Finally, that’s the full history, 1952 to present day, of our 2 clubs’ affiliation, uploaded and online. I have uploaded all of Davids info, files, folders and photographs in various formats, as you will see as you peruse, trying to find one that is easy to read and use. The PDF format looks good, in my opinion, as it can be zoomed into, for those, like myself that need binoculars!! Opening the PDF in a different tab is also available on some pages. Photographs take up a huge amount of space, so I am still trying various options for these that don’t compromise on quality too much.

I have moved the Skerries History to the top of the menu bar, for this weekend, so that it is easier to navigate to, should you wish to look up anything during the weekend. If anyone wants to drop some photos and/or videos to me over the weekend, you can send them to [email protected] and I will get them there. Remember that the content has to be publishable!

Anyway, Have a great weekend, wish I was there!! Enjoy.

Head Coach Gregor Townsend has made one change to the starting Scotland team for this Saturday’s NatWest 6 Nations Test against an unbeaten Ireland side at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (10 March, kick-off 2.15pm) – live on ITV / STV.

Back-to-back wins over France and England at BT Murrayfield have earned all but one of the starting XV the opportunity to take their home form on the road, with Glasgow Warriors wing Tommy Seymour an injury-enforced change to the back division, having failed to recover sufficiently from the back injury sustained in the national team’s Calcutta Cup win.

In-form Edinburgh Rugby back Blair Kinghorn will earn his first start for the national team on the wing in place of Seymour, with Glasgow Warriors wing Lee Jones taking his vacated place on the bench.

Townsend has made one further change to the replacements bench, with Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown – who featured in all but two Scotland Tests last year – returning from injury to replace Scott Lawson.

Scotland Head Coach, Gregor Townsend, said: “We were delighted with the result against England and backing up our win against France with an improved performance.

“The intent we showed in attack and defence in the first half was very encouraging and we continued to work hard in the second-half. The effort that went into denying England a second try in the closing minutes was great to see.

“Our players had prepared very well for the challenge of taking on England and there has been a similar focus and commitment this week at training.

“There are a few areas of our game that we are working to improve and we are aware that we will have to be better if we are to beat a very good Ireland side in Dublin.”

Scotland team to face Ireland in Dublin

NatWest 6 Nations Round 4: Saturday 10 March (kick-off 2.15pm) – live on ITV / STV

15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 58 caps

14. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps
12. Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 31 caps
11. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 32 caps

10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps
9. Greig Laidlaw VICE CAPTAIN (Clermont Auvergne) – 61 caps

1. Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 30 caps
2. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 15 caps
3. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps
4. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 21 caps
5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps
6. John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 69 caps
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 18 caps
8. Ryan Wilson VICE CAPTAIN (Glasgow Warriors) – 35 caps

Substitutes

16. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 29 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
18. Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 20 caps
19. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
20. David Denton (Worcester Warriors) – 37 caps
21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 14 caps
22. Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps
23. Lee Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 7 caps

Scotland v England highlights courtesy of SRU Youtube channel.

PRO14 Rugby have confirmed that tomorrow night’s Guinness PRO14 Round 17 fixture against Munster has been postponed until the weekend of 16/17/18 March.

An early decision was made after consultation among PRO14 Rugby, Edinburgh and Munster due to severe weather warnings that remain in place across the UK and Ireland.

Threats to travel and the potential of severe weather on the day of the game raised concerns to the health and safety of supporters, match officials, players and staff from both clubs which is always paramount in such situations.

The severe weather currently being experienced in the UK and Ireland combined with the further inclement conditions forecast for tomorrow night, means that those travelling to BT Murrayfield would likely be exposed to hazardous conditions which raises welfare concerns.

It is therefore in the best interests of everyone involved to postpone the fixture until the weekend of 16/17/18 March. The exact date and kick-off time will be confirmed as soon as possible.

We hope that supporters understand the reasons behind this postponement and that any inconvenience caused is minor compared to the impact of making this decision closer to kick-off.

Ticket holders are encouraged to retain their tickets as they will be valid for the rearranged fixture. Further information will be sent to ticket holders via email direct from Edinburgh Rugby.

Scotland captain John Barclay has hailed an epic victory in which Scotland showed strength across the park to stun England at BT Murrayfield.

Both sides were coming off the back of hard-fought wins in Round 2 and Scotland seized the initiative with three first-half tries to record a famous victory.

Barclay said: “I’m enjoying the win, they’re a fantastic side so to win, to have the trophy in the dressing room and to play in such a fantastic game at BT Murrayfield, as epic as it was today, is something I’ll remember.

“We threw the ball around and kept them guessing, played with tempo and with a lot of accuracy.

“That’s the balance you have to have when you play with that tempo which we have perhaps not got quite right yet in this 6 Nations.”

Scotland had a tough opening to the tournament with a loss away to Wales but rallied against France to get their campaign back on track while England travelled to Edinburgh as favourites after two victories.

Barclay said: “We knew we’d get a bit of stick after the Wales game, that’s the nature of the beast, but we believed we hadn’t become a bad defensive side overnight and that we’d fronted up pretty well against some of the best teams in the Autumn and last year’s Six Nations, with the exception of the England game.

We had a different strategy going into the game to push a few more guys into the front-line which was brilliant today.

“The guys fronted up brilliantly and on-the-whole, although there were a few line-breaks that England made, we defended very well.”

Final score: Scotland 25 – 13 England

Scotland

Head Coach Gregor Townsend has reselected the starting line-up from Scotland’s round two win over France (32-26) for this Saturday’s Calcutta Cup clash with England at BT Murrayfield Stadium (kick-off 4.45pm) – live on BBC.

The Scots fought back from a ten-point deficit on two occasions and scored 12 unanswered points in the final quarter to post their first win of the 2018 NatWest 6 Nations Championship, with the two-try showing rewarded with reselection for the staring XV.

There are, however, three changes to the bench with fit-again prop Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) and lock Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – both of whom returned to the squad this week – named among the replacements in place of Jon Welsh (Newcastle Falcons) and Ben Toolis (Edinburgh Rugby).

Centre Nick Grigg is the only change among the backs replacements as a reward for his consistency of performance for Glasgow Warriors, highlighted in his man-of-the-match winning performance for the club in their bonus-point win over Cheetahs last weekend.

Scotland Head Coach Gregor Townsend, said: “The players put a huge amount of effort into our win over France. They found a way to win and kept attacking the opposition up until the final whistle.

“England are the number two side in the world and have shown a very good level of consistency in the past couple of seasons. This is due to the quality of their playing and coaching staff, who have done a tremendous job.

“They have a very good defence, an excellent set-piece and like to get 10 and 12 on the ball as much as possible in attack. Taking on England is going to be a huge challenge and we are well aware that only our very best will be good enough in this fixture.

“As always our supporters will play a vital role throughout the match and we’re delighted to be back at BT Murrayfield with the backing of our home fans.”

The unchanged starting side means Scotland’s British & Irish Lions backline quintet of Stuart Hogg, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Finn Russell and Tommy Seymour return, with the Glasgow Warriors partnership of Pete Horne and Huw Jones completing the division.

Edinburgh Rugby provide half the pack with prop Simon Berghan, hooker Start McInally, lock Grant Gilchrist and back-row Hamish Watson back in the fold, with London Irish loosehead Gordon Reid returning to the front-row, Jonny Gray completing the second-row and captain John Barclay and vice-captain Ryan Wilson in the back-row once again.

Scotland team to play England at BT Murrayfield Stadium

NatWest 6 Nations Round 3: Saturday 24 February (kick-off 4.45pm) – live on BBC

15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 57 caps

14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
12. Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 30 caps
11. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 31 caps

10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps
9. Greig Laidlaw VICE CAPTAIN (ASM Clermont Auvergne) – 60 caps

1. Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 29 caps
2. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh Rugby) – 14 caps
3. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 6 caps
4. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – 20 caps
5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 40 caps
6. John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 68 caps
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 17 caps
8. Ryan Wilson VICE CAPTAIN (Glasgow Warriors) – 34 caps

Substitutes
16. Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons) – 47 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
18. Willem Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) – 19 caps
19. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 33 caps
20. David Denton (Worcester Warriors) – 36 caps
21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
22. Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 1 cap
23. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) – uncapped

England

England Head Coach Eddie Jones has made one change to his starting line up to play Scotland on Saturday at BT Murrayfield (kick-off 4.45pm) – live on BBC.

Number 8 Nathan Hughes (Wasps) returns to the side for the first time this year, following a knee injury he picked up in December, while squad regulars Joe Launchbury and captain Dylan Hartley reach national team milestones

Launchbury is set to reach a half-century of international appearances while Hartley becomes the red rose’s second most capped men’s player of all time.

It will be Hartley’s 92nd cap and will see him surpass Jonny Wilkinson on 91 caps with only Jason Leonard ahead of him on 114.

Jones said: “We are really excited about this game and we will need to be very tough and relentless in our defence to keep the pressure on this Scottish team.

“They [Scotland] are renowned for their attack so we will need to put pressure on them, create opportunities through our defence for our attack, and convert those opportunities to points.

“Our preparation over the last two weeks has been important in that it has allowed us to regenerate the players, improve the fitness of some and to get a clear understanding on how we will play this weekend.”

Joe Marler (Harlequins) is named as a finisher following his suspension.

England team

15. Mike Brown (Harlequins)

14. Anthony Watson (Bath)
13 Jonathan Joseph (Bath)
12. Owen Farrell (Saracens)
11. Jonny May (Leicester Tigers)

10. George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
9. Danny Care (HarlequinS)

1. Mako Vunipola (Saracens)
2. Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers)
4. Joe Launchbury (Wasps)
5. Maro Itoje (Saracens)
6. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints)
7. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins)
8. Nathan Hughes (Wasps)

Substitutes:
16. Jamie George (Saracens)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins)
18. Harry Williams (Exeter Chiefs)
19. George Kruis (Saracens)
20. Sam Underhill (Bath)
21. Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens)
22. Ben Te’o (Worcester Warriors)
23. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)

Dunbar’s season was at a critical point if they wanted to continue in East 1. A season that started so badly, saw the team work hard and battle for results. Performances have been much better but results have not always gone their way. Dunbar are certainly a better team than their lowly position shows. Coach Mark Coull had to make several changes, some at the last minute.
Dunbar kicked off against the wind and into the strong sunshine and took the match to Linlithgow. Strong runs by Lister and Wight were rewarded with a penalty which Charlton converted. From the kick off skipper Greig Patrizio ran from his own twenty two to that of the opposition but a silly penalty allowed the visitor’s to clear. Linlithgow then had a period of pressure but the home defence held out before clearing from a penalty. Dunbar went further ahead on 14 minutes when Patrizio stormed in at the corner. Charlton converted for a 10-0 lead.

Dunbar were forced to go uncontested in the scrums after an injury which did not go down well with the opposition. Dunbar however were dominant in the scrum.

With 21 minutes gone the visitor’s reduced the gap with a try from close in which was converted. Linlithgow were on a period of good possession which told on 27 minutes with another try and again that was converted. Dunbar picked themselves up and had a few opportunities before a Ross Charlton penalty reduced the deficit to a single point which was how the half ended.

The second half saw the home side giving away a few penalties one of which was in front of the posts which was somehow missed. Linlithgow kept up the pressure and kicked two penalties on 48 and 51 minutes. Dunbar then came back and should have scored when Peebles looked to be in but was pulled down short. Linlithgow then had a purple patch with a try on 61 minutes followed closely by a penalty try which was to  the amazement of the home side and support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Linlithgow player was pulled back but there were players between there and the try line. The home side fought hard but made too many mistakes or made the wrong decisions. Tries were there but play was far too slow, allowing the visitor’s to get back in defence.

With the match coming to an end Dunbar did finish strong with a try from Gary Peebles on 77 minutes. From the re start the home side came back again and youngster Jordon Robbins burst through to score. Charlton converted to bring the game to an end. As in previous matches at home, Dunbar have shown up strong in the first half but have not managed to match that in the second period.

Final score – Dunbar 25 – Linlithgow 34

 

The Fixture against Berwick, scheduled for 3rd March has been re-arranged, due to Berwick having a Borders Shield match on that date. It will now take place on 14th April.