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Tough lesson for Ross Sutherland in Orkney


By Staff Reporter

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ROSS Sutherland head coach John Mann said his young squad were left with a bruising experience after their pre-season encounter in Orkney.

John Mann breaks clear for Ross Sutherland against Banff in Invergordon. Picture: Peter Carson
John Mann breaks clear for Ross Sutherland against Banff in Invergordon. Picture: Peter Carson

The Caledonia North One outfit showed their power to stampede over the Stags during four
20-minute periods in Kirkwall.

But head coach John Mann said it was a valuable experience for a squad which featured a number of teenagers.

“During my time at the club, the last training week was one of the most enjoyable that I have been involved in,” he said.

“It was a really good training week and then we had a tough pre-season game which was physically demanding.

“The Orkney team were big boys. If you took myself and John Scott out of the squad the average age would have been around 19.

“It was a big step up for our players and they could only stand up to them for so long before there was cracks in the wall.

“But it was a chance to try different combinations and to to have conversations too.

“We had no defensive training so far, it has been all about attack, attack, attack during pre-season.

“But this week we will be concentrating on how to defend in training.”

Ross Sutherland play their second pre-season game on Saturday when they will be taking on Caithness in Golspie

Caithness are in National Three and on paper promise to present a tougher challenge than Orkney.

But Mann said playing the game in Sutherland will hopefully be an advantage for them.

“In a way it could be an easier game as it will be played in Golspie There will be young boys in the squad who will be playing for us on Saturday,” he said.

“However, we expect it will be the same sort of game as against Orkney and we will struggle with physicality.

“But if we manage keep the ball in hand we will definitely score more tries this week”.

Six players will be unavailable due to attending the Reading and Leeds Festival.


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