West of Scotland U15  21 – 47  Linlithgow U15

Sunday 20 August 2023

Burnbrae, Milngavie

Report by Nick Smith

Many of us have been lamenting the passing of summer so soon, with the kids back at school this week.  However every cloud (and there have been plenty of them this summer) has a silver lining. The end of the summer brings the beginning of the rugby season. Long live the new season!

So with the glee of a puppy with a new toy we approached this warm up game with West of Scotland. Here’s the highlights.

Our excitement and nerves showed early on, as from our kick-off the ball bounced out into touch. From the line-out WoS took control of the game and came at us with hard runs from the forwards. Their intent was clear. However we were ready and from one these rucks, Greg steadied himself and emerged with a turnover. This gave our forwards the chance to show what they can do and soon Finlay broke through the line and was in under the posts.

This was what we needed and we began to settle into the game. When we spun the ball wide we looked good and on another day Jay would have ended up with two tries had we made that crucial final pass. Being the first game of the season we should take this as a lesson as this may be crucial in the season to come.

Our second try came from a line-out. Elliot threw in for a fantastic lift, take and off-load to Joe at scrum half. Thomas knew what was on the cards and ran a fantastic line away from the WoS defence and was in for try number 2 which Rory converted.

The pace went out of our game a bit at this point. It was almost as if we expected the game to come to us rather than us to have to take control of it. But we weathered this well and it was only at the end of this Third that WoS forced themselves over the line to score.

The break gave us an opportunity to remind the boys that rugby is not a passive game and they duly stepped up. Ewan set the tone from the kick off taking the ball, breaking one tackle and then finding space (rather than the on-coming defence) to come through to score. Finlay nearly followed up straight afterwards. Instead he learnt a lesson to stay aware all the way to placing the ball on the turf. However he should not worry he just needs to remember that he made the try himself through his pace and athleticism and that learning is what training matches are for.

Try number 5 went to Ewan again after a hard running break down the blind side. Rory took try number 6, playing at outside centre at this point. It was the archetypal poachers’ try. He saw what was about to happen so far in advance that to say he “camped out” to take it was an understatement. Not only did he pitch his tent, he lit the campfire and started to dry his socks before he stepped forward to intercept the ball and race through under the posts. Taking over the kicking duties, Thomas converted the try.

After a quieter Third, Duncan then stepped up and took his opportunity.  He broke through one tackle, showed his pace and then worked his feet to fool the defence and went into score.

The final Third was a different story. Our intensity dropped and we clearly felt that the game was won, when in reality 25 minutes remained. It may have also been a touch of early season tiredness. Either way we let WoS back into the game and they put two tries on us. 

We can take a lot from this warm up game. Our “tip-ons” short passes worked really well and it was great to see all the forwards trying this. We do need to think about how much we use this as it should be a tactic for drawing in the defence and creating chaos before we unleash the back line. But this will come.

The scrum was our strength and our line-out gave us a strong attacking platform. We looked good when the ball went through the hands down the backline. We need to keep our heads up to see the opportunities when they arise.

Well done to all the players today and apologies there isn’t time to mention every one of them. Just to say well done to Finlay, who had an excellent debut for us on both the wing and in the centres. Man-of-the-match this week goes to Alex who popped up in support all over the pitch, made some excellent passes to his team mates and put in his fair share of tackles. His effort in training is paying dividends.

Thanks to all the parents who were able to make the journey over to WoS. Looking forward to the next game in a few weeks time.