Last Saturday saw the seniors play as The Kilts against Kew Occies at Richmond Athletic Ground. The Kilts is our occasional and exhibition amateur team here at London Scottish that can play at different levels. Against Occies the squad was made up of Highlanders, Claymores and Extra Bs players and the odd coach, all playing together in a good level friendly match.
Kew Occies always field a team full of experienced players with the skills to play a decent quick passing game.
We asked Calum Digby, a London Scottish player, to write a short match report and comment on his time this season at the club.
The Kilts v Kew Occies – by Calum Digby
A game that was played in good spirits against a strong Kew side. As it was the last game for the long serving Scottish player and Claymores captain, Ricki Cleveland, the team wanted to win his last game for him and add to his legacy at the club as junior and senior player.
The game was littered with errors from start to finish even with the wonderful weather conditions. Even with those errors Scottish were up 11-7 at half time with a try from Finn Taylor and penalties from Jamie Urquhart Scottish needed to play well in second half if they wanted to get the win as they were now against the wind.
But unfortunately Kew were able to exploit the Scottish defence and scored a couple of tries to take them ahead. With Jamie Urquhart breaking through the middle and scoring a great solo try from flyhalf and from the 10m, it brought the scores closer.
Even with coach Corné du Rand coming off the bench for the last 7 minutes the deficit could not be overturned and Kew Occasionals ended up winning 32-18. Not the ideal send off for Ricki but the players enjoyed the friendly nevertheless and the social afterwards!
Next up for the seniors is two Shield 1 games for the Highlanders against Old Elthamians on the 24th and Barnes on the 30th followed by the Middlesex Club 7s on the 1st of May where we have entered a team in the Open and Social competitions.
We asked Calum to also write a bit about the year as an academy player and a senior player.
My experience of playing in the Academy
Playing in the academy this year at London Scottish has been a great experience. Training and playing with like minded players who want to learn and development as much as me has been valuable. This makes for a great team bond and atmosphere at training and matches. With playing against strong opposition like Oxford University and the Royal Navy U23 the players are able to be challenged while still enjoying the rugby.
My experience of Senior Rugby at Scottish
With playing senior rugby at London Scottish you can play at a high level and still have fun, while still developing your skills. Lots of matches are played through out the season and this builds experience.
Work experience at London Scottish
As part of my Level 3 BTEC Sport course at Merrist Wood College, I have to do 80 hours of work experience and I have been able to do it at London Scottish.
What I wanted to get out of the work experience is to see what it is like to work in a professional rugby club environment and see what kind of roles there can be within the organisation.
Hopefully with this work experience, it can give me the tools to help me to get a job in the professional sports industry.
