Great Scot ... Buccs captain Hayman looks forward to new season

 

By Kieran Galvin

As Buccaneers face their opening match in the Ulster Bank League away to Belfast Harlequins tomorrow (Saturday), Alex Hayman says he is “proud and excited” about the challenge of being the club's new captain.

“This is my first time as club captain. I'm very proud and really excited about the challenge,” he told the Westmeath Independent.

Now going into his eighth season with Buccaneers, Hayman is one of the most experienced players in the Buccaneers squad.

“There are only two or three people who have been around a bit longer than me,” he said. “There are a lot of Connacht Academy players and a lot of young players. We have a very youthful squad apart from three or four of us. We have to try to bring them along and help them to help us.”

Originally from just north of Aberdeen, Alex went to English university Loughborough, which is renowned for its sporting facilities. In fact, Alex played for the England universities team. For a Scot, this must have been a somewhat strange experience. “It was a little bit unusual especially against Scotland! But, with representative rugby, you can't really turn it down,” he said.

Alex works in Alkermes (in research and development) having joined the company (then known as Elan) when he came to Ireland seven years ago. “I love it here and the way of life. I was lucky enough to get a job when I first came over,” said the Scot.

Looking ahead to the new season, Alex said promotion from Division 1B is the team's “long-term goal”. “The short-term goal is to get our squad together and to get playing how we know we can play. We want to try to avoid the dips that we have had in previous years.'

Asked why Buccs have suffered such fluctuations in form over recent seasons, Alex said: “Some of it is down to squad depth as the season goes on. We are usually alright up to Christmas. The way the season is structured there are long breaks over the Christmas. Sometimes we have seemed to fall away there.”

“With a stronger squad, hopefully going into the last five or six weeks of the season, we won't have the problems with depth around March, and that we'll be able to push on till the end of the season,” he added.

In common with other clubs, one of the difficulties Buccaneers face is not having their players available due to provincial commitments.

“A lot of the time the coaches don't find out until the Thursday evening who they actually have for the weekend. We have a lot of development and academy players and though they might be with us for most of the season, if there are injuries with Connacht, they can be pulled from under you and you can be left short sometimes,” said Alex.

The versatile Hayman has played everywhere in the backs for Buccaneers apart from scrum-half, but he admits centre, particularly inside centre (No. 12) is his preferred position.

Alex is encouraged by the new players that have joined Buccs for the season ahead.

“Mark Abrahams has come from UL Bohs, he's going to give us extra cover in the backs. He's been playing at No. 10 recently, but he can also play in the centre or at full-back. He looks like a very handy player.

“In the forwards, Conor Kindregan, who has also come from UL, he's on a very strong ball-carrier. Shane Casey, another backrow player, he actually played a couple of games for us last season; he's a very strong young player.'

In their outings leading up the start of the Ulster Bank League, the Athlone side's form has been patchy.

“We're disappointed with some of our recent results – but in some of the games we went out with basically a 'second team'. Sometimes we've had more at training than we've had available for matches. But we're getting our squad together and players are coming back,” Alex remarked.

With the Buccaneers women's team adapting well to life in the All-Ireland League and some good young players emerging, there is a good feeling around the Athlone club.

“I think the women's team are going to have a successful season. We're very optimistic about our chances if we can really develop our brand of rugby and keep moving forward. With our second team, we have a stronger squad so hopefully we can really push on in the Connacht Junior League,” said Alex.

 

*Buccaneers take on Belfast Harlequins in Deramore Park, Belfast, tomorrow (Saturday), kick-off 2.30pm. See this week's Westmeath Independent for more on the game and for an interview with Buccaneers women's captain Niamh Ni Dhroma.