A crowd of over 4800 enjoyed the spectacle of two highly competitive Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cup Finals at Murrayfield Stadium today with George Watson’s College defeating Dollar Academy (38-0) in the under-16 game and Edinburgh Academy sneaking victory over George Watson’s College (12-11) in the under-18 final.

Edinburgh Academy under-18 head coach, Mark Appleson, said: “Nobody wants to have the tag of being plucky losers so after being defeated in the final last year it was really important for the school and this group of boys to go that one step further and win it.”

Dollar Academy 0 – 38 George Watson’s College
Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cup under-16 final

A blustery afternoon, with the wind constantly changing direction, made the conditions challenging for both teams but it was Watson’s winger Ben Robbins who put the first points on the board with a well-worked try, converted by centre Adam Hastings, to make it 7-0 after eight minutes.

Good hands and clinical skills resulted in another five-pointer, six minutes later, from prop Dugald Berezford, with the conversion coming up short to increase Watson’s lead to 12-0.

The second period of the opening half saw no let-up in pressure from Dollar however Watson’s scored twice more before the break, through centre Fraser McMillan and a second from Robbins, both converted successfully by Hastings, to make it 26-0 at half time.

Dollar held their own successfully for the opening five minutes of the second half, putting in some searing runs and great defensive work, however Robbins saw the gap and darted down the wing to cross the whitewash, the conversion again from Hastings, to increase Watson’s lead to 31-0 after 42 minutes.

Going into the final 15 minutes, Watson’s showed their pace with another converted try, stand-off Calum Young’s score having the extras added again by Hastings. (38-0)

A raft of substitutions from Watson’s and two from Dollar added fresh legs to the fray, with Dollar’s never-say-die approach almost leading to their first score had the ball not been knocked on just short of the line, however the score remained 38-0.

George Watson’s College under-16 head coach, Ian Brown, said: “We worked really hard this season and this was our main aim to get to the final, so I’m delighted that we won.
 
“We moved forward well and we took our opportunities early in the game, which created a firm foundation and made it very hard for Dollar.
 
“But full marks to them they came back at us in the second-half and dominated the territory but we closed them down.
 
“I thought the whole team performed well, they were nervous but they executed our game plan to create space out wide and everyone played their part in doing that. We had a solid scrum and I thought our back-row was just outstanding; they put in a huge amount of work and tackles and created the base for Ben Robbins and the backs to score.”

Man of the Match: Ben Robbins (George Watson’s College)

Dollar Academy
15 Sam McDougal
14 Brodie Dickson
13 Lewis Hetman
12 Jamie McAloon
11 Joe George
10 Gregor Haldane
9 Jacob Adamson

1 Cameron Grounds
2 Danny Dineen
3 Murray Semple
4 Charlie Thomson
5 Harry Waterston
6 Ben Ward
7 Alexander Crawford (C)
8 Callum Sreenan

Substitutes
16 Niall Ivatt
17 Ollie Page
18 Gavin Pierpoint
19 Lewis Gilbride
21 Charlie Dunn
22 Connor Adam

George Watson’s College
15 Jamie Cousin
14 Cameron McMillan
13 Fraser McMillan
12 Adam Hastings
11 Ben Robbins
10 Calum Young
9 Colin Ladd

1 Edward Irvine
2 Connor Davidson
3 Dugald Berezford
4 Angus Coull
5 Matthew Miller
6 Gordon Rostron
7 Jake Kerr
8 Alastair Miller (C)

Substitutes
16 Aiden Muir
17 Scott Mackintosh
18 Milo Trainor Moss
19 Frazer Wood
20 James Kidd
21 Robert Lind
22 Anton Dowds

Edinburgh Academy 12 – 11 George Watson’s College
Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cup under-18 final

The older age-group final was a more closely balanced affair with a quieter opening half seeing both sides testing each other and defending well.

It was Watson’s who got the scoreboard turning over first, however, with a penalty five minutes in, successfully slotted by centre Jack Broadley.

With possession evenly matched, it was Watson’s captain and scrum half, Ramsay Young, who was making more of a nuisance of himself, burrowing for every ball and harrying the opposition at every turn.

Despite Watson’s threatening the Academy line and a good run from Accies’ number 8 Will Brown on the half-hour mark, the sides went into the break with the scoreline still 0-3.

Early in the second half, Watson’s luck turned with the yellow carding of lock Matt Poole. Although the side held firm for most of the time when they were a man down, the Academy ultimately took their chance and scored two breakaway tries within five minutes, the first from full back Robbie Orr and the second from winger Freddie Smith, the latter converted by centre Alex Swan from a particularly tight angle.

A brave fightback from Watson’s saw a penalty on 57 minutes from Jack Broadley followed by a mass of bodies crossing the whitewash with under ten minutes to go, the try awarded to number 8, Will Brown. The conversion went wide to make the final score 12-11 to Edinburgh Academy.

Edinburgh Academy head coach, Mark Appleson added: “The boys deserve it they have been an outstanding group and worked hard all year.
 
“With a 12-3 lead I thought that we would push on and score more tries, more points but they did really well to get back into it.
 
“Then it was 12-11 with ten minutes to go so we had to close the game down. I’m delighted at how the guys reacted on the pitch and finished the game off.
 
“This was a typical team performance these players live and breathe rugby. Angus Lutton our hooker was simply monumental, Chris Thomson in the second row made a staggering number of tackles and our six (Cameron Simpson), seven (Rory Simpson) and eight (Chris Dean) made the difference between the two teams. Finally, our stand-off Alexander Muir controlled the game particularly well.”

Man of the match: Chris Dean (Edinburgh Academy)

Edinburgh Academy
15 Robbie Orr
14 Thomas Salisbury
13 Alex Swan
12 Tom Grey
11 Freddie Smith
10 Alexander Muir
9 Alex Glashan

1 Josh Haining
2 Angus Lutton
3 Andrew McWilliam
4 Ronan Seydak
5 Chris Thomson
6 Cameron Simpson
7 Rory Simpson
8 Chris Dean (C)

Substitutes
16 Mack Millar
17 Thomas Mitchell
18 Rory Smith
19 Jamie Spratt
20 Jonty Bredin
21 Callum Peace
22 Scott McWilliam

George Watson’s College
15 Fraser McKay
14 Dominic Johnston
13 Andrew McMillan
12 Jack Broadley
11 Chris Macbeth
10 Euan McKean
9 Ramsay Young (C)

1 Michael Gillespie
2 Ross Gregor
3 Rhys Jack
4 Matt Poole
5 Neil Irvine Hess
6 Matt Horsman
7 Nick Hurn
8 Will Brown

Substitutes
16 James Hassall
17 Hamish Campbell
18 Andrew Watts
19 Henry Lawrence
20 James Bedford
21 Chris Cash
22 Peter Clink