Ex-Howe of Fife and Scotland centre Peter Horne among speakers at conference

Assistant coach Peter Horne taking part in a Scotland training session at Edinburgh's Oriam in March (Pic: Ross MacDonald/SNS Group/SRU)

Next month’s conference will be hosted by Caroline Blair, also host of the official Scottish Rugby podcast, and it will include sessions for club, school and society coaches, match officials, leaders and volunteers.

Horne, at Howe from 2007 to 2009 and currently an assistant coach with the Scottish national team, says he’s looking forward to explaining some of the attacking moves tried out by Scotland over recent months.

“I’m really excited to be delivering at this year’s community game conference,” said the Aberdeen-born 34-year-old, capped 45 times between 2013 and 2021.

“It’s a great opportunity for me to share some of the attacking principles we’ve been working on with the national team.

“I’m also looking forward to demonstrating some simple activities that can be embedded within the club and school game.”

Fellow Scotland assistant coach Pieter de Villiers will also be among the day’s guest speakers, and joining the South African-born 51-year-old, capped 68 times by France between 1999 and 2007, and Horne, a former pupil at Cupar’s Bell Baxter High School, will be Claire Cruikshank, Ben John, John Fletcher, JP Doyle, Stuart Ferrier and Jared Deacon.

Scottish Rugby’s director of rugby development, Gav Scott, added: “We’ve worked hard to create a huge array of workshops and sessions for coaches, volunteers, office staff – opportunities that anyone involved with a rugby club in Scotland will greatly benefit from.

“The conference is a great opportunity to upskill and share your own learning with other like-minded people.

“We’re excited to be having the likes of Pete and Pieter involved this year.

“It’s a great chance for coaches around the country to connect with professional coaches and glean some valuable tips.”

May’s conference will also be a fundraising event for late Scotland lock Doddie Weir’s motor neurone disease research charity, the My Name’5 Doddie Foundation, and the Murrayfield Injured Players’ Foundation and voluntary donations will be taken on the day.

For further details, go to scottishrugby.org