Falkirk Rugby Club: South African kid among four new arrivals after Stef Yarrow retirement

Former Cartha Queen’s Park star Alex Geddes arrives as Yarrow’s replacement, with other new acquisitions including ex-Edinburgh Accies second row/back row Connor Doran, number seven Olly Yarrow – Stef’s cousin – and, in a groundbreaking move, Erin Baisley from the Blue Bulls Academy in South Africa.

"Stef and Gregor have a wealth of experience and knowledge,” Grieve told the Falkirk Herald. "So there will be big shoes to fill.

"Stef was a workhorse and Gregor – who could play on the back row or the wing – is also retiring after 19 years of senior rugby, having also played for Stirling County and Hamilton.

"It was quite fitting that both Stef and Gregor scored tries in our 34-21 win over Lasswade in the National League Cup final win at Murrayfield in their last game.”

On Baisley’s acquisition, Grieve added: “He is coming over here in July on the recommendation of Anthony Reen, a South African former coach of ours.

"Anthony had too many winters of ours, missed the sun and ended up getting a job back in South Africa. We are still in touch with Reeno quite a bit and he looks after the Blue Bulls’ academy.

"Erin is a back three so he can play on the wing or at fullback.

"He’s got a bit of pace and he can finish. We have seen some of his videos, he’s a good lad, very serious about his rugby.

"This kid wants to be a professional rugby player so he’s a UK passport holder.

"If we can get him on that rung towards the professional game we will all benefit from that.

"He’s never been in Scotland before.

"We’re hoping that him coming over and playing with us for a season may give him a bit of a boost and he may be able to get somewhere within Scottish rugby.

"He’s going to be a student at Falkirk College as well.

"This could be a real opportunity and a bit of a gateway potentially opening up between ourselves and South Africa.”

Falkirk go into the new campaign – with the number of teams in National 2 reduced to nine due to restructuring – keen to challenge for the title having ended just six points behind champions Peebles last season after accumulating 71 points from their 18 matches.

“We were disappointed overall with how last season went,” Grieve told the Falkirk Herald.

"As much as we’d had quite a good season, we lost twice to the eventual champions Peebles which ultimately was the differential between the two sides.

"Peebles were just a bit more clinical than us. We made mistakes and they capitalised on those mistakes.

"Over the piece we were probably a better team than Peebles, we certainly played the better rugby, but it’s all about taking your chances and executing when you’re in the right zones, which we didn’t do on a couple of occasions.”