Mansell Cup Tournament, 24/8/03

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Squad

The Stewart's Melville squad for Sunday's Mansell Cup tournament at Goldenacre is:

Riggers' Review

Well, that's another pre-season campaign completed, and we are now closing in on the real business of life in Premier 2. During the pre-season build up we have managed to utilise 45 players in the games with Heriot's, Melrose and Corstorphine and during the Mansell Cup, and it has given us a fair indication of each player's ability and capabilities. The results have been pleasing, but, at the end of the season, they'll count for nothing if we don't perform from the off against Biggar.

Pre-season is mainly an exercise in trying to get defensive and offensive patterns right whilst exposing players to match conditions. By and large, the objectives that have been set by the coaching staff before each game have been achieved.

Probably the most successful part of pre-season was the St Andrews weekend, where 33 players were worked hard over the two days away. With a number of new faces in the squad, it proved to be a worthwhile exercise, and, certainly, the feeling was that, while we may have gone away as a collection of rugby players who would be pulling on the Stewart's Melville jersey this season, we returned as a team with a greater understanding of each other, of why we are each playing the game and of the club itself.

The culmination of the pre-season build up was the Mansell Cup at Goldenacre on Sunday 24th August. Playing Kirkcaldy, Musselburgh then Heriot's, we set ourselves the objective of going into the last game against Heriot's with a chance of getting to the final. This was, indeed, done.

Kirkcaldy, who have beaten us twice in the last couple of seasons as well as during last year's Mansell Cup, were beaten 26-0 in the first game, and, for the most part, we played some good rugby. This led us to play Musselburgh, who looked to have recruited well and will be a force in Premier 3 this season. After a stuttering first half, we managed to edge away and win a tough encounter 17-5. This set up the group decider against Heriot's.

A tough 30 minutes of action saw the team match the Scottish Cup winners, and a kind bounce of the ball from a charge down saw Graham Lind score the important try to take us 12-5 ahead with a couple of minutes left. Heriot's made us work hard in those last couple of minutes, but we managed to hold on and secure the victory which meant reaching the final of the Mansell Cup for the first time.

We had a 50 minute break between the end of the Heriot's game and the final against Boroughmuir, and, to be fair, the team looked shattered. We'd lost four of the squad by this stage and were running pretty low on energy. We knew Boroughmuir would be favourites to win, and, after playing them a few times in the last couple of seasons, we knew it was going to be tough. Boroughmuir convincingly outplayed us through a mixture of power and pace, and, whilst we competed throughout, they just had that little bit extra in the crucial areas. A final scoreline of 38-5 to Boroughmuir was probably a fair reflection of that game, but not of our afternoon's work. The boys had probably played their final against Heriot's.

During the early part of this week, the squad for the Biggar game will be picked and announced. There will be a few boys disappointed not to make the final squad, but, at the end of the day, we can only take 19 down to Hartreemill. Macca, Benzo and Shiely will pick the squad that they think will best be suited to the game down there, and, for those not involved, the challenge of proving the coaches wrong starts in the 2nd XV game with Currie.

All in all, a good pre-season. Let's hope that the league campaign produces some Stew/Mel performances that we'll be just as proud of.

Riggers

Stew Mel Stats

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