Schools & Youth Conferences round-up

The Schools & Youth Conferences have returned from the half-term break with clubs and schools across the country kicking-off the final instalment of youth rugby fixtures. Leading clubs and schools are beginning to assert their position at the top of the conference tables, as the 35-conference structure continues to retain players in the game beyond their teenage years. In the Red Club Conference last weekend, Mackie Academy FP and Deeside Wanderers went head-to-head across all five age-groups with mixed results for either side.In the under-18 fixture, Deeside Wanderers overcame Mackie 34-29 away from home in what was a game of two halves.The first-half displayed Wanderers’ ability to play free flowing rugby with the visitor’s finding and exploiting space with some impressive support play.Inside the 15-minute mark, Wanderers went two tries up with Scott Byers and Itti Sutthikorn touching down while a conversion from Gavin Rooney kept the scoreboard ticking.Mackie gained momentum through the forwards and created several opportunities, however two further tries from Michael McCall and Gabe Liddle for Wanderers extended the visitor’s lead.Mackie continued to fight back and were awarded with two tries of their own before a half-time score of 10-22.After the interval, Wanderers scored early through Guy Davis and James Plender, as one further conversion from Rooney boosted the score to 10-34.At this point, the tables started to turn and Mackie began to pile on the pressure with three tries and two conversions from the hosts before the the final score settled at 29-34 in favour of Wanderers.Mackie defeated Wanderers at both under-15 (31-19) and under-16 level (40-15) with the games a lot closer than what the score line suggested. Mackie opened up an early lead in their under-15 match and took control in the final 20 minutes with some great rugby played by both clubs. In the under-14 and under-13 conference fixtures, Mackie overcame Wanderers 36-9 while Wanderers defeated Mackie 17-7 respectively. Overall, Mackie pushed past Wanderers across all three under-16, under-15 and under-14 age-groups to settle tat the top of the Red Club Conference table with Wanderers in second. In the Girls’ President’s Conference, Biggar are leading the way in both the under-15 and under-18 standings to top the overall conference.This weekend’s pick of the schools’ conference fixtures takes the form of a top of the table clash between High School of Glasgow and Glasgow Academy in the White Conference.In the Green Club Conference, GHA’s welcome of Hamilton stands out as another top of the table clash between two performing clubs.For a full list of conference results and fixtures, visit: http://www.scottishrugby.org/fixtures-results-schools-youth