Semi-Final Win Against Strathallan School
in the Scottish Schools' Rugby Cup

On Wednesday 16 January with a bright low winter sun in their eyes, Dollar’s 1st XV took on the task of winning a place in this year’s final of the Bell Lawrie Scottish Schools Rugby Cup. The Dundee High School pitch was surprisingly dry and the good conditions underfoot gave the opportunity for some fast moves along the right wing and two tries for Yeltsin Awuse in the 5th and 17th minutes. A further try by Nick Baron on the left wing gave the impression that the Dollar boys were going to come out after half-time with a 15-0 lead. Not so. Strathallan, captained by powerful stand-off half Michael Cachia, showed no sense of demoralisation and kept a relentless pressure on Dollar with attacking kicks and attempts to get through the defensive line. Two Strathallan tries in quick succession, one of them converted, meant that the score at the break was 15-12.

The large number of travelling supporters from both schools felt the tension as the second half began. Dollar were giving away more penalties than necessary and it would have only taken one successful kick to bring the scores level. Relief was felt when full-back Bill Auld came through for a try after 10 minutes. 15 minutes later flanker Blair Peck broke dynamically away from a scrum to put Dollar 13 points in the lead. Although this had not been a kicker’s day, Number 10 Angus Tester succeeded with a penalty to put the Dollar lead up to an apparently safe 16 points with less than 10 minutes to go.

Once again Strathallan fought back hard scoring another converted try. In the dying minutes Dollar flanker Matthew Pope made a very strong run and crossed the Strathallan line for a converted try. The final score was 32 - 19.

The Man of the Match award, presented by international prop Craig Smith, went to Yeltsin Awuse, a boarder from Nigeria.

Coach John Foster declared this to be a great day for the Dollar Rugby Club as a whole. The team had responded to his substantial demands in every area including time-keeping, discipline and appearance. The Herald and The Scotsman quoted him as follows: “We were tested when Strathallan came back at in the second quarter, but the fitness we gained from our training sessions during the holidays helped us to pull away in the second half. The pitch at Mayfield was in amazing condition and that allowed us to move the ball wide giving our wingers three tries. I think that overall our skills showed up well and again that was in part due to our intensive training during the festive season”.

The final will be held at Murrayfield at 7.30pm on Thursday 25 January against either Merchiston Castle or Bell Baxter. Parking and entry are free, and an exciting and atmospheric evening of rugby is guaranteed. This is Dollar’s fourth visit to the final in five years with a hat-trick of victories from 2003 to 2005. Over a hundred schools entered the senior part of the competition this year and the sponsors, stock-broking firm Bell Lawrie, must be pleased with the growth of the competition.

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