Stirling University rugby side performs remarkable turnaround as they aim for history-making season

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Stirling University’s men’s rugby side are attempting to become history makers - just a year on from the disappointment of a crushing relegation.The university’s 1s and 2s sides have enjoyed stellar campaigns, having lost only one of their combined 20 matches so far this season - and the 1s are on the cusp of going through their entire season unbeaten.That achievement has seen the 1s secure promotion back into the BUCS Scottish Men’s Tier One division after dropping into the league last season following a poor campaign.They also scooped the Scottish Conference Cup title with a victory last week, while the 2s have enjoyed success of their own by winning their own division and securing the Scottish Conference 2s Trophy.It has been a remarkable turnaround, with the impact of new captain Dan Tomanek clear to see in his first season as skipper.The 27-year-old fly-half, who has also turned out for Heriot’s and the Polish national rugby team, admitted big changes were needed after the frustration of last season - and praised the impact of the players’ buy-in on guiding success.Dan told the Observer: “It was an up and down season last year and it just didn’t really click; we had coaches who were Super 6 players and they couldn’t really commit because they would understandably get pulled away for their own training.“We just basically parked last year and made some choices over coaching, we ended up bringing in Doug Smith who is a former coach at Stirling County and who has been a bit of a mentor in my own career.“He’s a great guy and rugby coach who wants to see players develop and you can see that in the way we have performed.“I’m looking after about 60-70 lads as the captain, so that’s planning training sessions and chatting