homeaboutteamsfixturesnewseventsgalleriesshopsponsorslinksforum

Broughton 20 - Moffat Rams 0

Published on 26 August 2007 at 21:24:00

A team decimated by call offs, holiday and work commitments travelled to the capital with the minimum number of players required to take on the side who finished third in East Regional 1 last season.

The fifteen players who made the trip will have benefited from the experience of playing against a team who have consistently performed well over recent years with the necessary reshuffle allowed the coaching team to try some players in different positions. 

Stewart Renwick slotted in at full back with the back three completed by Dave Scott and newcomer Graham Black.  Trevor Newport took up the inside centre berth between Clint Smith who had moved to No.10 and Kevin Jack in his customary outside centre role. Calum Jardine completed the backs when he had a first run of the season at scrum half. 

Up front young Scott Borthwick came in at loose head with Cammie Little moving over to the tight. Scott Galloway was in his regular berth at hooker. In a reshuffled 2nd row Craig Currie moved back from tight head to partner Alan Tyler. The breakaway trio comprised of Kenny Carter and Matt Wennington on the flanks with captain Jamie McDowall taking the anchor role at No.8.

In a dour game the Rams defence was resolute and restricted their more streetwise opponents to 5-0 at half time. They scored a further three tries in the second half to put an unfair reflection on the run of play. Having made the decision not to kick penalties and to try out new moves and combinations some of the Rams play was naturally disjointed but some valuable lessons were learned and invaluable experience gained.

Of the newer players winger Graham Black played well in defence but never had a chance to demonstrate his pace or shine in attack. Trevor Newport, playing his first full game of rugby, carries a massive physical presence. He is very much a rough diamond who will have learned from this experience. Calum Jardine performed heroics at scrum half and did enough to impress the coaching staff and has undoubtedly thrown down the gauntlet in his bid for the No. 9 shirt. In the restructured pack young Scott Borthwick continues his rapid rise and performed extremely well against a much bigger, older and more streetwise opponent. He is undoubtedly pushing for a starting berth this season and is making the sitting tenants look over their shoulder.

Coach Andy Ferguson remained upbeat after the game. He said " Frankly I'm not too worried about the result. The object of the exercise was to get the younger players experience of a different type of rugby and get some much needed game time into some pool players." He continued " The hard work put in over the summer by the young players is paying off. Yet another Moffat youngster, Scott Borthwick continues to make rapid improvement and his work ethic shows me he is someone desperately keen to play for us. The form of Sammy (Calum Jardine) also gives us fresh options at scrum half. We are all now looking forward to the season proper kicking off on the 1st of September".