This Weekend

It’s Easter Weekend, which traditionally means one thing….. Touring Teams!!

This Sunday we welcome Streatham-Croydon to the Old Pavilion for an Easter Sunday Feast of Rugby. Streatham-Croydon currently sit 6th in the Counties 4 Surrey League, having won promotion last season and we are looking forward to some great rugby and social beers afterwards.

Kick off is 2pm, so why not take a break from the Easter Sunday roast Lamb and pop down the Old Pavilion for some rugby and even some beers.

It’s great to have touring teams travel to Penicuik, and this continues on Friday 26th May when we welcome Welsh side Garndiffaith RFC who are celebrating 100yrs of rugby. This is also Gala weekend, so why not combine watching rugby with the onsite entertainment from the traveling funfair Taylors of Edinburgh.

On Saturday our 7’s side make their 2023 debut at Portobello. First tie is 1pm for Penicuik

Have a read of our Easter report cards from a few of our sides, some exciting Dean news and also all the team selection news for this weekend

PRFC President – Gav McQuillan

We know it’s April with lighter nights, warmer weather and the forwards swapping boots for golf clubs while the backs get ready for some sevens to finish the season . It’s also an opportunity to have a look back on the season and what’s next.

Overall it’s been a really positive season with lots of progress on and off the pitch as we have got back to normal this season. Our senior squad is in a great position with a huge number of younger players gaining valuable experience and game time alongside the outstanding achievement of promotion for the second xv. Lots to be optimistic about as we look to have strong sevens run to finish on a high as we build for next season.

As we build we are always looking for both old faces to return or new faces to add to the mix so if you want to get involved in any way please get in touch. It’s been great to have our new development officer Josh on board and for the first time that I can remember have someone solely focused on growing the game in Penicuik.

Josh has settled in really well having just finished running a great kids Easter camp this week. With the next generation being so important to the future it’s superb to see so many kids of all ages enjoying their rugby this year A massive thanks to all the coaches who do a huge amount of work week in week our to make with this happen!!!

Off the field we continue to operate in a sustainable way and it’s been crucial to have the support our main sponsor McKenzie Skip hire, Allan Hay Roofing & Building, Uniq Marketing & Design and Shand & Burns Financial Ltd alongside the many individual sponsors who have got involved this year. This support puts us in an exciting position to continue upgrading the club house and improving our facilities next year.

All of this however is only possible because of the massive effort from all of our volunteers who give up their time and talents to power everything we do – thank you it’s very much appreciated.

As every if you want to get involved or have ideas on how we can improve please get in touch.

Have a nice Easter and hope to see you at the 7s on the 22nd of April.

Cheers Gav

The McKenzie Skip Hire 2023 Penicuik 7’s

We are closing in our 2023 annual 7’s tournament on Saturday 22nd April, please click on the logo below for full details. We are looking for volunteers, especially to cover an hr behind the bar (please speak to Robbie or email info@penicuikrugby.org)

Easter Report Cards

P1-3 Coaches

What a tremendous term from New Year to Easter. The weather hasn’t always been on our side but the Primary 1 to Primary 3 kids have come down to the club and given it 100%.

This term there has been a lot of focus on skills. Practising of the Penicuik favorites Hot Dogs and Pizza slices. Although you may think us food daft (you’re probably right) we use these phrases to help the kids form either a straight line across the pitch when in defense (the Hotdog line). Or a wedge or triangle also known as the Pizza slice when in attack. Each training session we try (free rugby pun) to blend in a general warm up then skills followed by a practice game. This has really helped on the few occasions this term when meeting other clubs, we have always been well prepared.

Throughout the term the most important factor is fun and the kids all seem to take great enjoyment from it.

Looking forward to a superb summer term with better weather and daylight on the Wednesday training sessions.

The Coaching team (Connor, Dave, Gav, Gav & Murray)

U14 Coaches

2022-2023 has been a tricky season for the Under 14’s, with a number of games called off due to weather and other teams being unable to field a 15.

We worked well with Murrayfield and Dalkeith this season, where we helped Murrayfield out and vice versa with Dalkeith. Full praise to the boys who played for other teams, as if we don’t do this we lose out on games. Unfortunately there have also been defeats to local teams and the touring side Northernern RFC.

What we have found in the defeats are a big difference in size and and numbers with teams involved in ‘School of rugby’. The main difference being instead of just under 14, they will have teams at under 13, 14, 15 & 16, making it a more even playing field across groups i.e 1st year playing against 1st year, not 2nd and some 3rd. Plus, this is part of the school curriculum. Hopefully, with the introduction of our new DO, this will be something we see in Penicuik in time so we can compete with the likes of North Berwick, Trinity and Preston Lodge and see a lot more rugby players in Penicuik.

We’d like to say a massive well done and thanks to all the boys who have persevered from the start of this season, until the end, even when results and weather has been against us.

2xv Captain – Paul Hope

Season 22-23 was an excellent season for the Penicuik 2nds. We secured 4th place in the preliminary league, which meant progression to a 2nd half of the season with Currie 3s, Preston Lodge, Ross High, Watsons 3s and Edinburgh Northern.

There were convincing victories over Ross High, Edinburgh Northern and Watsons, a close defeat to Preston Lodge and a hard fought defeat against Currie, which wasn’t reflected in the score.

On the playing front I want to make a special mention to Andrew Cartwright, Jacob Lee and Hayden Gordon, who all made the jump into senior rugby this season. All have fitted in well and I look forward to watching them progress in the blue and red!

On the coaching front I want to thank Richard Mann and Ben Cartwright for all their time at training, Saturdays and behind the scenes. There’s not a lot of 2nd 15s out there operating in such a professional manner as us and that is credit to the coaches.

I have decided to cut back my rugby into next season but won’t be hanging up the boots just yet. I want to thank all that have supported and joined me on the pitch (and the sideline stint) this season.

It’s been a pleasure.

1xv Captain – Aidan Dean

Very tough season to describe.

We were doing very well up until Christmas, 3rd position If I remember correctly ( I say remembered as I was on the slopes of Val d’Isere at the time). We had a game on the 12th Nov and the next time we trained/had a game was 2nd week in January, which I think did us no favours and ultimately we lost momentum.

With that being said we under performed as a whole but had some promising moments which we will work on for next season once we regroup.

Hope the boys have a good time off and get themselves ready for next year and a strong pre season.

See you all at our 7s on the 22nd April

Easter Camp Report

Development Officer – Josh Dibble

Overall, the easter camp has been a huge success with well over 50 kids attending each of the days, over the days the kids where taught the basics of rugby such as passing, finding space and with the older kids tackling.

We did a number of different games to help aid with this such as 5 pass and many more, we have already had some great interest in new players who are looking to join the club and also interest in a summer camp which we are looking to put into place within the near future

Penicuik v Streatham-Croydon

Who doesn’t love a touring team, a chance for 1xv & 2xv to mix it up, maybe play a different position? enjoy some port before kick off, but even more, welcome back players who haven’t been able to make league games.

This Sunday’s team is a great mix of young and old, and we have even dug out some players not seen this season. Welcome back Ross Mitchell, Neil Wolfenden, Brandon Malonne and Andy Watt.

Build up an appetite for your Easter Roast by enjoying some touring rugby fun, kick off is 2pm

Portobello 7’s

This Saturday its the Portobello Rugby 7’s at Cavalry Park, Edinburgh.

Penicuik kick off against hosts Portobello at 1:20 on pitch 3. A win see’s them through the QF at 3pm, a defeat and its the Captains shield at 2pm on pitch 3.

Good luck to the squad who are captained this Saturday by Steven Ketchen

The full Portobello 7’s programme can be found here Porty 7s 2023 Program (1)

Archive Photo

Todays featured photo is from 40yrs ago and season 1983, how many can you recognize? ps…. answers as to why there are only 14 players here??

Back Row : G.Wallace, A.Withers, B.Henry, G.Turner, D.Aitken, D.Scarr, D.Mathieson

Front Row : J.Gardener, W.Turnbull, W.Bain, S.Sond, G.Thomas (c), A.Leadbetter, S.Cumerford

In and around the clubhouse

Massive congratulations to 1xv Captain Aidan Dean and his wife Kirsty who last week welcomed new arrival Hugo into the world. We wish you all the happiness in the world and all those extra hours of sleep the joys of a new baby brings.

Local sports bookmakers Ladbrokes are currently offering great odds on a Dean wearing the English Rose lining up opposite a Dean wearing the Scottish Thistle in the Six Nations at any point during 2044-2050