There has been a buzz of excitement in the air at Helensburgh Rugby Club recently and the youngsters chipped in on Sunday as they took to the pitch for the first time this season.

The event was hosted by close neighbours Loch Lomond on an unusually dry and warm day.

At this stage in the young rugby player’s development the focus is about learning the fundamentals, gaining an enjoyment for the sport, showing team spirit and improving as individuals to reach their potential.

It was refreshing to have two other clubs present on the day with this shared mindset allowing the young players to thrive in a friendly and less stressful environment.

Helensburgh had a good turnout with around 26 primary two and three players travelling on the day. The squad were split into three Helensburgh squads to meet teams from Loch Lomond and Stirling County — and also play against each other. With this being the first experience of games against opposition from other clubs there was always going to be an element of apparent disorganisation given the young players are all still learning the basic components needed to play the game.

It was pleasing that the players displayed many aspects learned from training including running with the ball in two hands, looking for spaces, hands up to receive a pass and supporting the player with the ball.

Even more pleasing was seeing young players just wanting to run with the ball in hands and with a focus and smile on their face — not being hindered by complex rules and over competitive coaches.

All involved had a great day and with more training and games experience, the organisational aspects and positioning for attack and defence will develop with time.

The coaches, parents and players would like to thank Loch Lomond for the great hospitality and to both Loch Lomond and Stirling County for displaying positive coaching and play.

The other mini teams also enjoyed their day at Loch Lomond: Primary Sevens The P7s faced their first game of the new season against Stirling County.

As expected County were a strong squad with strong ball carriers & tacklers.

However, the Burgh P7s stepped up and moved the ball away from the contact area well.

The game finished 2-0 to County but Burgh will be annoyed not to have taken the couple of opportunities that they worked hard to create towards the end of the second half.

The second game against Loch Lomond saw both teams play fast, attacking rugby. Burgh scored courtesy of Ian, Oscar and Calum. The final score was Burgh 5- 4 Loch Lomond.

A good afternoon’s performance with the cobwebs from the off season truly blown away.

Primary Fives Burgh had 15 players on the day so the squad was split into the Burgh Greens and the Burgh Yellows.

The P5s got off to a slow start, but it has been a long summer.

The Burgh Greens lost out to Stirling County and despite some great tackling and running rugby they could not cross the line with the final score, Burgh 0 Stirling County 8.

The Yellows first match was also a loss, a Loch Lomond 10 Burgh 2 defeat, with Fabio grabbing both scores.

Next the Greens took on hosts Loch Lomond and this match ended all square at Loch Lomond 2 Burgh 2, both scores coming from Robbie.

The Burgh Yellows then took on Stirling County, the match finishing Stirling County 7 Burgh 4.

Scores in this match came from Fabio, Dennis, Kathryn and Joy after some great team play.

Both William and Archie made their debut for the primary fives and played well in their first competitive matches for Helensburgh as they battled hard despite eventually falling to defeat.