Mitsubishi Conferences launches for 2019/20 season

Players from Caithness, Fraserburgh, GHK, Newton Stewart, Dunfermline and Dundee who will be playing in this season’s competition attended the event and were invited to be flag bearers for the Scotland team as they prepared for the 2019 Rugby World Cup with a win against France.

Sophie Burgess from Fraserburgh Rugby Club said: “I was so happy and excited to get the chance to be a flag bearer. I was in total shock at how huge the stadium was, it was awesome. I loved doing it and felt proud to represent my rugby club.”

The Mitsubishi Motors Conferences are Scottish Rugby’s player-centred, development-driven programme which is now a mainstay of the annual schools and youth playing programme.

Providing regular competitive and meaningful playing opportunities is key for attracting, enthusing and retaining the future of our game in Scotland, and the conferences continue to play a key role in delivering this aim.

Director of Rugby Development, Sheila Begbie MBE said: “The Mitsubishi Motors Conferences provide a real focus for players, coaches, volunteers and parents in the autumn phase of the season, and it’s great to see clubs and schools joining the competitions and moving through the structure to seek out a fresh challenge and meet the needs of their players.

“I’d like to wish everyone who takes part in this year’s conferences the best of luck, but most of all to enjoy themselves.”

Following an assessment across a wide range of development criteria from last year’s conferences, Perthshire RFC, George Heriot’s School and Marr College gained promotion up through the competition structure to now play in the Shogun, Colt and L200 Conferences, respectively.

Montrose RFC, Strathmore RFC and Ross Sutherland RFC have joined the Lancer Conference which has been split into two groups. Home and away fixtures within each group will be supplemented by opportunities to play clubs from other conferences to provide additional challenge and variety.

Kevin Storie, the Youth Convener at Dunfermline added, “We are really looking forward to playing conference rugby again this season, which for us is in the Galant ‘A’ conference.

“The regular matches against teams of a similar standard, across all age levels, has given us a focus for development of youth rugby within the club. The boys relish the competition and it encourages them to work hard in training and strive to improve our performances.”

The main changes for the season ahead has been the introduction of, Galant B, a development conference that spans the Glasgow North and South regions, to sit underneath Galant Conference A. Galant B doesn’t follow the club v club structure of the other conferences, but overall progress will be tracked through a whole club table.

No major change in the Borders with school fixtures aligned to the U18 Borders Semi Junior League to create the Warrior Town Conference.

In the Caledonian Midlands and North regions, more playing opportunities for developing clubs have been added by implementing a mix of festivals and friendlies with an emphasis on a ‘Just Play’ approach. This approach is also adopted through the local midweek fixtures and festivals that have been set up for schools all around the country.

The results from the first week of action can be found HERE