All sorts going on at Biggar Rugby Club as Bassett has to depart

Bassett and girlfriend Kaitlin arrived this time last year with Richard making an immediate and massive impact and contribution to the 1st XV.

While Kaitlin managed to source employment and Richard worked in The Crown, they stayed in the club flat which contravened the rules and so regrettably the club was left with little option and so the couple left for Wales at the weekend.

To mark his leaving skipper Euan Sanderson presented Richard with a commemorative photograph of the ‘Championship’ winning squad at Stirling. Richard thanked Biggar RFC on social media.

He posted: “I’d like to thank everyone at Biggar RFC, from the players and coaches to everyone involved off the field. It’s been a real privilege to represent the club and what a season it was!

“It’s been an amazing experience for my girlfriend and I living up here and we have loved every minute of it.

“I’d like to wish the club, players and everyone involved all the best for the future and hopefully we will be able to come and watch a game or two in the near future. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, the club took its first tentative steps towards a return to rugby last week with training resuming for boys youth, colts and senior squads.

There was some disruption to the scheduled plan on Tuesday evening for the senior squad, with the meeting cancelled due to torrential rain.

It was much the same on Wednesday for the boys youth but the colts and senior players got a cracking night on Thursday with Hartreemill looking its finest in the evening sunshine.

Taking heed of SRU and Scottish Government protocols, players arrived at Hartreemill to undergo registration and a brief questionaire prior to joining their allocated ‘training bubble’, the size of which depended on their age and stage within the club.

Hand sanitising stations have been installed around the ground and all players must make use of these both before and after training while all equipment is also subjected to cleaning.

Coaches take the session from some distance while players are restricted to specific pitch areas throughout.

In general this seems to have worked with players enjoying the fact that they are back in action after so many months absence.

Biggar United FC were also training midweek and in similar fashion.

The girls training will resume today (Wednesday), while the mini section return this Sunday, August 16.

It is unknown when the club gets back to actually playing a game, with October the very best possible scenario.