rugby Club said: “The completion of the Canal Park Redevelopment marks a new chapter in the history of Highland Rugby Club and provides our club and the wider rugby and sporting community with state of the art sporting facilities. When the club embarked on the discussions with Highland Council on the way forward for the West Link Road I never thought that the outcome would be what we have today.”
