Former Stirling Wolves and Warringah Rats second row Hamish Ferguson starts new chapter at Bishop’s Stortford

Hamish Ferguson learned something new when he signed for Bishop’s Stortford - his mother grew up here and went to discos at the club.

The second row was unaware his mum, Ginette, was from the town and knew little about the Silver Leys side.

But he has already fallen in love with the club having moved back to England following a spell playing for Warringah Rats in Australia.

“My mum grew up here, in Bishop’s Stortford, and I had no idea. She went to discos at the club when she was a kid, but hasn’t been here for 36 years,” said Ferguson, 22.

“When I told her I was going to sign she was absolutely buzzing. She can’t wait to come back and see if she remembers it.

“It’s hard not to love it here straight away. It felt like home from the first week I got here.

“It’s got a really small community vibe, but plays in a big league. It’s brilliant.”

Ferguson, whose father is Scottish, hails from Nottingham and played for Southwell as a youngster before being part of Nottingham’s academy in his last two years at school.

He moved to Scotland and lived in Edinburgh while playing for Currie Chieftains before representing Stirling Wolves in the Super 6 competition.

The forward decided to head Down Under and enjoyed his time in Australia, but felt the time was right to return home.

“It was good. It was very different to the rugby here, a lot less professional,” said Ferguson, reflecting on his time at the Sydney-based Rats.

“But in terms of the scale of the rugby, the amount of players and the exposure you get it was unbelievable.

“Some selections weren’t going my way, so it made sense to come home and I’m really excited about it.”

On his arrival, Ferguson and fellow new signing Michael Cooke were put up by head coach Tom Coleman’s godfather Jonny Hey, who runs design and build company Westbury Garden Rooms. He and girlfriend Katie, who has moved down from Edinburgh, are now living in Hertford.

Breaking into the first team is his first goal before using all the skills he has learned in England, Scotland and Australia to help Stortford climb National 1.

“I’d like to install myself as that lineout leader and work with the other second rows in the team to really make our lineout a machine,” said Ferguson.

“I think they struggled a bit last year and it’s been simplified a wee bit. It’s all about winning as much ball as we can get, scoring as many tries as we can and putting our name down as a really good lineout team.

“I also like to get my hands on the ball as much as possible and get as many carries for the team as possible.”