Boys’ U18 Open Competition semi-finals set for Saturday

Merchiston Castle School will host Glenalmond College, with kick-off at 10.30am, while Strathallan School welcome George Watson’s College, with kick-off scheduled for 11am. 

Following the opening round of pool fixtures, the four schools have secured their places in the semi-finals, with a place in the final now within reach. 

Merchiston Castle School head into the semi-finals after an unbeaten Pool A campaign, winning all of their matches to finish top of the standings. 

Their victories came against George Watson’s College, Dollar Academy, GHA RFC, The Edinburgh Academy and Boroughmuir Rugby, providing a strong foundation ahead of the next stage of the competition. 

Glenalmond College, meanwhile, secured their semi-final place after winning four of their five fixtures in Pool B. Their only defeat came in a close 34-31 encounter with Strathallan School, with both sides finishing on 21 points. Strathallan claimed top spot based on the head-to-head result. 

Speaking ahead of the tie, Glenalmond College Head of Rugby Marcus Holden reflected positively on his side’s first season in the Open Competition. 

“Winning four out of five games has been a great welcome into the Open Competition this year. Our boys really stepped up to the plate, just falling short against Strathallan in the last game. 

“The boys have really enjoyed a different challenge, with so many of our squad being U17s. It has really allowed us to understand what it takes to consistently compete at this level.”

Holden recognises the challenge of facing an unbeaten Merchiston side but is looking forward to the opportunity. 

“They have had a great start, winning all their fixtures as well as their own festival, so going to their place is a great challenge for our boys. 

“The main thing is both teams get the chance to showcase what they’re about. At this point, we want to fly the flag for our school and our side of the draw to push for any sort of final for the boys. Exciting times ahead.” 

Merchiston Castle School’s Director of Rugby and High Performance, Jack Moran, also highlighted the work that has gone into their successful pool campaign thus far. 

“The team built up some good momentum before half-term and it has been a real squad effort with the volume of high-quality games. 

“Glenalmond are clearly a really strong side with individual quality and they’ve had some excellent results.” 

Glenalmond have shown they can compete with the strongest sides in Pool B, meaning Merchiston will need to maintain the form that has carried them through the opening five fixtures. 

The second semi-final sees Strathallan School welcome George Watson’s College, with both sides looking to build on their performances in the pool stages. This match will feature as the Scottish Rugby Match of the Week and will be broadcast live on the Scottish Rugby YouTube Channel. 

Strathallan finished top of Pool B after collecting 21 points from their five matches. Their campaign included victories over Glenalmond College, Marr Rugby, Ayr RFC and Stirling County RFC, alongside a defeat to Erskine Stewart’s Melville. 

Their 34-31 win over Glenalmond proved important in securing first place and home advantage for the semi-final. 

Director of Rugby at Strathallan School, Andy Douglas, reflected on a campaign that took some time to find its rhythm. 

“We had a slower start to the tournament this year, with limited time to get our players up to speed after returning to the school after the holidays. The boys, however, stepped up to the challenge well. 

“The experience of the senior players who were involved in the winning side last year has been invaluable in guiding the team on the pitch, especially in the victory over Glenalmond College after only having a three-day turnaround following the defeat to ESM.” 

Their opponents, George Watson’s College, finished second in Pool A with four wins from five matches. Their only defeat came against unbeaten group winners Merchiston. 

Watson’s also recorded victories over Dollar Academy, GHA RFC, The Edinburgh Academy and Boroughmuir Rugby to secure their place in the semi-finals. 

Head Coach Mike Ker believes his side have developed throughout the competition, particularly in how they work together as a team.

“The Open Competition for us started slowly, with a hard-fought win against Boroughmuir in our first game and then a tight loss to Merchiston in game two. 

“We were disappointed to lose against Merchiston having been in a strong winning position, but the boys understood they were early in their journey, having just come back to school and having a brand-new team from the previous year. 

“Our biggest learning has been the need to be a cohesive group and work as a team. As the season has gone on, this aspect has become better and everyone has learnt their roles within the team performance. We will need to be on it again against Strathallan.” 

Ker is also aware of the challenge Strathallan will present, pointing to their physical approach and attacking options. 

“Strathallan will bring a physical game with some hard-working players up front and some excellent runners behind the scrum also, not least in their 13-15 channels. Their 10 also controls the game well with his kicking game, so they pose us plenty of problems. 

“As a squad, we will hope to get some players back from injury and look to impose ourselves on the game. We are, as mentioned previously, fully aware of how difficult a fixture this will be but will certainly be giving it our all.” 

Douglas also recognised the quality of the opposition, noting that Strathallan will need a strong performance to progress. 

“GWC are always a very strong, well-coached team that can beat any team on their day. They have quality throughout the team and we will have to be at our best this weekend to come away with the win. The home advantage will hopefully give us a slight edge.” 

With four schools remaining in the competition, Saturday’s fixtures will determine which two sides progress to the final.