Chris Martin has been appointed head coach of Howe of Fife, having recently returned from a short stint in New Zealand where he learnt from some of the best around.

Martin, 26, was a scrum-half during his playing career with his local club Howe of Fife and Watsonians, but his focus is now on coaching.

This season he has been working as an assistant coach at Howe and with the University of St Andrews.

And from this summer he will be head coach at the Cupar-based club, taking over from Garry Horne and John Lathangie who have given two decades of service to the Duffus Park outfit and helped players like Pete Horne, Chris Fusaro and Mike Fedo come through the ranks.

This term Howe of Fife finished bottom of BT National League Division One, but that should not take away from the great job that Horne and Lathangie did for rugby in the community over recent years.

On his appointment as head coach Martin said: “It feels fantastic to have been offered this role. It is the ultimate honour to be named head coach of your home town club and most of my best rugby memories come from playing here.

“I joined as a youngster in P3 and moved through the ranks into the first XV and the ethos here has always been about bringing young, local talent through and that will continue.

“It is obviously a big job for me to take on at my age, but a challenge I am looking forward to and I cannot wait to meet up with the boys in pre-season after a break and start planning 2017/18.

“Like any club, Howe of Fife is full of great volunteers and by working together I think we can take things forward on and off the pitch and build on the legacy that Garry and John leave behind.”

As mentioned, recently Martin was in New Zealand with the University of St Andrews director of rugby David Ross, spending some time with one of the most successful rugby teams in the world, the Canterbury Crusaders, in order to learn and develop as coaches.

The university’s performance analyst Burhan Torgut will also be travelling out there in the coming months and Martin certainly took a lot from his spell in the southern hemisphere.

Established in 2008, The Crusaders International High Performance Unit is a world renowned rugby academy that not only works with up and coming players, but coaches as well.

The individualised coaching programme immerses the coach into the full time professional environment of The Crusaders and allows the coach to observe training sessions, attend team and individual’s meetings, preview and review performances and spend time with the professional coaches discussing philosophy, tactics and coaching methods.

Many a famous rugby name has attended the course including current Glasgow Warriors and incoming Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.

Martin stated: “To be able to head out there and see how the top guys go about their business was a really great experience and something that will definitely shape the way I think about coaching going forward.

“People always talk about the rugby culture in New Zealand, but when you get there you realise how true it is and often what seems to set them apart from others around the world is just how humble they are.

“As coaches and players they welcomed us in with open arms and are always looking to share ideas to make things better.

“They have a real culture of shaking hands and taking time out to speak to people whether you are an All Black or one of the backroom staff and I think that is where the edge comes from because they are always playing for the jersey and each other.

“I learnt a lot about coaching techniques too, but it was the off field side of things that I found most fascinating and will try and bring into my coaching fork as I move forward in the next season or so.”