Bruce Flockhart (born 23 August 1997) is a Scottish former professional

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

. His usual position is at the Number Eight position. He has previously been loaned out from

and the

Scottish Rugby Academy The Scottish Rugby Academy, for sponsorship reasons the Fosroc Scottish Rugby Academy, is a national academy structure designed to give Scotland's young rugby stars a pathway into the professional game. The academy structure is based on 4 regiona ...

to the French side Stade Niçois for the 2017-18 season.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

His father, Donald, played rugby union for Scotland Under 21s. From

Culloden Academy Culloden Academy ( gd, Acadamaidh Cùil Lodair) is a non-denominational secondary school in Culloden, Highland, Scotland. The present enrollment is 1,117 pupils. The catchment area includes Balloch, Croy, Smithton, Cradlehall and Ardersier ...

, Flockhart then moved to

Strathallan School Strathallan School is an independent boarding and day school in Scotland for boys and girls aged 7–18. The school has a campus at Forgandenny, a few miles south of Perth. School roll The school has 73 full-time staff, and 18 part-time staff ...

. When not in Warriors duty, Flockhart played for

Glasgow Hawks Glasgow Hawks is an amateur rugby union team in Glasgow, Scotland. They were Premiership Division One champions for three consecutive seasons from 2003–04 to 2005–06. History In Paris on 27 August 1995 a meeting of the International Rugby ...

. On 25 July 2017 it was announced that Flockhart would be loaned out to Stade Niçois, a Federale 2 club in France, outwith the French professional leagues. On 7 June 2018 it was noted that Flockhart's loan spell was over and he had returned to earn a contract with

. Gibbins has been drafted to

in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

for the 2018-19 season.

Professional career

He played for a

select side against an

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

select side at the start of the 2014-15 season. He was invited to train with

and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

at the end of the 2014-15 season. Flockhart is enrolled in the BT Sport

as a Stage 3 player. Stage 3 players are aligned to a professional club and given regional support. Flockhart has been assigned from the Scottish Rugby Academy to

from the 2015-16 season onwards. Flockhart started for

against

in an 'A' match at

Broadwood Stadium Broadwood Stadium is a multi-use community stadium and sports complex in the Westfield area of Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. The stadium is currently the home of Cumbernauld Colts and Open Goal Broomhill of the Scottish Lowland Football Lea ...

. He scored a try in the match and Warriors eventually won the derby match 26-5. Flockhart graduated from the

to earn a professional contract with

on 7 June 2018. He has earned a one-year deal with the club. He made his first appearance for the Warriors in their 50 -17 demolition of Harlequins at

North Inch North Inch is a large public park in Perth, Scotland. About 54 hectares in size, it is one of two "Inches" in Perth, the other being the smaller, 31-hectare South Inch, located half a mile across the city. The inches were granted to the city, whe ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on 18 August 2018. On 23 July 2021, he ended his professional rugby union career after he had a struggle with mental health, stating: "This decision is about taking care of my mind and my body and exploring my options beyond rugby. From the experience that I have gained through my struggles, I now realise how important it is to be mentally flexible and to not put such heavy pressure on myself again." He thanked

and the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

for their support in helping him through, particularly former head coach

Dave Rennie Dave Rennie (born 22 November 1963) is a New Zealand and Cook Islands professional rugby union coach and former player who is the head coach of the Australia national rugby union team, having previously coached New Zealand sides the Chiefs, , ...

I’m very grateful to have spent four years with Glasgow. My journey has had ups and downs, but all in all I leave with great memories. Glasgow Warriors are a very special team to be a part of. Frustratingly for me, countless injuries that started with my back in 2015 – prior to joining Glasgow – mean that it hasn’t always been plain sailing. Naturally, something like this takes its toll on a person mentally, which it has with me. I owe a lot to Dave Rennie, who would pull me aside for chats checking that I was coping OK. In the beginning, I didn't want to admit that I was struggling because I viewed it as a sign of weakness and I didn't want it to count against me for selection. The day that I finally admitted that I wasn't coping, he told me something that helped me a lot. He said, 'Mental health problems are like injuries so treat them as such. You have a mental health issue, you see a psychologist and rehab it back to full strength.' The support that I have received from everyone within Scottish Rugby has far exceeded anything that I would have expected. I can't stress how grateful I am. The boys have been great too, with many of them sharing their own personal stories with me and what has helped them.

International career

He received his first Scotland Under 18 cap in March 2015, playing against England.

References

External links

Scottish Rugby name new elite development players

Glasgow Warriors biography

Glasgow Hawks biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flockhart, Bruce 1997 births Living people Scottish rugby union players Glasgow Warriors players Glasgow Hawks players Rugby union number eights People educated at Strathallan School Rugby union players from Inverness Stade Niçois players Rugby union flankers