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| SANGSTER BACKS SUMMER SEASON by Iain Grant |
| Fri 15th Jan 2010 |
The cause of summer rugby is getting a fresh airing as the Scottish club rugby programme suffered another wipe-out last Saturday.
Tomorrow’s card is likely to be badly hit, giving fresh ammunition to those advocating a major rejig in the timing of the season.
With Caithness coach Colin Sangster resigned to another blank day tomorrow, he aligns himself firmly with advocates of fair weather rugby.
He however believes the cause continues to face insuperable obstacles at both junior and senior club level.
“It’s just not going to happen at under-18 level,” said Sangster, who has coached youths at club, regional and national level.
“In terms of playing rugby on better pitches and improving skills, I think it’s definitely the way forward.
“I’d be very keen to see it happen but I just don’t think it will because of the politics involving the private schools and the state schools.”
He said the private sector is wedded to playing rugby in the autumn and winter terms and he sees no prospect of a rethink.
Sangster said that he would have no problem with the senior club game switching to the late spring, summer and autumn, with a mid-season holiday break.
But he doubted whether clubs would support the move.
“We’ve gone down this road before with a questionnaire going out to clubs and the outcome being that they were generally against it.
“You get the old diehards who say they do rugby in the winter and have other interests and holidays in the summer.”
Sangster said many clubs use school facilities, which they could not access during school holidays. He said Caithness is fortunate that one of its two weekly sessions is held at the indoor riding centre in Halkirk.
That has given the club an advantage in trying to keep player fitness levels up to scratch during the current extended break.
The chances of the Greens getting their first outing of 2010 in Kilmarnock tomorrow are next to nil.
The Bellsland pitch has been coated in snow and ice with more snow forecast for the area on Wednesday and Thursday.
The club has been training as if the match were on but it is almost certainly going to be cancelled.
Last Saturday’s Scottish Hydro National League Division 2 match scheduled at Millbank against Stewartry was cancelled due to a combination of the state of the pitch and road conditions.
Instead, the club staged a training session at Dunnet beach where the only casualty was the coach.
Sangster slipped on the icy surface and incurred knee ligament damage.
Glossing over the mishap, Sangster said: “We had a good session. We had a good turn-out and the guys worked really hard.”
* The weather has been playing havoc with the preparations for the Scotland under-20’s forthcoming Six Nations championship.
Caithness has a particular interest due to the involvement in the squad of first team scrum-half Kris Hamilton.
Two warm-up matches, including one planned for Wednesday, have had to be scrubbed.
Nineteen-year-old Kris is hoping to be named in the 22 involved in the first match, at home to France at Inverness’s Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on February 5.
Scotland go on to play Italy, Wales and Ireland away and England at home before heading out to Argentina in June for the IRPB world junior championships in Argentina where they are in a tough group containing Australia, South Africa and Tonga.
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| 1st XV Season (2010/11) |
| Caithness 25 - 27 Kilmarnock |
| 4th Sep 10 - KO: 15:00 |
| Venue: Millbank |
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| 1st XV Season (2010/11) |
| Stewartry vs Caithness |
| 11th Sep 10 - KO: 15:00 |
| Venue: Greenlaw |
| :: More Fixtures |
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