U18s Exit National Cup

Hamilton U18s travelled to Ayr to play for a place in the quarterfinals of the National Cup. Ayr, who finished second in the Presidents Conference, were expected to be stiff opposition.

Hamilton started strongly with their scrum looking comfortable and Callum Stewart making a good run on the left wing before Billy Simpson was tackled 10 metres from the Ayr line and judged to be holding on. A few minutes later Hamilton had to clear their lines following a defensive lineout 7 yards out. Ayr continued to press and after 12 minutes their number 10 found space through the middle to score under the posts.

The pitch was very heavy, making the restart difficult, and when the kick did not reach 10 yards Ayr looked happy to take the scrum on the centre spot. Any concerns about Lewis Bruce putting on an unfamiliar number 3 shirt, due to Kieran’s fractured thumb, were quickly dispelled as the Hamilton pack, reinforced with the power of Andy Simpson and Jordan MacLean in second row, overturned the scrum. Dominic McRoberts kicked intelligently from hand deep into Ayr territory and a good chase from the backs won another scrum. Ayr were aggressive in the breakdown and cleared with a box kick but Hamilton’s full back Cammy Morrin took a beautiful catch at full pace drawing applause from the travelling support. Ayr were caught offside at the ruck and Dominic stepped up confidently to kick the penalty from 30 yards out bringing the score to 7-3.

The game was being played at a fast pace and with a pitch nearly twice as wide as the Dumfries pitch last week the Hamilton defence struggled to reset quickly enough whilst Ayr went through their phases with the precision and speed that many senior teams would be proud of. With only a quarter of an hour gone they had scored the second try and Hamilton found themselves 14-3 down having dominated the set piece and not really having made a mistake. Throughout the rest of the first half Hamilton showed that they could clearly compete at this level sharing the possession but with a little bit of inexperience on the wings they relied heavily on Callum Stewart at 13 and Cammy Morrin at 15 for cover. Ayr scored twice more before the half time whistle taking a convincing 24-3 lead into the second half.

Hamilton defended well at the beginning of the second half but with Ayr comfortably in the lead they were able to relax and play speculative rugby. Six minutes into the second half when they struggled to break our defence down they tried a cross kick that bounced kindly for them to score again.

Hamilton then lost Scott Legatte following a knock to the head and although Jordon sacked the lineout the forwards had not yet reorganised themselves to adequately defend the ruck allowing Ayr to score again.

With only 15 minutes left there was little to play for apart from pride and as Hamilton dug deep and pressed forward with determination it looked like luck was not on their side as Dominic McRoberts, standing in at 10 for an injured Robbie, took a knock to the face and had to leave the park. Andy Simpson may not have looked like an obvious choice to move from second row to standoff but he carried it off with confidence. Soon afterwards the forwards turned a scrappy ruck into a tidy one and Vince passed to Andy Simpson who unleashed a frustrated Billy Simpson on the Ayr back line. Billy bounced off four tackles making the Ayr backs look amateur to score the last try of game.

Although there was no further score Hamilton dominated the rest of the game with nearly all of the possession and territory. The game ended 43-8 with Ayr definitely deserving the win but the score flattered them a little. Hamilton showed that they had the better scrum, their lineouts were competitive and they played with possession and dominance for significant parts of the game.

Ayr’s dominance came from their speed, organisation and clinical finishing that clearly comes from playing at this standard regularly. The quality of the play was a step up from what the young Bulls were used to in the Green Conference but they should take confidence in the knowledge that they can compete at this level though if they want to be successful they will need to work on their defensive strategies and become much more vocal.