Rugby 

The 1st XV played some extremely accurate rugby in a tough match against Merchiston Castle in the Scottish Schools Shield on Tuesday. RGC held the game at 24-12 at half time but our well-drilled opponents retained the advantage in the 2nd half and the game slipped away. 

The U16A team made the long journey to the Borders on Wednesday to play in their Scottish Schools Shield quarter final match against Kelso High School. The boys were delighted to win the match, maintaining an early lead and defending well. In the second half, the game opened up and we were able to scan and attack space. This was a great team effort all round.

On Saturday morning our senior boys played against Bell Baxter High School and Granite City / Aberdeen Wanderers. It was 8 wins out of 9 for our teams with many encouraging performances, excellent tackling and tries. The P6 and P7 teams enjoyed a triangular tournament with our visitors and it was great to see so many young players out on the field.

 

Boys’ Hockey

On another dank and damp day at Countesswells our S1-S3 U15 boys hockey team played their second round Schools Cup match against Edinburgh Academy. The boys started the game extremely nervously and a little on the back foot which resulted in the concession of a very early penalty corner and goal for our opponents. From this point on the RGC boys dominated and bossed the game with some of the best hockey we have seen from them this season. However playing against the Academy we came up against the current Scotland U16 national goalkeeper in inspired form and nothing we did seemed to be able to breach him. The equaliser just never came but the boys represented the school exceptionally well. However we must take the positives of such an improved performance both tactically and technically and the level of effort the boys gave in such wintry conditions.  

On Wednesday it was the turn of the boys 1st XI to play their Scottish Cup 2nd round match against Loretto. It was always going to be a tough task for this group of players as Loretto were finalists in this event last year, returning to the competition with a number of high profile Scottish Youth Internationalists in their ranks. A loss for RGC but the team continues to improve, develop and grow in each match they play and this game was no different, with the lads having periods of prolonged possession and moments of real concerted effort on the Loretto goal. 

Sadly all girls and boys hockey was cancelled on Saturday morning due to frozen pitches.

 

Netball

The 2nd VII girls played Cuts Academy 1st VII in their Aberdeen League match on Thursday. RGC created a strong lead in the first 3 minutes which they maintained throughout the match due to all four shooters performing well and with consistency under heavy defensive pressure from a strong Cults Goal Defence. Louisa A (S4) won Player of the Match for her fantastic interceptions and consistent delivery of the ball under pressure. 

 

Tennis

Hutcheson’s Grammar School travelled up to Aberdeen to play our Senior Boys in their U18 Scottish Cup match on Wednesday. Two of our players won their singles matches but it was a narrow overall loss for RGC with 4 out of the 6 matches going to a tiebreak. All players tried very hard against tough opponents and it was the first time 3 of the 4 players had played in this National competition. This was a performance for the boys to be proud of, even if the result wasn't what we would have liked.

 

Basketball

The RGC basketball team won against Aboyne Academy in their second of two meetings in the Scottish Cup Grampian Division. This win qualifies the team for the knockout round of the Scottish Cup. It was another team effort with strong defence from the entire squad. Alex D and Harry P led the team in scoring with 13 and 10 points respectively.

 

Team of the Week 

U16A Rugby for their 2 wins in 4 days with 512 miles travelled and 67 points scored.