West of Scotland  36 – 33  Linlithgow

Sunday 23 February 2025

Report by Nick Smith

There are days when one’s love of rugby can be put to the test – particularly as a spectator. This Sunday was one of them. The forecast over in the wild west was nothing short of awful, but with West of Scotland making the call to go ahead, we duly obliged, jumped in the cars and shot down the M8.

Fortunately the game was to be played on astroturf and it was a pleasant walk past the lake (apparently a rugby pitch) and through the trees to the pitch.

After a short sharp warm up we were ready to go.

We kicked off and had to absorb a prolonged attack from WoS.  We were slow coming into the game, missing a few tackles and giving WoS far too much time and space on the ball. Their pressure told and they were the first over the line to score.

The boys adapted though and following the next kick off they saw the value of putting WoS under pressure. Eventually this told as try as they might WoS just could not clear their lines. Finlay Mac took full advantage and was through to score with Rory converting. At this point we started to come into the game. Alex K, Calum and Greig made some great carries creating holes in their defence. It wasn’t long before we were over again with a canny try from Cammy as he crashed over from close range. The third try was also ours as Rory broke from within our own half.  He was just caught but managed to kick the ball across the pitch for the onrushing Ewan to squeeze in front of the defender to score. We were adapting to the conditions and starting to look good.  

However WoS were not going to lie down – not in this weather – and came back at us to score. We then traded tries before the half time break with Cammy taking his second before a charge from Fraser from a line-out.

As it was we went into the half time break 2 tries up.  

As the second half progressed we began to find ourselves on the wrong side of the ref.  We managed to pick up 5 yellow cards and a red card which is unusual for both the players penalised and also for a development game. There is an important lesson here in that we need to react and respond to what the ref is telling us even if it feels harsh. It was also hard for us to get any consistency going in the backline with such comings and goings. 

So WoS managed to score 3 tries to our 1 in the remainder of the game and in doing so took the victory. This felt harsh given that we played well in phases when we were able to keep players on the pitch.

There were some great performances Conor and Alex were strong in the scrum while Liam made himself busy in the loose. Ali Mac was imperious in the line-out with some great organisation from Cammy. Calum, Finlay and Ewan were strong over the ball and were to be found at the bottom of many a ruck with Greig adding ballast when needed. Max and Joe had good games respectively linking backs and forwards and keeping the game ticking over. It was good having Rory to bring organisation to the back line, alongside Alfie and Elliot; Hugh, Angus and Scott made good ground when they could get their hands on the ball.

Player of the match this week goes to Alex E who put in some important tackles, broke with pace on several occasions and brought some well needed consistency as we were forced to ring the changes.