1st XV match reports

friendly Celtic Challenge

Such was the score line, not that conceding eight tries mattered. The objective was to give Terry O’Connor’s new look squad some game time against opposition who would pose all sorts of questions.

And so it came to pass: against an Irish squad lacking their World Cup picks and their Middlesex Sevens Squad, but including most of the remaining professionals and academy squad players, the home players responded with strong evidence that teamwork, organisation and commitment will be up to the challenge of National Three South in the coming season.

Moreover, while not scoring themselves, they will be satisfied that they controlled the ball for long spells, did in any case make several line breaks, and defended well enough to staunch the gentle flow of tries against with more than 20 minutes to go.

Whether O’Connor went away with many clues to unlock the undoubted selection conundrum he faces, is another matter,..

He may well have a feel for what comprises his strongest XV, but the Scots in the 1,200-plus crowd won’t be any the wiser, as the squad took the field in their smart new Rugbytech shirts which had somehow arrived without numbers! As Irish were wearing their training shirts, also unnumbered, only a handful of insiders had much clue as to the identity of the 60 players from both clubs who rotated through four periods of 20 minutes or so each.

Still, it was a good exercise from a training point of view; and from the social standpoint, a big crowd, good food and the sort of camaraderie you’d expect from a load of Celts on an evening out, made the Celtic Challenge a terrific curtain raiser for the season.

All that was missing was a decent pint afterwards… somehow the landlord’s cellar system failed, depriving the crowd of anything on draught except – mysteriously, but our reputation as good hosts - for the black stuff which is as mother’s milk to our visitors!

Paul McFarland

(photo Marcus Dodridge)

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