The boys faced Aberdeen GS, who had looked so impressive in our home tournament 2 weeks ago, in their first game. From the first whistle, Madrascals took the game to the Aberdeen try line and spent the first couple of minutes searching for a break in their defence to steal an earlier opener. A lucky break from a lapse of concentration saw Aberdeen sprint the length of the field to claim that earlier opener for themselves. To their credit Madrascals came right back and soon equalised and then continued to pile on the pressure with quick ball from the breakdown and precise and effective tackling when required. Aberdeen’s defence was resolute and another few opportune breaks saw Aberdeen stretch to a 4-1 half-time lead. Madrascals came back in the second half narrowing the gap with a couple of tries but the boys could not do enough to weaken the Aberdeen side and they eventually eased to an 8-3 final score. Next up were Howe who were once again quick to capitalise on a lapse of concentration and scored early on. This time the boys kept the heads up (something to do with local rivalry!) and traded tries for the rest of the half with advantage to Madrascals of 3-2 at half-time. It was a tense but scrappy second half with Madrascals stretching to what looked like a decisive advantage as the final whistle approached. To their credit, Howe kept up the pressure and scored some well-deserved tries; finishing strongly and allowing Madrascals only a narrow 7-6 victory. The final game against hosts Mackie saw all the efforts of the training ground come undone! Sloppy tackling and weak rucking allowed Mackie to romp home 8-0 victors. To their credit the boys played some good rugby but also some woeful! Tackling and rucking let them down; for the first part of the first game against Aberdeen GS it looked as though they were going to dominate with a strong defence and a fluid attack. It didn’t last long though with some easy tries given away through inconsistent defence and allowing the opposition to intimidate when it came to collecting the loose ball. Those easy tries lost undid some really good and determined work. Plenty of positives to take away, not least of which was the debut of Angus Kennovin who settled in with ease to the team, scored the first try of the day and went on to score two more.