Scottish side wins nation’s first touch title

Scotland’s touch players have won the country’s first international title, with the Mixed side triumphing at the Home Nations tournament in Wales. The Mixed team beat England 5-2 in the final on Saturday (4 August) to top off a successful day for the Scotland squad. The tournament included teams from Scotland, England, Wales, Jersey and Guernsey competing at the Caerphilly RFC’s grounds, near Cardiff.

Earlier in the day, the Mixed side also beat Guernsey 9-3, Wales 14-2 and England 9-2 in group play, before facing England again in the final. Scotland’s Men’s side also enjoyed victory over England, beating their Men’s 30s side 6-2, but lost 5-3 to Wales in group play and went down 3-1 in a quarterfinal against Jersey. The Women’s team held Jersey to a 2-2 draw, but lost 6-0 to Wales and 8-0 to England.
Scotland Mixed captain Robbie McKenzie praised his team for putting in “outstanding” performances despite limited preparation before the tournament. He added that the team had received praise from opposition coaches and players for their play. “To beat England 9-2 and Wales 14-2 in the group games was beyond our wildest dreams,” said McKenzie. “We thought we had a good chance of success, but the manner in which we succeeded was the most pleasing part. It was an honour to be involved in winning the Scotland national squad's first ever piece of silverware.”

The Scotland squad management took the opportunity to blood several new players at the weekend’s tournament, with all three sides containing people making their international debuts. The squad has also seen several changes since returning from last winter’s World Cup in South Africa. The coaches have changed the make-up of the three teams and brought in new tactics and techniques in the build-up to next year’s European Championships.

McKenzie, who is also involved in the Scottish Touch Association’s national coaching team, said the tournament had allowed the STA to expose more players to top level competition. “Everyone was trying to get to grips with the changes following the World Cup. Given the limited opportunities to train in our squads before this event, I feel we can all be justifiably proud of our achievements in Cardiff,” he said. “I hope that this event, with the injection of fresh exciting talent through the upcoming Regional Competition in September, is our first step along the road to developing a squad capable of challenging for success in each division in which we compete. “We'll have a far more structured training regime in place for the Euros which will see us better organised than ever before. We've tasted success in Cardiff for the first time and I know that I want some more.”

Scotland squad at Home Nations tournament
Mens
Jarlath Flynn (captain), Iain Gray, Graham Herd, Larry Irwin, Gareth James, Bradley Kirby, Alister Lees, Hugh McMichael, Cameron Munro, John White, Shane Wilson
Womens
Gill Barclay (captain), Emily Davidson, Helen Dundas, Gill Kidd, Tracey Lees, Tania Matthews, Clare Murray, Alex Pratt, Karen Taylor, Claire Tinker, Lisa Wellfare, Danielle Young
Mixed
Robbie McKenzie (captain), Colin Anderson, Dan Fitzgerald, Tenae Francis, Catherine Hollis, Liesel Lippstreu-Holmes, Sara Mears, Fionna Morton, Anna Rattray, Eddie Sanjuan, David Short, Michael Short