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Oh Flower of Scotland - can it be true?

Scotland did it - beat the Springboks for the first time in 33 years and did it with style completely outplaying the South Africans with technique and skill. There is no doubt that we are catching up on the Southern Hemisphere teams but we must maintain this improvement for the World Cup in October 2003.

We even managed to avoid the banana skin of Fiji. We did not play as well as we did against the Boks but we created some good tries and were victorious in every Autumn international for the first time. Winning breeds confidence and we can look forward to the Six Nations with some optimism.

And our very own (well we have adopted him) Ben Hinshelwood played against Fiji on Sunday. He had an excellent game and should be set for a six Nations debut. There is speculation that he will return to play for the Edinburgh Gunners next season and so I am sure we can get him down to see us at the club in the near future.

 

Ben Hinshelwood
(Stew Mel Lions? , Worcester & Scotland)

Also, it has been announced that the pro players from the Edinburgh Gunners are to be linked to local Edinburgh teams.


Click to view Scottish internationalists Laney, Leslie and Burns

There continues to be a real air of excitement running through Scottish rugby. Our own senior club are playing successfully and should clinch promotion to Division 2. This will be a tremendous boost to the club that has been in the doldrums for many years. It will allow us to attract and retain all our talented players.

There is considerable talent coming through to the senior club. I watched the Edinburgh U18 games between the independent schools and the pathways teams for state schools and clubs. In both matches the Pathways beat the schools teams.
  

However, the interesting point was that there were 10 boys playing in the independent schools from Stewart's Melville College and another 10 boys playing in the Pathways who were in the talented S4 Stew Mel Lions team of a couple years ago! We hope that many of the boys will join the senior club next season. All these boys started playing on Sundays at Inverleith 7/8 years ago and it is great to see what progress they are making.

It is satisfying to note that this progress continues as the S1 and S2 qualified through to the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Cup. The S1 play Selkirk at Inverleith and the S2 play Hawick Albion in the Borders on Sunday 1st December.

Unfortunately, the mini club had a minor disaster last weekend - Howe of Fife called off their Tournament without telling us until Sunday morning. I, like many other parents, was contacted on the car phone as I passed Dunfermline. Please accept our apologises for the cock up.

The mini club is now at Ravelston Sports club for all December and January. This should ensure that we get together every Sunday despite the weather.

John Campbell
Chairman,
1st December, 2002

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