Passion for girls’ rugby pays off
They have been putting in endless amounts of work to develop girls’ rugby in the local area.
And on Sunday there was a special moment for talented Perthshire Rugby stars at the DAM Health Stadium in Edinburgh.
Representing Tayside - teaming up with Dundee, Montrose and Strathmore - they were crowned winners of the U16 National Shield following an exciting 41-12 final win against Caithness.
Captain on the day was Ellie-Jo Simpson.
“Our U16s girls came together to form the Tayside team,” said head of Perthshire’s Midi section, Carol Ann Rose.
“The dedication, commitment and determination from all players across each club was evident throughout.
“With weekly training sessions, they excelled in the pool stages of the competition reaching the final of the competition at Murrayfield on Sunday.
“And their crowning glory was winning the National Youth U16 Girls Shield which is a credit to them all.
“A fantastic achievement and we thank all the players, coaches and volunteers who were involved.
“We are extremely proud of every player from the four clubs Perthshire, Montrose, Strathmore and Dundee.”
Grace Fraser, later named player of the match, dotted down for the opening score of the match.
And then Jocelyn Norrie quickly secured another with scrum-half Niamh O’Reilly adding the extras.
Tayside had made a terrific start and the third try arrived on 21 minutes from full-back Rowan
MacGugan.
Caithness continued to fight, however, pulling one back to leave a half-time score of 17-7.
Restarting the scoring, MacGugan showed off her neat feet to extend the advantage and then contributed more points - bagging the hat-trick and converting her own try.
Again, Caithness responded but Morag Strang soon added to the Tayside lead before MacGugan closed the game by converting her fourth personal try of the match.
Carol Ann added: “I would like to thank Scottish Rugby Caledonia Midlands regional managers for being a great support in the development of girls rugby.
“As a club, Perthshire Rugby will continue to grow girls participation in the sport from U12 to U18 age groups - an exciting future is ahead for all the Perthshire girls.”
The full Tayside squad was: Rowan MacGugan, Caitlin Sandilands, Phoebe Lawson, Ellie-Jo Simpson, Ellie Marsh, Grace Fraser, Niamh O’Reilly, Lily Beaton, Violet Craig, Elizabeth
Craig, Eva Finnie, Ruby Blackhall, Ilja Puccianti, Tracey Webster, Jocelyn Norrie, Erin Barker, Kara
Cameron Gall, Rona BarberStuart, Hannah Binnie, Morag Strang.