Stew Mel vs Aberdeen Grammar, 15/9/07

Inverleith Angle

I extend a very warm welcome to Aberdeen Grammar Rugby, their President David Robinson, his committee and supporters for this afternoon's game. Despite both Clubs not winning their opening two fixtures of the season, I'm sure that we will witness an entertaining and competitive game.

If any Rugby Club is to survive then it has to attract new members each year, and Stewart's Melville is no exception. This year we are pleased to welcome four players from last year's School 1st XV - Christy O'Donnell, Sam Ewing, Matt Hannay and Ruairi Sinclair. We hope that they will enjoy their time at the Club and that they will encourage others from their peer group to join.

As many of you will have noticed, the Club website has been promoting Inverleith as a great place for up and coming young players to play their rugby. That advert and word of mouth has attracted a number of new faces to training. A full list of those joining the Club will soon be on the website. A number of these newcomers have made it into the 1st XV and we extend a warm welcome to Liam Casey, who played his rugby at Waikato, and to Craig Marshall and Johnny Adams.

The good news at the Club is that the 3rd XV are unbeaten! This season they are competing in the 2nd XV League Division 4E (Edinburgh 7 South) and they beat Lismore 2nd XV in the opening match of the season 14-74. Their second match against Heriot's was cancelled because Heriot's were unable to raise a team. A last minute match was, however, arranged against Edinburgh Northern 2nd XV, and our boys won that match 59-0. Well done to the players and team managers.

Unfortunately the 2nd XV have lost both their fixtures. They went down in a very competitive match on the opening day of the season to Watsonians 19-45 and then to Heriot's 62-10. They had performed well against Watsonians, but, due to injuries in the 1st XV, a number of the 2nds had to travel with the 1st XV on the day of the Heriot's game.

Despite the season only being a couple of weeks old, the Club is feeling the effect of a number of players being unavailable through injury. Whilst most of the injuries are, thankfully, not long term, it is giving other players the opportunity to experience playing at a higher level than they have been used to. This can only benefit the players and the Club in the long term, but it is impacting the team performances in the short term, as our results have shown. I'm sure that, once we get a settled team, with our experienced players back, the players, coaches and supporters will have something to smile about.

Mike Sims

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