Glenrothes Rugby Club: Glens victorious in pre-season friendly against Waid Academy in Anstruther

With the previous week’s game against Kinross having been called off, the game gave Glens boss Cosmin Popescu a first opportunity to see his players in action.

The home team will be playing in the league below Caledonian Midlands Region League Division 2 outfit Glenrothes in the upcoming season but were expected to provide good opposition and give both sides a chance to adapt to the new law changes.

The game was played in three periods to allow both coaches more opportunity to speak to their players than they will get in league fixtures.

Glenrothes started brightly with an attack straight from the kick-off. From a penalty on the home team’s 22m line Jack Bousie barrelled his way over the line for the opening try. Banu Mihai converted.

This passage of play also saw the first injury of the season with Ross Cunningham requiring attention to a nasty cut on his ear, but after bandaging he was able to rejoin the fray later on.

Waid struck back quickly again from a penalty with the ball being moved wide right and the winger touching down in the corner.

Play for the remainder of this period of play ebbed and flowed, mainly between the two 22m lines with moves breaking down through handling mistakes or misjudged tackles.

One of these saw Florin Radu yellow carded for a tackle which, while above the new tackle height, could not be considered dangerous.

In the second period Glenrothes gradually got on top. The Glens’ set scrum was certainly dominant and provided ball for the backs to run but Waid stuck to their task and tackled well.

Bousie got his second try following a scrum with Scott Cairns’ pass to Russell Grieve being a little wayward, causing the stand off to fly hack the ball forward.

A Waid defender tried to fall on the ball unsuccessfully and Grieve gathered, passed to the supporting Cairns who then passed to Bousie to touch down midway between the posts and the right corner.

The Glens added a third try from another penalty on the 22m line. Good handling on this occasion saw the ball moved to the right and a smart offload from Lee Gartshore put Tommy Reilly in the open with one man in his way.

Reilly barged his way over to score in the corner.

Waid kicked off the third period of play, with both sides agreeing to play 12-a-side to open up the field and give the backs a chance to run the ball.

From the restart Glens moved smoothly upfield and won a lineout on the right on Waid’s 22m line. The ball was won, moved infield then back to the right wing for Reilly to repeat his scoring by running over the last defender.

Banu Mihai’s conversion attempt came back off the post.

Bousie completed his hat-trick, benefitting from a strong run by Matthew Clewes which allowed the flanker to run in from the 22m line.

Then Ross Anderson, who had played much of the game in the unusual position of wing forward, caught a high ball on the left, ran across the pitch and after a couple of passes Derek Mitchell was freed to run in for a try in the corner.

Glenrothes continued to press with Reilly, Cunningham and Darien Kerr all going close but it was Waid who scored the next try following an uncontested scrum and running in for a try near the posts.

The Glens scored the final try of the afternoon with strong forward play driving a maul over their hosts’ line and Bousie, almost inevitably, coming up holding the ball.

This game was a promising start to the season with seven tries and everyone in the large squad getting some game time.

There are players who were unavailable to add to Saturday’s team and the mix of established players, youngsters moving up from under-18s and newcomers seems to be coming together well.

The scrum was solid throughout, though the lineout still needs some work.

Handling improved as the game progressed and the more these players play together, the better will be their understanding of when to pass and when to accept the tackle and set up a ruck.

A number of players visibly tired as the game went on so, as they look forward to stronger opposition, they will have to make efforts to improve on this.

Overall however, coach Popescu seemed pleased with what he saw.

This Saturday Glenrothes host Corstorphine in a friendly at Carleton Park, with the match kicking off at 3pm.