The Saltire Energy Caledonia Cup competition returned in January this year after a hiatus during the 2020/21 season due to Covid-19.

The Saltire Energy Caledonia Cup competition celebrates Girls and Boys rugby across Scottish Rugby’s Caledonia Region (Caledonia North and Caledonia Midlands), providing the young players with enhanced development opportunities in an environment which is both inclusive by catering to all skill and age levels, whilst offering a competitive element.

The format followed a progressive structure, leading teams to compete at an inclusive Finals Day at Sheddocksley Playing Fields in Aberdeen, yesterday.

For this year’s competition saw over more than 1,800 young players participate across 150 teams from 27 different clubs, making the event the largest youth rugby competition in Scotland.

Here’s a recap of the results from the Finals Day.

Girls U16 Shield: Tayside 50 v Highland 0

Despite the score, Highland put up a great fight in their fixture against Tayside. The Inverness based side came close to scoring on a number of occasions but couldn’t quite get over the line.

The Tayside team was comprised of players from Perthshire, Howe of Fife, Montrose, Dundee, Mackie and Kirkcaldy. Winger, Eva Lindsay from Tayside went on to score a hat-trick of tries in this fixture.

Boys U15 Bowl: Ellon 12 Mackie 0

In this hotly contested fixture, Ellon managed to scoop the win with two tries and a conversion. At half-time Ellon led 7-0, extending their lead with another try in the second half.

Mackie worked hard to keep Ellon’s score line as low as possible, and narrowly missed out on try scoring opportunities with strong defensive work from Ellon.

Boys U18 Shield: Howe of Fife/Bell Baxter 12 Aberdeen Wanderers 5

Another tight game followed, this time between Howe of Fife/Bell Baxter and Aberdeen Wanderers.

Howe/BB scored their two tries and conversion in the first half of the game, with the Wanderers claiming their try in the second half to close the gap.

Girls U16 Cup: Stirling County 40 Caithness 7

Stirling County scored an impressive eight tries in their Cup Final against Caithness. Inside-centre, Zoe Pike scored tow tries, whilst the remaining tries were scored by Cailin Lardner, Emily Sansom, Charlotte Heath, Daisy Morrison and Aria Hannigan.

Scrum-half Tamzin Rose scored and converted her try for Caithness’ points for the day.

Boys U18 Plate: Moray/Huntly 22 The North 17

The North, comprised of players from Orkney, Ross Sutherland and Caithness, led proceedings at half-time [5-10], but Moray/Huntly pulled it back in the second half to claim the win.

Moray/Huntly captain, Gregor Clark scored the opening try, and was followed by three second0half scores from Thomas McCallum, Andrew Graham and Euan Lee. Finnley Cameron scored the team’s only conversion.

Boys U16 Shield: Orkney 14 Dundee 57

At half-time the score was settled at 14-17, but Dundee came back fighting in the second half to extend their lead and take the U16 Shield.

Boys U15 Shield: Highland 14 Aberdeen Wanderers 12

An incredibly close encounter between the Highland and Wanderers’ teams in the Boys U15 Shield final. At half time, Highland took the lead with two converted tries to the Wanderer’s two tries and one conversion.

Despite both sides fighting for more points in the second half, strong defensive efforts saw the score remain as it was from the first half.

Boys U15 Plate: Moray/Huntly 27 Dunfermline 29

At half-time the Moray/Huntly outfit had a four-point lead, 21-17. But Dunfermline pulled it back in the second half and it was a last minute try from scrum-half Russell Allan, that sealed their fate as the U15 Plate winners.

Boys U18 Bowl: Ellon 21 Livingston 28

At half-time, Ellon were in front with two converted tries to one from Livingston. In a nail-biting second half, Livingston managed to pull things back with the full-time score concluding at 21-28.

Boys U16 Bowl: Kirkcaldy 14 Dunfermline 22

It was a battle of the Fifers in the Boys U16 Bowl as Kirkcaldy faced Dunfermline. The opening half was tightly contested, but Kirkcaldy had a two-point lead (7-5). However, Dunfermline managed to bring it back with the full-time score settled at 14-22.

Boys U15 Cup: Perthshire 14 Howe of Fife 28

Another highly entertaining fixture for supporters on both sides and the neutrals. At half-time it was almost too close to call between the two teams, but Howe took the lead 7-12. Despite a second converted try from Perthshire in the second half, further scores from Howe saw the final score settled at 14-28.

Boys U16 Cup: Mackie 24 Howe of Fife/Bell Baxter 57

In the opening half, Mackie were off to a flying start leading 21-0 before Howe/BB came back fighting for two converted tries [21-14]. But the real comeback was in the second half, where the Fife side took the lead and ran with it, concluding the final 24-57.

Boys U18 Cup: Stirling County 33 Mackie 38

The Boys U18 Cup with nothing short of thrilling! A strong Stirling side took charge of the game with a 33-7 lead, but Mackie came fighting back to not only closing the gap in the score line, but overtook it by five points and take home the U18 Cup.

Boys U16 Plate: Glenrothes 5 Montrose 13

The final U16 fixture of the day was one of narrow margins. Glenrothes were ahead in the first half 5-0, but two tries and a penalty in the second half from Montrose saw the side from Angus take home the U16 Plate title.

Girls U18 Cup: Stirling County 50 – Dundee/Fife/Kelpies 0

Stirling County U18 added to their Youth Cup finals title with a win in the Girls U18 Cup. This is the first time the County side have won the Caledonia U18 Cup.