Sunday saw a titanic London clash play out between 2 storied foes. 

Whilst the wider media attention may have been on Quins vs Saracens down the road, and the Chicago Bears vs Jacksonville Jaguars, our London Scottish U14s engaged in a truly monumental battle of wills, decision making and courage with our near neighbours and good friends from Chiswick.

Despite conceding home field advantage, missing: two of our stalwarts in Henry and Eddie, Surrey league table tiering, and close to ¾ of a stone in weight per man, LS emerged victorious after 60 minutes of rugby.  These are the days – one-point victories, that stand out in our playing careers.

There were some real highlights:

• Huck Edwards underscored his billing as a try-scoring phenomenon, with another hat-rick – the third of which originated in his own 22 and culminated with 8 defenders beaten and a critical, between the posts, dot-down. 
• Mikolai’s pick-and-go from the base and crash-over from 5m out was the net result of patient and astute forward ruck play.
• Max Devane’s debut for LS u14, adding experience, height and balance to a young but fast-developing team.
• Freddie, Jake and Lucas partnering to great effect, scything down their loose forwards, forcing turnovers and claiming the ball on the floor.
• Cal’s 75% kick accuracy and leading of the line from 10
• Ben Oliffe defending like a dervisher all day long and taking individual responsibility for man-marking their human collosus.  A true ‘Man of the Match’ performance from Ben who proved his huge potency at flanker.

Notwithstanding the above the single most satisfying aspect of our play was the collective defensive resolve in keeping Chiswick out.  On no less than 5 occasions London Scottish held out Chiswick despite the opposition crossing but critically not grounding, over our try line.  This was all about guts and character and from numbers 1 – 20, the lads shone.

Sunday was a major milestone for our squad and our club.  The coaches and parents are hugely proud of our young men, who have invested heavily in their own progress with considerable work and commitment to self / collective improvement.  This was the best day in the coaching office for our head coaches. C’mon SCOTTISH!!!

Want to get involved? We’re always keen to welcome new players along to our U12, 13 and 14s. We train on a Wednesday evening (6.30-8pm) and a Sunday (U12 9.30-11.30, U13-14 11.30-13.30) at Kings House Sports Ground in Chiswick.   Drop us a line at juniorsconvenor@londonscottish.com. 

13^th October, 2024

Chiswick 25- LS 26

Mikolai – 1 try

Huck – 3 tries

Callum – 3 conversions