Pringle appointed Scotland U20 head coach

Former Edinburgh Rugby lock Pringle had spells coaching at Boroughmuir and Currie Chieftains before taking over at Watsonians, leading them to a Super Series Championship victory in 2022.

He joined Scotland U20 as an assistant coach in 2022 and in the summer of this year, was forwards coach of the Scotland men’s national team on the Skyscanner Pacific Tour.

Pringle will also continue in his role as a coach with Edinburgh Rugby’s Academy.

Two new assistant coaches also come into the U20 set-up, with Greig Laidlaw and Sean Kennedy joining the group.

Laidlaw, who holds the male record for the most Scotland appearances as captain and is second in the all-time points chart, was recently head coach at Urayasu-D Rock in Japan, where he finished his playing career. He joins on a consultancy basis for the 2026 Under-20 Six Nations.

Kennedy, who represented Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby at scrum-half, has been working with Stirling County as their defence coach and is currently the coach of the National Talent Pathway 1 and 2 programmes for Edinburgh.

Pringle replaces Kenny Murray, who will begin a new role at Scottish Rugby as National Talent Pathway (NTP) Lead. Murray will manage Scottish Rugby’s new NTP programme, designed to invest more resource in the best young players in Scotland, and lead on all men’s national age grade teams.

Fergus Pringle, Scotland U20 head coach, said: “There’s a lot of promising young talent coming through in Scotland right now and I’m really excited to take on the role as head coach and lead the team going forward.

“The U20s is a very important programme for Scottish Rugby and will be influential in the development of our best young players. By playing in the U20 internationals, they get to benchmark themselves against the best players from other countries around the world which will push and challenge them.

“The group coming through have a good attitude and work ethic that will really drive standards in the environment going forward.

“Having Greig and Sean as part of the coaching group is brilliant. Both have had great careers and will be an inspiration to our players.

“Greig was an iconic Scotland captain and is an instantly recognisable figure that our players will be able to glean a lot of insight from.

“We have our first training camp at the end of the year and that will help us in preparation for the Six Nations at the start of 2026.”

Al Kellock, Head of Performance Pathways said: “As part of the continued development and implementation of our new performance pathway structures, Fergus Pringle will lead our Scotland U20 national team.

“I’ve known Fergus for many years and have seen first-hand the high standards and excellence he drives within any programme he works in. I’m very excited to see how much he will grasp this opportunity to lead the programme.

“He has a great knowledge of our young players and his new role will align with his position within Edinburgh Rugby’s Academy where he works day to day with some of the best young prospects in Scottish Rugby.

“Fergus will work well with Kenny Murray, who has taken on a new position of National Talent Pathway Lead (NTP) heading up all stages of the NTP, using his knowledge of the game in Scotland to drive the development of our young players.

“Fergus’s coaching staff is further strengthened by Greig Laidlaw and Sean Kennedy. They have great recent coaching experience and our players will greatly benefit from their insight as they look ahead to a big season for the U20s.

“Both are outstanding individuals and are at different stages of their career. Sean is greatly aligned to our programme already with his current role, working within the National Talent Pathway.

“Greig was recently a head coach in Japan and the experience he’ll bring within Fergus’s team will be invaluable. We are delighted to bring someone of his status into our pathway to nurture the next generation of players.”