Andy Rose has played a big part at Boroughmuir over the last six-and-a-half seasons and he has been looking back at his time with the BT Premiership club as it comes to an end.

Rose, now 28, arrived at Meggetland in the summer of 2010 following a spell studying at Hartpury College down south.

Two years previously the back-row, who was brought up in Zimbabwe but was eligible to play for Scotland through his mother from Aberdeen, had earned four under-20 caps.

As a result he was keen to continue his rugby journey north of the Border and arrived in the capital not knowing how long he would be there for.

“Peter Blackhall from Boroughmuir had made contact with me and they seemed very keen to have me at the club so I decided to make the move and it is one I look back on now with a big smile because I have loved the last six-and-a-half years,” Rose said.

“In my first season I found things a bit difficult because I had a number of niggling injuries that never let me get a good run of games under my belt. I played quite a bit of second-team rugby that year, but managed to get into the first towards the end of the campaign and have been in and around that squad since.

“Ahead of the 2012/13 season I was asked to captain the team and it was a great honour for me. I wanted to be much more than just a captain on the field for the first XV I also wanted to try and help the overall club and get the playing group all working together as one group.

“I just wanted players to take a bit more responsibility for things and create a really strong club spirit and I think in recent years that has grown.”

Season 2012/13 was not an easy one for Rose and his team mates as they were relegated from the top flight, winning three and drawing one of their 18 matches to finish bottom of the table.

There was a fear that Rose and other key players would leave that summer, but the majority of the group stayed together and set about bouncing straight back.

“I could have gone elsewhere at that time, but I felt a real sense of loyalty to Boroughmuir and I wanted to be the captain who got them back up again,” Rose explained.

For long spells of 2013/14 Boroughmuir were pushed hard by fellow Edinburgh club Stewart’s Melville, but in the end the Meggetland men had too much for the rest of the teams in the RBS National League as it was then.

They won 16 out of 18 matches to win the league by 15 points from Stewart’s Melville and in head coach Bruce Aitchison and Rose they seemed to have a good combination leading things.

Confidence was taken from that campaign into 2014/15 and they managed to finish eighth in the top flight to survive and also progress to the BT Cup final.

Rose said: “That cup run was great and there was a buzz throughout the whole club.

“When we went to Glasgow Hawks and won away 21-18 in the semi-final we had a feeling that we might just be able to do it. The whole week building up to the final against Hawick was brilliant and running out at Murrayfield and seeing all the faces who I had got to know at ‘Muir over the years was special.

“We played really well that day to win 55-17 and I have very fond memories of that time. To win a trophy with a bunch of boys you have been with for a while is special.”

Rose, who won two Scotland Club XV caps in 2012, has also gone on to represent Zimbabwe 13 times and scored his first international try recently.

He is leaving Scotland later this week to move to Chicago in the USA where his fiancée is living.

“I had leaving drinks at the clubhouse on Saturday and it was great to see so many of the friends I have made here. It will be tough to leave, but I will always be thankful to Boroughmuir,” he concluded.