Moray Rugby Club player coach Cameron Hughes says the Morriston outfit will embrace their promotion to Scottish Rugby’s national leagues and says with other thriving clubs in the area “we punch well above our weight” in comparison to other parts of Scotland

The Borders and Edinburgh spring to mind when you consider where Scottish rugby is thriving - certainly not Moray.

But back-to-back Caledonia North title successes and a Murrayfield final have put Moray Rugby Club on the national map in recent times, and their head coach couldn’t be happier.

Cameron Hughes returned north to his home area in 2020 to become Moray’s first rugby development officer, having carved out a successful career in the Welsh Premier Division and spells with top Scottish sides like Stirling County and Glasgow High Kelvinside.

He took on the role of player coach at Moray, and has helped created the most successful chapter in the club’s 101-year history.

After storming to the ‘Caley’ Division two title in their centenary year, the Elgin outfit embraced the step-up to the top north league and again won the title, gaining promotion to National League Division 4 next term.

Not even the heartache of losing the National Shield final at Murrayfield’s Hive Stadium to a last-gasp Cumnock try could distract Moray from their primary aim of moving up the leagues.

Hughes (29) is noticing a huge upturn in rugby interest in Moray, not just at his own club but with successful neighbours like Kinloss Eagles and RAF Lossiemouth on their doorstep.

Watch interview with Moray’s player coach after their National Shield semi-final victory (below).

“In Moray, people need to remember we punch well above our weight,” he said. “With the population we have, we have four senior men’s sides.

“There’s RAF Lossie, Kinloss army team and our first and second teams, all from a population shy of 100,000. We also have a women’s section as well, and lots happening for younger age groups so it’s great for this area.”

Hughes looked back on a sensational club season which saw his team score 148 tries and accumulate over a thousand points in just 23 matches in all competitions - 20 of them victories.

The coach was one of six Moray players who scored a double figures number of tries over the campaign, and believes the squad is well equipped to take on national league rugby.

“It’s been some experience. It’s quite hard to put into words really. It’s a lot of graft from a lot of people to get us into this position,” he said.

“There’s a bit of relief to get it over the line but I’m sure we will all look back with pride knowing we managed to get Moray into the national leagues.

“Many of us in our mid-to-late 20s and a couple of mid-30s, but we are at a really good age. Boys are keen to learn and it always helps when you are winning because they will listen that little bit more.

“They are a great bunch and they definitely deserve individually to be playing rugby at this level, because they belong there. They were wasted in Caley 2 and they need to get pushed even further, and they enjoy that.

“For a lot of the boys, playing in the national leagues is going to be unknown but that is the exciting thing about it.

“I’m fortunate enough and maybe a couple of the other boys, to have played against some of these teams we will face when we lived down the road, so we kind of know what to expect.

“But for most of the lads it's going to be uncharted territory. You just have to go out and play the rugby you know you can. We’ve got nothing to really fear.”

Joining Moray in Division 4 next term will be East Region champions Linlithgow and West Division 1 winners Ardrossan Academicals, two sides defeated by Moray in their swashbuckling run to the National Shield final.

“You can get into the habit of focusing of ‘what’s their nine like, what’s their scrum like’. You kind of forget, in the grand scheme of things if you do everything you can do, fingers crossed the outcome usually takes care of itself. If not, you’ve done everything you can.

“The likes of Whitecraigs and Hamilton are two pretty big names in the amateur club rugby scene in Scotland who will be coming up to Elgin so that’s something to look forward to as well.

“It’s been a great time at the club and we just have to enjoy this while it’s happening.

“It’s peaks and troughs, it won’t last forever. But as a club and the committee as a bunch of volunteers, we can ensure that we do everything we can to make this a sustainable thing and not just a one-off foray into the national leagues.

“We want to establish ourselves at a higher level and it has taken a lot of work to get us there but I think everyone is keen to support that.

“The travel is going to be a bit challenging but other teams have to come up the A9 to Elgin as well. Hopefully we can keep that strong home performance side of things going into next season.”

With Moray hosting increasing attendance numbers, Hughes hopes the locals will come out in even greater force next season to back them in their big adventure.

“Without a doubt, the home backing has made a difference. The boys absolutely love it.”

In their final promotion play-offs fixture at home to Panmure, Moray attracted a large following at the same time as the MacMoray music festival drew a 10,000 crowd to the nearby Cooper Park and over a thousand were ‘next door’ in Borough Briggs for Elgin City Football Club’s last match of their season.

“That shows just how strong rugby is in the area where even with lots of other things happening, people come to Morriston to watch us play a bit of rugby.”