Tag Archive for: Montheshire

Perthshire Gather Online to Look Back over 2019-20 Season

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(The evening condensed into only 12 minutes!)

Congratulations to the awards winners and thank you to all who took part!

The evening Friday 29th May saw the Perthshire family dress up smartly and come together online via Zoom for the Annual Awards Night. The COVID-19 pandemic stopped the Club meeting up as normal but all assembled were determined to enjoy the celebration of the past season.

Before the event kicked-off, Jeremy Wares had led the online Cook Along Live where many of the Perthshire members, following his instructions, cooked a 3 course meal to enjoy prior to the main event. The award for best Tarte Tatin went to Dave Lewis, wooden spoon winner Andy Cummins was not impressed.

At 7:30pm Club Captain Ewan “MacKer” MacKessack-Leitch, who compered the evening, welcomed the over 80 households who had signed in to the Zoom call. After a quick reminder of the nominations and a game of “heads & tails,” that sort of worked, the Club Captain’s Toast to Perthshire was played out.

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Then it was time to start the awards. First up Arran Whittle won Colt’s Player of the Year for this ever-improving form which also saw him debut in the 2XV this season. Following that James Mair retained the Young Player of the Year award which he won last year, as he again improved stepping up to make the No. 8 shirt his own. Another person retaining their title from last year was Alasdair Nisbet who collected the Men’s Most Improved Player as he becomes a real force to be reckoned with in the front row.

After a year of phenomenal efforts and encouragements on & off the pitch Chris Wallace was rewarded with the 2XV Player of the Year trophy. James Mair was then back in the spotlight, as he saw off the competition to win the vote to be Men’s Players’ Player of the Year.

New awards this year were presented to the Women’s Section and Lynn Robertson picked up the Women’s Most Improved Player in her debut season where she has gained in confidence & ability on the pitch. The Women’s Players’ Player of the Year was a tightly contested affair, but the votes fell in favour of Lynne Stewart who has been an inspiration to many of her fellow teammates.

The moment for the big awards of the night arrived. The P6s won Mini Team of the Year in recognition of the amazing effort to win the Land Rover Rugby Tour 2020 Festival at Cardiff Arms Park. Sarah Hogwood was crowned Women’s Player of the Year and Mathew “Biebs” Rae won 1XV Player of the Year; both played on the front foot all season and led by example to their teammates and justly deserved the awards. Team of the Year went to the U16s for their big achievement finishing 2nd in the Shogun Conference and the representative honours for Caledonia, Glasgow Warriors & Scotland some of their players achieved.

Finally, following a difficult year for the Club both on & off the pitch, the Club Person of the Year was awarded to John McLaughlin. As Club President he has been there throughout: supporting the 1XV on match days when results have been poor, working behind the scenes and entertaining sponsors in the Clubhouse, as well as ably helping the Club following the sad losses of both Granny G and Adam Pattinson.

A Boat Race time trial was held and you’ll have to watch the highlights video (top of the page) to find out who won!
Throughout the evening reports of the activities from each section were given either as videos or speeches from that section. The Mini & Midi season review videos can be seen at the bottom of the page.

Full List of Award Winners:

Senior Section
Colts’ Player of the Year: Arran Whittle
Young Player of the Year: James Mair
Most Improved Player: Alasdair Nisbet
2XV Player of the Year: Chris Wallace
Players’ Player of the Year: James Mair
Player of the Year: Mat Rae

Women’s Section
Most Improved Player: Lynn Robertson
Players’ Player of the Year: Lynne Stewart
Player of the Year: Sarah Hogwood

Whole Club
Mini Team of the Year: P6
Team of the Year: U16
Club Person of the Year: John McLaughlin

Awards Dinner Cook Along LIVE

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There is no Dinner for the Awards Evening but fear not! Our own Michelin starred chef Jeremy Wares (& Tennent’s Club Volunteer of the Season 2018/19) is ready with an online cook along LIVE to help you get ready for the evening event.

Jeremy has planned a menu and shopping list for all those who wish to take part. The cook along will start at 4:30pm on Friday 29th May with the login code sent out at 4pm by Jeremy and updated on this webpage. It should take about 30-40 minutes.

Menu:
Smoked Salmon Caesar Salad Croutons & Parmesan.
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Coq Au Vin with Mash, Carrots and Greens
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Apple Tart Tatin with Fresh cream

List of ingredients (feeds 4 people or 1 Ryan Moon)
STARTER
Smoked salmon, baby Gem or salad leaves, 2 slices bread,
Dressing 1 tablespoon mayo, ½ Teas spoon Garlic chopped, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 table spoon Parmesan.
MAIN
4 Chicken breast, ½ onion chopped, 8 button mushrooms, 2 pieces chopped bacon, 1 glass red wine, bisto powder and water salt and pepper
2 carrots chopped, greens 1kg pealed chopped potatoes butter and milk.

You could prepare the veg in advance to save time

DESSERT – Award for the best Tatin
10 apples Granny smiths, 100 g caster sugar, 100g butter
1 sheet ready roll puff pastry.

 

Perthshire Rugby Awards 2020

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UPDATE:
An alternative online interactive event is being held on Friday 29th May at 7:30pm instead. Login details will be sent out via section heads. Please note formal attire still expected (at least what can be seen on camera).

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Rugby stopped abruptly earlier this year but there is still lots to celebrate from the 2019-20 season.
The last season has been testing on & off the rugby pitch for Perthshire. Our Club values of Sportsmanship, Pride, Respect and Inclusion have shone through and brought some success. Now is the time to look back and recognise some of the players, teams, supporters and members who have excelled this last year.
The nominations for this years’ awards are:
Senior Section
Colts’ Player of the Year:
Adam Mellis, Aedan Milne, Arran Whittle
Young Player of the Year:
James Mair, Alasdair Nisbet, Kieran Ramsay
Most Improved Player:
Andrew Jack, Jack McIntosh, Alasdair Nisbet
2XV Player of the Year:
Rabson Chipakupaku, Rhys Darlington, Chris Wallace
Players’ Player of the Year:
Ewen MacDonald, James Mair, Mat Rae
Player of the Year:
Ross Angus, James Mair, Mat Rae

Women’s Section
Most Improved Player:
Lydia McGinley, Suzanne Rennie, Lynn Robertson
Players’ Player of the Year:
Lydia McGinley, Lynne Stewart, Paula Watson
Player of the Year:
Sarah Hogwood, Heather Kirkman, Lydia McGinley

Whole Club
Mini Team of the Year:
P5, P6, P7
Team of the Year:
U13, U16, Women
Club Person of the Year:
To be announced on the night

Well done to all those nominated.

Perthshire Not Closed in the Close Season

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Lockdown No Barrier to Senior Training

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Whilst there may be a general feeling that sport has come to a bit of a standstill right now that is certainly not the case for the senior teams at Perthshire.

Our coaching and support staff have viewed this as an opportunity to give us an edge for the upcoming season by moving to an innovative online approach using Zoom.

Head Coach Alan Clark said, “At this time in the season we expect the players to focus on strength and conditioning work so to call it the off season just isn’t accurate anymore. Normally they’d be working in groups themselves in addition to the 2 coached sessions each week in the gym. What we are doing now isn’t any different although we’ve had to be a little more creative in our methods.”

Therefore, all players are able to access coached sessions every Tuesday and Thursday through Zoom. S&C coach Valerio takes the guys through their paces over an intense 40 minutes which each player logs into from home. Buy in from both the men’s and women’s squads has been excellent.

In addition, each of the players has been allocated a group to complete daily challenges with. These challenges complement the work they are doing with Valerio and also give the guys both a social connection with others in the squad and a competitive outlet. Each group of 10 is managed by one of the more experienced guys in the squad who reports back to the coaching staff on player commitment and performance.

The aim of the senior section in doing this is simple. It is our job to inspire the club and we take that very seriously. We want to give ourselves the best chance to do that as possible.

Big Weekend of Fun but the Results Don’t Come

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Fantastic Burn’s Night Raises the Spirits

It was a busy weekend for the Senior Section. A triple bus journey of 1XV, 2XV and the Women’s team in support took the guys to Fife for the 2s to play Dunfermline 2XV and then across the Forth Road Bridge where the 1s took on Murrayfield Wanderers.

See the match reports:
1XV: Murrayfield Edge it as Perthshire’s Concentration Wanders
2XV: When the Many Let Down the Few.

The journey back was eventful with the Women’s team getting their introduction to a famous Perthshire bus trip back. The Burns Supper hosted at the Bank Bar saw 60 members from the club gather to enjoy haggis, neeps & tatties along with entertainment in traditional & not so traditional Burn’s Night style.

Highlights included Paul McLean getting his New Zealand accent around the “Address to the Woodlark,” Toasts to the Backs and Forwards by Chris Wallace and Angus McPherson respectively, the Immortal Memory by Calum Bruce and a series of short stories from Jeremy Wares. To round off the night Bruce Fummey brought the house down with his stand-up comedy routine prior to a full rendition of Tam O’ Shanter.

Thanks to the Isle of Arran Distillery for supplying their Robert Burns Single Malt for the toasts.

It’s a break this weekend for the Calcutta Cup this week. The 1XV next return to the North Inch on Saturday 15th February to host Howe of Fife, the 2XV will also be on the Inch facing Strathmore 2XV. Both kick-off at 3pm, the travelling support made a real difference this week, so get down and support your Perthshire teams in these local derbies.

Club Serve Up Feast for Homeless at Christmas

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On Sunday 15th December the Club decided to give back to the local community. Arranged by our very own former Michelin star chef Jeremy Wares (& Tennent’s Club Volunteer of the Season 2018/19) the Senior Section met at the Salvation Army on the Skinnergate to prepare a feast for the homeless.

Alongside the 3 courses of pheasant broth, roast pork with all trimmings and apple trifle; Father Christmas came to deliver gifts to the diners. These gift boxes were wrapped and filled by donations from the Mini Section.

Jeremy Wares was delighted with the effort and community spirit shown by all from within Perthshire saying, “We should be very proud of the Mini Section, the amount of donations were wonderful and packing the boxes was a great team effort. The parents, kids and coaching teams were most generous and I was humbled to help hand out the boxes. We have great players & parents – the people at the Salvation Army were most grateful. It was pleasing to see so many of the 1XV players giving up their time to help. Its good to give back and do something for people less fortunate than ourselves.”

After the dinner service was completed Club Captain “MacKer” was grateful to all from the Club who had supported the activity and said, “We’re a community led club and we’re trying to spread some Christmas cheer. We get a lot of support from the local community and we thought this would be a nice way to show our gratitude and do a good deed for the city of Perth.”

The local press were interested, see the coverage from the Courier (click on picture to go to article):

    

U15’s and U16’s take all the points down at Ayr!

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Its not a headline you have seen before but its true, our U15’s and U16’s made the long trip to Ayr on Sunday to take on Ayr/Wellington in round 7 of the Shogun Conference and both teams came away with full points in nail biting fashion. Both games were incredibly close right up to the final whistle with U15’s crashing over the line to win the game on the final play. The final score 26-28 to Perthshire. This will be a major confidence boost for the boys who got their season off to a very slow start but at last they found belief that they are capable of competing with best teams in the conference.

The U16’s were also involved in a classic and right up until the last few minutes the game could have gone either way, but the boys held firm even without their talisman no. 8 Doug Yellowley who was down in Cardiff playing for Glasgow Warriors U16’s, the boys still showed real determination and held out for a great win. Final score 24-35 to Perthshire. Next Sunday will be another big test as they take on table toppers Stirling County away at Bridgehaugh Park. Ko 2pm.

The fortunes of the midis were reversed however at home when our ultra reliable U14’s were beaten at home for the first time this season against the arguably best side in the conference. Maybe the 2 week October break was a factor but an under-strength Perthshire side seem to lose their shape in this game and Ayr ran out convincing winners 3-33. Next Sunday will be a chance to make amends with a home game V Stirling County. KO 2pm. Our U13’s had a week off this week but I’m sure they will be keen to get playing against Stirling County at home on the Inch next Sunday KO 2pm.

The Conference table at halfway looks as follows with Perthshire on the brink of breaking into the top 4. #montheshire

Team Rounds Points
Boroughmuir 7 82
Ayr / Wellington 7 80
Stirling County RFC 7 78
West of Scotland FC 7 72
Perthshire RFC 7 70
Highland RFC 7 65
Biggar RFC 7 60
Hamilton Rugby Club 7 47

 

Rugby World Cup Quiz Night, Saturday 19th October

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Announcing the Rugby World Cup Quiz on Saturday 19th October at 7pm.
Come along for a night to test your knowledge, including on the Rugby World Cup and host nation Japan. Quiz master Campbell Watson has prepared some mind bending and tricky questions for you to answer.
Doors open in the Club Bar at Bell’s Sports Centre from 7pm for a Quiz start at 7:30pm. Teams of up to 6 players permitted. Entry is £10 per player and includes a buffet at half-time. Payment on the night. Jackpot prize for the winning team.
To help with catering numbers please advise if you will be coming along: clubcaptain@perthshire-rfc.co.uk
Why not make a day of it? Come to the North Inch and support the 1XV who are playing Berwick RFC with kick-off at 3pm.

Perthshire Couldn’t Contain County

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Perthshire 12 – 45 Stirling County 2XV

Well drilled Stirling County 2XV show their class as Perthshire rally too late in second half.

Saturday saw the first preseason action on the North Inch, it was a fast paced 80 minutes which tested the young ‘Shire team in all areas on the game. Initially this was due to be a double header with Perthshire 2XV taking on Stirling County 3XV as well, but the 3XV called off late in the week and no alternative opposition could be found at such short notice.

Some last-minute injuries and illness affected the line-up and travel chaos in Perth truncated the warm-up. Nonetheless it was an exciting & hungry team of youthful potential that took to the field to face the high pedigree opponents.

The first ten minutes saw Perthshire initially take the ball and work the phases but to little success. On the turnover Stirling were eager and clinical in attack scoring two incisive tries. With key players missing the ‘Shire lineouts & scrums were subpar and surrendered possession too easily in good attacking positions.

As the half progressed, Perthshire got a feel for the game and started to pressure Stirling. The set piece coming evermore reliable proved an attacking platform, however, it was to no avail and again when inside the home 22 County made their mark to score 2 further tries in the first half.

Half time: Perthshire 0 – 26 Stirling County 2XV.

In the second half ‘Shire upped the tempo and were justly rewarded for their efforts when a driven lineout maul from 10m out made it all the way for newcomer Paul MacLean to score his first try for Perthshire in his North Inch debut. The conversion was missed.

County responded almost immediately as Perthshire collected the restart but spilt the ball allowing through a soft score. It wasn’t long before a fortuitus bounce of the ball allowed Stirling space on the right wing to break out and score again.

Despite these lapses Captain Mat Rae challenged his team to up their game and sort the defensive weaknesses. This Perthshire team showed no sign of giving up and went back on the attack. There were some excellent lines and offloads from the centres, great to already see the positive impact of Murray Ormiston; and the back three of Jay Pettie, Aidan Watson & Jonny Armitt coming into the line found space to attack.

Jack McIntosh at scrum half was communicating & controlling the forwards around the breakdown. The pack responded well, hard lines run by Ewen MacDonald and Blair Twaddell made gains and then, for a brief moment after a powerful run, Ali Nisbett broke through 3 tackles to find himself in the clear. County tracked him down just outside the 22, the offload didn’t go to hand, but this demonstrated the effect of the hard work the squad have put in the gym through the off-season.

There was no let-up in the intensity of the match. County managed one more try but the final say went to Perthshire. After securing a lineout in the Stirling 22, a safely taken ball led to a driven maul. The ball went out to the centre which drew in the defence allowing for the long pass out to Aidan Watson who darted over for a try. Jonny Armitt added the extras and the referee whistled for full time.

The better drilled and consistent Stirling showed Perthshire how well rugby can be played when structures are followed and individuals put in the hits & attack the line. There was plenty to learn and a number of positives for those wearing Black & White. No player had a bad game and there is lots of food for thought for the coaching team as the League opener draws ever nearer.

Next weekend the 1XV travel to Linlithgow for a Friday night fixture, KO 7:30pm. Then on Saturday 24th August Metropolis RFC, a touring team from Minneapolis, USA will play a mixed 2XV/3XV/Veterans Perthshire on the North Inch with a 6:30pm kick-off.