This Week @ Penicuik Rugby

We look back at a successful Sponsors Day and a not so successful 1xv result, reveal details of the Autumn Nations Series 2024 and ask our members to help with some charity fundraising

Grab a coffee, relax and read on…

Bar Opening Hours

Friday : open from 7:30pm for live URC action

Saturday : open from 5pm for Live URC action

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Autumn Nations Series

Check our events page for all the live rugby activity in the Autumn months

https://penicuikrugby.org/portfolio-items/autumn-rugby-series-2024

Some Charity Asks

Former North Berwick coach Ken McAuley was retrospectively awarded Scotland Cap 1215 in February, as a result Ken has decided to give something back to the game and decided to take on the challenge of raising £1215 for 4 charities through a gruelling 1020 mile cycle visiting the 76 clubs across Scotland which he played at.

Ken is due at Montgomery Park Penicuik this Wednesday 23rd October on Day 19 of his challenge, it’d be great if the Penicuik Rugby community could come out and support (timings TBC) for full details click – https://scottishrugby.org/cap-1215-the-challenge

Last week several of our members aka “The Shiny Pen Gang” undertook the Shine night walk in aid of Cancer Research UK

Yvonne, Andy and many others took part in the walk for the following reason : –

Cancer touches many families, ours included. A year ago my Mum was diagnosed with Myeloma (a form of blood cancer), for which there is no cure. We were just coming to terms with this diagnosis and learning to cope with the many issues that threw at us. Six weeks ago we got the devastating news that my Mum has Stage 3, Grade 3 Ovarian Cancer. She is about to go through intensive chemotherapy, followed by a major operation then more chemotherapy. Please help Andrew and I reach our targets with a small donation into the vital work that Cancer Research does. We have chosen to have our donations go directly to Ovarian Cancer research.

Thank you so much. Love Andrew & Yvonne

Please donate here – https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/team/yvonnes-team-85

Presidents Words

Hear from PRFC President Gav McQuillan following the 1st sponsors day of the season for Oval 4×4 and Rizzo’s Auto Repairs

200 Club winners – September 2024

1xv

Penicuik    17

Leith 18

The team showed mental resilience and grit by holding out for the first handful of minutes with 14 players, managing to compete well against Leith with lads out of position.

The pressure on the scrum was rough for the first half, but the lineouts were well organised. Calum Tait knew if he continued to contest at set piece he could steal a few lineouts, we just needed the right mindset as a squad to fight for the entire 80 minutes, and not allow heads to drop.

The weather played a big role for the backs, with the greasy egg becoming hard to handle, getting the ball to the edges only happened a handful of times. Lachlan carried well down the wing and Luke tackled exceptionally on the other fringe.

The outstanding player of the day was certainly Orisi “Foxy” Ybutu, who ploughed through the Leith boys, with barely a break in speed. At one point Penicuik 7 caught the kick off and carried, only for Foxy to receive ball from the ruck and promptly trample over the majority of the Leith side, to score, from inside his own half.

Ultimately Leith scored the winning try with the final touch of the game following a period of pressure.

The winning Leith score wasn’t the result of a decision of an individual player, instead it came from poor decisions made by everyone in the playing squad.  Did I push myself in the final moments to make the final ruck? Did I allow myself to spill the ball attacking the opponents try line? Did I allow myself to be brushed off making the tackle? Did I push as hard as I could in the scrum? Did I fail to make the correct pass? Did I run as fast as I could to support a team mate?  Although not available for the game did I go training and hold a tackle bag to let the side practice their defence?  or come down to help the side run through attack lines or stand in for live line outs and scrums?

When the final whistle goes we either win as a team or lose as a team.

Saturday away to Trinity has to be better.

The Undercover Player

This Saturday the side travel to Bangholm Edinburgh, looking to bounce back from last weekend.  This will prove a hard test with Penicuik having an awful away record here.  We think we have to go back to 2015 for the last victory at Bangholm, in games that are always physical and hard fought.

At the time of writing we haven’t been provided with the 1xv teamsheet

This will be our first trip here since the redevelopment of the Bangholm arena, our last since 2019 given the 2020 and 2022 fixtures were eventually cancelled following a series of water logged pitches meant the season had run out of times (yes on both occasions)

The 2019 fixture seen Penicuik lose out 35-29 on a cold March afternoon.

The Penicuik side that day were :

1. Garcia-Polak 2. A.Beveridge 3. Kitchin 4. R.Mitchell 5. Maiyale 6. Di Rollo 7. McCulloch 8. Tait 9. Shillinglaw 10. Thompson 11. Ketchen 12. Yule 13. Dean 14. McCormick 15. Mackintosh 16. Holmes 17. Pearson 18. Young 19. Harris 20. F.Mitchell

Some images those days below

Elsewhere in the league:

Dunbar continue their undefeated season with a 34-17 home win to Livingston which sees them 10 pts clear of 2nd placed Livingston.

Royal High continue their resurgence with a 31-6 win over todays hosts Trinity Accies.

All eyes this weekend will be at Barnton for the Royal High v Corstorphine game in the battle of the former RHC Cougars.

2xv

A great game last Saturday against Edinburgh Northern, with some great hospitality afterwards.

This Saturday the 2xv make the trip to Leith Academy, Leith having only managed one game this season losing out to Edinburgh Northern 32-15.

At the time of going to press there is no 2xv team sheet posted.

Hear from Rich Mann after the final whistle last Saturday

Other league action in the 2xv.

Thebans continue to lead the way with a default win over Musselburgh.  Penicuik’s win over Edinburgh Northern seen the Montgomery Park side leap frog Dalkeith and the close the gap to Northern in second place to 2 points with a game in hand.

Youth Rugby

Training resumes on Wednesday following the October break.

Our Hunters section travel to Prestonpans to face Preston Lodge on Sunday 20th October.

Please use postcode EH32 9NJ for SatNav

Tickets are now live for our annual Hunters Halloween Party.  This is open to all members children aged up to and including 12 (P7)

https://penicuikrugby.org/portfolio-items/halloween/?portfolioCats=10

Also watch this space for our new Wednesday Coffee Club for our Hunters Parents after the October break https://penicuikrugby.org/portfolio-items/the-wednesday-coffee-club/?portfolioCats=10

Other News

History of Penicuik Rugby Weekend

We are delighted to note our history boards have been reinstalled in the clubhouse.  Massive thanks to Brian and Ben who took time out their own busy time on Wednesday to carry out the work.

These will be available to view during our normal Bar opening times and during match days.

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

Beenie Hats

Massive thanks to Dave Robertson at https://www.betterphysiotherapy.com for hooking up all the coaching team with Beenie hats ahead of the Penicuik Winter period. Now a key part of our mini coaching set up, we’ll forgive Dave for the numerous times he punished our 1xv side whilst scoring tries for fun playing for Leith RFC and hope he’s down this weekend to watch his former sides battle again.

We have a further supply of Beenie Hats available on a first come basis.

These will be available during Bar opening times, starting this evening, for £15

Club Shop

We have been made aware of issues recently when attempting to order PRFC kit from PSL, with an error message “unable to ship to location”

The PSL tech experts have now solved this and any members sitting on a basket to check out can now proceed.  Please also note following feedback the badge has reverted back to the standard Blue and White badge, for those with the centenary yellow badge your now engrained in history with kit that won’t be seen again (so take care)

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

New Playing Strips

Thanks to all our sponsors for 2024/25 and Callum at XXV, we are now awaiting delivery of our new playing strips.

Once received we will be inviting our senior players down for anew photoshoot from the excellent Nifty 50 https://nifty50photography11.mypixieset.com

In the meanwhile here's a look at the final signed off design

Josh 'in' around

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

On a well deserved week off.

If you'd like your child to try rugby in Penicuik's primary schools please message Josh at do@penicuikrugby.org

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