The Edinburgh Gunners centre, capped 13 times by his country, has shown himself to be a useful all-rounder during an off-season spell with local side Goldenacre.

Now, having helped the club to second place in the league with his batting and seam bowling skills, Southwell is returning to his rugby preparations aiming to carry that success into the 15-man game.

''I've enjoyed playing cricket although first and foremost I am a rugby player,'' he told the Edinburgh Evening News.

''Playing cricket is just for enjoyment for me, but winning any kind of match does give you a bit of confidence and of course it would be nice to take that into the new rugby season."

Southwell is determined to help the Gunners improve on an average campaign which saw them finish seventh in the Celtic League and miss out on the European Cup quarter-finals.

''Last season was a bit of a disappointment, to be honest, as although we beat good sides like Perpignan we didn't show the consistency that you need to succeed over the course of the season,'' he said.

''We proved that we had ability - it was just doing it regularly that seemed to be a problem for us.

''We haven't set ourselves any definitive objectives yet for the new season we just know that we need to improve on last season.''