Youth Rugby Match Report | U13 & 14s v Caithness/Shetland 7-10-23

Saturday the 7th of October saw Orkney RFC U13s & 14s travel to Thurso for games against mixed Caithness and Shetland sides.

Fourteen under 13 players travelled, requiring us to borrow a player from the Caithness/Shetland squad so we could play three 15 aside games.

Final score: Orkney U13s 38 Caithness/Shetland 5

Photos: Andrew Thomson

After discussion with the Caithness and Shetland coaches, it was decided we play 3 x 20 minute matches. Match 1 saw Orkney get off to flying start thanks to centre Tyler Fitzpatrick, running from deep in his own half to score our first try. A first of 4 successful conversions from stand off James Hamilton followed, later awarded players' player.

The forward pack worked hard at securing and turning over ball, which was noted by Bryan the Shetland coach after the games. Big tackles were made by Cole and Ollie, with great support play from the rest of the boys. Ollie was the busiest forward of the day, flying into tackles, securing ball and counter rucking – he was deservedly named coaches' player on the day. Well done Ollie.

The 2nd try of the first match was scored by one of our many Rory/Ruaridhs, with Mr Millar bagging his first try for Orkney in the far right corner of the pitch - well done Millar! James kicked his 2nd conversion of the day for the first game to end on a score of 14-0.

ORFC U13s: 1) Cole Mitchell, 2) Reid Drever, 3) Angus Inkster (c), 4) Ruairidh Wood, 5) Ruaridh Millar, 6) Ollie Leslie, 7) Jack Rorie, 8 ) Ethan Kinghorn, 9) Kieran Groat, 10) James Hamilton, 11) Murray Clark (vc), 12) Tyler Fitzpatrick, 13) Erik Thomson, 14) Ruaridh Henderson

The 2nd match started after a brief break, with minor position tweaks for the next game. Erik and Murray swapped, Erik to wing with Murray going centre, Cole and Millar swapped in the forwards. Increasingly slippery, wet conditions saw a lot of handling errors during this game, leading to some frustration from Orkney. Side entry at rucks and failure to release crept into the game, with the boys noticeably annoyed at the stop start nature of the game due to the amount of scrums.

Orkney scored one try during this period of play, with Murray running a try from his new centre position – with James adding a conversion to make the score 21-0. More knock ons and errors continued after, with Caithness/Shetland adding a try late in the game, the conversion was missed so this game period ended 21-5.

A fired up Reid Drever led team talk before the 3rd game, with captain Angus Inkster in agreement more simple passing was required due to the wet conditions and adding to have two boys sit deep to field the deep kicks from the opposition. The boys tightened their grip on the game, with less mistakes and a far more concentrated performance. Shetland/Caithness were rucked off the ball several times in this 3rdgame.

Tyler soon added his 2nd try of the day with another good finish, the conversion was missed this time making the score 26-5. The boys continued their improved form with a try and a conversion from James to make the score 33-5, before hooker Reid Drever scored a try his club legend father Erland would have been proud to witness. The resulting conversion was missed so the game ended 38-5.

Credit goes to our scrum half Kieran Groat for recovering from a dangerous high tackle late in play, which took the wind from him, to see out the game - I heard comments from the crowd that Orkney boys are made of tough stuff. Well done Kieran.

Thanks go to Caithness RFC for their hospitality and providing the referees on the day, to Shetland for loaning players to make up sides, to Pentland Ferries for their travel sponsorship and the parent helpers for their assistance on the day.

The next U13 game should be against Shetland on the 28th of October, please keep an eye on facebook for updates.

A.T.

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U14 MATCH REPORT

Along with the U13 team, 12 U14 boys travelled to Caithness on Saturday 7th of October. Despite the early start, all the youngsters were full of excitement for their first away fixture of the season.

Joined by 2 Shetland under 14 players, (Sam Fraser and Alex Williamson), Orkney started the match strong. In the first minute Orkney had a scrum just over half way which saw a clever use of the ‘Wilbur Express’ slotting in at 9, running in an easy try. Converted by the real scrum half, Joel Hamilton.

Captain Ran Jackson asked for the scrum from the restart when the Caithness kick didn’t quite make 10 meters. The ball was quickly fed out to Einar Thomson who gracefully ran to the whitewash. Ruari Wood successfully converted.

Caithness managed to regain possession but continuous pressure from Orkney pushed them back to the 22. Textbook tackles from Orkney duo Scott Sclater and Dylan Squire forced Caithness to make errors and causing the ball to go loose.

​With Orkney having the advantage, Einar Thomson showed his kicking skills and pace as he booted the loose ball up the pitch before scooping it up and tapping it down over the line. Another successful conversion by Ruari Wood.

Caithness continued to fight back and poor discipline from Orkney resulted in them having to defend in their red zone. Caithness tried to ship the ball wide, but nothing was getting past Orrin Dick who quickly put a stop to the attempt.

A scrum for Orkney on the 22 gave the opportunity to clear the ball with a perfect kick from stand off Ruari Wood. Orrin Dick showed his speed as he chased the ball and took the score to 0-26, with Joel Hamilton adding on another 2 points with a successful conversion.

With only 5 minutes left of the first 20 minutes, Orkney were set to receive yet again. Caithness had worked Orkney back, and despite a cracking tackle from Shetland player Sam Fraser, poor discipline in the breakdown put Orkney back 10. Caithness went for the quick tap and used the ball wide to put their names on the scoreboard for the first time during the game. 28-7.

Orkney finished the first 20 minutes with a further two converted try’s with big carries from George Shearer and Sonny Wise and brilliant turnovers by Ran Jackson. Finishing comfortably with 42-7.

Caithness started the next set of 20 minutes strong and instantly pushed Orkney back to the 22. Caithness had the scrum but Joel Hamilton had his eye on the ball and intercepted and nearly made it to half way before a high tackle halted him. Joel took the quick tap and Thomson ran in yet another try. Joel successfully converted.

A series of poor discipline from both teams and high tackles resulted in both teams being spoken to by the ref. Orkney were yet again defending their line when Halcro Tait turned over a ruck and Wilbur waded his way through the sea of green. 56-7

Caithness very quickly were able to add to their score from the restart as they ran a very impressive converted try in, showing Orkney they were not ready to give up. 56-14.

The last 10 minutes left Orkney defending in their 22 and fighting hard to stop Caithness scoring. Balfour Williamson carried hard and retained the ball to allow scrum half Joel Hamilton to control his forward pack. Wilbur has one final big carry left in the tank, before feeding the ball to Orrin Dick who added the last of the points to the score board bringing the score to 63-14.

Orkney, Caithness and Shetland chose to spend the last 20 minutes mixing things up which was enjoyed by all and all the boys left with a smile on their face.

C.N.