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Tag Festival Report 4-5-12

Orkney Primary Schools Tag Rugby Festival a Hit

Photos: Orkney Photographic

Last Friday saw the fourth Community tag rugby festival take place at the Pickaquoy. Four Hundred and Seventy children participated in the festival which had fifty teams on display playing on ten pitches. Despite the cold conditions all teams got stuck into their games playing different schools and enjoying the whole experience. Each team played four games in their pool which lasted six minutes per half. 

Festival coordinator Bruce Ruthven explained; “the children have had a great time today and played hard and fast rugby showing that they are more than capable tag rugby players. The commitment from the schools to travel into the festival has been superb and the attitude from everyone has been very positive. The pace at which a lot of the matches have been played has been tremendous to watch and a real feather in the cap for the schools. A big thank you to the forty volunteers that have turned out today and also Cash back for Communities who have supported the event with contributions towards the schools travel costs. Well done to all of the children involved”.

Neil McIntosh from St. Andrews primary School explained; “It was great to see so many pupils and schools represented today and the look of enthusiasm and motivation on their peedie faces was brilliant especially in such cold conditions. All our 51 pupils thought the day was excellent and came home tired but from having such a great time and mixing with pupils from other schools. Great job done by all the lads and lasses from the rugby club who support the youth development so well.  I can't count the amount of staff and parents today that commented on how well run the event is.

Congratulations to Sanday J.H.S. who were awarded the Community Rugby Project Contribution award. Sanday received this in recognition of their commitment to the community rugby project and their continued enthusiasm and support with their rugby development.

Easter Break 2012 Training Day Report

On Friday 6^th April Orkney Rugby Football club held a rugby activity day for all children from P1-7, the Day was split into two parts with the P1-3’s in the morning from 10-12 and the P4-7’s in the afternoon from 1-3. Each two hours slot was held behind the Rugby club on the back pitch. It was also the second day of the youth Coaching course that was run the day previous.

First was the P1-3’s, they started by being split into two groups, each group was assigned to a station containing different activities, these were: Ball skills and Obstacle Courses. Once each station was completed by each of the groups they swapped over. All the activities were set up by the coaches that were present at the Youth Coaching Course. The Obstacle courses included things like Hurdles, Tires, Crawling under tackle bags and diving to score tries. After each group had had a shot at each activity they moved onto games of Tag and Contact Rugby, Luckily the weather held out and some good games of rugby we able to be played.

Second came the P4-7’s, like the earlier session they were split into groups, these were P4/5’s and P6/7s. After a dynamic warm up they moved onto obstacle courses, the courses were modified from the first session to make it harder and more challenging for the players and Stadium ball, this was played by one group as the other did the obstacle courses.

Once each group had completed these activities they were split into 4 smaller groups and worked in a circuit moving around each group of two coaches coaching a specific Key National Theme. The four Key National Themes are: Hand Catch, Tackle Technique, Offload and Ball Presentation. Once each group had completed the session they moved on to the next, after this a big game was played with all players being split into two teams. Each coach got a chance to referee and coach to put onto practice all they had learnt on the Youth Coaching Course.

Thank you to Liam Moar, Chris Munson, Orrin Fraser, Stewart Flett and Ross Sinclair for their participation in the Youth Coaching Course and Rugby Activity Day.

SRU Youth Coaching Course Report

On Thursday 4^th and Friday 5^th Orkney RFC held a Youth Coaching Course for under- 16 and under-18 players, the two day course aim’s to teach players how to become a better coach and it was joined with the Orkney RFC Rugby Activity on the Friday which would give the players a chance to used their new coaching skills.

6 people attend the course which included a variety of coaching specific information including Child Protection, Health and Safety, Laws and the Code of Conduct for the game. The course is split into 5 modules, four with a practical element to be completed, the first module – Simply Coaching, had the attending coaches split into groups and coaching a specific Key Nation Theme to the other group, these were Hand Catch and Tackle Technique. The other three modules practical element was completed on the Friday at the Tag Rugby Activity Day.

On the Friday the players who attended the course assisted with the running of activities, these were Obstacle courses and Ball skills after that they were split unto groups and given a specific Key National Theme to coach, then a game to referee.

Over all the Youth Coaching Course was enjoyed by all, some comments from the players were:

Liam Moar – “the course was good fun, learnt a lot, it is helping us start a coaching career that we are all very keen for”.

Orrin Fraser – “it was good fun, we learnt about all the basic coaching skills like roles of the coach, what attributes they need and the coaching processes”.

Age Grade Pathways Key National Themes Programme

Twenty eight Orkney Rugby players at Under 14 & Under 15 levels took part in the first Scottish Rugby Skills Camps working on the Key National Themes programme. Identified players were assessed over the two days and will now receive feedback on their performances. Players who show a positive attitude and great commitment to their training as well as working towards improving their Key National Theme skills may in the future receive opportunities to represent the Highlands and Caledonia, or even Scotland.

Scottish Rugby Coaches with Orkney U14s & U15s players 

Colin Phillips, Regional Academy Coach for the North stated; “From a performance perspective we’ve had a very productive two sessions where ambitious talented young Orcadian put their hand up to progress through SRU pathways. A credit to the hard work of the coaches delivering to these players on a weekly basis. There has been a definite improvement from last year’s assessments.”

Highlands & Islands Development Manager Brian Bell said; “I was delighted to see the enthusiastic young players from across the Orkney Islands working hard to improve their rugby skills at what was the first of a number of skills camps to be held across Scotland.”

Rugby Development Officer, Bruce Ruthven expressed; “this is the second year that the Scottish Rugby Key National Theme programme has been launched in Orkney. The players did very well over the two days and worked hard to showcase their talents.”

Level 1 refereeing course report

Orkney RFC show strong refereeing foundations for the future

As part of Scottish Rugby’s new drive towards increasing refereeing numbers around the country a Level 1 refereeing course was held at the rugby club on Wednesday 4^th April which fifteen candidates took part in. The course was tutored by Caledonia Referee Development Manager Bob Easton who was very impressed with the large turnout and knowledge of the boys. The course was aimed at fifteen to eighteen year olds who would then undertake refereeing duties at club tournaments, festivals and rugby activity days.

Level 1 Refereeing Course candidates pictured with
Bob Easton from Scottish Rugby Union and Bruce Ruthven, Orkney RFC

The course covered topics such as Roles and Responsibilities of the Referee, Safety Guidelines, Communication Styles, Rules of the Game and finally a course exam which every candidate passed. For candidates to receive their level 1 Refereeing award, they now require a formal assessment on the refereeing which will be assessed at the earliest opportunity.

Club Development Officer Bruce Ruthven added;

“ It was great to see a large turnout of current players on the course who clearly were very interested in learning more about the game, the boys have showed that they understand the differing roles of the referee and probably have a new found respect for referees. Everyone on the course will receive the opportunity to gain experience through club festivals and tournaments.”

Comments from current Orkney U16 players were;

“I gained a better understanding of the game itself and of basic refereeing skills and techniques. I now feel confident about refereeing a mini`s or S1 match and would enjoy doing so.” Orrin Fraser.

“It was a fun and enjoyable experience where we learnt a lot” Chris Munson.

“We learnt the basics of refereeing. We started on hand signals and the basic infringements; we then went outdoors and put what we learnt into practice. We also focussed on Scrums, line-outs and off side’s laws of the game.” Liam Moar

U16 Strength & Conditioning 3-12

Orkney Rugby Players receive Strength & Conditioning Training

Over the past four weeks, Under 16 players have received conditioning training with Club Development Officer Bruce Ruthven and Strength 101 trainer Steven Logie.  The boys have been working hard at circuit training which includes lower and upper body weight exercises as well as postural training.  The four week block has given the boys a chance to learn how their body works and copes under strenuous conditions whilst practicing new weight lifting techniques.  The training will give a good platform for the players to work from and they will gain confidence in respect to their long term player development.

Bruce stated; “The players have worked very well over the past four weeks and gained valuable experience in this environment.  The objective of the sessions was for the boys to understand the principles of training, safety in a gym environment and learn three weight lifting techniques, Bench Press, Back Squat and the dead lift.  The players who have committed to the past four weeks and shown good understanding and technique will now receive the opportunity to progress onto an eight week conditioning programme starting after the Easter holidays.  Well done to the boys for their efforts to date, and thank you to Liam Sharpe and Michael Schinkel for their assistance in this project.

St Andrews Tag Rugby 3-12

St Andrews complete Tag Rugby sessions

P7/6 and P6/5 classes at St Andrews School have just finished their 6 week block of Tag Rugby with Liam Sharpe and Bruce Ruthven. The staff and pupils thoroughly enjoyed the sessions as always, where the beautiful Orkney winter weather shone for us and we had 6 consecutive dry sessions outside on the school pitch!

The pupils worked hard to develop their skills in tag rugby before moving on to work in teams and compete against each other which culminated in 2 competitive tag sessions with the classes mixed and around 50 pupils taking part. P6/5 class completed their Scottish Food Standards Agency and SRU Food Diary awards during the 6 weeks which linked their class work on health and wellbeing to the practical tag rugby sessions. The sessions included various activities which prepared the pupils to play competitive games of tag rugby, some of these were: Tag stuck in the mud working on evasive footwork, 6 cone grids and Shuttle passing working on passing and catching the ball and Stadium ball working on evasive footwork and scoring try’s.

Thanks must go to Bruce Ruthven, Chris Guthrie and Fraser MacNaughton for refereeing the final 2 sessions but especially to Liam Sharpe who work hard with the pupils to develop and challenge their skills in preparation for the games they competed in at the end. Well done to all.

Liam Sharpe added “it’s really good to be able to get outside to coach at the schools especially when the weather is good, the standard of Tag Rugby was very high when I arrived at the school from both boys and girls and provided good, competitive games to finish the coaching block”

Stromness Tag Rugby Festival Report 3-12

Tag Rugby Fun for Stromness Primary Pupils

Pupils enjoyed a tag rugby mini-festival at the new all-weather pitch thanks to support from Orkney Rugby Development officer, Bruce Ruthven. The event was organised as part of an exciting and varied Health Week programme, and involved 68 pupils from Primaries 5, 6 and 7. 

A total of eight teams each played six eventful and energetic matches, refereed by Liam Sharpe and Fraser McNaughton of Orkney Rugby Club, and organised and managed by Mr Ruthven. The aim was to take part, do your best and have some fun and exercise in the process! William Omand said:

 “I really enjoyed the day because I like playing rugby.”

Tag Rugby is a popular sport amongst pupils and the spark for this particular event was pupils’ evident disappointment when last year’s Primary Tag Rugby Festival and a school event were both rained off. Pupils benefit from four weeks of tag rugby training each year with Bruce Ruthven, which is being extended this year to include pupils from Primary 1 upwards.

For many pupils this was their first experience of playing on the new pitch. Lucy Leech of P5 commented:

“I really enjoyed the tag rugby festival because I like using the new pitch and like being active.” 

Enthusiasm for the new pitch is widespread:

“The new pitch is great - brilliant for playing football and rugby on” (Ewan Casely, P5).

The walk to the pitch was fun too - particularly passing the new primary school which pupils and staff are looking forward to being in later this year.

Bruce Ruthven added; “The tag rugby festival provided the opportunity for children to showcase their skills, teamwork, leadership qualities and enjoy a great morning of games. All of the children played very well and displayed good knowledge of the rules. Many thanks to Fraser Macnaughton and Liam for refereeing. I look forward to visiting the school in the near future for the lower primary rugby sessions.”

U16s Match Report v Highland 18-3-12

Orkney U16s - 38 v Highland U16s - 7

ORFC U16’s played Highland in the quarter final of the Caly Cup on Sunday at Pickaquoy. This was only their second game of 2012 but a squad of twenty players were eager to play against their rivals from Inverness.

For twenty minutes of the game it seemed that Orkney were quite happy to let Highland totally dominate play, they were faster to the ball, they rucked effectively whilst Orkney stood about or got in each others way and deservedly took a seven point lead within five minutes of the start of the game. Orkney did begin to show a few signs that they might know what they were trying to do when they passed the ball to the backs. Cammy MacConnachie and Jack Siderfin both had quite forceful runs but the Highland tackling was excellent, stopping the break and then winning the ball from the breakdown.

The final error from Orkney was to take a tap penalty and try to run the ball from deep in their own half; with the wind very much in their favour, make only three meters of ground and then lose the ball to Highland. Much to the crowd and coaches bewilderment!

From that point however, Orkney produced a great display of exciting, running rugby that entertained the large crowd who had gathered to watch and prevented Highland from adding any more points on to their score. Taylor Pilkington –Tait and Jack Stout began to use the wind effectively sending several long kicks deep into the Highland defensive areas.

With the strong wind making line outs difficult Orkney were able to keep the pressure on Highland who were having difficulty getting the ball back up field. It was this pressure that paid off when a clearance kick from Highland hit a group of players and deflected behind the Orkney line out. David Porteous took control of the ball and produced the best piece of play so far for Orkney. He used speed and strength to break out of at least two tackles and out sprinted other defenders to score a great individual try. Cammy MacConnachie comfortably converted this to tie the scores at seven points each after twenty minutes of the first half. Cammy went on to score four conversions out of six attempts which was an excellent effort considering the strong wind that made conditions difficult for kickers.

Orkney took heart from this try and were soon back on the attack, Taylor Pilkington-Tait was just forced into touch as he looked to be clear down the wing, after a superb individual break from the halfway line. The forwards got their act together and drove Highland back towards their own try line by picking the ball up and driving from the base of the rucks. Several changes were made in the Orkney team and the subs. lifted the team play again; Andrew Linklater and ben Sutherland in particular were so forceful at the breakdowns that Highland couldn’t secure good ball.

Both sides were giving away penalties at rucks and mauls and after Orkney had driven the ball up to the try line and failed to score they opted to kick at goal to take a lead just before halftime, but the kick was unsuccessful but Highland were in trouble trying to clear the ball up field from the 22m restart.

The score was seven all at halftime, Orkney had to play into the wind
for the half so it would take a big effort to overcome Highland. Orkney were in a much more determined frame of mind at the start of the second half and it was Highland under pressure. The first kick off was caught by Orkney and with several forwards driving the maul, play was taken right into the Highland 22meter area.

A quickly taken tap penalty by Andrew Linklater resulted in a pile up of players on the try line. Andrew underneath several Highland players but the try was not awarded as the referee couldn’t see the grounding of the ball. Highland held out and got the ball clear but any kicks that didn’t go into touch were brought back by Jack Stout and Highland were back to defending. The support play by Orkney was much improved and the ball was switched back and forth across the field. Duncan Gray making an excellent run up the wing and forcing Highland to make another excellent tackle.

A lineout on the 5 meter line was not controlled by Highland and Joey Fischler was driven forwards by the Orkney pack he was able to score the try despite Highland defenders attempting to hold him up. Play was fairly even for the next few minutes but gradually Orkney got back into control of the game, Taylor making Highland retreat into their own half with some clever kicks into touch. Another penalty to Orkney was taken quickly by Ben Sutherland, he was tackled but the ball was off loaded quickly and the center partnership of Cammy passing to Jack allowed Jack to crash over for a good try.

Craig Russell made a good break up the wing, breaking out of two or three tackles before play was eventually taken into touch. Two passages of play from Orkney which saw the ball passed through several pairs of hands ended with a simple try being missed and one excellent try being scored. Orrin Fraser was tackled a meter from the line and as the ball broke clear, Jack Siderfin was able to pick up the ball and dive over for his second try.

Highland were beginning to tire and despite some good tackles from Highland Orkney were able to recycling the ball and run at the defenders. Jack scored his third try of the game by breaking clear of the midfield tacklers and running in from twenty meters.

The final score went to Taylor Pilkington- Tait who called a move when Orkney were awarded a scrum on the left touchline, the ball was fed quickly out to Taylor. A couple of dummy runners drew the Highland players attention allowing Taylor to break clean through the gap between the Highland stand off and center to score under the posts.

Final score thirty eight points to seven to Orkney. The overall performance from Orkney, after the first twenty minutes was excellent, all twenty boys demonstrated good commitment and some superb team play. The backs scored most of the points but it was made easy by the forwards who wore Highland down so much at scrums and rucks that their forwards were unable to assist their backs in defending. The Orkney front row were totally dominant and the six players who had spells in the back row for Orkney linked up well with the backs and tackled the Highland players almost to a standstill. The half backs are showing a good understanding and mixing up the play effectively. Man of the match – Jack Siderfin but pushed hard by Ben Sutherland, Andrew Linklater and Taylor Pilkington-Tait.

Next round – semi-final away to Mackie.

A.Askew

U14s Stromness v Wick U14s