On Saturday Stewart’s Melville welcomed their friends from Dundee Rugby to Inverleith on a fine afternoon. The pre-match lunch was attended by over 70 folk and all were treated to a ‘Q and A’ with Richie Vernon.
A product of the Dundee High School, Richie played for both Dundee and Stew Mel in the mid noughties before going onto a professional career with the Border Reivers, Glasgow, Sale, Scotland 7s, GB 7s and Scotland. We were treated to his eloquent and erudite insights into his rugby career and views of the current state of the professional game at large.
After a minutes silence for Remembrance Weekend the game kicked off with the 1st XV attacking the ‘road end’.
A quick fire start saw Stew Mel take the lead, 5-0, before Dundee replied with a well worked, converted, try to claim a lead 5-7. Dundee then extended this lead with a penalty for 5-10.
Just before half time, Stew Mel scored a 2nd, unconverted, try to even the game at 10-10, the first half try scorers for Stew Mel being Michael Jamieson and Euan MacRury.
Dundee scored their 2nd try down the left wing early on in the second half, this time converted, to lead 10-17.
Kyle Henderson then replied for the home side, following up on a break out and few ricochets to collect and saunter in at the ‘Castle end’. Euan Morrison then converted to tie the game, 17-17.
Unfortunately for SM, Dundee’s backline conjured up a sweeping move halfway through the second period and their winger popped over in the corner for the winning score, 17-22.
This was another performance where Stew Mel held their own in the set piece and the resolute and brave defence is a source of great pride to all supporters of Stewart’s Melville RFC. The boys could have rolled over and rolled off tackles but instead they choose to stand their ground and continue to tackle whatever came their way.
Jayden Woodworth, from Fredericton in Canada, made his 1st XV debut on the flank with 20 minutes to go. Jayden looks like another tough man from the province of New Brunswick to play for Stew Mel following compatriots Chris Aaen, Chris Hunter and Jebb Sinclair.
Special mention to David Hampton. The 2nd XV had a hard fought 17-14 win against a young Selkirk 2s side on pitch 2. This has been a challenging season at 2nd XV level for our club through a combination of injuries, retirements and players being unavailable but Dave, Nick Winton and Gareth H have stuck to the task. A well deserved win for the 2s management!
Chris Baikie, once he recovers from his knee injury, Euan MacRury, and Ru Mitchell – once again anchoring the scrum – all being from Dunbar, shows that the East Lothian town has had a great impact on Stewart’s Melville RFC. Front row men Euan, Chris, Ru and Danny Morrison are the metaphorical and literal cornerstones of our rugby club.
Last, but not least, congratulations to Callum Hunter-Hill for his call up to the Scotland squad. Callum is the third SMC FP to be involved with the Scotland squad this autumn.
Match report courtesy of Stewart’s Melville RFC
