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This ‘over 35s’ tournament was the show piece finale of Edinburgh Accies 150th anniversary celebrations, which included on the undercard, a match between Accies 1st XV and the Barbarians. Credit must go to Rod Hathway for pulling a formidable squad together. The usual 4th XV suspects were bolstered by several key players including former 1st XV players David Ferguson, Ian Wood, Nicol Fraser, Fergus Henderson and Gavin Hastings. The burly full back arrived without any shorts but luckily 20+ stone prop, James ‘Bad Boy’ McAinsh was able to provide the necessary.
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The warm up was as extensive as you would expect at this level of rugby. In addition to a couple of half hearted line outs and back moves, there was the strange sight of unopposed scrums. It was not clear what the purpose of this was but was surprising to see one lost against the head.
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GAME 1
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Game one was against Inverleith. The early stages were quite scrappy but about half way through the first half, Kenneth Campbell broke through the defence and crossed the line at the corner. “Under the posts” shouted Chunky amusingly as there were in fact no posts. Campbell was not fooled although he did attempt a conversion. As the game wore on, gaps began to open up and another 2 tries were added, securing the all important bonus point. One of the scorers was Kevin Reid, who keeps threatening to play for the 4ths. As was pointed out, in three years time he could play for the same team as his eldest son, although it would require a catastrophic loss of form for the promising youngster to be picked for the dream team. The other try was scored by the ever youthful Ian Wood who was at the centre of most of the action.
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GAME 2
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Second up was Broughton. ‘Sonians started well enough. David Ferguson showed a great step and burst of speed to score the first try and he added a second one shortly after to make it 10-0. Ferguson could be a very useful addition to the dream team squad for next season although he may have to slow down if he expects to have any support. Broughton bounced back and to make it 10-5. Following this try, Nicol Fraser sprinted to halfway before lobbing the ball to your correspondent who attempted a quick restart. The drop kick ricocheted off the back of the head of a retreating Broughton player up into the air and into the arms of the kicker who found himself in space. This planned move was thwarted by the ref who ruled that Nicol was offside.
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Despite this set back, Watsonians stretched away with further tries, one of which was from Alistair Raitt who ran in from 40 metres. In the dying minutes Broughton chipped through and Philippe ‘le capitaine’ Hourcastagné had the easy option of touching down for a 22 drop out. Instead, he set off on a trademark mazy run up to half way. This was most unprofessional and sensibly a support player dropped his pass bring the match to an end and relief to all players. (In the interest of journalistic integrity, it is my duty to inform readers that the ball was not dropped but flew from hands to hands for what can only be described as the try of the tournament. Ed.)
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GAME 3
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This game against the hosts was effectively the final - to the victor the spoils. To the loser, their day would be spoiled
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It has to be said that Watsonians put out a very strong side: The front row consisted of, the ever reliable John Mclellan and Dougie Meikle, and the Max Clifford of rugby, Duncan Small. In the boiler room were James McAinsh and Alistair Raitt and in the back row, Ian Wood, Nicol Fraser and Mark Gifford. Mark Paton, who crossed from the dark side of Stewarts Melville, also subbed on to good effect. The backs looked quite useful on paper if not on grass: Fergus Henderson overcame a tight hamstring and a distinct lack of sympathy from his wife to start at 9; your correspondent was at 10; the centres were the two Gavins - Paul and Hastings; Reid and Campbell were on the wings and Hourcastagné was at full back. David Ferguson subbed on and played a full part.
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Watsonians started at a blistering pace – it wasn’t very quick but a couple of players did have blisters. The visitors opened up an early lead and never looked like losing. 2 tries stay in the memory – one by Duncan Small, only because he keeps going on about it although, to be fair, the big man stooped well to gather Nicol Fraser’s deft chip down the left touchline. The other try was a thing of beauty. Henderson picked up from a scrum and fed Hastings before looping round. He then broke the first line of defence before scissoring with Hourcastagné who came in on a great angle before straightening, drawing the full back and feeding Ferguson who scored in the corner.
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Accies did not give up without a fight and it was just as well that ‘Sonians defence was solid. Mark Gifford, Ian Wood and Nicol Fraser put in some big tackles and el Capitaine saved at least one try by doing likewise.
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The final score was about 7 tries to 4. Pedants may point out that some of the details of this report are factually inaccurate and suggest that it might have been written sooner. All your correspondent can say is that he thoroughly enjoyed yesterday’s tournament and, looking to the future, wouldn’t be at all surprised if Rangers get through to the UEFA cup final on penalties and Borris Johnson wins the London Mayoral election.
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JM
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watsoniansrugby.com
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Published: 28/5/08
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