Life is no picnic for Marcus Di Rollo these days.

When he is not working at his lettings and property business in Edinburgh's Stockbridge area, there are his two children (aged five and 18 months) to look after and spoil rotten and that is even before we focus on his rugby commitments as Watsonians coach. It's a far cry from the period when the 21-times-capped centre was strutting his stuff on the pitch and proving a thorn in opponents' sides, whether turning out for Scotland or Edinburgh.

Yet, even at 36, there is something boyish about Di Rollo and his enthusiasm for his sport he has graced. An ego-free zone, he clearly savours the whole ethos of building a team on and off the field and his coaching assistants at Myreside include an astonishing clutch of talent, including former Scotland captain Jason White - he takes charge of the forwards - and international forward Barry Stewart, who lends his expertise to the scrum. When you factor into the equation the presence of former British & Irish Lion, Simon Taylor, who is still burrowing away feverishly in the Watsonians pack, at the age of 35, the wonder is that the club is currently languishing in the second tier of the game.

Di Rollo and his colleagues are working on that. "We know that we used to be in the top flight and the plan is to get back there; we have put some good results together recently so I think we are in a pretty good position," says Di Rollo, whose charges have won six matches on the bounce and gained a significant 26-20 triumph against Stewart's-Melville FP in their last league outing. "We're in a very competitive league, though, and, with Selkirk going well and GHA above us, we will need to keep pushing forward throughout the winter. "It wasn't easy to gain momentum at the outset. We were beating GHA 23-15 in our first fixture, but we suffered so many injuries that we only had 14 guys on the pitch by the end and we had used up all our replacements. Since then, we have won eight out of nine and I reckon, if we can maintain that level for the rest of the campaign, we should be in contention next spring."

The Premiership is taking a hiatus at the moment during the autumn Tests and Di Rollo is not a fan. It's not as if the grassroots circuit is packed with players who are liable to be plucked out of the amateur ranks and flung, Roy of the Rovers-style, into Murrayfield combat. In which light, Di Rollo is not the only person to wonder why the clubs can't be left to organise their own programme. Oh, and with an expanded format to boot.

"I don't really like the [championship] break, it halts the momentum and continuity, and I can't understand why we don't look at altering the present structure," said Di Rollo. "It is not as if our clubs are in the British & Irish Cup any more, so there is room for change and one of the first things I would do is increase the size of the Premiership to 12 or even 14.

"I don't believe this would dilute the quality. Perhaps it would be exactly the opposite state of affairs. As matters stand, we have this big bank of matches in the first half of the season and then everything changes in the second half. If we had 12 [instead of the current 10], it would be 22 games. We play from August to April, so, in my opinion, that isn't that many."

Di Rollo has been impressed with Scotland's displays in the autumn Tests and, in common with everybody else in the Flower of Scotland brigade, he relishes new signs that they are ready to take the fight to any opponents.

Watsonians have been in a similar state of flux and suffered in the process. But finally, almost 20 years after the IRB ushered in the pay-for-play era, it seems Scotland is getting its act together at all levels.