14's Boys - Mid Argyll, Mull, Kintyre
Argyll's Finest: When Rugby Won the Day
Oban Lorne U14s host a waterlogged celebration of boys rugby
There are days in sport that are about more than the scoreline. Days where the mud seeps into your boots, the rain hammers down your neck relentlessly, and yet somehow, inexplicably, nobody wants to leave. Sunday at Oban Lorne's Glencruitten Field was one of those days.
Over 40 boys from Oban Lorne, Mid-Argyll RFC, Kintyre RFC and the Isle of Mull RFC descended on Oban for a festival of U14 rugby that had everything — brilliant tries, bone-crunching tackles, cheeky hugs, belly-sliding competitions, and enough standing water to warrant a coastguard notification.
The pitch, it must be said, gave generously of itself. Certain corners sat a defiant inch underwater, which in most sports would cause a postponement. In rugby, it just meant more fun. These boys didn't flinch — they embraced it, trained together as equals, and set about reminding everyone why they love this game.
The Warm-Up: Bragging Rights and a Tackle for the Ages
Before the competitive action, coaches threw the boys together in a mixed training game — clubmate versus clubmate, friend versus friend, with pride very much on the line. It was here that the moment of the day arrived early.
Quinn Soames, clearly untroubled by the concept of friendship, absolutely planted Jack Groom with a tackle that had coaches raising eyebrows and teammates wincing. The kind of tackle that gets replayed at club dinners for years. And yet, in the very next breath, Soames hauled his mate back to his feet and wrapped him in the most unapologetic hug you've ever seen before the pair charged back into the fray together. If you needed a snapshot of what this Oban Lorne u14s team is all about, that was it.
Game Two: Oban vs The World (Well, The Rest of Argyll)
With the warm-up formalities done, it was time for the main event. Oban Lorne against a combined XV drawn from Mid-Argyll, Kintyre and Mull — a united island and peninsula force, thrown together and asked to find something special against a side who had been playing together all season.
The rain gods, sensing drama, turned up the dial.
Oban were always going to carry the advantage of cohesion and structure, but their coaches used the occasion wisely — rotating positions, blooding newer players, making sure everyone got their moment in the spotlight. Young guns Ùisdean Craig and Leon Williams laid the platform up front, and the senior heads did what senior heads do — they showed off.
First half tries from Cormac MacDougall, Arran Goudy, the irrepressible Quinn Soames (still celebrating that tackle, presumably), and Alex Ross had Oban 24-0 up at the break. The scoreboard told one story. The conditions told another.
The Second Half: Something in Those Oranges
Whatever was in the half-time oranges served to the visitors, someone deserves a medal for it, Mull, Mid-Argyll and Kintyre emerged for the second half a transformed outfit — believing, trusting each other, and beginning to play like a team rather than a collection of strangers in matching bibs.
The rain continued, handling errors crept in for both sides, and the game opened up into a wonderfully free-flowing contest. Ross added another for Oban — one of those trademark rhino-charge efforts that, by all accounts, has been a feature of his season — before Murphy Maclean arrived with excellent support lines to take an offload and slide gloriously over the line into what can only be described as swamp-like conditions.
The final Oban try of the match belonged to fly-half Christopher Cannon. Collecting possession off a scrum in his own half, Cannon helped orchestrate a passage of teamworkso patient, so intricate, so delightfully prolonged — somewhere around phase eleven or twelve by most counts —that Cannon was once again passed the ball but this time on the opposition try line and all he had to do was pop the ball down in the corner. A magnificent team effort.
But the combined side had the final say, and they thoroughly deserved it. Auriel Kenchington crossed for a well-worked try, and then, on the very last play of the afternoon, Ruairidh Charnock finished off a move that brought the loudest cheer of the day from the sodden touchline. It was the kind of moment that makes a rugby festival like this worth every drop of rain.
Final score: Oban Lorne 41 – 14 Mid-Argyll, Kintyre & Mull Combined
Man of the Match: Cian MacDougall — The Tasmanian Devil of Glencruitten
Every great occasion needs its standout performer, and on a day of many heroes, one player managed to leave an impression that went beyond tries and tactics. Cian MacDougall was everywhere. Absolutely, relentlessly, chaotically everywhere.
Equal parts force of nature and one-man wrecking crew, Cian tore around Glencruitten Field in his own unique style — a style that can only really be described as Tasmanian Devil-ish. Ankle-snapping tackles that seemed to defy the laws of physics, punchy, muscular runs that simply refused to acknowledge the existence of opposing defenders — Cian played the entire match as though someone had wound him up and pointed him at the opposition. Coaches, parents and spectators alike found themselves watching him with a mixture of admiration and mild concern for anyone who got in his way.
The Real Final Score
Of course, Oban didn't have it entirely their own way. On the long, glorious trudge back to the clubhouse — where hot showers, warm soup and excellent cakes awaited — the victory was very much shared in the belly-sliding competition that broke out on the waterlogged grass. No scoreline recorded. Honour very much satisfied.
And in the warmth of the clubhouse, one small, thoroughly drenched girl — dragged along to watch her brother and regretting every life decision that had led to this moment — turned to her father and asked: "Who won the game, Dad?"
His answer was perfect.
"Rugby won, darling. Rugby won."
