U14s Match Report v Caithness 16-12-12
Orkney U14s 27 - Caithness U14s 29
On Sunday 16th December, Caithness RFC travelled to Orkney with a squad of Under 14 and Under 16 players to compete in friendly matches with Orkney RFC. The Under 14s turned up in force with a squad of 22 players with all the boys being keen for a game.
The match kicked off just after 12pm on a bright but cold day, Caithness, having won the kick off, kicked the ball to Orkney who received it well, Orkney ran the ball back into the Caithness half but some good tackles stopped the attack, It was obvious at first that this would be a tough game with Caithness rucking Orkney off the ball and turning it over, they shipped the ball out but a strong centre combination of Archie MacPhail and Archie Porteous stopped the Caithness players before they became any real threat.
The ball was well presented and it allowed Caithness to get the ball out to their winger who made a break down the wing, a good diving tackle from Adam Fallows brought the winger to a halt after making 20 meters. The ball was knocked forwards giving Orkney the advantage,
Douglas Murray picked up the ball and charged through defence and using a good leg drive broke the first tackles before he was eventually stopped, The Orkney forwards showed off their good rucking technique and prevented Caithness from turning the ball over. Alistair Morgan, playing at scrum half, was doing a good job at getting the ball out to the centres that were making good ground into the Caithness half. The ball reached Archie Porteous who sprinted past his opposite number to score in the corner (5-0). This gave Orkney a big confidence boost and they were prepared to get stuck in after the restart.
Caithness restarted the game and gave it to their Number 12 who made a good run into the Orkney half with relative ease, it was only when Liam Thomson blocked his path that he was stopped, again Caithness were committing to rucks and pushed Orkney off the ball, there scrum half picked the ball up and attempted to run himself but found he was surrounded and a duo of Henry Gordon and Tyler Mackenzie quickly tackled him to the ground.
The counter ruck proved unsuccessful and Caithness kept possession of the ball, again it was given to the number 12, this time he found a gap down the wing and squeezed through to score a try (5-5) a quick team talk while Caithness took their conversion kick gave the coaches time to explain to the squad a few things that could be worked on and it was clear that they took it all in after the restart as there was a big improvement in the rucking with Orkney turning over a lot of the Caithness balls and the tackling with all player showing a lot of effort to make tackles.
Orkney restarted the game but the ball was ripped from them by one of the Caithness players who then knocked the ball on, giving Orkney the scrum which was easily won, the ball was passed to Harry Siderfin who stepped passed the Caithness number 10 and made a few meters before a good tackle stopped him, Caithness were trying desperately to turn the ball over but the Orkney forwards got in a good position to keep them off the ball, Adam fallows picked up the ball and broke the defensive line, he was well supported by Liam Thomson and Douglas Murray who offloaded the ball to each other as they made their way up the pitch.
Douglas was brought down but Bruce Ritch was there to receive the offload and kept the attack rolling, he charged through 2 defenders before passing again to Douglas who finished off with a try. The conversion was successful (12-5).
Caithness immediately responded with good attacking runs putting Orkney under a lot of pressure, great tackling came from Archie MacPhail and Arron Gibson but it was not enough to stop Caithness making a break down the wing, Archie Porteous stopped the attack with a good diving tackle bringing the player into touch.
Orkney won the lineout and managed to get the ball away but good tackling forced a knock on giving Caithness the advantage which they used well and managed to score again, this time with the conversion added (12-12). Orkney were keen to finish the first half in the lead so a big push was made by everybody to get one final score, Douglas again charged through the defence brushing off the tackles. Alistair and Harry both used the ball well to move it into space where it was taken forwards and dived over the line. The conversion drifted wide (17-12).
As Half time came the Orkney boys got a quick rest allowing for another team talk. The boys were pleased with their performance so far and knew where there could be improvements made. A few changes in the squad saw Mathew Rendall go in at scrumhalf and Arjun Pankhania come on at the wing.
Orkney started the second half positively with Ryan Arcus and John Esslemont making good runs with the ball. Orkney received a penalty for Caithness being offside; it was taken quickly but unfortunately knocked on giving Caithness the ball. The scrum went Caithness’s way and their scrum half kicked the ball, John covered it well with support from Elliot Brookfield and began to run it back before being tackled near the touch line, Orkneys commitment to the Rucks prevented any more turn overs happening and meant that the ball was always secured.
Adam picked at the back off the ruck and went down the wing, dropping his shoulder and charging into a defender knocking the defender over but a foot on the touch line gave Caithness the line out. The lineout went Caithness’s way and again the ball was kicked. A good chase by the Caithness centres saw the ball back in their hands and a clear run to the try line, Robbie Scott made a good covering tackle knocking the attacker over. The ball went loose but was touched down over the line by Caithness hands. The conversion hit off the post (17-17).
Orkney restarted the game attacking down the right wing with Bruce Ritch making good ground being supported by Craig Drever. Caithness seemed to have no answer to the attack as it moved closer to the try line, the ball was passed and then offloaded to Magnus Merriman who broke a tackle and dived over the line with players hanging off of him (22-17).
Caithness restarted again with some good running in the forwards pushing Orkney back to their own line, play continued in Orkneys half for another 5 minutes with the Orkney defence withstanding numerous attacks, as the boys became tired gaps started to appear and Caithness took advantage of this and scored in the corner (22-22).
In the last 10 minutes of the game both teams were pushing hard and it was Orkney who struck first with good running from Archie Porteous creating some space, Cameron Fraser was getting really stuck in providing support but it was Arjun Pankhania who came off his wing to receive the ball, a few good sidesteps and he was upon the line with the last push coming from the forwards who drove him over for the try (27-22).
The final blow came from Caithness though as they took the restart and managed to catch the whole Orkney squad sleeping to run in an easy try. This equalled the score at 27 all, and with the last conversion of the game Caithness managed to steal the victory and win 27-29.
Coach Liam Sharpe added;
“The boys have played really well today, I am very impressed with the turnout for the match and I’m glad that they put in so much effort. The boys took on board what was told to them at half time and really improved over the second half, we look forward to the start of the new year when there will be a return fixture In Caithness and the start of the Pentland Firth cup, as well as fixtures against Shetland”.
Squad: Magnus Merriman, Bruce Ritch, Craig Drever, Liam Thomson, Douglas Murray, Arron Gibson, Ryan Arcus, Adam Fallows, Alistair Morgan, Harry Siderfin, Arjun Pankhania, Archie MacPhail, Archie Porteous, Henry Gordon, John Esslemont, Aidan Mitchell, Keirin Wilson, Mathew Rendall, Elliot Brookfield, Cameron Fraser, Robbie Scott, Tyler Mackenzie
By Liam Sharpe
Orkney U14s trip to Aberdeen Sport village and the Scotland v Tonga EMC Test International
November 2012
On Friday the 23rd the Orkney u14 took the overnight boat to Aberdeen. They were going to the Aberdeen sports village followed by lunch and then on to an international game Scotland v Tonga at Pittodrie which every one was really excited for.
Arriving in Aberdeen on Saturday the boys went to the Sports village for a talk from Chris Paterson and Chris Cursiter followed by a question and answer session. After that it was time to do the skill work. There were six areas with different skills being worked on at each.
The three main skills they worked on were kicking, hand catch and off loading. There were two areas per skill. We were put in to groups with different people as there were people from all over Scotland attending. At the end of the skill training event every one went and got changed in to there shirt and tie and went for lunch at Burger King.
We then travelled to Pittodrie for the international game Scotland v Tonga. Some boys bought Scotland flags for the game and then all the Orkney rugby teams met to watch the game together. When Scotland came out on to the stadium the crowd cheered very loud, it was a packed stadium. Everyone then rose for the Tonga national anthem followed by the Scottish national anthem (Oh Flower of Scotland). The match then began with Tonga having kicked off.
The crowd booed at Tonga when they were doing well and cheered when it was Scotland. In the second half of the game a streaker ran on to the field which brought laughter to the stadium. Near the end off the game Scotland were losing 15-18 when they managed to get a scrum, the crowd went wild with cheering and waving flags but Tonga some how got the ball and ran up the pitch with support and Scotland had poor defence so then Tonga were able to score to make the final score 15-21.
After the match I asked Ali Morgan what was his best part of the trip and he said “ the Scotland game was amazing and the kicking at the village was awesome.”
Then I asked Matthew Rendall what he enjoyed about the trip and he said “it was a great experience with the international game and I got a little help from Chris Cursiter with stand off work at the village.”
Development Officer Bruce Ruthven commented;
“The boys worked very hard at the Sports village and despite being some of the younger members there, they got stuck in and did Orkney proud. It was great to see the enthusiasm the boys were showing at the international and despite a poor result they supported Scotland admirably. Well done to the boys for their attitude and behaviour over the weekend and they all looked very smart in the shirt & ties.”
BY RYAN ARCUS
U18 & U16 Fixtures for the new season
Click the links below to download relevant fixture list:
CALEDONIA U18 DIVISION 1 NORTH 2012-13
CALEDONIA U16 DIVISION 1 NORTH 2012-13
Orkney RFC Under 14’s travelled with a healthy squad of 18 to play their Shetland counterparts on Saturday 23rd as part of the Mid – Summer 7’s tournament. A great day of rugby was coordinated with minis, midis and seniors all playing in their respective tournaments. The squad flew up on Friday night and back on Sunday evening and stayed at the Isleburgh Youth Hostel which proved to be a great trip and experience for the boys involved.
Great Spirit
The Orkney boys looked a bit rusty in their warm-up having not trained regularly since the beginning of May. However, Griogar Morrison was soon in his stride though, with a crunching tackle on one of the Shetland backs and this seemed to waken up the rest of the team. Sam Croy, playing at stand-off ran in two quick tries, one of which he converted himself. The highlight of the tour from the coaches’ viewpoint happened next when Ryan Arcus touched down after a loose period of play near the Shetland line.
“I just picked the ball up and dived over the line” he said.
Shetland then scored two unconverted tries interspersed by a fine solo effort by number 8, James Nicolson, who picked up well from the base of the scrum all game. James scored a further try after splitting the defence in half with great evasive and powerful running which was converted by Sam Croy to bring the half-time score to 29 – 10 in Orkneys favour.
The second half started as the first had ended with powerful forward play by Robbie Drever, Robbie Hay, Kyle Archibald, Taylor Pirie, Scott Smith, Jordan Basford and Jack Scott. They were well directed by Owen Harcus, Matthew Rendall and the ever vocal Arjun Pankhania, who shared duties at scrum half and rotated through various positions. This provided a perfect platform for further tries from Nicolson (2), who had now moved to centre, Sam Croy and a well deserved touchdown from the hardworking Ewan Humphreys. Three of these were converted by Ciaran Drever, who had taken over the kicking duties for the half. A late consolation try by Shetland brought the final score to 55 – 15 in the tourists favour.
A good team performance by the whole squad, which could have resulted in an even higher score if long solo runs by Craig Stevenson and Tom Gordon hadn’t been stopped by good last ditch defending by Shetland.
“The boys have performed well today despite having not played much rugby over the past couple of months; they enjoyed the game and gave the Shetlanders real problems in most areas of the game. Credit to the Shetlanders who scored three nice tries and never gave up, these boys will get stronger with more training and competitive rugby next season under the direction of Club Development Officer Daniel Meadows. Well done to our boys who have had a great taste of a formal tour environment and we look forward to seeing them Mid-August for the start of pre-season training. Lastly thanks to Graham Scott, John Rendall & Graham Lincoln for supporting the boys on the trip.”
Orkney U14s travelled down to Invergordon on Saturday 28th with a large squad of S1 and S2. Players were looking forward to the first away trip of the season. The squad had players from Stromness Academy and Kirkwall Grammar School who put there local fixtures on hold for the weekend to come together and take on Ross Sutherland RFC and Plockton RFC in a three way tournament.
Ross Sutherland took on Plockton in the first game with the hosts Ross Sutherland proving too strong in a very close game.
Orkney players started to get warm with some running and shuttle passes that was lead by Scott Smith and Sam Croy before there first match with Plockton. There were nerves and excitement because it was the first Match away of the season and they were keen to put there practise to the test and show the coaches what they have learnt over the past few Saturdays at training.
Orkney started strong and after four minutes Orkney got a penalty on the half way line what was tapped quickly by Arjun Pankhania and quickly passed on to James Nicolson who broke throw the defends with a strong run and then a offloaded the ball to Sam Croy who sprinted through the posts and scored the conversion as well. Five minutes later saw good work from the Orkney forwards but unfortunately the ball was put into touch, Plockton had the line out and Jack Scott stole the ball, Scott Smith received the pass who passed it to Fergus Macivor who sprinted through the Plockton defence for 30 metres to get the ball under the posts for a fine try and sadly missed the conversion but Orkney were still happy with a strong lead.
Plockton restarted the game with some hard running but the Orkney defends stopped them in there tracks with some tackles from Euan Humphries, Scott Smith and Robbie Drever. The Orkney boys regained position of the ball, Sam Croy evaded the Plockton defends for a good team try and then got the conversion.
In the second half Orkney made eight changes to the team introducing a lot of S1 players in to there first county game. Alistair Morgan showed some good evasive running skills witch lead to him being high tackled and Orkney getting a penalty and a quick tap from Mathew Rendall to Scott Smith who ran through Plockton and then a quick offload to James Nicolson who scored under the posts, unfortunately they missed the conversion but Orkney stayed strong as a team. Plockton tapped the ball to one of their players and he sprinted to get Plockton some points and they scored the conversion. A few minutes later Robbie Drever had the ball and he ran with some strong hand offs that lead him to getting his first try in this game and Orkney finely scored the conversion.
Orkney continued to dominate the game with further trys from Sam Croy and James Nicolson. With one conversion the trys scored after hard work by Kyle Archibald, Taylor Perie, Craig Stevenson, Ryan Arcus and John Esselmont. Plockton scored a consolation try after Orkney were caught sleeping witch lead to poor tackling, Plockton scored the conversion and the whistle blew with Orkney winning there first match and plockton loosing there second game of the day the final score was 43-12
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Orkney U14 Squad who travelled to Invergordon for a 3-way tournament
Orkney U14s: - Robbie Drever, Kyle Archibald, Taylor Pirie, Jack Scott, Jordan basford, Euan Humphries, James Nicolson, Ciaran Drever, Arjen Pankhania, Sam Croy, Fergus MacIvor, Craig Stevenson, Robbie Scott, Paul Esslemont, Liam Thompson, Alistair Morgan, Magnus Merriman, Charlie Coss, Archie Macphail, Scott smith, Dylan Evans, Mathew Rendall, Ryan Arcus, Drew Clark, Owen Harcus, Nathan hay, Griogair Morrison, Douglas Murray, Bruce Ritch
KGS U16s before their Brewin Dolphin Plate Quarter-Final against Linlithgow Academy on Tuesday evening.
The match was played under the floodlights at Murrayfield with Linlithgow eventual winners by 51 points to 7.
Click here for photos of the match.
You can read a match report on the Linlithgow site and see their photos here.
Match report for Stromness Academy and KGS at Stromness Academy on Saturday 1st October
The match was split into three periods, 1st consisted of S1 & S2 Players, 2nd Period S2 & S3 Players and the final period was a mixture of S1, S2 & S3 Players
The weather was on the rugby boys side today because it wasn’t raining or windy they kicked off the match at 11:30 KGS scored a quick try by Euan Humphreys. Fergus Macivor stepped up the take the conversion but unfortunately it went by the post. Kirkwall was on the break again with a brilliant run by Tyler Lewington to score another try. Fergus Macivor took the successful conversion.
Then it was the turn of the Stromness boys to attack, great passes from Craig Stevenson and Robbie Drever set up Kyle Archibald to score there 1st try. Craig Stevenson followed through with the conversion to make the score 12-7 to KGS.
The KGS boys tapped and went but there was a penalty which gave Craig Stevenson the chance to run, a few missed tackles by KGS allowed Craig Stevenson to score a try., He took the conversion but the ball skimmed the bar. KGS boys started again with great rucking over the ball and passing the ball inside to Craig Drever who was waiting to receive and he ran through several Stromness players to score a try KGS, Fergus missed the conversion.
Stromness got going again but there lack of rucking over, let KGS steal the ball with some good runs from Jack Stout that led to a try from Ben Stout for KGS. Missed conversion By Fergus Macivor. It was a scrum down, Stromness had the ball but KGS boys stole it from the scrum and led to some good running from Craig Drever and Greg Scott which eventually lead to Greg scoring a try with a missed conversion which made the score 27-12 for the first quarter .
The second quarter got under way with the introduction of several S3 players with the first try going to Stromness with a great run from James Brown and a good conversion from Mark Sinclair. KGS was underway yet again with some good passing from Ciaran Drever, Jack Paterson and Jordan Thomson. Jordan Thomson found the gap between the Stromness line and hit it with pace and nobody could catch him and he put the ball down on the line Cairan Drever missed the conversion.
Matthew Rendall was ready to tap and passed it to Mark Sinclair then to Robbie Drever who went on to score the try for Stromness. Mark got the conversion once again. Kirkwall kicked of the ball with a tap and go with a pass to Connor Crawford who was t tackled by Griogair Morrison it was passed out to the wing for Jack Paterson to run to the line for KGS to score another try with the conversion in by Fergus Macivor.
Robbie Drever was passed to from the tap and after a great run got his second try of the game. Mark missed the conversion. KGS had another good run from Tyler leading to a try but KGS missed the conversion. James Brown was away again to score another try for Storminess conversion in by Mark Sinclair
The Kirkwall players were great at rocking over the ball sadly the same could not be said for the Storminess playersand they will seriously have to upt there game in this department. Cieran Drever hit the space with pace and scored right under the post Jack Paterson scored the conversion in the final few minutes of the match KGS stole the ball from a knock on by Stromness Sam Dowie headed for the line to make the final score KGS 58 - Stromness Academy 43
.It was nice to see the game well supported by a good crowd encouraging all the boy’s. Hopefully we will look forward to seeing you all again at the next match on
Scott Smith
Recent ORFC Midi Games and the Future of Orkney RFC Junior Rugby – “ YOUR Club needs YOU!!”
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The Mini / Midi tournament was a great success with current Scotland International Richie Gray making an appearance.
For more pics of the day click here.
The Midi page will be updated with new information and photos shortly.
Thanks for your patience.
For more photos go to the Midis photos page here.
Orkney RFC under 18s host Highland U18's on Saturday 6th at Picky. Kick-off is 2pm so come along and support the future 1st XV stars!