Ex-Biggar Rugby Club ace Reiss Cullen ready for English pro ranks

Reiss Cullen has impressed greatly when playing for Watsonians this season and he is all set to begin a new adventure south of the border this summer after joining Bristol Rugby (Pic by Ian Rutherford)

Cullen (20), a Biggar stalwart for over six years, has won the transfer after impressing at scrum half for Watsonians this season.He told the Gazette: “My agent sent Bristol a highlights video and they watched it and liked it.“I am delighted to sign my first professional rugby contract, I am excited to get started and grateful for the opportunity.“I’m assuming this will be a pretty big step up for me, playing in the Championship.“It will be a pretty good level for me to be playing at.”Reiss’s new team is playing in the Aviva Premiership this season, but last Saturday’s 36-21 home defeat by leaders Wasps consigned them to relegation.Cullen, who joined Watsonians from Biggar in 2014, will make the move south in July. He has been a big part of the first team at Myreside over the last three years, helping Watsonians to promotion to the top flight in 2015/16 and playing in every match in 2016/17 as the team stayed up in the BT Premiership.A useful sevens exponent, Cullen has also played his part on the Kings of the Sevens circuit for Watsonians of late and has been on the fringes of the Scotland Sevens set-up.Bristol head coach Mark Tainton said: “Reiss is a livewire of a scrum half, who we’ve been really impressed by.”