Club Newsletter & Matchday Programme – week 15

Club Newsletter Match Day Programme – Week 15

Have a read of the latest news from the Old Pavilion, hear from Vice President Andy Mitchell, a look forward to the Guinness Six Nations and news around the clubhouse

Meet the player is our new development office Josh Dibble

Grab a coffee, sit back and relax and enjoy the read

Vice President : Andy Mitchell

Few things get the emotions at the Old Clubhouse stirred up like a big local derby.

This weekend sees our 1xv team travel to Dalkeith in the latest instalment of a fixture that goes back many years. Dalkeith beat us narrowly at home in the opening game of the league season and string of solid performances since then sees them sitting in third position in the league – a tantalising 4 points ahead of us.. So, the prize is clear, beat Dalkeith by scoring at least 4 tries and deny them any bonus points and we should end up above them on Saturday evening. If only it was so simple..

Good luck boys! Play to your potential for 80mins and the result will sort itself out.

Kick-off is at 1:30pm so there’s plenty of time to come along and watch and wet your appetite for Scotland v England which follows later. That game and the earlier Wales v Ireland (14:15) match will be shown in the clubhouse on the big screen so please come down and soak up the atmosphere whilst enjoying some of Penicuik’s most keenly priced drinks.

Our 2xv team is taking a week off before embarking on a jam-packed fixture list against the top 6 teams in their league to determine the overall league positions. I hope to see a good few of them at Dalkeith to cheer on the 1sts.

The ‘future of the club’ – our Midi and Mini sections: U14 also at Dalkeith on Saturday for 10:30 kick-off and U16 travel to Melrose, also a 10:30 start. No games for the mini’s just training on Sunday morning.

Finally, the women’s Six nations doesn’t kick-off for a few weeks yet but I would like to highlight Sarah Law’s achievement of having played for Scotland for 10 years now. To represent your country for 10 years in any sport is a remarkable achievement, let alone one that exacts such a physical toll on the body as Rugby does. Well done Sarah from PRFC, we are proud to have you as part of our club.

Enjoy your rugby this weekend.

Andy

6 Nations Clubhouse Activity

The Guinness six nations kicks off tomorrow 2:15pm

Our doors open from 2pm for Wales v Ireland

Then at 16:45 we have the Calcutta game England v Scotland, a full clubhouse on Six Nations day is always a special atmosphere. The Clubhouse is just a building, its our members that generate the atmosphere so please come down and help cheer on Scotland (or England if your that way inclined).

Please remember your £1 coins for some in game entertainment and half time food

On the Friday night you can relive all the action from the 1990 Grandslam decider between Scotland v England from 7:30pm in the clubhouse along with the U20’s Scotland v England

Why not also join other members and play our fantasy rugby league https://fantasy.sixnationsrugby.com/#welcome/register/?parrain=ixr9okm&ligue=6667&mdp=UYHAQ

and also the Guinness Pint Predictor https://www.fanzo.com/en/blog/2055/guinness-pint-predictor-how-to-play

200 Club

Congratulations to former 1xv captain and stand off Steven Cunningham who is January’s 200 club winner.

If you would like to take part in the draw, the profits from which support the club and its rugby activities, please speak to Pauline Pender or Andy Law.

Director of Rugby : Mark Blair

Penicuik 1xv 38 v Dunbar 35

Try : Luke Di Rollo, Luke Randall, Butch Forrester, John Sprott & Max Malone

Con : O. Malone x 5

Pen : O. Malone

I asked the players to stand up and be counted and they most certainly did. Hallhill has been a bogey ground to many a Penicuik team over the years and in the final minutes of the 2nd half it looked like that pattern would follow. However the boys dug in and defended the 2nd half come back from Dunbar.

But

That win will count for nothing if we don’t follow that up at Kings Park tomorrow. Our mini’s played there on Sunday and reported back on the pitch condition and with the rain this week the heavy pitch will suit their forward pack. We are working hard this week in training on where to play the ball and where to move the ball.

As this was a re-arranged game on a Six Nations weekend we do have some player casualties to outside rugby interests including captain Aidan Dean, but our quality of depth currently should help us.

Weekend Squad

Only 1 change to the forward pack from last weekend, Butch Forrester swaps for Cameron Crawford in the back row. We have make several changes to the backline. Ally McCormick returns to the 1xv wing after a 3yr absence, Greg comes in at scrum half with John Sprott moving to full back to replace Oscar. We have a new centre partnership in Euan Reid and Steven Ketchen who will provide plenty pace in the backline.

On the bench we have our fast finishers John Graham and Luke Randall

2xv coach : Rich Mann

Penicuik 2xv 55 v livingston 1/2xv 57

Try : Scorers to follow

Con :

Pen :

1xv captain : Aidan Dean

Back on track!

A much needed win for the boy last weekend, Dunbar isn’t the easiest place to go so to come out with a BP win was a great result (even if we nearly threw it away).

Unfortunately I am away this weekend but great to see so many new faces and returning faces in the 1s this weekend for the local derby.

All the best gents…… ps…. C’mon England

Meet the Development Officer

Josh Dibble

Josh joined us earlier this year as our new rugby development officer. Already showing his face around the club and coaching team he has impressed us with his enthusiasm and maturity. Josh is known to many of our coaching team having previously played alongside John & Jack at Currie U18’s. He hasn’t fully ruled out signing for our 1xv team yet…..

Age : 20

Favourite Rugby Player : Jamie Ritchie

Favourite Rugby Memory : Rugby tour to South Africa

Rugby Experience : Started coaching at 13 with Dalkeith Mini’s, then moved to Edinburgh Uni Ladies at 16 where I was assistance coach for their futures team. Now I am in charge of both the development/futures team and also the 2xv assistant coach.

What are you looking forward to at Penicuik : Expanding rugby and developing as many people as possible within the club and the surrounding area

Mini/Midi Rugby This February

Our minis & micro’s are training on Sunday then break up for the February school holidays

Last Sunday our mini’s made the trip to Dalkeith. Here is a selection of tries and some players in action, click the link below

minidalk

Here are the Mini fixtures for February.

In and around the Club House

Former Players International Strips

We have finally got round to rehanging and displaying all the International strips that have been worn by former Penicuik rugby players. The last task is to add the printed names, but for this weekend we will let you try and guess whose strips belong to who. The blank space is to filled by a very rare Scotland change strip from the 1980’s which we hope to have presented to us in the coming weeks

League Championship Winners 2015/16

Also now up on display is the winning Penicuik team of the 2015/16 BT East Regional League Division 2. We apologies to the players for the length of time this has taken to be made up. If any players/members wish a copy of the presentation please contact Robbie Mactaggart as prices are dependent on print numbers.

New Bar Products

For a trial basis we are now stocking a selection of Funkin Nitro Cocktails, flavours include Expresso Martini & Passion Fruit Martini. If these prove popular we will look to increase our selection. If there are any drinks you feel is missing from our bar selection please let Robbie know

Archive photos

Thanks to the Wilson family for digging into their photo archive and finding these memories of the refurbishment of the our old wooden changing rooms.

My Name’5 Doddie Foundation

To raise funds for the late rugby legend Doddie Weir’s MND charity, 48 members have pledged to participate in Doddie Aid 2023. This is where you log your exercise, until mid February, which contributes to a club figure and ultimately the Edinburgh Doddie Aid Team. A PRFC Just Giving page has been set up, with 8 individuals linking their own pages to PRFC and Doddie Aid. Should you wish to contribute to the charity, please click below: https://www.justgiving.com/page/paul-hope-1674225071951?utm_source=whatsapp.

Over 35 and want to play some rugby?

We are looking into submitting a Golden Oldies team to compete at the 11th edition of the Golden Oldies Tournament which is being held at McKane Park, Dunfermline on 8th April 2023. There will be fun games during the day and in the evening there will be entertainment to make sure the beer is flowing and the stories are being told. If you are interested please contact Robbie Mactaggart or email info@penicuikrugby.org with the subject header “I’m old and I know it”