Hilversum International Rugby Festival
24th April 2019
Birkmyre U15s returned from their tour of The Netherlands with some silverware by finishing third in the Hilversum International Youth Tournament. The 22-man squad consisted of 17 SIII and 2 SIV pupils from St Columba’s.
Play began with an evening match in Deventer against The Pickwick Players. 2 x 20min periods were played and Birkmyre ran out winners 56-7. The teams were then mixed together for a bounce match of a further 20mins which was won by the odd try.
On tournament day at Hilversum, there were 2 pools of 5 teams in the U15 age group. Each match lasting 20 minutes. The opening fixture was against the hosts which Birkmyre won 26-0. Next up was Wirral who proved to be a far sterner test and the boys went down 5-0. The third game was equally competitive against Hitchin with a final score of 7-0 to Birkmyre with a solitary first half try and conversion being the difference. By the final match, the boys were hot and tiring, knocks and niggles were evident and the match was lost 21-5 to Upminster. Wirral made the final and played the winners of Pool A losing 19-0. However due to Birkmyre’s points difference, they finished overall in third place which was a fantastic result all round.
The boys thoroughly enjoyed the tournament and Hilversum Rugby Club made all teams feel very welcome. Finlay Gray and Sam Craig entertained in style on their bagpipes.
Adam Hannah was top try scorer on the Sunday with 3 tries. Finlay Davidson and Ben Skinner also scored whilst David Cruickshank scored 3 conversions and Archie Keogh scored 1.
On the way back from the tournament, the players, coaches and parents all voted for the Players of the Tournament. There were 6-8 nominations in each category showing just how well so many of the boys played. Best Forward was however Magnus Muir, Best Back was Adam Hannah and Player of the Tournament went to Ben Skinner.
Birkmyre U15s Reach Cup Plate Final
Back on home ground the boys then went on reach their cup final following a convincing 40-0 win over Waysiders/Drumpellier. Despite the scoreline, the match was a tough fought encounter with the teams well matched. However, Birkmyre ran in 3 tries in each half (Ben Skinner 2, Archie Keogh, Alistair Dickson) with 5 converted by David Cruickshank. Birkmyre will now take on Whitecraigs on Sunday 12th May at Parklea in the final.
