Orkney under 16s record another win

On Saturday 15th September Orkney sent a strong side of 20 boys down to Gordonstoun on a good day for rugby. The side had previously won 2 of 2 games and were keen to remain unbeaten. They had high spirits as 3 players that had missed the last game had re-joined the squad. Gordonstoun had also suffered two heavy defeats in a row which put Orkney on the front foot before the game even began.

The sun was out making the day very warm but with a slight breeze, making it much easier playing conditions that the previous Saturday. Gordonstoun kicked to the Orkney Forwards and the game began. Orkney have been struggling with weak starts and once again, this was the case. Straight from the kick off the long journey they took the night before was showing, with the entire team showing little effort to ruck and tackle.

It didn’t take long for Gourdonstoun to take advantage of a poor Orkney start and went up 7-0 with a converted try. This seemed to wake the boys up and Orkney gained ground, they won a penalty on the 10m line and a tap and pass gained another 5m, from the ruck Chris Munson picked and scored Orkneys first points of the day. Taylor Pilkington-Tait missed the conversion (7-5).

The last 15 minutes of the first half were closely contested, neither team managed to score. Orkney went into the team talk, after a poor first half, coach Bruce Ruthven gave the team a stern talking to.

The coaches half-time talk made the team realise they needed to improve fast if they wanted to win. Orkney kicked and it was clear that Orkneys effort level was up, with great tackling coming from everybody. The forwards rucking was also much better.

A short line out confused the opposition and saw Robbie Drever have a simple try, conversion missed (7-10).A break from Andrew Shaw in Orkneys own 22 lead to great link-up play from Ciaran Drever, Taylor P.T and Cameron Gray. This gave Orkney the lead as Cameron Gray charged through defenders and over the line. The conversion, taken from a tricky position was missed (7-15).

Orkney Were making breaks constantly, but unfortunately Euan Humphreys got injured at the base of a ruck and play was stopped for approximately 15 minutes. Play restarted with 10 minutes remaining. Orkney continued to dominate with another good try from Chris Munson seeing him pick from the back of a ruck and go down the blind side to score. Once again the conversion failed.

The game finished with Orkney winning 20-7.

Man of the match went to Ciaran Drever for his sheer determination and hard tackling. There was also good tackling from Craig Stout, Cameron Gray, Taylor Pirie and great rucking from all the forwards.

Match report by Craig Stout, Cameron Gray and James Nicolson.

Coach Bruce Ruthven added:
“I am really delighted with the result and the second half performance from the boys. For the second week the boys started slowly but showed good character to score three unanswered tries in the second half. Stand out performances were Craig Stout, Ciaran Drever and Cameron Gray. Well done to the boys on their 3rd successive win! Work on areas for this week’s training is body positioning in rucks, intensity at the breakdown and game sense.

Traveling squad:
Robbie Drever, Ross Sinclair, Taylor Pirie, Craig Stout, James Nicolson, Orrin Fraser Euan Humphries, Chris Munson, Mark Sinclair, Taylor Pilkington-Tait, Ciaran Drever, Cammy Gray, Craig Russell, Sam Croy, Andrew Shaw, Scott Smith, Own Harcus, Jack Scott, Craig Stevenson, Robbie Hay,