Fifteen members of the London Scottish U14 squad swapped Sunday training for the chance to enjoy a match-day experience on Saturday 3rd November.
The day kicked off with a training session on pitch six and first XV scrum-half Ross Samson joined the team’s regular coaches, leading a session on timing a pass in a two v one situation. This was followed with short intensive input, putting the boys through their paces in improving tackle techniques.
The boys agreed that the session was extremely worthwhile and Ian, the current U14 scrum-half, said afterwards: “It was great to have Ross working with us today. He really made us focus on some of the details and has definitely improved some of our basic skills”.
Samson: “It's good for the younger lads to feel connected to the senior squad. It's important and very useful in creating a good club environment and serves a purpose in making sure we have a constant stream of players developing and coming through the ranks for years to come. I found the session very enjoyable – the boys were very enthusiastic and listened to advice and coaching tips. They had good basic skills and understanding and there was clearly some real talent.”
The club then treated the boys to lunch in the clubhouse – a great opportunity to enjoy the social side of rugby over a scotch pie and frittes. The boys then had the chance to do some fund-raising for the end-of-season Glasgow Tour with a traditional bucket shake as the crowd was arriving for the match. Happily for all, this put a few extra pounds into the tour fund.
The First Team then took to the field at 3pm to face Leeds and the boys welcomed them onto the pitch with a guard of honour. At half-time, a short, sharp game of sevens on the first team pitch kept the crowd entertained and gave the boys the chance to legitimately get a run on the hallowed turf!
This was a great day for the U14 squad and a great advertisment for junior rugby at London Scottish. Any player interested in joining the squad should contact Euan on 07939 988019 or Wynne on 07979 495097. You do not have to be Scottish to join the clan.
