Report by David Mitchell

On a very busy day at Mains Park last Saturday, Linlithgow Rugby Club’s Vintage Reds (old players!) hosted a very successful festival of Walking Rugby involving 5 teams and about 50 players. The teams taking part were the host club, Forth Valley Fossils, BATS, Midlothian and Murrayfield Wanderers with Forth Valley and Midlothian fielding male and female players.

Main organiser Dougie Thomson put together a tight schedule involving a round robin format that gave each team 4 games in 20 minute segments and he also performed as a referee along with Euan Mochrie. Walking Rugby has evolved as a fun activity designed to allow skills to be displayed but without any keeping of scores. This non-scoring does not eliminate the competitive element and there were a few robust collisions during the event. However there were no serious injuries or fights and this is always a sign of a successful event!

The ‘winning team’ was the team which displayed the best sportsmanship and behaviour during the games and Forth Valley Fossils came out on top and received a case of beer with which to celebrate their efforts.

After the conclusion of the games, refreshments were provided by President Jean McKeown ably assisted by injured WR player Gary Shepherd and this was received gratefully by the players. Overall a very successful morning and many positive comments were received from the participants along with helpful suggestions to improve on the format and we look to host a similar event on an annual basis as well as participate in away fixtures hosted by the other clubs involved.

Linlithgow Squad (from left in photo)
David Mitchell, Ally MacLennan, Barry McKeown, Ken Richardson, David Grady, Ronnie Hastie, Nick Chadwick, Neil Edwards, Graham Wight and Mike Scott.