Allan Glen’s head coach Julianna Murciano steps down to take career break

And she admitted this week that she was devastated not to go out on a title-winning high after the season was voided with Glen’s in pole position to win the West Division 1 crown.

In 2019, her first season in charge, Glen’s missed out on the title by a single missed last-gasp conversion in a title decider at Greenock.

And this year their hopes were scuppered when the league was scrapped with Glen’s just three points behind leaders Stewartry with three games in hand.

She sdaid: “It was absolutely devastating for the boys. You can never say 100 per cent what would have been, but looking at the position we were in and the games we had left, I felt we were playing the best rugby and were prepared for a couple of big games.

“We had games in hand and the real key thing was the number of tries scored during the season.

“We gained bonus points in just about every game and that put us ahead of the rest.”

But despite two title near-misses Jules - who is taking a career break - is delighted with what her side achieved during her time in charge.

She said: “I thought we made absolutely massive progress, in lots of different ways.

“The commitment from the players was unbelievable - just before the season finished we were having between 30 and 40 players.

“After that first season, losing out by one point in the last kick of the game, mentally the progress was massive - the resilience from the boys to step up when it was needed.

“There was a lot of progression from the 2s to the 1s and a lot of competition and I think that really motivated everybody to keep working hard. The depth at the club is just excellent, from the minis right up. I know the club are thinking this year about starting a third XV and there’s not many clubs in Scotland who can say that.”