Marr Rugby round-up: Tigers bite too much for Marr at Melrose while 3s lose out against West, Marr Rugby’s U18s enjoy cup success at Dumfries, International action for Marr Rugby youth players and eyes turn to League decider

See photos from Melrose here and from Dumfries here

On Saturday 13 April Marr Rugby’s senior 7s squad travelled to the Greenyards to play in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Melrose 7s. Marr’s squad included Jack Scott making his debut at the birthplace of Sevens rugby.

In the first round Marr got off to a good start and enjoyed a 24-7 win against Kelso. Scott Bickerstaff opened the scoring and went on to add a second try. He was joined on the try score sheet by Ross Millar and Richard Dalgleish.

This set up a second round televised tie against Tiger Rugby from the USA. The Tigers struck quickly and opened up a two try lead early in the first half. Facing a 14 point deficit it was an uphill task for Marr but they managed to get their defence sorted and prevent any further scores while they added two tries in reply. With only one converted the final score was Tigers 14 Marr 12. Scott Bickerstaff was Marr’s try scorer taking his tally for the day to four tries. As his teammates changed and rested before watching the rest of the tournament Scott found himself joining the Tigers squad as an emergency replacement for their next round match against the British Army. In another close fought match Scott come on as a second half replacement as the Tigers went down 24-19.

Marr Rugby’s 3rd XV travelled to Burnbrae for their final match of the season where they played a West side strengthened considerably by the inclusion of 1st XV players. With this advantage West ran out winners 40-0.

On Sunday 14 April Marr Rugby’s U18 7s squad, coached by Gregor Ness and captained by Keir MacDougall, travelled to play in the Dumfries Saints Sevens Tournament. In the group stages Marr defeated Dumfries A, Hamilton and Kirkcaldy to emerge as group winners. This set up a final match against Stewartry. In a close fought match Marr emerged winners scoring six tries and conceding four and lifted the Cussie Cup.

Over the weekend five Marr Rugby youth players were involved in International action. Jamie Drummond played for Scotland U18s in their match against Italy, with the Scots losing out narrowly. Meanwhile in Dublin, Ryan Brown and Kyle McCulloch made their debuts for Scotland’s U19 Rugby League side in the match against Ireland with the Scots winning 20 – 6. Last but not least, Nairn Calder & Kieran McCann were in Wales playing for the Scotland U18 Blues squad.

As the busy weekend of rugby action settled down the focus for Marr Rugby turned to the 1st XV’s final match of the season. On Saturday Marr will welcome Gala for their first visit to Fullarton and aim to get their first ever win against their Border opponents. Fullarton will be buzzing as both sides still have much to play for. Marr is in the driving seat. They sit top of the table, holding a slender advantage over Jed Forest and a win against Gala will ensure that the league title and trophy goes to Fullarton. Gala are fighting for a place in the top six to ensure promotion into the Premiership. Meanwhile Jed have to travel to play Musselburgh who are competing with Gala for the promotion spot. A Super Saturday beckons.

Marr Rugby next fixture -Saturday 20 April 2019, 3pm kick-off
Marr Rugby v Gala RFC