Players, coaches and volunteers from the club, community, professional and elite games will be celebrated during a dazzling evening at Murrayfield Stadium on Friday 16 May. The 2008 Scottish Rugby Awards Dinner, hosted by BBC Sport’s Hazel Irvine, will include a special guest appearance from the Calcutta Cup along with members of the Scotland team, ensuring a memorable night at the home of Scottish Rugby.
Affiliated rugby club members can benefit from a discounted ticket price of just £60 per person to include a drinks reception, three-course dinner and entertainment (dress code, Black Tie). To reserve your places – or for more information – please contact Sharon or Becky at Murrayfield Experience on 0131-346-5250 or at enquiries@murrayfieldexperience.com
The Scottish Hydro Electric Cup finals took place on Saturday 3 May at Murrayfield Stadium. The event was a fantastic celebration of club rugby, played out before nearly 6000 cheering fans on a perfect-rugby-weather day.
The Plate was eagerly contested by Portobello RFC and Aberdeen University RFC – the latter enjoying the accolade of being the first University team to reach the Finals. After a blistering encounter, the students ran out winners by four tries to two in a 21-27 scoreline.
Next up Preston Lodge RFC and Dalziel RFC battled it out for the Bowl. Despite a late second half rally by their opponents, the East Lothian side triumphed 18-10.
A nail-biting encounter between Kirkcaldy RFC and Garnock RFC saw the teams level at 24-all with minutes to go. Having already scored a brace, Garnock captain and man of the match, Paul McCrorie then went over the line for a third try, successfully converted just before the final whistle to ensure his side lifted the Shield.
The climax of the afternoon featured Melrose RFC and Heriot’s FC contesting the Cup. In a game of two definite halves, with each team scoring four tries each side of the half-time whistle, Melrose nonetheless dominated the match to triumph 31-24 – the same scoreline as the previous match.
Meanwhile out on the back pitches, the SWRU Finals were running concurrently. In the Cup Final Murrayfield Wanderers LRFC snatched victory in the last minute of the game from Royal High Corstorphine WRFC to win 15-14. The Plate final saw Kirkcaldy LRFC win 36-5 over a plucky Glasgow University WRFC side while winners of the Bowl Final were Melrose LRFC in a 44-5 win over a spirited Morgan Dundee WRFC.
How can you get from New Zealand to Moldova to Australia in one weekend? Answer – come along to Murrayfield in May. After the huge success of last year’s inaugural event, the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s is coming back to the national stadium on Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June 2008.
Sixteen international rugby teams including, of course, Scotland – featuring members of the all-conquering Scottish Thistles! – will gather in Edinburgh for the final tournament of the 2008 lRB Sevens World Series. As well as the event winners being presented with the Ned Haig Cup, the winners of the entire Series will be presented with the IRB Sevens World Series Trophy on the Murrayfield turf.
But there’s more than just fast-paced, spine-tingling international rugby on offer. Inside the stadium there’s full-on entertainment with competitions, fancy dress prizes and much more. The party atmosphere continues on the back pitches with the Martin Currie Festival Of Rugby where boys, girls, men and women will be playing all types of rugby over the weekend. Spectators can test their tactics, too, with skills zones and challenges to suit all ages.
TEAMtalk has secured seven pairs of tickets to the event, for the first seven entrants correctly answering a simple sevens’ puzzler:
Which team won the inaugural Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s?
Email your answer and name to teamtalk@sru.org.uk, marking the subject line Edinburgh 7s Competition. The closing date is 19 May 2008.
Save money by buying a two-day pass or family ticket in advance.
- 2 Day Adult only £25
- 2 Day Concession only £7.50
- Family (2 Ad & 2 U18) only £50 (2 Day Pass)
- Family (2 Ad & 2 U18) only £30 (1 Day Pass)
These offers will not be available to buy on the days of the tournament when daily entrance price will be £15 (adult) and £5 (concession).
For all the latest event news, information or to buy tickets visit www.edinburgh7s.com or call Scottish Rugby’s Ticket Centre on 0131 346 5100.
The SRU Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday 27 June 2008 at Murrayfield, starting at 5.30pm . Matters to be discussed include the election of President, nomination of Clubs for full membership of the Union and any Motions for consideration.
There are four Motions for consideration at the AGM .
Motions 1 and 2 concern technical changes to the Bye-Laws of the Scottish Rugby Union and the Articles of Association of SRU plc following the work of the Standing Working Party on Bye-Laws and Governance.
Motion 3 concerns a request, proposed by Perthshire RFC and seconded by Cambuslang RFC, that consideration be given to holding the AGM on a Saturday or Sunday (as opposed to the traditional Friday evening slot). Member Clubs are already in receipt of a questionnaire on this topic, to be returned to Scottish Rugby no later than 31 May 2008. This will assist determining the timing for future years.
Motion 4 concerns the future of community rugby competitions. The Motion is in four parts, each of which will be considered separately.
Part (a) calls for the disbanding of the Competitions Commission, recognising that its remit was extremely difficult and that its consultation process provoked only a limited response. The Council, elected by the clubs, has been asked to take over responsibility in this area, subject to any recommendations from it being approved by the Board;
Part (b) asks the Council to consult widely on a season structure for Season 2011/12, such that the clubs can be notified of the new structure in advance of the 2010/11 season (and thus know what they are playing for);
Part (c) proposes that as an interim measure, and recognising that the season is extremely congested, the National Cup competitions are suspended until a new structure is put in place;
Part (d) seeks to permit the scheduling of stand-by dates for postponed games on the Sunday following home internationals.
In order to illustrate the issue, two alternative fixture schedules for 2008/09 are provided. Without the Cup, the season starts on 30 August and finishes on 28 March, with no conflict with Scotland 's internationals and a Christmas break. The alternative, with a Cup, sees the season start on 16 August and finish on 9 May, with no Christmas break.
The motion on competitions, put forward by Scottish Rugby Board Chairman Allan Munro and SRU President George Jack, calls on the scheduling of stand-by dates for club games for the Sundays of home international weekends and also calls, as an interim measure, for National Cup competitions to be suspended for next season only.
The ramifications of 12 team leagues and six international matches being played in Scotland next season mean that if there is a Cup competition next season some clubs could start the season on 16 August, play Cup matches on 27 December and 3 January and reach Cup Finals Day at Murrayfield on 9 May.
The motion notes: “It is recognised that for some the potential of an end of season finale at Murrayfield is highly valued. It is stressed that the potential for the retention of this feature will be given full consideration within any future proposals.”
George Jack added: “There is significant debate among clubs as to the shape of the competitive season and in proposing this motion I would emphasise that any decisions will be taken through a simple majority of member clubs at the agm. This is a matter for the clubs but, clearly, everyone wants to bring more cohesion to the season, and, where possible reduce fixture congestion and conflicts.”
Clubs can put forward amendments to the motions until Wednesday 21 May.
Motions 1 and 2 will require a two-thirds vote at the AGM to be passed. Motions 3 and 4 require a straight majority to pass.
The election of the President takes place on the floor of the AGM . Applications and supporting paperwork were received from two candidates.
G W Jack ( Leith ) and
J S Stevenson (Cambuslang)
At the AGM the candidate receiving the higher number of votes will be elected President for 2008/09.
Each year a number of representatives on the Scottish Rugby Council retire by rotation. This year it was the turn of the Premiership and National League Clubs representatives.
Each of the Premier Leagues and the National Leagues (collectively) hold their own elections in respect of the vacancies arising. The following candidates have been put forward:
Premier 1 - G B Clark (Boroughmuir)
I A Barnes ( Edinburgh Academicals)
Premier 2 - B P Dunn (GHA)
J Davidson (Jed-Forest)
R J Hogarth (Peebles)
K Wallace (Haddington)
Premier 3 - D Naysmith (Livingston) - elected unopposed
National Leagues (two representatives)
- A Ferguson (Dalziel) - elected unopposed
- A M Gillies (Dumfries) - elected unopposed
The election of Council Representatives is due for completion by 31 May 2008 .
Further details of the meeting and an agenda will be distributed in due course. Meanwhile, Clubs requiring further guidance or information on AGM matters should contact Graham A Ireland (Company Secretary) at graham.ireland@sru.org.uk or on 0131 346 5004.
Players, coaches and volunteers from the club, community, professional and elite games will be celebrated during a dazzling evening at Murrayfield Stadium on Friday 16 May. The 2008 Scottish Rugby Awards Dinner, hosted by BBC Sport’s Hazel Irvine, will include a special guest appearance from the Calcutta Cup along with members of the Scotland team, ensuring a memorable night at the home of Scottish Rugby.
The Scottish Hydro Electric Cup finals took place on Saturday 3 May at Murrayfield Stadium. The event was a fantastic celebration of club rugby, played out before nearly 6000 cheering fans on a perfect-rugby-weather day.
How can you get from New Zealand to Moldova to Australia in one weekend? Answer – come along to Murrayfield in May. After the huge success of last year’s inaugural event, the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s is coming back to the national stadium on Saturday 31 May and Sunday 1 June 2008.
TEAMtalk has secured seven pairs of tickets to the event, for the first seven entrants correctly answering a simple sevens’ puzzler: