stewart’s melville rugby news 3 december 2014€¦ · stewart’s melville rugby news 3 december...

In a very physical game with excellent defence from both teams, the JA1s

took time to break down a resilient Glasgow Academy team. Glasgow

Academy played with an outside in defence and it took the boys a while to

identify that the space to attack was inside the rusher's inside shoulder. In the

second half this space was exploited well and then there was good linking

play to reach the outside space. It is still very important that we work on

getting square in attack and that we don't get lost on bigger pitches and lose

contact with the players around us. Our defensive rucking and work rate is

improving every week and the most pleasing aspect of the whole

performance was the clean sheet. 5-0 to the JA1 team was the final score.

Mr Burgess - JA1 Coach

Stewart’s Melville Rugby News 3 December 2014

Stewart’s Melville Rugby News

Stewart’s Melville College’s Third XV ran out against Bellbaxter’s 2s on Saturday, 29

November which saw a nail-biting encounter end 41-36 to SMC. There are so

many boys playing rugby at the school which means lots of teams, and it is quite

normal for the 3s to play 2s from other schools. This is often a tough ask as our 30-45

best players are attempting to defend against a school’s 16th best player

(Bellbaxter has 1800 pupils)! These are often bruising encounters and this fixture did

not disappoint. The ‘enemy’ (as Mr Jackson refers to them) have two or three very

dangerous players so the game plan is to identify those players early and defend

collectively while offensively targeting the remainder. Andrew Tetley steered the

ship effectively as Captain and defensively was, as usual a rock. His vocal ally on

the field is usually the terrier that is Steve Kilmurray who is the first to hurl polite

abuse at his forwards when they’re not protecting his ball but awesome at seeing

the advantage with a quick penalty! Finlay Kidd and Othniel Osaghae created a

great deal of our attacking success and the wingers were rewarded with the dive

over the line before readjusting their fancy hair styles! Clearly, there’s no ball with-

out a decent set of forwards and the entire pack was tireless in its efforts to protect

rucks and drive mauls forward. Once again Peter Robertson and Doug Drew

proved what juggernauts they are with ball in hand, regularly ‘hitting it up’ and

they were superbly supported by a dynamic triple in the back row. The Man-of-the

-Match was Jacob Wyles who was immense in defence and a regular ‘go to’

player in attack. A super display by a talented bunch.

Mr Jackson - A3 Coach

Inverleith was in good heart for the visit of Peebles. The last time the Peebles

bus parked on Ferry Road, Stewart’s Melville were soundly beaten and so there

was a definite collective anxiety about the outcome of this match amongst

the Stew Mel indigenous community.

The firm conditions – unusual for this time of year -meant running rugby was

definitely on the menu. The fact that 8 tries were scored spoke volumes for the

ambition of both sides and in the end Stewart’s Melville scored 5 of those tries

to record one of our better performances of the season. Last year, we did not

compete at the breakdown and surrendered the initiative but our charges, this

year, were well warned.

Greg Raeburn, the Peebles outside – half, gave Pees an early advantage with

a straightforward penalty but a minute later his clearance kick was charged

down to allow Trotter the simplest of tasks to reply. Seb, -and he’ll not forget

this day in a hurry- then completed his brace - underneath the posts. With Mike

Hanning converting both we had a 14-3 advantage after twenty minutes.

Peebles were slightly unlucky to be in this position but McConnell, an

exceptional ball carrying hooker, stormed over to narrow the gap. Mike

Hanning kicked a penalty at the edge of his range, but failed to convert Neil

Bowie’s try to make the score 22-8.

Although we held this score-line advantage at the interval, Stewart’s Melville

knew that Peebles were going to come back hard in the second – half. So it

proved - but it took until the twentieth minute before Carrier accepted the


overlap to touch down in the corner. The conversion from the touchline was

unsuccessful, meaning Peebles were still more than a converted try in arrears.

A neat back’s move saw Matt Morrell – obviously stung into life by Seb’s scor-

ing exploits – saunter in under the posts without a hand being laid on him for

the bonus-point try. Peebles lost a man to the ‘bin’ for not rolling away, making

an unlikely task look very difficult.

Winger Pye squeezed in at the corner beside the Club House - but with only

two minutes left on the clock it was too late, really. A neat chip by Hanning

and chase by Morrell and Hannay allowed Matt to benefit from a mistake in

the Peebles defence and complete the scoring with the last play of the

match.

There is a confidence about our defence, which is gratifying to witness. The

late Grant MacKenzie was a proponent of ‘let’s make it as difficult as possible

for the opposition to score’, and he would have been proud of our efforts on

Saturday. Peebles’ big ball carriers were often halted behind the gain line

meaning they eventually spun it to areas we were well capable of defending

or tried an extra pass.

It is fair to say that the line-outs are still a ‘work in progress’ but with a little bit of

luck and even more application they will come right. Hugh Lindsay gives us a

fourth back row forward and Andrew Manson a fifth and that was the area

that won us the match on Saturday – although Andrew was given a rough ride

by ex-Melrose No9 McCormick at the base of the scrum.

Ciaran comes off his left foot deceptively and uses this with his strength to get

himself out of trouble. He looks a ball player who is maturing week by week

and certainly looked the part in the 15 shirt. Likewise Dan Anderson in his first

game of the season takes a bit of stopping on the wing.

Results went our way with the other matches in our league and if we

concentrate on the process, the outcome could give us a happy bus home

from Aberdeen next week.

Gav Calder


http://www.stewmelrugby.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/peebles_291114_002.jpg


After the drama of last week’s cup win over Watsonians, it was back to league

business as the high- flying Hamilton Bulls visited Inverleith for a top of the table

clash. Disappointingly, through a combination of injury and unavailability, the

RBH had to put out a side shorn of several regulars and it is much to the credit

of those that took to the field that the Lanarkshire men (including two ex-Stew

Mel players, Shergar - aka Richie Maxton - and Ben Wilson) were given such a

stern work out. Indeed, going into the last quarter of the game, it looked as

though the faster and more athletic home side might just take the honours

before the beefier visitors finally slowed the pace down and gained the

ascendancy to win 37-16.

Great credit must go to Vice-President, Bonker, who (at the age of 56) stepped

into the front row and completed the game giving his opponent a torrid time,

and the younger - but rapidly maturing and balding - Bruce Ruthven who filled

the breach at scrum-half and gave an assured display of distribution and tacti-

cal kicking. There was even a brief cameo role from coach, Gavin Sharp! So

impressed were Hamilton with our Vice-President’s performance that he

received a special award in the bar afterwards!

Behind the scrum Scott Simpson and Euan Bowen showed the ability to beat a

man and, on several occasions, made large inroads into Hamilton territory

while James Ferguson’s 90 yard effort for the first try was out of the top drawer.

Upfront, Tom Spowart, Scott Cubitt and Andrew Wilson were outstanding in

defence and attack, and it was good to see youngsters George Harris and

Craig Willis holding their own in the front row. Tom Croy and Jordan Kynoch,

usually wingers, made a good fist of second row and No. 8 respectively, and

well done to Ewan Wallace, Andrew Davidson and Will Malcolm who stepped

up from the Mighty 3s and did not look at all out of place. The latter is even

threatening to come to training and emulate his father who in the dark and

distant past progressed from the 5th XV to play with distinction in the top team.

This side with hard work has the ability to be one of, if not the best side in the

league. Hopefully, problems of injury and unavailability will become a thing of

the past and we can send a full-strength side to Malleny Park for the return

match against Currie this Saturday.

Phil Waine


The P6s fielded two teams against Ellon, Dunfermline and Currie and played

some very good rugby, including a marked improvement in terms of winning

the ball at the breakdown. Both teams won their matches against our visitors

and the "whites" edged the "reds" in the show-down match. Special thanks to

Finlay Gunn (SMC senior boy) who has been with this year group for a number

of years who is "retiring" to concentrate on his exams - we all wish him well.

Greg Limb – P6 Lions Coach


Sunday again saw us field three Lions teams and welcome Ellon, Dunfermline,

Currie and Edinburgh Wanderers to a really fantastic home Round Robin at

Inverleith. Special thanks must go to the Ellon players, coaches and supporters

for making the lengthy journey from Aberdeenshire to take part. All three Lions

teams put on truly fantastic displays with high intensity, good tackling, passing,

running, and communication which put real pressure on all of the visiting

teams. The overwhelming feedback from all of our coaches, referees and

supporters this week was that there were no stand-out “star players” in any of

the Lions’ teams – it really was just a great example of teamwork with every

player raising his game and really getting stuck in. As a coaching group it has

left us scratching our heads as to how we can get them to play like that every

week! While this was a “Round Robin” rather than a knock-out competition,

the most successful team on the day was the undefeated Stew Mel Lions

Blacks, with Currie and then Stew Mel Lions Golds in hot pursuit.

Ali Stewart – P5 Lions Coach


Thanks very much indeed for all of your support at yesterday’s round robin. We

were blessed with a wonderful autumnal day and this enabled some really

good, hard, competitive rugby. Five games on the bounce was clearly an aw-

ful lot of rugby, and as the injury count mounted it became very clear to me

that it was too much – we need to have bigger rest periods for any future

round robins.

The Gold Lions teams showed that the boys, yet again, raised their games:

good running rugby, with the ball through the hands wherever possible. One

development point which I noticed a lot of our boys doing was cutting back

into traffic where they could have used the space a bit more – perhaps a wee

word with all of your progenies may help us with this going forward! The quality

differential in our visiting opposition was also quite apparent – Ellon and Dun-

fermline being a bit more prone to giving it to the big lads to try to run through

the middle of us (until they realised that our tacklers were more than a match)

and Currie playing a much more expansive game. I personally thought that

Currie were excellent this week in their match against the Golds.

James King – P7 Lions Coach and Director of P7 Rugby


With winter yet to take hold, sunny autumnal weather was the perfect setting for a

day of rugby at Inverleith. Our visitors were Currie, Dunfermline & Ellon - particular

thanks to Ellon for making the long trip down from north of Aberdeen.

First up for the Stew Mel Reds was Currie. Two early tries for the Reds provided the

impetus in a very even game. A third try after half-time sealed the 3-0 win. The next

match was against our Grampian visitors: an end to end game with some big hits from

both sides, saw the Reds came out victorious by a couple of tries.

The third match was against Stew Mel Golds. Two quick tries in the first half gave the

Golds a half-time lead. The Reds pulled one back early in the second half leaving the

final score 2-1 to the Stew Mel Gold team. On to another Stew Mel game, with Stew

Mel Blacks. This time the Reds were quick out the blocks with a couple of early tries

and prevailed to claim a third win. The final match was against Dunfermline, who

performed well all day. Again early tries for the Reds built a good lead and we ran out

eventual winners.

An honourable mention goes out to Lawson (HP) - whose tries were into double figures

- he surely had 3 shredded wheat for breakfast. Also a mention to Matthew Robertson

(Khan) who tackled like an exocet all day.

Thanks to all the boys for their efforts, yes, some tired bodies at the end, but well worth

while.; to the coaches and parents of all teams, an enjoyable day played in the right

spirit; to the referees, a tough job if ever there was one. And, last but certainly not

least, a big thanks to the home-baking mums, for the effort put in before and during

the games, your fundraising efforts are greatly appreciated.

Gavin Pattison – P7 Lions Coach


Scottish Rugby ambassador and specialist skills coach, Chris Paterson, visited

Inverleith last Thursday and delivered a training session to midfield and

full-back players. Boys aged from S1-S6 were involved and worked very hard

to upskill their development in regards to decision-making in attack with

re-alignment and ball-to-space giving added focus. Players were put under

pressure with some challenging drills and overall managed very well, giving

them added confidence heading into their next games.

Bruce Ruthven – Rugby Coordinator


Saturday 27th December at Inverleith

Vets Festive Fling

11am

Stew Mel Lions

P7 exhibition game – 11.45am

Schools’ Senior XV

The Captain Greig v Vice Captain Gordon Clash

12noon

Pigbarians v Stevie Sims Cavaliers

12.30pm

Name: Michael Hanning

Nickname: Big Mike, The Thunderer, The Biggest

Hitter, Iron Mike, Mikey Han

Position: 15/10/13(sometimes)

Date of Birth: 29/09/1989

Place of Birth: Edinburgh

Previous Clubs: The Mighty RHC Cougars

Playing Representative Honours: None, but I once squatted a Volkswagen Polo with 2

passengers in it.

Favourite player of all time: Quade Cooper just for attacking.

Most Embarrassing Moment (on or off the pitch!):

I once squealed at the bottom of a ruck after being knocked out and concussed

(that’s what I am told at least!)

One Unique Fact About Yourself: Born on St Michael’s Day and christened in St

Michael’s Church.

Who is your celebrity lookalike? McLovin and Napoleon Dynamite

Favourite cliché? How bad do you want it boys!!!

Top Tip for a youngster? Play every game like it’s your last because one day you

won’t be able to play.


Name: Nick Penny

Nickname: “H”

Coaching Age Group: P3 Coach

Date of Birth: 1972

Place of Birth: Edinburgh

Previous Clubs: Stew Mel FP; and Watsonians

Playing/Coaching Representative Honours:

Playing: Edinburgh District; Scottish Schools, Scotland U19, Scotland U21; Scotland 7’s;

Scotland Squad (1993)

Coaching: Edinburgh Eagles (U18’s); Edinburgh U23’s

Favourite player of all time: Michael Jones (New Zealand)

Most Embarrassing Moment (on or off the pitch!): Too many to mention!

One Unique Fact About Yourself: I am completely deaf in my right ear.

Who is your celebrity lookalike? Greg Wallace and Harry Hill

Favourite cliché? Actions speak louder than words.

Coaching Philosophy? The harder you work, the more you enjoy the rewards.



F.P Rugby

1st XV v Peebles 34-18 W

2nd XV v Hamilton 16-37 L

3rd XV v Dalkeith Cancelled

Senior and Junior School Rugby

1st XV v Glasgow Academy 76-0 W

A2 v Bellbaxter 31-29 W

A3 v Bellbaxter 41-36 W

A4 v Glasgow Academy 36-33 W

A5 U16A v Glasgow Academy 64-7 W

A6 U16B v Bellbaxter 12-15 L

A7 U16C v Edinburgh Academy 20-38 L

B1 v Glasgow Academy 19-0 W

B2 v Bellbaxter 12-41 L

B3 v Glasgow Academy 10-29 L

C1 v Glasgow Academy 16-19 L

C2 v Bellbaxter 11-8 W

C3 v Glasgow Academy 11-14 L

C4 v Glasgow Academy 25-3 W

D1 v Glasgow Academy 26-3 W

D2 v Bellbaxter 15-8 W

D3 v Glasgow Academy 0-30 L

D4 v Glasgow Academy 11-40 L

JA1 v Glasgow Academy 5-0 W

JA2 v Bellbaxter 5-0 L



JB1 v Glasgow Academy 7-1 W

JB2 v Bellbaxter 6-2 W

JB3 v Glasgow Academy 5-5 D

JB4 v Glasgow Academy 7-3 W


Saturday, 6 December

F.P Club

14:00:00 F.P 1st XV v Aberdeen Grammar Aberdeen Grammar

14:00:00 F.P 2nd XV v Currie Currie

14:00:00 F.P 3rd XV v Dunfermline Dunfermline

Senior and Junior School

10:30:00 1st XV rugby v Dundee High Dundee High School

10:30:00 A2 rugby v Dundee High Dundee High School

10:30:00 A3 rugby v Heriot's Inverleith

09:30:00 A5 U16A rugby v Dundee High Dundee High School

10:30:00 B1 rugby v Heriot's Inverleith

10:30:00 B2 rugby v Dundee High Inverleith

09:30:00 B3 Rugby v Gala Academy Inverleith

10:30:00 C1 rugby v Dundee High Inverleith

09:30:00 C2 rugby v Gala Academy Inverleith

10:30:00 C3 rugby v Dundee High Inverleith

10:30:00 D1 rugby v Dundee High Inverleith

09:30:00 D2 rugby v Gala Academy Inverleith

09:30:00 D3 rugby v Heriot's Goldenacre

09:30:00 D4 Rugby v Trinity Inverleith

09:30:00 JA1 rugby v Dundee High Dundee High School

09:30:00 JA2 Rugby v Dundee High Dundee High School

09:30:00 JA3 rugby v Watson's Inverleith

09:30:00 JA4 rugby v Watson's Inverleith

10:30:00 JB1 rugby v Dundee High Dundee High School

10:30:00 JB2 rugby v Dundee High Dundee High School

09:15:00 JB3 rugby v Watson's George Watson's College

09:15:00 JB4 rugby v Watson's George Watson's College

Sunday, 7 December

Stew Mel Lions

11:00:00 Stew Mel Lions v Kinross Kinross


Bruce Ruthven – Rugby Co-ordinator

[email protected]

07780 467 309

Colin Rigby – F.P Rugby Club President

[email protected]

Malcolm MacColl – Director of F.P Rugby

[email protected]

Bryn Lockie – Head of Games at SMC

[email protected]

Mark Burgess – Head of JS Boys’ Sport

[email protected]

John Dundas – P1 to P7 Lions Coordinator

[email protected]

David Allan – Midi Lions Coordinator

[email protected]

Stewart’s Melville F.P Website

www.stewmelrugby.com

mailto:[email protected]







http://www.stewmelrugby.com

stewart’s melville rugby news 3 december 2014€¦ · stewart’s melville rugby news 3 december...

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