What can I say, once again Scotland lost to Australia by one measly point! This time we can only blame ourselves and the inability to make one on one tackles when it counts. However, to put a positive twist on it, our attacking game is the strongest it has been in at least two decades and the team is trying to play the game with some real flair and finesse. Which is a more than welcome change to the monotonous penalty scoring of the recent past, Sorry Chris Patterson and Greg Laidlaw…

Back to the north though and my highlight of the weekend was the First Ross-Sutherland Girls training day, all the girls that made the effort to get up early on the Sunday morning got stuck into and all left clarted in mud and smiles on faces. Bloody fantastic in my books and great preparation for the girls fixtures in two weeks’ time.
Looking to this week, I will be running three primary festivals! One in Alness, one in Dingwall, and one in Invergordon. This gives the school players an opportunity to put their new rugby skills to the test in a fixture with other schools. All together there will be around 200 kids playing competitive rugby this week, can’t turn your nose up at that, can you?

Fingers crossed this November heat wave will last the whole week! Photos to follow next week.

Onto the weekend and it’s tough to decide which of these two events I am more excited for, first one is Scotland’s second Autumn test against Argentina. Two in-form nations and weather permitting I am expecting another expansive game from both teams. Second, the old war horse Alan Mclean is playing in his yearly friendly game commemorating the clubs new flood lights which went up several years ago. Now I know what your all thinking, this blog, the website, the facebook page, the local papers, hell I have expected to see it on the news last week said that Alan had just played his last game! That was is last competitive fixture and this is last time out on the paddock, apparently.

Everyone is welcome to come and watch, game kicks off at 2pm, hang around and watch the Scotland game with a refreshing beverage at the club.

Last but not least, the weather is unfortunately getting a touch chilly it is really important to remember to wrap up the kids when you take them to practise, as my mother use to say to me “you can always take layers off, so I am not going to get you more if you are cold” or another classic “its rugby, not a fashion show! Put a jumper on” wise old girl she is. But in all seriousness, a waterproof and lots of layers is a must during this time off year!

Chur
Ross-Sutherland Community & Rugby Development Officer.