Sports Clubs - Rugby

while 27 boys and 14 girls played in senior mens or womens cricket in the period from 8th August.

Notably the Womens joint team with Edinburgh South (pictured above) defeated Carlton on Sunday 16th August, Carlton a second time and Watsonians in the three matches arranged for them. The opportunity for noteworthy individual performances was much reduced. In the 1st XI Kris Steel scored most runs, 80 at an average of 13.3 with a top score of 41 v Corstorphine. Adam McHoul scored 74 at an average of 14.8 with a highest score of 40 (his best in the 1st XI) and maybe regrets missing out on a fifty (having been comfortably run out). Steven Parker scored 69 at an average of 17.25 with 21 not out his best. Callum Steel (ave 8.3) and Joe Newman (ave 31.9) each took 7 wickets. Individual high points were Callum Steel achieving his second hat-trick (and 4 wickets in 5 balls) for the club v Grange in the subsequently abandoned “Super Six” 16 over match. In the Saturday match Chris Miller batted through all 40 overs v Watsonians for 23 not out. Adam McHoul (40), Mikey Miller (37) and Vishal Shah (35) helped put a winning score of 164 on the board v Corstorphine after difficult start. Ollie Rees with 80 runs from two innings (HS 50 v Marchmont) was top scorer in the 2nd XI (won 3 lost 2). Leading wicket taker was Ben Jamieson who played all 5 matches taking 9 wickets (ave 4.67) in 19 overs. The 3rd XI played 4 matches (won 1, lost 3), highest run scorer was Victor Coltherd with 71 runs (ave 23.6) and most wickets were taken by Simon Edgar with 5 (ave 6.4). In the 4th XI (won 1, lost 4) Rory Anderson played all 5 matches and finished both equal top run scorer (63) (ave 15.75) and leading wicket taker with 10 (ave 9.6). Aly Wallace also scored 63 runs in his 2 innings with 54 not out v Boroughmuir 2s. The Trojans played 2 matches - defeating E=MCC twice. Their final three matches were rained off. The resurgence of Covid over the Winter months has to date prevented any indoor practice and may impact on what kind of season we may have this Summer. Looking forward it is anticipated that some junior practice will be allowed indoors subject to Covid compliance while the form of outdoor cricket in the Summer remains an unknown. The club was sorry to hear of the losses of Hon Vice-President Ian Adam, and significant past players Dougie Morgan and Ron Scobie in the past year. Last year I intimated I would stand down as Secretary at this time and Lawrance Reilly having completed two years as President is also retiring. I am sure everyone wishes the successors a better cricket season than 2020.

Robert Barclay

Secretary

RUGBY

When lockdown hit us in March the Stewart’s Melville RFC 1st XV was sitting top of National League Division 2 with only four games left to play. We had a seven point advantage with a relatively straightforward run-in, having already played our close rivals both home and away. We were also in the semi-finals of the National League Cup. The growing belief that we would be playing in the second tier of Scottish club rugby came to an abrupt halt when the SRU called the season ‘null and void’ due to the unlikelihood of remaining fixtures being fulfilled. A

heart-breaking end to the season, although I do recognise that, for many people, there are far more important things to worry about than club rugby! The lack of promotion (or silverware) should not, however, take anything away from what was a pretty sensational season. The grit, determination and skill shown by the players was nigh on faultless. Some of the games will live long in the memory, particularly away wins against Kirkcaldy, GHK and, in particular, Dumfries Saints. The fact that no-one ended up frostbitten after the Dumfries game mystified many, but the ability of our boys to defend the line in the last 10 minutes was simply phenomenal. A real team effort if ever there was one. Not to be outdone, the newly branded Development Team (formerly the 2nd XV), also pulled off some rather impressive results. Wins against Boroughmuir, Heriot’s and Edinburgh Accies, amongst others, helped the team finish third in East Reserve League Division 1. The fact that many players represented both our sides shows there is good strength in depth at the club. The Ferry Road Wanderers, our social side shared with Heriot’s, is on hiatus at the moment. Playing numbers in clubland have continued to drop which has led to a number of teams pulling out of league rugby. We are hopeful we can restart the project in the near future. Please get in touch if you fancy a run out! To off-field matters. When the country was in lockdown the players came to me with the idea that they could help our vulnerable members by running errands for them. They would happily pick up groceries or medication and deliver them to the door. Our committee also kept in regular contact with certain members to ensure they were coping with the difficult situation. I could not be prouder of everyone involved with these initiatives. The bond holding the Stewart’s Melville Rugby Club family together is a strong one. A quick note of congratulations to our very own Colin Rigby, who was recently voted in as Vice-President of the SRU. Very well deserved!

Simon Breeze

Club President, Stewart’s Melville RFC

Stewart’s Melville RFC wins Lions award

Stew Mel RFC was named the first ever Lions Origin Club of the Month in February, thanks to innovative fundraising by the Graves family. Twin brothers William and Thomas Graves, and dad Adrian (P7 Stew Mel Lions Head Coach), came up with the idea to turn old rugby balls into pencil cases and wallets, and sold them to raise money for the Wooden Spoon Charity. They had been inspired by a market stall they saw on holiday in 2019 and began producing the recycled products in summer last year. They began selling them in September and enjoyed a lot of attention – leading to the award early this year. The British and Irish Lions, in conjunction with Canterbury, were suitably impressed. Stewart’s Melville has produced six British and Irish Lions to date – Finlay and Jim Calder, Sandy Hinshelwood, John Douglas, Doug Morgan and Doddie Weir. Well done to the Graves family!