Merchiston warm up for Madras in style

Merchiston continued their successful schools season with a 31-7 defeat of Heriot's on Saturday to boost confidence ahead of their opening match of the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Cup under-18 second round mini league match against Madras College today.

The Colinton school led Heriot's 24-7 at half time with a try apiece from each of the front row and then a fourth from scrum half Alex Webb with a short range effort. Last season's Scotland U17 stand-off, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, claimed two first half conversions before adding the extra points to a second try for prop Nick Wright after the break.

For Heriot's, whose try was scored by No 8 David Ellen, their well-organised and disciplined defence throughout was a feature of their play against a side already being tipped for cup honours.

Today, Merchiston may be too strong for Madras College but the St Andrews School, where former international referee Malcolm Changleng is head of physical education, is raising its sights, partly through ambition and partly because of necessity.

"With only Buckhaven HS out of 19 Fife secondaries providing first XV opposition, the College have had to extend their fixture list to play more of the private schools.

"This is beneficial in providing top class rugby, but extremely challenging in the context of being competitive each and every season" said Changleng.

In Perthshire, the match between Glenalmond and George Watson's College was abandoned with the scoreline at 7-0 in favour of Glenalmond.

Meanwhile defending champions, Edinburgh Academy, remain undefeated this season, their latest victory coming on Saturday, a 14-0 win over Loretto with tries from wingers Freddie Smith and Jamie Farndale. The Academy were forced to rest several of their players for the Loretto game after their hard , bruising but successful match against Durham School last week, that produced a 20-12 win.

The Brewin Dolphin under 18 Plate, comprising the losers from the preliminary and first rounds of the Cup, follow a similar pattern of minileagues, with the winners of each group progressing into the knock-out stage.

The slight favourites at this stage would appear to be St Aloysius College who lost 9-7 to Dollar in round one of the cup. Also in the frame will be Glasgow High School, Glenalmond College, Banchory Academy, Dunbar Grammar School and Peebles High School.