Under-18 cup semi-finals are all-capital affair

Published on Monday 14 December 2009 22:02

A CAPITAL quartet will contest the semi-finals of the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Under-18 Cup as Merchiston, Edinburgh Academy, George Watson's College and Stewart's-Melville College all confirmed their strength this season in progressing to the last four.

These graduations from the quarter-finals mean that whatever the draw, due to be made on 27 December during STV's coverage of the Glasgow v Edinburgh clash at Firhill, the semi-finals will guarantee two cracking ties that should draw sizeable crowds.

Just to emphasise the current strength of schools rugby in the capital, three of the schools in the semi-final of the under-18 competition, Stewart's-Melville, George Watson's and Edinburgh Academy, are also in the semi-finals of the under-15 event.

By far the closest of the quarter- finals in the under-18 cup was at Musselburgh, where Merchiston came from behind to score late on for a thrilling 15-14 win over their old rivals, Loretto. It was a disappointing result for Loretto but at least the Musselburgh school confirmed that they are back on the schools rugby map after a lean period.

For George Watson's College, their journey to Aberdeen was doubly fruitful as both their under-18 and under-15 sides achieved big wins over Robert Gordon's College at Countesswells by 30-3 and 50-0 respectively. In the under-18 game, Watson's tries came from props Chris Scott and Glen Marr, lock Rhys Davies and wingers Ramsay Young and George Dalkin, while the remainder of the points came from Scott Mullins with a penalty and a conversion.

Although not playing their two matches at the same venue, Stewart's-Melville recorded a similar double over George Heriot's with the under 18 side winning by 37-15 and the under-15s taking the spoils with a 32-12 victory.

Hopes that there might have been west coast representation in the under-18 semi-finals disappeared with the defeat of Marr College by Edinburgh Academy. The result was perhaps predictable but at least Marr put up tough resistance before losing 20-3 to what is a strong Edinburgh Academy team this season.

Marr, one of the few state schools able to compete with the independents, also lost out in the under-15 Cup with defeat by 17-5 to Hutchesons' Grammar School. Another prominent state school, North Berwick High School, confirmed that their system, a co- operative venture between school and club, is working successfully , even if the result, a 13-10 defeat to Edinburgh Academy, was not in their favour.

In the Brewin Dolphin Under-18 Plate, Ayrshire schools enjoyed success, Wellington School beating Perth Academy 41-11 and Belmont Academy achieving a 35-7 win over Jordanhill School in the quarter-finals.

Jordanhill also suffered a reverse in the under-15 Bowl, losing to the quaintly-named composite, Obermory, 26-7 in round three, where Langholm Academy pulled off a 24-22 away win over Jedburgh Grammar School.