Mixed Success for Regional Academy Teams

BT Regional Academy Championships are well represented by East Lothian players

The BT Academy Championships Finals Day took place at Murrayfield on Sunday 13^th August as the culmination of the Academy Championships which started down in Gala on 26^th July. The Borders / East Lothian U16 squad was well represented by East Lothian players although they struggled to get going in the championships. They lost their three pool games to Edinburgh, Caledonia and Glasgow respectively and had numerous injuries that made competing with the other teams even more challenging. Generally, they attacked well and scored some great tries but they struggled to contain opposition while defending and leaked too many tries. The U16’s were beaten by Edinburgh on finals day in the 3^rd / 4^th playoff at Murrayfield.

The U18’s were especially well represented by East Lothian with more than half the squad made up of local East Lothian players. The U18’s started well with a victory against Edinburgh U18’s in the first game. They then went on to lose narrowly to Caledonia and Glasgow in the following two fixtures to set up a 3^rd / 4^th play off against Edinburgh on Finals day. They managed to record a good victory against Edinburgh again, finishing the Academy Championships with two wins and two loses.

The Borders East Lothian U20’s only played two fixtures. They had a convincing victory over Edinburgh in their opening fixture which was the first time Edinburgh U20’s had been beaten in the recently established Championships. They then went onto play the U20’s Academy final on Finals Day and came up against a strong Glasgow team. Glasgow had the best of the game and came away winners and were crowned  U20 Champions.

Overall, the Academy Championships was a great learning curve for all the local players involved. Although results didn’t always go our way, the intensity and quality of games created a great experience for all the players involved. Hopefully, some of East Lothian players will make the next step to take part on the East vs West fixtures at each age group later in the season.