Stew Mel vs Stirling County RFC, 19/2/05

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Squad

The Stewart's Melville FP RFC team to play Stirling County RFC at Inverleith on Saturday, kick off 3 pm, is:

Two changes for the game against Stirling County from the team that would have taken the field last Sunday. Our Captain, Paul Wharakura, is involved with Edinburgh Rugby in their game on Saturday evening against Leinster at Murrayfield, therefore making him unavailable for us. It's a great opportunity for Paul to have a taste of a higher level of rugby and one which his recent performances fully merit. Richard Hood comes into the front row to replace him, with Stephan De Beer switching sides to loose head to accommodate him.

In the back row, Dougie Rycroft starts instead of Ross Rennie. Ross played for Scotland U19s on Thursday evening against their English counterparts at Myreside, and, with the amount of rugby he has played so far this season, a spell on the bench this weekend will do him no harm. He will be available to start in the rearranged Haddington game on Sunday 27th February.

Graham Lind takes over the captaincy from Paul for this weekend's game, which should see Stephen Dalgleish finally play his fiftieth 1st XV game.

Stirling beat us fairly comfortably 47-0 at Bridgehaugh earlier in the season, and it is a great chance for the boys to address that defeat. We turned around a similar scoreline against Dundee last season when they came to Inverleith after beating us convincingly, so the boys know they can do it. Only six of the Stew Mel team which suffered up at Bridgehaugh retain the jerseys they wore that day. If any extra incentive was needed, the SRU presentation party will be down at Inverleith on Saturday to give Stirling the Premier 2 trophy if they win or draw. Let's hope they have a wasted journey!

Riggers' Review

Stirling County, the Champions elect, came calling on Saturday and left with the trophy safely tucked away, but only after one of the best Premier 2 games that can I remember seeing. Certainly the balance was redressed after the earlier encounter when an understrength and underperforming Stewart's Melville team was well and truly put to the sword. That Stirling County are the best team in the Division is not open for debate. Their record is exemplary and they go up as worthy champions. With a young, dynamic team, they must have a good chance of establishing themselves as a force once more in Premier 1. They must also be a good outside bet for the Cup.

The Stewart's Melville team acquitted themselves well throughout this encounter. Playing into the strong wind in the first half, we produced some excellent rugby and scored the only try of the first half through Graham Lind. We did, however, find ourselves 12-8 down at the break, due to indiscipline at the breakdown situations. The fact that three of these indiscretions occurred around the half way line and were slotted with a bit to spare by the County full back showed, firstly, how strong the wind was, but also how good a kicker he is.

The turning point, from a Stewart's Melville point of view, came just before half-time, when Shaun McMurchy broke away from a ruck in our own 22. After getting to about the 10 meter line, Shaun opted to kick ahead, but, in doing so, went over on his ankle and was unable to continue. Our lineout and scrum, which, up to this stage, had been secure, suffered as a result, and we began to struggle to get good, clean first phase possession. Stirling County put pressure on this and, I guess, that is the sign of a good side.

Stirling County started the second half how we wanted to, and, within a couple of minutes of the restart, we were 17-8 down after Archibald scored out wide after a long miss pass. At this stage, we were right up against it, but the introduction of Ross Rennie from the bench sparked us again, and, through a couple of turnovers, we started to put pressure on the County line once again. From a series of breenges, the ball came back to Sam Hendry, who broke through between two defenders and under the posts to close the gap to just two points after adding the conversion.

It stayed this way for a good fifteen minutes, with both teams having opportunities to score but not doing so. The breakthrough came from Stirling, though, when Archibald scored another try to complete his and Stirling's 24 point haul. With about five minutes to go, and being nine points down, our thoughts turned to securing a bonus point. To do this, we needed to get possession and retain it, and, while we managed to do so, a try was not coming. We did, however, manage to get a penalty, which Sam Hendry coolly slotted with the last kick of the game to bring up his 250th 1st XV points.

A loss at home for the first time of the season, then, on Saturday, but, with Haddington beating Jed, we managed to stretch our lead in second place. We await Haddington next Sunday at Inverleith in a rearranged fixture and, hopefully, the opportunity to extend our lead still further. It will be another tough game, but, if we can raise our performance to the same level as we did on Saturday, there is every chance that we can get the four points that we crave.

Riggers

Stew Mel Stats

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