Stewart s Melville Rugby News 22 November 2017

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1 SMRFC 1st XV vs Preston Lodge, Rd 2 Cup With a reasonable sized crowd having assembled, PL kicked off playing towards the pavilion. The hosts had made several changes from the aforementioned game against Selkirk, with James Ferguson and Jamie McGurk combining in midfield and a welcome return for Nathan Ross on the left wing. Cameron Taylor and Ruaridh Mitchell replaced Josh Scott and Shaun Burns in the forwards and there was another run out at 7 for school boy Conor Boyle, who impressed on his recent debut. Stew Mel collected well after the PL start but were, however, immediately put under pressure, a penalty following a scrum leading to another PL attack that only petered out due to a knock on by second row Jonathan Sked (who otherwise had an impressive afternoon along with his second row partner Scott MacColl). Stew Mel won back possession and cleared their lines - only for PL to regain and move the ball out wide to score in the corner. The converted try put PL 7 in front with less than 10 minutes played. Their kicker certainly had his kicking boots on all afternoon. After the restart PL were rampaging again but Stew Mel won back possession after some fine play by number 6 Tom Croy. The forwards then started an impressive drive, reminiscent of the Gala game, pushing well into PL s 22 before quick ball from Gregor Porteous allowed Freddie Roddick to dummy and sidestep his way over the try line in a position where the conversion was a certainty. At 7 apiece within such a short period of time, you sensed it was going to be a long afternoon. Heading towards the 25 minute mark, PL were again in the ascendency, although a wayward kick did not find touch and the tables were turned once again. A break by Sean Murchie on the right wing earned us good field position up at the half way line, with Ferguson penetrating the midfield then offloading to Ruaridh Stewart; Ruaridh then kept the ball alive and headed back into the forwards to allow them to embark on another fine drive. There was a feeling that Stew Mel were beginning to show some dominance in the forwards which eventually lead to a try by Angus Wallace converted by Roddick. The score at half time was Stew Mel 14 - PL 10.

2 With the second half underway, the Stew Mel forwards began to dominate the set piece, and this would eventually translate into points. Whilst the overall play mirrored the first half, in terms of shared possession, a penalty try was eventually awarded around the 60 minute mark. Stew Mel 21 - PL 10. With scrum resets, collapsing and early engagements taking up significant periods of time, PL eventually won the battle with a quick ball to the right that put the number 9 (not the scrum half but the winger) Dale Gordon in for a try in the corner, again successfully converted. Stew Mel 21 - PL 17. Stew Mel then made a change, with Porteous taking over at 10 from Roddick and Charlie Simmonds coming on off the bench at 9. After another period of pressure, good driving by the forwards and quick ball from Simmonds resulted in a fine break from Porteous, who made the most of some welcome open space to sprint to the line and bring the score to PL were far from finished, though, as they came back again, firstly with an eminently kickable penalty and thereafter a converted try after an impressive break through the midfield. With the score at in PL s favour, you could sense that their tails were up as they could see victory in sight - although time was still on Stew Mel s side. More pressure from PL eventually fizzled out and Stew Mel were able to breathe again and continue to counter attack. After sustained pressure, Adam Howie eventually crossed the line, with the try being converted by Porteous. At there was still time left on the clock - but not enough for PL to prevent what could be described as an attritional victory. There was a sigh of relief at the final whistle as Porteous gleefully booted the ball into touch. It was a game that either team could have won, and, from a Stew Mel point of view, there were positives which must be focussed on. With another break on Saturday, we look forward to resuming the league campaign on December 2nd in Kelso. There is no reason why we can t once more return from the Borders with valuable points. Kevin Murchie

3 SMC D1s vs High School of Glasgow The D1 s travelled to Glasgow on Saturday 18 November to take on The High School of Glasgow. Having defeated Fettes College the previous Monday they were looking forward to carrying some momentum in to this fixture. The boys started the game strongly and ran in a couple of quick scores to settle the nerves. They were able to produce some quick ruck ball for the backs to attack with width and pace and they showed excellent handling skills in glorious weather conditions. Our pace and attacking organisation caused real problems for the opposition and Noah McLean and Freddy Douglas in the forwards carried exceptionally well. We also applied real pressure when in defence through good line speed and solid first-up tackling. By half time our superiority had allowed us to establish a good lead and the half time chat centred around generating quick ball and attacking the wide channels. The High School of Glasgow fought bravely in the second half and were rewarded with a try which was greeted with cheers of joy from the home support. However, we were not to be outdone and finished comfortable winners by 30-3 (8 tries to1). Freddy Douglas produced some of his trademark runs, bulldozing through numerous defenders and handing-off several others to score 4 tries in total. Cameron Ross had a fine performance both in attack and defence and Adam Cooper had another fine kicking display, converting 6 out of 8. The boys will be aiming to build on this performance this Saturday when they hit the road again for an away match against Glasgow Academy. David Roxburgh

4 JA1s v Glasgow High - won 8-0 Junior School Match Reports 18/11/17 In what was perhaps the team s best attacking performance of the season the work that the players had done on 3 second rugby was clearly demonstrated with good offloading and support play. In fact our excellent work in attack actually lead to a bit of over confidence in the second half and support runners began to assume that a line break would be a score and stopped working. Defensively, our individual tackle technique was good again and we are beginning to generate some line speed in defence. JA2s v Glasgow Academy won 8-3 This was a whole team effort with excellent tries being scored after several phases of play. The rucking was excellent and the tackling this week was much more consistent. In attack the players took the ball on and kept the ball alive with the excellent support lines. It is excellent to see the team continuing to improve each week. JB1s v Watson s lost 5-2 In a complete reversal of their performance the previous week, the JB1s ultimately payed the price for a very sluggish start to this match. Some soft tries were conceded in the 1st half and from then on we were chasing the game. Pleasingly the boys began to attack with far more pace and urgency in the 2nd half showing themselves to be the better side. Frustrating then to come up short against this opposition for a second time this season. JB2s v Glasgow High lost 6-5 In an exciting end to end match, the JB2s came up just short against tricky opponents. The boys found it challenging to keep a hold of the ball throughout the 1st half, with some well organised counter rucking and unforced handling errors resulting in Glasgow having possession for long periods. A much improved 2nd half saw us reply with some well worked scores of our own, playing our way back into the game. Looking forward, the boys need to continue to make their tackles in order to cut down on easy scores for the opposition.

5 Junior School Match Reports Continued JB3s v Glasgow High lost 12-9 As the score suggests, this was an exciting, end-to-end match. At times we found it difficult to contain their fast runners. In attack there was some good passing and off-loading, but we will work on keeping our shape in attack in the coming weeks. Primary 5 Rugby The JCs On a beautifully sunny morning at Goldenacre, two of the four Primary 5 rugby squads played in their debut competitive fixtures for the Junior School and both teams won in emphatic style. Safe and effective tackle technique has been a key skill on which we have been working during Games sessions on Friday afternoons and it was really pleasing to see the boys completing so many low, strong, first-time tackles. This enabled them to win back possession quickly and attack with pace and good support play. Lots of tries were scored and it was great to see so many boys contributing to the performances. A super start to Primary 5 rugby.

6 Stew Mel Lions 19/11/17 What a treat for our P3 Lions, with Scotland 7s captain Scott Riddell running a fantastic session. The kids learned a lot about passing, catching, support play and defence, and most importantly had great fun. Thanks to Scott from all the P3 coaches, parents and kids!

7 Stew Mel Lionesses 19/11/17 The girls played a round robin event this Sunday on the famous Netherdale ground in Galashiels against the Gala Vixens and the Melrose Queen Bees. The first game against Melrose was tough. The Queen Bees came out victors of the first tournament of the Season up at Montrose and the Lionesses conceded quite a few first half tries. However, the girls came back in the second half with some excellent defending and some great attacking opportunities. Jordyn again showing her strength and speed on attack, narrowly missing out on a try straight after half time, and Jessica putting in 3 great tackles stopping Melrose s try scoring in their tracks half way through the second half. Lucy s excellent use of space led to a great try by Ioanna seconds from the end, against a very tough and experienced Melrose defence. Against Gala, the Lionesses improved on their first game, scoring more tries this time around. It was heartening to see two new girls, Iris and Elspeth getting stuck into the game with plenty of enthusiasm, getting lots of touches of the ball and putting in some great tackles. Katie also stood out in this game with one or two excellent short runs and some beautifully timed passes. To get extra game time our girls split into the two other sides to play a game on what was nearly a full sized pitch. The girls really benefited from the experience and generosity of the other two teams. Clara proved her worth as an excellent fly-half and Imogen made some great runs down the wing. At the end Jessica scored a great try against a mighty 10 woman defence. The Lionesses are yet to secure their first win this season but the enthusiasm and determination of our inexperienced team is sure to pay dividends as our season progresses! Helen Bell

8 SMC School Results Team Opposition Result Score 1st XV The High School of Glasgow Won nd XV The Royal High School Lost rd XV The High School of Glasgow Lost U16A The High School of Glasgow Won U16B The Royal High School Lost B1 The High School of Glasgow Won 32-5 B2 The Royal High School Won B3 The High School of Glasgow Won 60-5 C1 The High School of Glasgow Won C2 The Royal High School Won 32-7 C3 The High School of Glasgow Won 34-6 D1 The High School of Glasgow Won 30-3 D2 The Royal High School Won 7-24 D3 The High School of Glasgow Lost 8-20 SMRFC 1st XV Preston Lodge Won SMRFC 3rd XV Linlithgow 2nd XV Lost 24-39

9 Stewart s Melville RFC The Coming Season 2017/2018 Coming home? Rugby playing opportunities for you! If you are looking for work in Edinburgh or within commuting distance of Inverleith, please get in touch and register your playing interest for this season. Also if we can be of any assistance if helping you with job opportunities please let Bryan Easson know. No promises can be made but communications are at an alltime high with various networks available. We will be running 3 teams again this season in their respective leagues. Please get in touch if you d like to be involved at any level, we would love to hear from you. Dates for your diary SMRFC Fixtures 1st XV vs Kelso AWAY, Saturday 2nd December 3rd XV vs Inverlieth HOME, Saturday 25th November, 12:30 K/O Stewart s Melville Youth Section 19th November Academy S3&S4 Training 11:00-12:15 S1&S2 match vs Heriots, 13:15 meet time at Goldenacre, 13:30 K/O As we are getting into the winter months please keep an eye on your s and the Stewart s Melville Rugby Academy Facebook page regarding any training/game cancelations. Lions and Lionesses13: at Inverlieth *Weekly communication shall be sent out from your team managers. Please keep an eye on the Academy and Lions Facebook pages for further updates. Additional Information Rugby Camp Monday, 12th-Friday -16th February, Forms available from Bruce and Scott s office. SMC U16A vs The Edinburgh Academy, National Cup Semi Final, Inverlieth, K/O10:30

10 School and Club Contacts Get In Touch Bruce Ruthven Rugby Coordinator Stewart s Melville RFC Bill McNie President billmcnie@live.co.uk Bryan Easson Graham Inglis Director of F.P Rugby Club Manager Bryan.easson@sru.org.uk jingly@hotmail.co.uk Stewart s Melville College Stuart Edwards Gregor Wood Mark Burgess Stew Mel Lions Head of Rugby Head of Games at SMC Head of Junior School Boys Sport shedwards@esms.org.uk gswood@esms.org.uk mrburgess@esms.org.uk Alistair Geddes Lions Chairman alastair.j.geddes@gmail.com Stew Mel Academy John Gumley Joe Boyle Ross McNulty Richard Worrall Scott Kellock U14s Manager U18s Manager Academy and U16 Manager Physio Modern Apprentice jgumley@ymail.com joe.boyle61@gmail.com r.mcnulty@robertson.co.uk richard@physiotherapistsedinburgh.co.uk skellock@esms.org.uk If you need information about whether a match has been cancelled due to bad weather please call the school cancellations hotline on For any other information, please contact the relevant person above. School website: