Linlithgow u18  5 –  60  Robert Gordons College u18

Saturday 22 November 2025

Report by Phil McCavish

Saturday saw the U18 Reds take on Robert Gordons College in the semi final of the National Schools’ Shield after a nervous wait to see if the pitch was going to be playable. Awaiting the winner was a trip to Murrayfield to play the final on the main pitch.

On the day Robert Gordons proved to be too strong for the Reds as they proved to be a capable, well structured and well coached team running out 60-5 winners. 

We asked the Reds u18s for maximum effort and to not come off the pitch with any regrets at the end of the game about something more that they could have done, and it is to their great credit that they never gave up trying to score long after it was clear that the game was beyond them. The efforts that the Reds were putting into to trying to score in the final quarter and chasing the game probably resulted in conceding another 2-3 tries and making the score line look more painful, but that’s to their great credit as giving up when the game is gone was the easy option to take.

South Africa demonstrated later in the day that pretty much every team at some point ends up facing a team that is stronger and better equipped than them (apart from maybe South Africa) and there is no shame in losing when this is the case. So, our congratulations and best wishes go to Robert Gordons as they deserve to be in the final.

In this year’s semi-finals of top two tiers of the Schools Cup Competition there was 1 state school and 7 private schools – this isn’t in an excuse for the outcome of the game yesterday, but it does highlight how well the squad have done this year to be involved in the Shield semi-final yesterday and they can be proud of how they have represented themselves and the club.

One of the privileges of being successful is that you are never more than 7 days away from another really important game and an opportunity to put the disappointment from yesterdays game behind us. Next Saturday we face St Leonards / Madras in what is likely to be a winner takes all game with the victor likely to be winner of the league. Both teams know that the other is capable of winning, so we’ll need to regroup this week ahead of Saturday, but for the Reds u18s it is an opportunity to finish the first half of the season on a much deserved high.