This Week @ Penicuik Rugby

We have Oasis tickets to win, a review of last weekend all the action to look forward to this weekend

Grab a coffee, relax and have a read

Bar Opening Hours

Friday : 7:30pm, screening as much live rugby as we can.  Your barman for the evening is Gavin Holmes

Saturday : 1:30pm, come down for a drink and enjoy the pre-match atmosphere.  The bar will close during match time and will re open 4:30pm

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Last Sunday our Hunters Mini section hosted their 2024 Greenstone Energy Solutions Mini Rugby Festival at Montgomery Park.

The weather was kind to over 450 players who put on a great display of Mini Rugby.  Thanks to our visiting teams Biggar, Dalkeith, Lasswade & Portobello for helping to generate a fantastic atmosphere.

To see what it was all about click the video below

Alongide the festival of rugby we also ran off-field fun with BBQ’s, sweet stall and also a Passing & Conversation challenge.

7 mini’s players on the day successfully landed all 3 passing challenges and entered the cash prize draw

Over to Youth Convenor Gav Stephen and his wife Nikki for the winning draw

The whole event couldn’t have gone ahead without the arrear of volunteers who helped out.  Special thanks to the kitchen squad who spend Fri, Sat & Sun prepping for the big day followed by a mammoth effort on the Sunday.

For a behind the scenes look at what goes into Sunday’s Rugby kitchen click the video below

200 Club winners – September 2024

1xv

Penicuik    16

Royal High 41

The team was much changed from the week before, but had strengths in mobility and fitness which we aimed to exploit. Arriving in good time there was an aura of what felt like quiet confidence emanating throughout the squad as the warmup began. Some late call offs though and we were starting the game with only 3 subs (including 2 1xv debutants). After a pretty flat warmup, that quiet confidence remained unnervingly just quiet, all the way to kickoff.

The game started with a fairly long spell in our own half, broken by multiple handling errors that RHS were gifting us. Scrums appeared difficult due to the sheer weight of the opposition but Penicuik mainly held our own.

Some slack tackling, mis-firing line out and basic handling mistakes meant we were soon 7 points down and it became evident that the Penicuik team were struggling to counteract the weight and strength of the RHS pack. A well struck penalty by Ali McCormick kept us in the game. Breakdowns were being won but we struggled to put phases together. The odd glimmer of phase play resulted in a well executed try from a line-out to Lachlan Jones scoring in the corner. If only we could have fronted up more the game could have turned in our favour around this point. Instead a brilliant charge down from a dropout ended up with us all the way back behind our try line and hopes were fading.

Into the second half we were still in the game. Some good passages of play were intertwined with soft tackling and leaking points. The score line was drifting away from us. When we played a faster paced game the cracks would appear in the RHS side and only some frustrating refereeing decisions prevented those efforts being converted into points.

The team never gave up hope though. Spurred on by the birthday boy himself who had one of the standout performances of the day. Paul Smith scoring a try on the last play of the game after a sustained onslaught on the opposition line.

Losing Doyle on 20mins and Haynes on 60mins to injury never helped the situation with a light bench.  Congratulations to Royal High and great to see they hopefully have turned a corner with their playing numbers.

The undercover player

Click below for the highlights of last weekends game

This Saturday we welcome Dunbar to Montgomery Park.  Dunbar are currently 3 from 3 in the league with impressive results against Corstorphine, Royal High and Trinity.

Its always a physical game against the East Lothian side, last season in this fixture Penicuik narrowly won 43-20 whilst in the return fixture at Halhill, Dunbar comprehensively destroyed us 42-14

Ben has tweaked the squad with 1xv captain and stand off Alan Haynes ruled out to the injury he suffered last weekend.  However he has welcomed back Sammy and Sam Stewart into second row and it’s always a pleasure to have Centre Aidan Dean back available.  Ross Tubuna makes his Penicuik debut at Full back, with Jacob Lee & Scott Hall named on the bench.  Front row issues means a return for Robbie Mactaggart.  If you are a front row player, we would appreciated letting the coaching staff aware.

Full Squad

2xv

This weekend the 2xv make the trip to Roseburn Park to face Caledonian Thebans, who asked to reverse this weekends venue.

Head Coach Rich Mann has a small squad to select from due to unavailability and a lengthening injury list.

Club Captain Paul Hope returns to centre, a welcome return at stand off for Alfie Harris and Brandon Malone is brought out of cold storage in the back row.

Full Squad

Youth Rugby

Our new U13 side make their competitive debut on Saturday morning in a Development game against Cumnock at home.

KO is 11am, and it’d be great to have a support cheer the team on in their first outing of 2024/25

Squad at time of writing : Callum R, Callum W, Matis, Thomas, Ewan, Arran, Logan, Calan, Max, Sandy, Toby & Sam

Good luck to the side

This weekend our mini’s make the trip to neighbours Lasswade.

KO is 11am if everyone can be at Hawthornden for 10:30am

We’ve gained additional fixtures, please see below for the seasons fixtures

Josh ‘in’ around

Our club development officer Josh is in and around our local school.  Here’s what he’s been up to :-

Join the Fun and Learn Rugby with Us!

This week, we had fantastic sessions with Sacred Heart and Cuiken Primary Schools, where the children honed their rugby skills. We focused on identifying space, understanding when and where to pass, and making longer passes more accurate and effective. Through a variety of drills and games, the kids had a blast while learning these essential skills.

At Beeslack, we wrapped up our current block with an exciting week of tournaments. The children played touch rugby in a round-robin format within their classes, enhancing their game understanding. We also introduced contact skills using tackling pads and shields, practicing different tackling techniques to master the basics.

Rugby is a great way for children to stay active, learn teamwork, and have fun. We welcome new children to join us and experience the joy of rugby!

Events

History of Penicuik Rugby Weekend

Thank you to all our members who took time out their busy schedule to call into the clubhouse over the weekend to see all the hard work put in by Brian Doyle, Ben Cartwright, Bobby Watson and Jim Watt.

The boards situated around the lounge told a great story of Penicuik Rugby through the decades and all the various contributors to shaped the club over the years and into our 100th year of existence.

One of the visitors over the weekend was also named on the boards as one of our Contributors who helped shape the club

William T Ferguson (Fergie) – born on 29 August 1933. Billy is the Club’s oldest living player. He started playing at Penicuik only because his brother was playing for the club, which encouraged him to improve his physical fitness. Over his playing career, he played Scrum Half, Centre, Wing and Full Back and was 2nd XV captain in seasons 1962-63 & 1963-64. His playing career was interrupted between 1953-55 as he was serving in the RAF.

Unfortunately, Billy’s playing career stopped when he fractured his skull on 28 Sept 1963 in a game against Lanark as a result of which he spent two weeks in hospital and returned to work after 5 weeks. Post playing he served on the management committee from 1964 to 1968. Interestingly, when arranging to meet with Billy to gather his background story, he wasn’t able to meet us at the suggested time of 10 am. When enquiring as to why he would be unavailable at that time, we were pleasantly surprised to be informed that he likes to train at the gym at 10, not bad for a player in his 90s!

After spending Sunday enjoying the history weekend, Fergie commented “You don’t know what this means to mean to, absolutely fantastic”

At time of writing and we are working on a permanent home for them.  For those not in position to visit the lounge, they can be viewed here – https://penicuikrugby.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/100-Years-of-Penicuik-Rugby-Club-A3.pdf

Win Oasis Tickets

2 x seated tickets for Scottish Gas Murrayfield Friday 8th August 2025

Our position sponsor Dads Rock are fundraising.

Every year they support approx 3000 dads, children, and families who are most in need through our work including playgroups; peer support for new dads; one to one mentoring for dads referred to us by NHS, Social Services and other professionals; parenting workshops and online support.

They are  here to support dads every step of the way, helping them thrive as parents and as part of their communities. You can find out more about their work here – https://www.dadsrock.org.uk

Children thrive when dads thrive. By donating to enter their Prize Draw you will make a real difference in helping dads and families feel confident, supported and connected.

The ticket draw will take place at 3pm on October 28th

https://www.jumblebee.co.uk/dadsrockprizedraw

Penicuik Rugby Principal Sponsor 2024/25

Penicuik Rugby Main Club Sponsors 2024/25

Penicuik Rugby Club Sponsors 2024/25

Penicuik Rugby Position Sponsors 2024/25