New Rugby Fitness Sessions

From Thursday 26th Nov. we will be holding Rugby fitness sessions at Union Park from 4pm to 5pm every Thursday.

This will be run by Mark Boydell (4th Degree Blackbelt, International Tae Kwon Do Instructor.) with support from our coaches.

The sessions will be open to anyone in S1 to S6 , please just bring your boots and training kit. Gum shileds will not be needed.

S1/2 tournament

Montrose Academy S1/2

Montrose Academy played host, at Union Park, to the first S1/2 tournament of the season. There were teams from Arbroath / Monifeith and Websters. We managed to field two teams Montrose A and Montrose B. Both teams played excellent rugby and came out second and third in the tournament. The next tournament is in March in Forfar.

A huge thank you to Stewart Ross for organising it, Mr Campbell for his support and Sam GW, Callum R , Finlay C and Fraser M for refereeing.


Well done to everyone that took part.

New Orange Sponsor

We have a new sponsor for our half time oranges. Natures Garden on Murray Street, Montrose has kindly agreed to sponsor our half time oranges. Thank you.

If you need fresh fruit and veg please make use of this new shop.

Montrose Juniors at Murrayfield - The Evidence!

For those who weren't there - Here are some pictures and a video of the Guard of Honour as Robbie ran onto the pitch with Edinburgh and Scotland Captain Mike Blair.

Montrose "Do" Munster at Murrayfield

The P6/7 and S1/2 players that took part.

On Friday 23rd Oct , 18 players ( P6 to S2) and a few coaches/adults from Montrose Junior Rugby headed for Murrayfield in the rain. The Montrose players trained on the back pitches with Edinburgh players and SRU coaches for 1 hour with other selected clubs from across Scotland.

After a quick change in the bus, into tracksuits and jackets, we headed into the grounds for some well deserved food.

All the players were then ushered onto the main pitch to act as the guard of honour for the Edinburgh v Munster match. The kids stood on either side of the tunnel and watched the players run on for the start of the match.

Robbie MacDonald ( s1) was selected to act as a mascot for the Edinburgh team and got to meet all the players and have his photo taken with them prior to the match then he ran out onto the pitch with Edinburgh Captain , Mike Blair.

A huge thank you to all the adults (and Sam!) that helped look after all the players.

A big thank you goes to all the players for representing Montrose so well.

The kids at the match - Go Edinburgh !

North Angus U15's

North Angus U15's with Coach Malcolm McEwan.

The U15's took on Lathallan school last Thursday for a "friendly" match. The idea of the session was developemental for both sides. Although Lathallan won the U15's played strong rugby with the backs pulling out all the stops. Well done.

Glenrothes Match - Date changed.

Due to the tattie holidays we have rearranged the S1/2 home match against Glenrothes.
This will now be played on Sunday 18th Oct (KO 11.00).
Could all players please be at Union Park for 10.00 .

Strathmore S1/2s visit Montrose

Today saw Union Park at its best. Loads of kids playing rugby on a bright sunny day. Strathmore brought up a squad of 13 players from Forfar with many familiar faces from last year's P6/7 side.

The game was made up of three fifteen minute sessions and Strathie kicked off with Montrose playing down the slope. Montrose made a slow start and this allowed Strathmore's speedy backs to break loose. Into the second session, Montrose demonstrated some quality interplay and much more determination. This led to two well executed tries by Stewart Watson. The third session was also close and the difference was three breakaway tries from the Strathmore backs.

While Strathmore were comfortable winners, the Montrose team showed real sprit to fight back into the match. Also, many of the players showed significant improvement throughout the game.

Kevin Mitchell, Strathie Sharks' Chairman was at the match. Afterwards he sent an email to say "We always enjoy our visits to Montrose and although the scoreline flattered us, your team never gave up and had some great passages of play." Well done to all the players and see you all at training.

Montrose S1/2 Team

New Coaching session - S1/2

There is an extra coaching session for S1/2 at Montrose Academy at 1pm on a Monday lunchtime.
This will be run by Stewart Ross and is on while the school is open.
Dont forget your boots and gum shields.

S1/2 Match at Brechin

This was the first S1/2 match of the season and with a 15 strong squad we all went to Brechin.

We had a few new faces in the squad and it was the first time that the boys had played for 1 hour on a full size pitch.

The forwards put in an excellent display against a strong and abrasive Brechin pack with Montrose winning most of our own scrums and stealing a few. There were strong displays in rucks and mauls with Captain Liam leading by example.

The backs were passing well and with strong lines being run at pace. This gave them space to make breaks and score some quality tries.

Lee Thomas, S1/2 coach said “This was a great start to the season and all the boys showed commitment and played good rugby. It was nice to see them using what we have been working on in training in the match. Stewart Watson was man of the match scoring 4 tries. While Brechin came out on top, they should all be very proud of how they performed.”

Man of the Match Stewart Watson

The S1/2 has a match next week against Strathmore at Montrose. We look forward to seeing everyone at training on Tuesday. Feel free to encourage friends to come along.

Great Start to Senior Season

Montrose 1st XV made a great start to their 09/10 season with a 19-12 win away to Waid Academy FP. Next week, they will be playing at Atholl in Pitlochry and the first home game of the season will be on Saturday 12th September against Carnoustie with a 15.00 kick-off. Players and their families are more than welcome to come along and support the Mighty Mo'.

Full details of the 1st XV fixtures can be found here.

Training Started

The 09/10 season has now started with a fantastic turn out at U15 and S1/2.
All the coaches are really pleased with the boys positive attitudes about the coming season.
Remember that newcomers are always welcome so please encourage your friends to come along.

No gumshield - No play!

Please note that the policy at Montrose Junior Rugby is that all players need to have a gumshield for both training and matches. The gumshield has to be worn for anything involving contact, not just kept in your pocket! While a gumshield may feel strange to start with, it is as important as a pair of boots. As well as protecting your teeth, gumshields can help limit concussion.

If you have all of your adult teeth, you should seriously consider a dentist-fitted gumshield. However, if you are still losing teeth and you are growing, a well fitted 'boil and fit' gumshield may be enough. We have basic ones at the club or you can buy a junior or adult gumshields such as Shock Doctor from the sports shop on Murray Street or Argos.

If you want to find out more about gumshields, please speak to your dentist.

Training Kit Has Arrived!

The hoodies and jackets that were ordered prior to the end of the season (08/09) have arrived. I will have them at Brechin on Sunday (16th ) for the U15's and at Montrose on Tuesday night (18th) for the S1/2.
Please make sure that you bring a cheque ( made to Montrose Minis) or cash to pay for them.
If anyone needs to know how much to pay please phone me on 01674 830763. Thanks .

First Aid Refill

Prior to the start of the 09/10 Season, we have been had a generous donation from Montrose Osteopathy. Following on from their generous donation of first aid kits, they have replaced all items used by Minis, S1/2 and U15s.

A big thank you to the Watsons and you can find out more about Montrose Osteopathy here.

If anyone else would like to support Montrose Junior Rugby, either through direct donations or sponsorship, please get in touch.

Montrose has four more Level 1 coaches

Scottish Rugby held their first UKCC Level 1 coaching course in Montrose this weekend. Sixteen coaches attended the three day course, which was led by Doc McKelvey, Scottish Rugby Development Manager, supported by Rugby Development Officers Stewart Ross (Angus) and Paul Hunter (Fife). As well as coaches from Montrose, representatives came from across Scotland and one travelled from Italy to attend!

We are delighted that four of our coaches completed the course: Callum Ruxton, Caroline Campbell, Mike Roulston and Sam Grove-White. Well done to all of them.

Montrose's new Level 1 coaches with Doc, Stewart and Paul

Montrose Players Meet Edinburgh Squad

Four players from Montrose Junior Rugby attended a training camp in St Andrews, organised by Edinburgh Rugby. The purpose of the day was for junior rugby players from Tayside and Fife to pick up new skills.

The Edinburgh players led the coaching and at the end of the session, the Montrose players met the Edinburgh squad, including Scotland stars Mike Blair, Phil Godman and Ross Ford.

The Montrose players with Edinburgh and Scotland stand-off Phil Godman

Development Day

Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer, ran a development day for P4 to S2 players at Montrose. We had over twenty players and the weather was far better than the previous week!

Thanks to Stewart for organising the day.

Donkey Derby

Montrose Junior Rugby was invited to put on a demonstration at this year's Donkey Derby. We put on some drills and then played both tag and full-contact rugby. We also had a stall with the large inflatable rugby posts for people to try their luck at conversions.

A huge thank you to everyone that came along to play and show off their skills on Sunday. You were all fantastic ambassadors for Montrose Junior Rugby.

Fancy footwork

U15 fixtures for 2009/2010

We now have the first few months fixtures for the U15's.
The first match will be on Sunday 6th Sept. at Montrose against Dundee.
KO will be 1.30

Keep checking the fixture list on the right of the blog for up to date news.

Gun Shields Must Be Worn.- S1/2 and U15.

It is important that Gum Shields are brought to every training session /match and worn. Please don't leave them at home or in the changing room. Wear them , you only get one set of teeth.

If you do not have one you will not be able to play.

S1/2 Prizegiving

Following the S2's successful trip to Stonehaven, players came back to Union Park. Once they had finished the leftovers from the Minis Barbecue, there was the 08/09 prizegiving for the S1/2s.

Trophies were presented to the following players by Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer.

Best Newcomer: Liam Greive
Most Improved: Daniel Waghorn
Clubman: Sean Dalgarno
Player of the Year: Findlay Christie

Lisa Waghorn was thanked for all of her efforts during the year in coordinating such a successful season.

Scotland Fiji - Saturday 14th November

After the success of the bus trip to the Scotland vs. Canada match last year we are going to take a bus to the Scotland vs. Fiji match at Murrayfield on Sat 14th Nov. As well as players, family and friends are very welcome.

This is a family day so all players MUST be accompanied by an adult. More details will come out once we have a price for tickets and rough numbers for the bus. If you are interested can you please email us?

First Aid Course: 21 June 2009- CANCELLED

We have managed to re-organise the Rugby first aid course for Sunday 21 June 2009, all day (10.00 to 4pm.) at Montrose sports centre.

The course will be run by Angie Mutch who is a qualified nurse and social worker. She was also a paramedic in the army and travels abroad to teach first aid to kids in deprived areas. She will issue first aid certificates at the end of the course (only if you know what to do!!!!) and will also do refreshers if we need them later in the year.
The course will consist of CPR for babies/kids /adults, general fractures, head injuries, neck injuries, studding(!) and the last hour will de dedicated to sports injuries.

It’s open to all coaches, parents and adult players .
All you need to bring is a packed lunch, wear comfy clothing that’s ok to get dirty and have a sense of humor!

Can you please get back to Caroline asap to reserve a place.
Either on email montrosejuniors@tiscali.co.uk or phone: 01674 830763

S1 training stops for season.

There will be no more S1 training until the start of next season.

S1/2 Prize giving will be held at Union Park on Sunday 24th May at 1.30pm.

The new season will start on Tuesday 18th August at 18.00 at Union Park.

Could all S1 players please email Caroline( montrosejuniors@tiscali.co.uk) with there contact details.

For more details of fixtures for next sesaon please keep an eye on the web.

Thank you for all your hard work this season.

Coaching Courses in Montrose

SRU Youth Coaching Rugby Course .

It will take place at Montrose Sport Centre on Sunday the 7th and 14th of June 0945 – 1600 both days

The course is to target young people 15-20 who are interested in getting involved or may already be helping younger teams at school or club level – The course will provide the candidates with a clearer idea of what is expected from a coach and, how they should present themselves, health and safety issues they need to be aware of and also give them a greater knowledge of specific area’s of the game – scrums, tackling and tackle area etc!

The course is free of charge however there will be a £10 deposit which the candidates will get back after the completion of the course!

For an application form or more details please contact Stewart Ross (Angus rugby developement Officer ) on 01307 474245 (mobile:07824694473 ) or email : RossS@angus.gov.uk

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UKCC Level 1 cert. in Coaching Rugby.

The Level 1 course is being held in Montrose Sports centre on Friday 7th August 09 (6.30 to 9.30pm), Saturday 8th August 09(9am to 5pm), Sunday 9th August 09 (9am to 5pm). This course is open to anybody who has already done the foundation course and eveyone MUST have completed the SRU rugby ready test.

Anybody already coaching for Montrose (either minis, juniors or seniors) will get the course paid for by the club.

For more information and to book a place please check the SRU website on the link: http://www.scottishrugby.org/community/content/view/1067/116/

Places are limited so hurry and book a place.

Training in all weathers

Training on a Sunday and Tuesday evening will be in ALL weathers unless it is cancelled on the website. We play matches in the rain and wind therefore it is essential that we train in these conditions as well.
Please make sure you check the website for details and bring waterproofs if its raining.
There will always be coaches waiting to train you unless its cancelled here.

U15 team for next season.

We are pleased to announce that for next season (2009/2010) there will be a combined Montrose and Brechin Under 15 team. This will be for boys born in 1995 or later (mainly next year's S3).

Full details are being developed but we are currently ordering strips and arranging fixtures. Training and matches will be split between Montrose and Brechin.

It looks unlikely that there will be an Angus Colts Under15 team next year. However, we believe Strathmore, Carnoustie, Panmure and Mackie will all have Under15 teams.

Developement Days.

Montrose Junior Rugby held their Easter development days for boys and girls from P4 to S2 at Union Park for our . Led by Stewart Ross, Angus Rugby Development Officer, over 40 children learned new skills and played games. He was supported by coaches from Montrose and Brechin Rugby Clubs.
Over the two days there were sessions on passing, tackling, running and kicking. Each of the age groups also played a lot of games to hone their skills.
Richard Neville, Montrose coach commented "It was great to see so many children at the development days. Whilst some regular players attended, we had many new faces. The newcomers showed real talent and we hope to see them all at training on Sunday mornings."
At the end of the second day, every player was presented with a mini rugby ball from the SRU

Rugby Boot Swap

We have decided to start a "BOOT SWAP". If anyone has rugby boots that they have out grown then they can hand them into the club and swap them for another pair ( if we have your new size.) The swap will cost £2.00
At present , we have two pairs of boots a size 3 and a size 4.
Please hand any boots either surplus or to swap to Caroline.

Tesco Vouchers

We have registered with Tesco’s voucher scheme. As well as schools, amateur sports clubs can collect vouchers.






If you aren’t already collecting for someone else, it would be great if you along with all of your friends and relatives could collect vouchers for Montrose Rugby. With the vouchers, we will be able to buy sports equipment to support training at all age groups.

We expect to have a collecting box at the club in a few weeks.

Rugby Club AGM

The AGM will be held on Tue 28th April in the clubhouse. This is open to all members.
More details to follow.

Easter Rugby Camp In Dundee (15 to 17th April)

Easter Rugby Camp in Dundee.
The SRU are running an easter rugby camp in Dundee for kids aged from P5 to U16.( all standards welcome). This is being held at Dundee University grounds and runs from 9am to 1pm eagh day.

If anyone is interested please contact Graham Kilgour on 07545 298615 or look at www.scottishrugby.org.

Easter Rugby Camp In Montrose (9.4.09 and 10.4.09)

Easter Rugby Camp in Montrose.
We are hosting two rugby development days for S1/2 during the Easter holidays. (New players are always welcome so bring your friends along.)
They will be run on Thur 9th April and Friday 10th April from 1pm to 4pm each day at Union park. The cost will be £1.00 per session per player.
The sessions will be run by Stewart Ross (Angus rugby development officer) with help from our own coaches.

If you are interested can you please let either Caroline know on 01674 830763 or Stewart know on 07824694473 (email: RossS@angus.gov.uk)

Valuables

We have had the unfortunate situation that valuables have gone missing during Tuesday night training. The police have been informed and if you have any relevant information, please speak to one of the coaches or the police directly.

To prevent any further problems, we will provide a valuables bag at the start of training. This will be given to one of the coaches to be kept securely during training and handed back at the end of training.

Strathmore U15 match postponed again

Sorry but the match planned for Wednesday 18th February against Strathmore has needed to be postponed. This is because Forfar Athletic are hosting Rangers in the Scottish Cup that evening and many of the players want to be at that. No accounting for taste!

The match has been rescheduled for Wednesday 25th February, in Forfar. Meet at Union Park at 17.00 for an 18.30 kick off in Forfar.

Training Cancelled and Match Postponed.

Training too night ( 10.2.9) is cancelled due to the ground being too hard and the the low temperature.

The U15 match scheduled for tomorrow (11.2.9) against Strathmore is postponed till next Wed ( 18.2.9) at the same time at Forfar.

Training is on today!

While it is really cold, it is dry and the sun is coming out. There will be coaches to take training today but we will tailor the session to make sure everyone keeps warm and there won’t be any tackling!

If you are coming along, please wrap up warm and bring gloves, hats and anything else to keep the winter weather out.

Extra Match -. Wed 11th Feb

An extra match has been arranged against Strathmore (away) on Wed 11th Feb.
Meet at union park at 5.30 for a 6.30KO.
This is anUnder15 match and anyone in S1,2,3 can take part.

Please don't wear 'blades'

Montrose Junior Rugby would ask that our players don't wear boots with 'blade' studs when playing rugby. Whilst they may provide additional grip in some conditions, we have become aware of a number of injuries caused by this type of boot.

From the IRB/SRU viewpoint, there is no ban on the use of blades, but boots have to be 'safe' in the referee’s opinion. However, we would rather not take the risk and ask that you don’t wear them for training or matches.

Normal rugby or football boots with aluminium rugby studs are ideal. There are studs available for sale from the club.

Brilliant Team Performance at Brechin

14 Montrose players headed through to Brechin to play in the S1/2 fixture. Brechin has a very capable and experienced squad so this was never going to be easy. Brechin loaned two players, Ian Smith and Alex Steven, to make up our squad to play 15 a side. They both put in excellent performances and should be congratulated for their effort.

Brechin won the toss and chose to play down hill for the first session. From the whistle, there was an obvious determination from Montrose both in the tackle and defence.

Into the second session, Montrose started to clear out the rucks better with strong driving from the forwards. This meant that the backs were getting cleaner and faster ball to start to test the Brechin backline. However, Brechin continued to lead through strong forward play and some strong individual running.

Heading into the last session, Montrose were behind by a try. The team dug deep and showed steely determination and excellent skills to release key players to score some excellent tries. Brechin scored a try in the dying minutes and after the conversion kick was made, the final whistle was blown.

A cheer went up from the Montrose side as they had won by 3 points - Brechin 33 : Montrose 36!

The whole team contributed to this memorable win and there was excellent agressive running from Sean, Jack, Jasper, Daniel and others. However, the man of the match, awarded by a well-informed spectator, went to Findlay Christie.

This has set a new standard for the S1/2 squad and all of the players should be very proud of their performance. Their skill and teamwork were excellent and spectators from both sides commented on how they enjoyed the match.

Winning Squad:

J. Boyle, L. Greive, D. Murray, J. Grant, J. Rogers, J. Anderson, D. Duplexito, J. Grove-White, S. Dalgarno, T. Watson, S. Watson, F. Christie, D. Waghorn, A Robertson, I. Smith and A. Steven.

Coach:

S. Grove-White

Training Cancelled - 25th Jan

Sorry but due to the horizontal rain, cold temperature and the strong winds, we have decided to cancel training today. See you all at training on Tuesday at 18.00 - Please bring a friend!

Next week is a development match in Brechin (subject to the weather). You can get directions here. Please meet at Union Park at 10.30 or Brechin at 11.00 for an 11.30 kick off. We should be done by 12.30 and Brechin will provide a post match snack for all players. If anyone can’t make it, call Lisa or send an email.

Development Officer at Training

This Tuesday saw Stewart Ross, the Angus Rugby Development Officer, come to Montrose to support the S1/2 training. This was really appreciated by all of the boys and the coaches.

Thanks Stewart - you are always welcome at Montrose!

Bring along your friends

The commitment from everyone at training is great. However, it is clear that we need more players. This will make training more fun, help to get real games at training sessions and improve the squad's overall performance.

Please encourage all of your friends to come along to training and give rugby a go. It doesn't matter if they haven't played rugby before - everyone is welcome! Also, if they can only make either Tuesday or Sunday, that is fine too.

If you have any ideas on how to recruit more players, please carry on or let one of the coaches know. We are looking into organising a prize for the player who encourages the most people to come to training (more than once).

Rugby Foundation Coaching / Referee course

The next foundation course is on Sunday 22nd Feb in Arbroath(9.45 to 4.30).This is open to all mums, dads, players (over16) and helpers. You do not need to have any previous knowledge of rugby and you wont be committing to coaching every weekend if you do the course!
Please get in touch if you would like an application form(montroseminis@tiscali.co.uk) or contact Stewart Ross ( Angus rugby development officer) on RossS@angus.gov.uk for futher information.

Sponsorship Money

Can anyone who has not handed in their money, please do so this sunday (11th Jan) to Lisa. Thanks.