LEARNING FROM THE BEST
Chris Patterson gives a talk on his days of playing rugby to pupils at Selkirk High School as part of the Champions in Schools project.
EDINBURGH Rugby players are heading to Philiphaugh this Monday to deliver a coaching clinic to local youngsters, one week after booking their place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.
Pupils from Selkirk High School will receive some skills and position-specific rugby training from the pro-players.
Last Sunday, a Scottish Heineken Cup record crowd of around 11,000 celebrated as former Selkirk star Lee Jones scored the bonus-point try against London Irish that secured a home tie in the last eight of Europe’s elite club rugby competition – a first for any Scottish club.
Jones’ recent selection in Scotland’s 2012 RBS 6 Nations squad rules him out of a return to Ettrickhaugh Road on Monday, but the youngsters will get the chance to pick the brains of some of the club’s top performers, as well as forwards coach Tom Smith, the former Scotland and British Lions prop.
Among the 20 players heading to Selkirk are Chris Paterson, the club’s record cap holder and points’ scorer, who will deliver a kicking masterclass alongside fellow full-back, Jim Thompson.
Paterson is becoming a regular in the town, as on Wednesday past he popped into Selkirk High School to deliver a lecture on rugby to pupils as part of the Champions in Schools initiative.
Try-machine Tim Visser will also be there on Monday to coach pupils on catching and passing, while overseas internationalists Netani Talei (Fiji) and Esteban Lozada (Argentina) will be among those working on off-load and tackle technique.
Edinburgh Rugby chief executive Craig Docherty, said: “The support we’ve had at our recent matches from fans in the Borders has been excellent and it’s important that we recognise and repay that support with meaningful rugby events.”
The clinic will take place at Philiphaugh between 1.45pm and 3.30pm on Monday.
Meanwhile, Selkirk 1st XV are hitting the road again this weekend when travelling to play Biggar at Hartree Mill for their second Premier C fixture (2pm).
Biggar are currently in fourth place and will be looking to secure their survival under new coach Deek Armstrong, formerly of Hawick.
When the two teams met at Philiphaugh, Selkirk scraped the victory by a point, but team manager Brian Cassidy is looking to widen the gap and silence those who poured cold water over Selkirk’s previous 21-0 win against Whitecraigs.
He told The Wee Paper: “We couldn’t believe the reports after the Whitecraigs game that were more or less writing us off because we didn’t get a bonus point. I couldn’t care less if we won our next six games 3-0. A win is a win.
“We have one of the best goal kickers (David Cassidy) in Scottish club rugby in our team so we will always take the option to kick the points rather than take the chance of maybe or maybe not getting a try.”
Cassidy junior is unable to play this weekend due to prior commitments, while Fraser Harkness is on international sevens duties, but Cassidy senior is confident his team can do the job.
“The first 20 minutes will be vital,” he added.
“We need to take them on up front as that is where they are strong and I firmly believe we can do that and get the right result.”
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Weather for Selkirk
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
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