Academy bosses Andrew Stanley and Gary Meechan have spoken of their delight at Alex Grove’s international call-up and starting spot with Scotland.
Centre sensation Grove was a member of the Warriors Academy system at Sixways Stadium for three years before graduating into the senior side.
The 21-year-old has this week revealed his gratitude to the coaching team at Warriors for his sharp progress, that will see him handed his first Scotland start against Fiji at Murrayfield on Saturday (kick-off 2.30pm).
“Alex is a great example of how the Academy structures work by identifying talent at young age groups and bringing it into the full-time system at 18 and working with it,” said Academy Manager Andrew Stanley.
“Alex had been a member of the Academy for three years and during this third year he started training full-time with the first team.
“What makes Alex unique is his devotion to his training and development. He is a very focused young man and was prepared to identify what areas of his game he needed to work on and applied himself to that task.”
“We are all absolutely delighted for Alex,” added Academy Assistant Manager Gary Meechan.
“He deserves the recognition and has certainly worked hard enough towards getting it. Alex remains one of the nicest and humble guys that we’ve had in the Academy. He really does do everything it says on the tin and understands exactly what is needed to make it at the top level.”
Charlie Little, General Manager at Warriors, also passed on his congratulations to Grove and echoed the Academy sentiments that the international call-up showed that Warriors was the ideal place for young home-grown talent to flourish.
“It’s a fantastic achievement for Alex and everyone at Sixways is truly delighted for him. We wish him every success in the game with Fiji.
“The Warriors Academy system deserves huge credit for this call-up and way in which they have helped guide Alex Grove into becoming the player he is today. Andrew Stanley, Gary Meechan and their staff should be congratulated for their part in this story.
“This call-up also shows the strength of Mike Ruddock being a Director of Rugby in the Guinness Premiership that is not afraid of giving home-grown young talent an opportunity. This was also underlined with our win against Newcastle Falcons in the LV= Cup at the weekend, when all four tries were scored by Academy products.
“As a club we have always said that if you are good enough you are old enough and we are proud of the young talent we have produced over the years.
“Matt Mullan has been recognised as part of the England Saxons set-up and Alex Grove has taken his chance with both hands at Warriors and has now been rewarded with a Scotland starting place.
“Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Alex Grove’s family and their role in his development. They have been fantastic supporters of rugby at Sixways, both the professional and amateur set-up, and we’re delighted for them that they will now get to see their son pull on the blue of Scotland and in action at Murrayfield.”