Lochaber U14s produced some great rugby, and had fun as well, at their own Mini Midi Festival on Sunday 17th November. Andrew ‘Pads’ Johnston, the SRU Development Officer for Dalriada, was keen to meet the boys, to impart some of his vast rugby knowledge, and to introduce them to a fun but challenging version of the game. The squad was divided into two teams: Colours consisting of Aaron, Arran, Gregor, James, J-J, Josh A, and Zach; and Whites consisting of Anton, Callan, Cody, Lee, Robert, Ruaraidh, and Stuie. It was also good to see Callum (not playing due to injury) at the tournament.

Firstly, a traditional game comprising two ten-minute halves was played. This was really competitive rugby, as evidenced by among other incidents, Callan’s big tackle on his best pal James, and J-J’s desperate last ditch tackle to stop his best pal Stuie from scoring. In the first half, for Whites Lee made some good tackles and Cody ran and rucked well, while for Colours Arran Aaron and James managed to put together a string of attacking phases in midfield. Captain Ruaraidh worked his socks off, and traded tries with Vice-captain Zach – at the break the score was Whites 3, Colours 2. In the second half, Whites’ Anton made ground before Zach counter-attacked, putting James in for a good Colours try. Lee’s good run, then Cody, then Robert’s pick-and-go, then Lee’s run again and well-presented ball, allowed Stuie to score for Whites. Aaron for Colours scored from Zach’s switch of play, then Robert fed Ruaraidh to score for Whites on the left. Colours countered with a good run up the middle by J-J and a run on the right by Josh A, before Gregor passed to J-J again, who angled his run left to score wide out. Stuie scored, then Arran for Colours received the ball out wide, cut back inside but turned and gave a wonderful pass outside again for Zach’s try. Whites had the last phase of the match and made the most of it with Lee and Cody featuring in the lead-up to Ruaraidh’s try. Final score Whites 7, Colours 7.

Pads then gave the boys some expert tuition on the arts of tackling and passing, emphasising that these were basic skills which really needed to be practiced in the boys’ own time. Generally, team training sessions are by necessity taken up with team cohesion, learning moves, developing strategies etc. The boys were then introduced to the ‘Barbarians’ version of the game, designed to reward good play. Points are given not only for tries, but also for various other team skills such as two good consecutive passes (1 point), an offload (1 point), a two-man tackle (2 points), a try out wide (5 points), and so on.
The first half of the Barbarians match again featured some great rugby, with Anton, Cody, and Robert for Whites, and with Arran, Gregor, and Josh A for Colours appearing to benefit enormously from Pads’ coaching methods. Midway through this half, J-J’s big angled run left for Colours would have been a great piece of rugby, if only he’d dotted the ball down over the tryline instead of continuing for another 20 metres – the whole squad liked his reaction when he realised that he’d squandered the try! The score at the break was Whites 32, Colours 36. For the second half, Pads introduced some more point-scoring opportunities such as ‘superpowers’ (where one team earns a relaxation in one of the Rugby Laws, such as the knock-on) and ‘turn & burn’ (where a scoring team may immediately, if they wish, attempt to score at the other end as well). The boys continued to play some good rugby, but also found this a lot of fun, having to think a bit more quickly and to react to the unexpected. Prominent players were Callan in the middle for Whites, and Aaron with great running down the right wing for Colours. Colours were able to take greater opportunity of the new rules in this half, and ran out comfortable winners.

Again it was great to see the Lochaber U14s turn out in numbers, and the boys’ enthusiasm is the main reason why Pads was willing to devote his afternoon to them, and why so many spectators were at the match to watch.

Next fixtures are on 30 November and 07 December, so for these and others in the New Year which the coaching team have arranged, keep up the good work and most important of all stay injury-free - train hard and play easy.