Great weekend at first Scottish Inter-Island 10s Tournament

“I can’t believe I forgot the patties”

On 24 May 2024 an Orkney contingent travelled on the Hjaltland to Aberdeen to join fellow players in Glasgow for the first Inter Island 10s tournament organised by our very own ORFC Secretary, Silas Cox.

As these trips seem to go, there is usually a disaster. “I can’t believe I forgot the patties for the bus driver” were the words from Murray Simpson. We can confirm the bus driver was very upset.

Thankfully this was the only disaster of the weekend. On the plus side Simpson has twenty patties to get through.

Now onto the tournament itself. Unfortunately, throughout the week, teams withdrew from the tournament for various reasons. The men’s tournament had two groups of five teams and the ladies had one group of four.

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MEN’S REPORT:

Orkney men’s first game was against Mull, who had managed to leave their strips on the bus… however they still proved more organised than the Orkney boys who had only 6 of their players arrive in time!

Derek Robb pulled his kit out of a hidden space and as Garry Coltherd searched for some boots, players from Skye and Shetland stepped forwards to help get the game played and keep Garry on the subs bench!

Mull were a dugged opposition with a lot of youth in their squad. But once the initial disorganisation was overcome, a brace of tries from Scrum half Silas Cox gave Orkney a 14-12 win.

Next up was a game against Skye who had managed to bring a squad of 9 forwards and 1 back. With the rest of the Orkney team turning up and putting width on the ball a flood of tries were scored to win 48-0.

Sinclair Bain was denied his first ever try at the death of the game after he was accidentally tackled by teammate Murray Simpson, much to everyone’s amusement!

The 3rd game was on paper the toughest opposition, in the form of Stornoway men, the only other unbeaten team in the group. In a game that had it all and the neutrals well entertained a hat trick of tries from Silas Cox gave Orkney a 19-17 win in a game that could have gone either way.

The final group game was against Campbeltown/Kintyre, a team formed specially for the tournament after 7 years since their last game.

Complacency (and alcohol) stunted Orkney as they went 5-0 down early on. With just 4 minutes on the clock an injury to a C/K player paused play. Once the game resumed the game experience of Orkney showed as they switched on and ran in multiple tries to win 26-5. A flattering score in a game that was much tighter than expected.

This unbeaten run put Orkney Men in the Final for the Donnie Graham Cup against inter county rival Shetland. A 2 and a half hour gap between the last group game and the final was poorly timed for Orkney as the awkward tournament organiser refused to move things around to assist them.

With a squad of 11 tired bodies against Shetlands squad of 19 we suddenly became underdogs in a game we anticipated to go into as favourites. An early try by Shetland set the pace, but a chip and Chase by prop Owen Griffith lead to him scoring under the posts and getting Orkney back into the game.

Only for an interception to put Shetland back ahead and break the Orkney spirit. Another 2 Shetland tries sealed the game before Silas Cox scored a consolation try as the final was lost 22-14.

As much as it pains me to say, the best team on the day won.

S.C.

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DRAGONS REPORT:

The Orkney Dragons faced Mull in the first game. Both teams got off to a slow start and Mull were on the scoresheet first.

Captain Emma Staunton carried the ball well drawing in players providing the backs with space and an overlap.

Aleisha Womack, side stepped her way past for a textbook try.

Mull, with help from local Cartha players, did react to this and secured a couple of more tries to see the game out.

Next was a fresh-faced Stornoway who the Dragons have faced in the past in 15s. This game was more competitive and the Dragons had certainly improved. With some questionable reffing decisions, the Dragons entered the second half with more aggression.

A quickly taken penalty by Donna Wilson, who did a handoff and floored a player, gained good ground up the pitch but unfortunately with heavy legs the support wasn’t there to compliment the effort. However, it was the two youngsters Womack and Hannah Dunnett who created a superb rugby/football try.

Dunnett caught the ball from the kick off, chased by herself and Womack, another kick along the ground, this was picked up perfectly timed with the bounce and a try for Womack to close the game. Unfortunately, not enough to win the game.

Isles Barbarians were the last game for the Dragons. A team of players not from isles but has connections to the isles and supported by Cartha Women’s team. Dunnett once again tore up the pitch getting an early try. However, the lead was short lived the Isles rallied in the tries.

A moment of true Orcadian grit in the latter stages of the game saw a great effort from Grace MacGregor deny Isles a try by holding it up. Nickie Milne also had a strong game making good tackle and carrying the ball well. The Dragons played well against a mix of premiership players who had strong ball carriers.

A very valuable experience for the Dragons and it was refreshing to play against other players in a well organised tournament. The Dragons would like to thank players from other teams who helped them out on the day.

As Isles Barbarians could not compete for any trophy, therefore Dragons secured a place for the bowl. A nice bit of silverware to take home.

The Orkney Dragons Team: Emma Staunton, Donna Wilson, Alanna Smith, Katie Allison, Sandra Davy, Ailsa Drever, Grace MacGregor, Ami Garriock, Aleisha Womack, Hannah Dunnett and Nickie Milne.

To round the evening off, there was a DJ in the clubhouse and great friendships were made. The men’s theme was beach wear and an inflatable ring was causing great hilarity and the Dragons picked outfits for each other for a set budget.

An absolute belter of a weekend playing rugby, building relationships with other teams and creating memories.

ORFC would like to thank Cartha Queens Park for hosting and their hospitality.

As ever, our wonderful sponsors who helped fund part of the trip and tournament: Indian Garden, S.R Paterson, Northlink Ferries, Gregor Howitt, Alison Moore and Alfred Flett's Ltd.


D.W.