Scottish Rugby took a major step towards maximising performance today as two new recruits got on board the performance development management team at Murrayfield. Liaising with the National Academy and volunteer coaches, Ben Fisher and Nic Humphries -representing the East 2 (Edinburgh, Midlothian & West Lothian) and Glasgow North regions respectively- complete the performance team and will contribute to the delivery of the national player pathway, developing their programmes with a player centred approach linking to long term player development principles.Scottish Rugby took a major step towards maximising performance today as two new recruits got on board the performance development management team at Murrayfield. Liaising with the National Academy and volunteer coaches, Ben Fisher and Nic Humphries -representing the East 2 (Edinburgh, Midlothian & West Lothian) and Glasgow North regions respectively- complete the performance team and will contribute to the delivery of the national player pathway, developing their programmes with a player centred approach linking to long term player development principles. Performance development managers are dedicated to the talent identification and performance development of players within their respective regions across Scotland and will work with the growing number of club development officers as well as club and school coaches across Scotland to identify potential star players and coaches of the future. Once identified, Ben and Nic will monitor and mentor the top individuals in their region and build tailored training schedules for the players as part of their development within the national player programme which Several players have graduated from the national player pathway programme to represent the professional teams, Scotland A and the national team including Ben Cairns and Alan MacDonald (both Edinburgh and Scotland A), Sean Crombie (Edinburgh), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh and Scotland) John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors and Scotland) and Ally Hogg (Edinburgh and Scotland) to name but a few – with many outstanding talents to follow in the coming years. Nic Humphries said: The Player Pathway is vital for identifying and nurturing potential talent for the future. My job will be to identify players as young as S2 and work in conjunction with coaches, schools and specialists, for a number of years to give them the best coaching, advice and support possible. I aim to help develop these players within our national age grade programme and moving forward into the national academy. Ben Fisher added: I am really excited to be working within Scottish Rugby. This role lets me work with the best young players and coaches in the country to develop and improve their skills. Henry Edwards, Scottish Rugby’s head of performance, said: As PDMs, Nic and Ben will become a fundamental part of Scottish Rugby’s efforts to drive and maintain the regional performance pathway structure which is integrated into our National Rugby Development strategy.