SCHOOLS RUGBY
| Portobello crowned at schools' sevens awards |
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| Thursday, 17 June 2010 | ||
After a close-fought match on Murrayfield’s 3G pitch, Trinity came out on top to lift the under-16 trophy. Despite losing their last match, the determination and consistency that Portobello showed throughout the series and points accumulated for reaching the final, were enough to secure the trophy. Steve Roy, Portobello’s under-16 team manager, said: “It has been a steady process to get this far but all the hard work that has been put in for the last eight years is now coming into fruition. It’s great to see the boys who have trained throughout these years – without any rugby background, or club involvement – start to be rewarded. They knew they had to come and win the series for the school today, and they have done just that.” The Sevens Series trophy was be presented along with a variety of other awards at the Edinburgh and Midlothian School Awards Ceremony at Murrayfield on Tuesday (15 June) where awards were presented to the overall Series winner, each of the age-group winners, team and player of the year and all Scottish Widows Bank rugby champions. Rob Moffat, Edinburgh Rugby head coach spoke at the event before former Scotland internationalist and BBC pundit Doddie Weir made an appearance for the Q&A. Ruaridh Pye, development officer for the city of Edinburgh, reflected on the benefits of the series. He said: “The series has now been running for six years and every year we have seen it grow. This year we have had 23 schools involved. “The competition is a great opportunity for schools with no rugby background, like Tynecastle and St Augustine’s, that are currently unable to pull together a fifteen’s team to be involved with rugby at a competitive level. This allows us to work together and encourage more and more pupils to play and build towards achieving complete squads.” Progression is visible in newcomers such as Tynecastle, who entered the series at the beginning of the 2009/10 season, and made an incredible achievement finishing 9th in the overall Series. Jimmy Johnstone, Tynecastle, who scored a hat-trick in the team’s final game today, said: “Most of our team haven’t played rugby before, so to finish in such a position is just amazing. I’m really looking forward to coming back next year; we all get on really well and without each other this just wouldn’t be possible.” St Augustine’s and Forrester Coach, Alexandra Gordon-Smith, added: “The series has provided a great deal of fun for our pupils and has allowed the school to invest in our first ever rugby kit. Two weeks ago we finished fourth in the S1 competition and were so close to winning silverware. It was really exciting to see the guys going out to have fun, and it just so happened they won matches. “We are trying to encourage new sports at the school, which are all proving successful. We also run lunch time sessions for the kids to come along to and if they enjoy it we encourage them to attend the evening training sessions at Forrester.” |
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