----------------------------
Scottish Schools 9,
Irish Schools 21
----------------------------
WAS this, perhaps, the hardest game I have watched during the season?
Well, there were five Scots who had to be replaced and one of the
replacements only lasted 10 minutes; at the end the team doctor told me
he felt like going to his bed.
The Scots, having beaten the English, arrived at Balgray full of
confidence. At half-time, 9-0 in front, the mood was definitely up-beat
and the Irish coach was doing an impression of Graeme Souness on a bad
day.
Even then, however, it had to be noted that the visitors were winning
an awful lot of ball at the lines through Robbie Powell and Eric Miller.
Surely their fly-half, Fergal Campion, would not go on squandering
goal-kicking chances -- he missed five in the first half.
At that stage Scots' coach Peter Gallagher was still hopeful. ''I
thought they were a very good side but we were containing them. Then we
conceded a silly try and, ultimately, we ran out of bodies.''
One of the casualties was his own son, Niall, who came on as a
replacement only to suffer a dislocated shoulder.
Even in defeat there was much to savour in the home performance.
Kenneth Baillie was a brave and accomplished full-back while the
abrasive centre, Cameron Murray, impressed, as did scrum-half Philip
Simpson.
The Scots lads always were looking to move the ball, in contrast to
the Irish who, for three-quarters of the game, kicked often and not
well. Who coaches kids to play like this, and do they realise the damage
they are doing?
Ireland had the beef up front but that could not hide the talent of
Graham Dall nor quench the competitive spirit of Keir Hamilton. The
Irish wing, Denis Hickie, looked an exciting prospect.
Martin Hose kicked Scotland in front with a first-minute penalty that
bounced in off a post.
Campion scattered goal-kicks to the wind while Hose managed two more
penalties before half-time.
The Irish took only a couple of minutes of the second period to pierce
the defence, Miller setting up the try, with Hickie scorching in from
the left. Campion missed the conversion and a subsequent penalty to
bring his success rate to none from seven. Scots, however, were now
leaving like emigrants and the blue line was becoming ever thinner.
At last Campion found his range, adding three penalties and converting
a try by Jan Cunningham. Teams:
Scottish Schools -- K I Baillie (Hutchesons'); C I Brims (Fettes
College), A A J McGregor (Stewart's Melville), C A Murray (Knox
Academy), D J Ablett (Boroughmuir); M I Hose (Stranraer Academy), P M S
Simpson (Balwearie High); S J Lithgow (Merchiston Castle), C P Docherty
(Marr College), D E Grant (Dollar Academy), G C Perrett (Bearsden
Academy), C W Rutherford (Merchiston Castle), K M Hamilton (Stewart's
Melville), D McLeish (Kelso High), G F Dall (Heriot's) captain.
Replacements -- G D Burton (Strathallan) for Rutherford (17min.), P N
Gallagher (Berwickshire High) for Hamilton (46), J L McIntosh (Watson's
College) for Docherty (47), C D B Flockhart for Gallagher (56), C J
Lawson (Galashiels Academy) for Hamilton (65).
Irish Schools -- J L Cunningham (Bangor Grammar); J P Topping
(Ballymena Academy), G J Brennan (Pres Brothers), R I McIlreavy (Wesley
College), D A Hickey; F T Campion, C D McGuinness (all St Mary's); S
Waterworth (Methodist College), C Egan, B O Campbell (both Terenure), R
J Powell (King's Hospital), J K Ryan (Blackrock), A R Bermingham (St
Munchin's), E P Miller (Wesley College), K Dawson (Bangor Grammar).
Referee -- S W Piercy (England).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article