S2 - Report
Date: Sunday 11th November 2012 - Kick Off: 10:00
Friendly
| Stirling | 25 | vs | 3 | Dunfermline |
S2’s come unstuck at Stirling
Team: Kieran Wilson, Michael Smith, Jay Hogg, John Lymburn, Jonathan Scott, Kieran Twaddle, Thomas Pooley, Cal Clark, Aidan Reddick, Ben Dollery, Euan Colston, Cameron Symes, Alex McKenzie, Ethan Wood, Andrew Waterworth, Cameron Shaw, Harry McCulloch
Dunfermline S2’s travelled to Stirling on a cold, frosty wintery morning for an early morning kick off to allow coaches, players and parents to make their way to Edinburgh for the New Zealand game.
Stirling and Dunfermline have not played a lot of games over the last few years but in general the fixtures have been tight affairs with results shared between the teams. Stirling ran out winners in the only game last season and Dunfermline were keen to see how their young squad are developing against one of the major club sides in Scottish youth rugby.
Dunfermlines squad was much depleted by injuries with 7 players missing, a number of whom would have been present in the starting 15 if available, and a considerable number of the match day squad eligible to play U13 rugby this year (due to the vagaries of the age criteria). With four of the players on the pitch in their first full season of rugby, the players and coaches were expecting a tough game against a strong, settled Stirling side full of experienced, skilful players.
The game started off brightly for Dunfermline with some good work between forwards and backs resulting in a period of pressure in the Stirling half. Only 2 minutes were on the clock before a barnstorming run from centre Cameron Symes was halted just short of the line. Good support and quick ruck ball eventually resulted in a simple pick and drive for captain Jonathan Scott to score. Ben could not however add the conversion from the angle. Dunfermline continued to work hard and nearly added to their score on a number of occasions in the next few minutes but a combination of good defence from Stirling and inaccurate decision making prevented any additional points being added. At this point a change in the referee occurred with one of the Stirling coaches, who had had an excellent few minutes in the middle, being replaced with the referee who had been delayed getting to the ground. The change in referee seemed to galvanise the home team and over the next few minutes they played some excellent rugby with quick clean ball from rucks and accurate passing in the backs. Dunfermline defended manfully in the centre of the pitch however Stirling simply had too much pace for the inexperienced Dunfermline wingers and scored a couple of well worked tries which were both converted. The next period of the game was largely played in the middle of the pitch with neither side able to break away and score although Stirling did add another, almost identical try before half time. During this period, the Dunfermline players were finding it increasingly difficult to adjust to the new referees style as the half went on although this did not seem to be an issue for Stirling who, as a result, were in control of the game by the time the whistle blew for half time.
The first half finished with the scores at 3 tries to 1.
At half time the coaches attempted to encourage all the players to continue to keep working hard while stressing the importance of keeping discipline and team structure in the face, of what seemed to them, a puzzlingly high penalty count. Pep talk completed the team went back on for what was hoped would be a more successful period.
Unfortunately that was not to be the case with Stirling continuing to exploit the inexperience on the Dunfermline wings scoring 4 more tries in the process. Dunfermline continued to defend hard, and they played some good attacking rugby but could not compete with the organisation of the Stirling defence and with the massive penalty count against them tiredness started creeping in. Dunfermline did however continue to play right to the final whistle and in the final few minutes of the game managed to get the rub of the green in the rucks but unfortunately they could not add to their score with the game ending 25-3 in favour of Stirling.
A very tough day for the Dunfermline side and hopefully they will be able to take on board the lessons that they learned. Upmost amongst them the need to keep organised and structured in both attack and defence, however this is something that will develop as the players get more competitive fixtures in the next few years.
This game did emphasis to players and coaches alike the difference between the clubs of this age in Scotland with regard to both playing numbers and skill levels. While Dunfermline have comprehensively beaten all teams they have played this year with the exception of Currie and Stirling, the organisation and skills observed in the players from these teams, many of whom have the benefit of the additional rugby sessions available at their schools, is generally at a much higher level, as a whole, than can be obtained in a season or two by clubs like Dunfermline with limited playing numbers and with fewer available games and training sessions. In addition the continuing requirement to develop our own players from scratch, in many cases boys who have never picked up a ball before, does make things complicated at times. We will continue to work hard to push the players to increase their skill levels and to develop the organisation required to compete at the highest level. This will unfortunately only come with time and games so hopefully we can put a few things we have learned into practice in the next few weeks before the winter weather shuts us down.
Many thanks to the Stirling players, coaches and officials for providing us with a much needed, tough game and congratulations on a well deserved victory. Some of the play, especially in your back division was of the highest quality and hopefully this is something that our own team can aspire to in the future. We look forward to welcoming you back to McKane park later in the season for a return match and if not will see you at our sevens in May.
Dunfermline S2’s travelled to Stirling on a cold, frosty wintery morning for an early morning kick off to allow coaches, players and parents to make their way to Edinburgh for the New Zealand game.
Stirling and Dunfermline have not played a lot of games over the last few years but in general the fixtures have been tight affairs with results shared between the teams. Stirling ran out winners in the only game last season and Dunfermline were keen to see how their young squad are developing against one of the major club sides in Scottish youth rugby.
Dunfermlines squad was much depleted by injuries with 7 players missing, a number of whom would have been present in the starting 15 if available, and a considerable number of the match day squad eligible to play U13 rugby this year (due to the vagaries of the age criteria). With four of the players on the pitch in their first full season of rugby, the players and coaches were expecting a tough game against a strong, settled Stirling side full of experienced, skilful players.
The game started off brightly for Dunfermline with some good work between forwards and backs resulting in a period of pressure in the Stirling half. Only 2 minutes were on the clock before a barnstorming run from centre Cameron Symes was halted just short of the line. Good support and quick ruck ball eventually resulted in a simple pick and drive for captain Jonathan Scott to score. Ben could not however add the conversion from the angle. Dunfermline continued to work hard and nearly added to their score on a number of occasions in the next few minutes but a combination of good defence from Stirling and inaccurate decision making prevented any additional points being added. At this point a change in the referee occurred with one of the Stirling coaches, who had had an excellent few minutes in the middle, being replaced with the referee who had been delayed getting to the ground. The change in referee seemed to galvanise the home team and over the next few minutes they played some excellent rugby with quick clean ball from rucks and accurate passing in the backs. Dunfermline defended manfully in the centre of the pitch however Stirling simply had too much pace for the inexperienced Dunfermline wingers and scored a couple of well worked tries which were both converted. The next period of the game was largely played in the middle of the pitch with neither side able to break away and score although Stirling did add another, almost identical try before half time. During this period, the Dunfermline players were finding it increasingly difficult to adjust to the new referees style as the half went on although this did not seem to be an issue for Stirling who, as a result, were in control of the game by the time the whistle blew for half time.
The first half finished with the scores at 3 tries to 1.
At half time the coaches attempted to encourage all the players to continue to keep working hard while stressing the importance of keeping discipline and team structure in the face, of what seemed to them, a puzzlingly high penalty count. Pep talk completed the team went back on for what was hoped would be a more successful period.
Unfortunately that was not to be the case with Stirling continuing to exploit the inexperience on the Dunfermline wings scoring 4 more tries in the process. Dunfermline continued to defend hard, and they played some good attacking rugby but could not compete with the organisation of the Stirling defence and with the massive penalty count against them tiredness started creeping in. Dunfermline did however continue to play right to the final whistle and in the final few minutes of the game managed to get the rub of the green in the rucks but unfortunately they could not add to their score with the game ending 25-3 in favour of Stirling.
A very tough day for the Dunfermline side and hopefully they will be able to take on board the lessons that they learned. Upmost amongst them the need to keep organised and structured in both attack and defence, however this is something that will develop as the players get more competitive fixtures in the next few years.
This game did emphasis to players and coaches alike the difference between the clubs of this age in Scotland with regard to both playing numbers and skill levels. While Dunfermline have comprehensively beaten all teams they have played this year with the exception of Currie and Stirling, the organisation and skills observed in the players from these teams, many of whom have the benefit of the additional rugby sessions available at their schools, is generally at a much higher level, as a whole, than can be obtained in a season or two by clubs like Dunfermline with limited playing numbers and with fewer available games and training sessions. In addition the continuing requirement to develop our own players from scratch, in many cases boys who have never picked up a ball before, does make things complicated at times. We will continue to work hard to push the players to increase their skill levels and to develop the organisation required to compete at the highest level. This will unfortunately only come with time and games so hopefully we can put a few things we have learned into practice in the next few weeks before the winter weather shuts us down.
Many thanks to the Stirling players, coaches and officials for providing us with a much needed, tough game and congratulations on a well deserved victory. Some of the play, especially in your back division was of the highest quality and hopefully this is something that our own team can aspire to in the future. We look forward to welcoming you back to McKane park later in the season for a return match and if not will see you at our sevens in May.
Player Of The Match
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