Rugby Moray Buckie Scorpions Kinloss Kestrels Lossiemouth Owls

Are You RUGBYREADY?

As a lot of you will already be aware from the start of the 2010/11 season it will be a new minimum requirement for all rugby teachers, coaches and referees in Scotland to complete the new Rugby Ready Practical course. This free course will highlight the importance of safety in our game.

There will be almost 200 RugbyReady Practical courses held across Scotland in local rugby clubs and schools, local venues will be -

1st September 2010 Highland RFC - 1830 to 2130 (Course Number 75) (possibly Adult Only - TBC)
8th September 2010 Moray RFC - 1830 - 2130 (Course Number 86)
22nd September 2010 Banff RFC - 1830 - 2100 (Course Number 89)

Which course is suitable for me? - The RugbyReady Practical course (for mini rugby) is designed for all coaches, teachers and referees involved in rugby at S1/P7 (11 years old) and below.

The RugbyReady Practical course (for adult & youth rugby) is designed for all coaches, teachers and referees involved in rugby from S1 (12 years old) up to and including adults

If you coach at two different levels we suggest that you do the course that includes the youngest age group you coach. The first 45 minutes of both courses are held indoor with both groups. Groups then split and do out door practical related to the ages you coach.

Booking for all courses will now be done online through the following link

http://www.scottishrugby.org:80/community/content/view/3245/353/

For more information on rugby in Moray Please Contact
Rugby Development officer, James Sloggie on 01343 557147 or James.Sloggie@moray.gov.uk

Summer Touch Rugby League
Moray RFC Stay on top!

Thursday 15th July saw the final round of the first Moray Rugby Development Summer Touch League. With the bad weather clearing in the evening and the sun even threatening to shine the teams ran out for the last time.

Although some good pressure from all the teams, especially the fochabers old boar's - who seamed to get younger with age - Moray RFC and Guests managed to keep the lead, allowing club captain Marc Higgins to lift the League Shield with an unbeaten record.

League Table After The Final Week

Team	Played	Won	Draw	Lost	Points
Moray RFC and Guests	12	12	0	0	60
Fochabers Old Boar's	12	5	2	5	36
Gordon and McFail	12	3	1	8	26
The Care ♥ Bears	12	2	1	9	22

A special mention must go to the Care ♥ Bears who as well as taking home the wooden spoon won the best dressed team award as the only team to take part in the "optional" fancy dress - Well done lads!

For more information on rugby in Moray Please Contact
Rugby Development officer, James Sloggie on 01343 557147 or James.Sloggie@moray.gov.uk

Summer Camps

Summer 2010 will see the return of the hugely popular Scottish rugby summer camp with pro player appearances.
Along with these we will be running local summer camps around the area so that everyone can get involved.

Make Sure you book early to avoid disappointment!

Club	Dates	Venue	Price	Age	Time
Buckie RFC	14th, 15th, 16th July	Buckie High Field	£15	8 - 14	1030-1300
Kinloss RFC	21st, 22nd, 23rd July	Kinloss RFC	£15	8 - 14	1030-1300
Scottish Rugby Camp	11th, 12th, 13th Aug	Moray RFC, Elgin	£55	P4-U16	0900-1300

For more information or booking details please contact
Rugby Development officer, James Sloggie on 01343 557147 or James.Sloggie@moray.gov.uk

*** For Scottish Rugby Camp please visit www.sru.org.uk ***

Moray Rugby Benefits From The Mars Refuel Drink Fund

Moray Rugby Development is celebrating after receiving a £500 donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund.

Moray Rugby Development aims to develop Rugby in the Moray area. Key aspectsinclude increasing player numbers of all ages, increasing volunteers and through training increase the qualifications and skill levels of individuals within clubs (players and non-players).

The donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund will go towards creating amongst other things the first summer rugby league in Moray. Along with teams from local businesses and organisations the areas four rugby clubs, Moray RFC, Buckie RFC, RAF Lossiemouth and RAF Kinloss, will compete in the four week long summer league at the end of June.

James Sloggie, Rugby Development Officer, explains: “The donation from the MARS Refuel Drink Fund is a real boost to keep Moray’s rugby clubs playing for longer and competing for the first time over the summer months.

“One of our aims along with Junior summer camps was to hold a summer league for senior players. The funding means we will be able to pay for equipment, first aid and of course a trophy. As a result the Moray rugby summer league can become a reality!”

For more information on rugby in Moray please contact Development officer, James Sloggie on 01343 557147 or James.Sloggie@moray.gov.uk

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The MARS Refuel Drink Fund aims to help sports clubs and individuals to play sport for longer.

MARS Refuel is a great source of protein, carbohydrate, calcium and vitamin B. It’s the milk goodness in MARS Refuel that provides the optimum 4:1 ratio of carbohydrate to protein that helps people to go 50% longer*.

Further information can be found at www.marsrefuel.com. You can also check out the facebook group at http://bit.ly/MarsRefuelDrinkFund.

Victory For Lossie Crowns A Brilliant Season

RAF Lossiemouth were emphatic winners in the RAF Inter-station Cup Final last Wednesday (5 May) beating RAF Odiham 40 - 12. The final, held at RAF Halton, Bucks. was a fitting culmination to what has been the club’s best season in a decade.
Confidence was high throughout the club as a number of players have also been involved in higher level representative rugby. The airmen had played a combined RAF Cottesmore/Wittering side in the RAF Cup semi-final, winning in a high scoring and entertaining fixture. Thus, Lossie travelled south with a quiet confidence and an awareness of what was required to finish the season on a high.

Lossie had the majority of the opening 10 minutes of the game launching

wave after wave against the Odiham line. Not for the first time this season, the Lossie pack proved to be bigger and more dominant than their opponents with Robbie Little, playing from the 2nd row, getting the first score of the game. However, Odiham were not going to lie down and they swiftly retaliated. Lossie made a mistake from the subsequent restart and Odiham launched a sequence of attacks. An error in defence coupled with a lucky bounce allowed the Odiham centre to go in under the posts. Lossie’s response was immediate. They dominated possesion and fly-half Stu Dawson varied play sensibly between utilising the forwards and spinning the ball wide. This allowed 2 more tries to be scored before half-time. Odiham sneaked another try, capitalising on a dog-leg defence and some unusually weak tackling from the airmen. Half-time score 19-12 to Lossie.

The 2nd half saw RAF Lossiemouth really turn the screw. A relentless Lossie attack saw the airmen stretch their lead. However, Lossie were lacking the killer instinct that they have possessed for much of this season with numerous chances going begging. The last pass would just not stick. Credit must go to Odiham who refused to lie down and kept up their resolute defence. The dominance of the Lossie team across the park really started to tell. Man-of-the-match Dawson linked well with centres George Haywood and Chris Clarke, running amock in midfield. “Irish” Rutherford playing on the wing was able to pick some beautiful angles off the centres and scored a beautiful try in the corner. Mixing the play again allowed Lossiemouth to vary the point of attack - captain Gav Emerson (2 tries) and Robbie Little again also went over for further tries. The final whistle went and Lossiemouth had won the RAF Cup for only the 2nd time in their history. Final score 40-12.

The fixture marked the end of long and outstanding careers for Lossiemouth stalwarts - scrun half - Dave “Coops” Cooper, prop - Neil “Snorbs” Boyd and flanker - Bryn Williams. Coops & Snorbs have been integral to RAF Lossiemouth RFC over the last 10-15 years and were the 2 remaining players from the 1998 RAF Cup winning side. Their absence on the pitch next year will be massive but it is a challenge for the club’s younger players to stand up and prove themselves.
This season has seen Lossie crowned SRU Caledonia 2 NW Champions & RAF Inter-Station Champions. The team suffered only 3 defeats all season ( Orkney in the SRU Regional Bowl and 2 fixtures against Gairoch in the promotion play-offs). Lossiemouth also supplied 13 of the 15 players who lost in the RAF Divisional tournament back in November. Back-row forward Rob Little has gained his first senior RAF cap (playing against the Navy) and Dave Cooper represented the RAF Vets in both inter-services fixtures. The 2009/10 side will be remembered as the best side of recent times - and probably the best side since the RAF Cup winning side of 1998.

Elgin Tag Festival

After a weeks delay due to the weather Elgin Primary Schools P4/5 took to the feild last Friday (5th march) to play their now to be annual tag rugby festival.

After a 6 week coaching block in tag rugby all schools tacking part were invited to attend the event at Morriston Park. The day was based on fun and participation with schools being awarded points for fair play and team work.

Of the 8 schools (10 teams) that attended New Elgin Primary came out top, with Mosstowie runners up, and the two Bishopmill teams taking 3rd and 4th place.

Active Schools Co-Ordinator commented, "The first Elgin Primary Schools Rugby festival was a great success. Thanks to the hard work of James, all the teams were well prepared for the festival and the Rugby produced was of a high standard. Positive feedback was received from everyone including school staff, parents and pupils. It's exactly the type of project that Active Schools are delighted to be involved with and we hope this can become an annual event in Elgin."

Rugby Development Office, James Sloggie commented, "Once again we have seen some fantastic rugby and team work from the boys and girls that have been involved in the both the training and the festival. We are positive events like this will help to strengthen the local teams and promote rugby in Moray."

For more information on rugby in Moray please contact Development officer, James Sloggie on 01343 557147 or James.Sloggie@moray.gov.uk