Livingston Rugby Club’s Ewan Naysmith continues club tradition of gaining district honours

Feb 18 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

EWAN NAYSMITH has continued a Livingston Rugby Club line of tradition by gaining district honours.

The Deans CommunityHigh School pupil made a successful debut at full-back for the integrated Edinburgh U17 rugby team in their recent fixture against the Border Reivers at Murrayfield which Edinburgh won by 43 points to nil.

Ewan has played rugby with Livingston since he was just four-years-old and he is the latest in a long line of Livvy boys to earn district recognition.

Edinburgh put down a marker in a well-contested match on the artificial 3G surface at Murrayfield.

It was a cold but still night that suited the fast, attacking play of Edinburgh and featured four tries from the wingers.

The pace of the game was evident from the start as both sides moved the ball around the pitch, and were enjoying quick ball as the effective contact work combined with the dry, fast surface of the 3G pitch.

Despite the solid tackling of the Borders players the Edinburgh midfield of Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Ryan Hook and Ryan Gray were always threatening with the ball.

After 10 minutes the Edinburgh side broke through and due to some slick handling saw Livingston full back Naysmith cross over in the corner.

Edinburgh continued to cause problems when moving the ball into the wider channels and George Heriot’s School winger John Rae completed a hat-trick for the next three tries.

Edinburgh continued to display their command of the broken play and Naysmith was involved in the build-up for the pick of the tries when Hidalgo-Clyne and Gray created space before the ball went through a number of hands and Michael Firozzi finished off the move that started on the half way line.

The Borders never gave up and certainly had their chances throughout the match.

Most notably was close to the line as wave after wave of attack was deterred by the Edinburgh fringes.

Edinburgh capped off the match with two late scores. Prop Max Johnson put the forwards on the scoresheet before Sam Goodrich scored an individual try to complete the scoring.

Meanwhile, West Calder High pupil Douglas McRae has also earned district recognition after been selected for the Edinburgh under-16 squad for this seasons inter-district championship.

Douglas has also played all his rugby out of the Livingston Rugby Club and has been a credit to his family, team-mates and coaches throughout the selection process.

To top off a fantastic weekend for Livingston Rugby, the first XV progressed through to the last 16 of the National Shield competition with a compelling 34 - 22 win over GHK.

Both teams played an expansive and attacking game in near-perfect conditions at Almond Park but the Livvy boys’ composure in their opponents 22 was the deciding factor between the teams.

Livingston RC offer rugby to boys and girls from age four and further details can be found on their website www.pitchero.com/clubs/livingston