Tennent's Caledonia Regional League Division 1
Pickaquoy - Saturday 28th September 2019
Orkney RFC 102, Hillfoots RFC 5

On Saturday 28th September Hillfoots rugby made the long trip to Orkney for this Caledonia regional league fixture.
Orkney were keen to continue their winning start to the season. However, the previous weekends game had seen long term injuries picked up by two regular forwards and with other players unavailable it was testament to this year’s squad that Orkney still fielded a strong squad. Orkney started the game with four props and a hooker in the pack, this limited the lineout options a wee bit but certainly beefed up the scrum and maul!

Also making a welcome return to Orkney rugby was William Thomson who had until recently been playing with Watsonians in Edinburgh. His experience and knowledge of the game should assist with the development of the current squad, especially in the backline.
Weather conditions for the game were perfect; a slight breeze and it would remain dry for the game.

A squad of 23 Under 14s welcome Caithness for the return fixture from last week.  Caithness has 6 players so a game of 15 v 14 was agreed with Orkney having 15 for the first quarter and then 14 for the remaining quarters. Players from Orkney moved across and over the whole game everyone played at least once for Caithness.

The first quarter was played with Orkney on top for most of the 15 minutes with some good link play between the players. The first score came after some good work from Alfie Copland followed by an Aiden Cooper break and the ball worked to Brogan Russell to score.

The Orkney RFC Mini sections from the East, Kirkwall and West gathered on the training pitch at the back of the Clubhouse on Saturday 21st September for the annual Kirkwall Mini’s Tournament. 
The weather was fantastic with not a cloud in the sky and the pitch conditions were also dry underfoot. In total there were around 80 girls and boys taking part.

There were three Primary 4/5 squads, one from East, Kirkwall and West and they all played a couple of matches each.  This was the first time that the Primary 4 players have played in a full tournament with contact and none of them looked out of place. 

A squad of 23 Under 14s headed over to Caithness on Saturday 21st September for their first match of the season with 9 S1s making their debut.  Captain for the day was Christy MacLeod and the Vice Captain was Euan Knox.
The match was agreed to be 4 periods of 15 minutes and as Caithness did not have a full squad Orkney agreed to 8 players heading across and this was changed at every quarter.

 Itinerary
 

• 07:15 Meet at St Margaret’s Hope for Pentalina
• 07:45 Pentalina departs for Gills Bay
• 09:00  Bus departs for Millbank, Thurso

 
Kick-off will be between 10 and 10.30
 
There may food but due to turn round we may be limited for time. So please make sure players have a packed lunch or money to get food on the boat.
 

• 13:30 Pentalina departs for St Margaret’s Hope.
• 14:30 Please pick-up your child from the Pentalina.

 
Please don’t forget Gum Shields, Boots, Shorts, Red Socks!

The Senior, Junior and Social membership forms have been updated for the new season. You can complete them online or download & print them at home.
​
If you are completing a paper form, please ensure it says “Valid from August 2019" at the bottom. Older forms are obsolete and should be discarded.
Karen Brough is the Junior & Social Membership convenor & her contact details along with Steven Bruce (Senior Memberships) & Olga Burton (Treasurer) can be found on the relevant forms or the club's Contacts Page.
​​
​Players / parents are reminded that they must also complete a SCRUMS registration in addition to completing a membership form.
Only paid up members of Orkney RFC who are SCRUMS registered will be able to play rugby this season.