Oban Lorne men tackled the first Amateur Rugby World Cup earlier this month, representing Scotland on the international stage in France.
The inaugural Mondial Rugby Amateur competition saw 20 clubs from 20 nations compete in a replicate of the ongoing Rugby World Cup.
Similarly to Scotland, Oban were placed in a tough group, facing top club sides from Romania, South Africa and Tonga.
Oban Lorne RFC 0-26 Hamilton Sea-Point (South Africa)
Oban kickstarted their world cup campaign on Saturday September 23 against one of South Africa’s oldest clubs and the eventual winners, Hamilton Sea Point.
Hamilton opened the scoring after five minutes, but Oban rallied and found space, with notable runs from David Cameron, Craig Wright and Blair MacFarlane.
However, the penalty count was too high from Oban and the South African team
capitalised, scoring another two tries before half-time to give them a 19-0 lead.
The second half saw a much improved performance from Oban in defence and there was no further scoring until a late penalty try was awarded to Hamilton SP to give them a 26-0 win.
Oban Lorne RFC 15-13 GFP Rugby (Romania)
The next day, Oban were tasked with facing their Romanian and Tongan counterparts, with their first encounter against GFP Rugby from Bucharest.
GFP are one of the largest sides in Romania and their line-up boasted several ex-internationals, with a physical performance from them taking a toll on Oban.
The Romanian outfit opened the scoring as Oban struggled to keep possession and GFP added a penalty to a converted try to lead 10-0 after a scrappy first-half.
After the interval, GFP added a penalty, before the Scots upped the tempo and started to find space in the wide channels.
A Patrick Shellcock try was ruled to be in touch, but Oban then hit back again as MacFarlane scored Oban’s first try to make it 13-5.
Oban then piled on the pressure after a barnstorming run by Jethro Anderson and this was rewarded when a Vasil Borisov charge down led to an Anderson try, which made it 13-10.
Despite, some solid hits from GFP, Oban spread the ball wide and provided space for MacFarlane to secure his second try to give Oban the lead.
Oban then held on for a 15-13 win, their first of the competition.
Oban Lorne 0-22 Kolomotu’a (Tonga)
Oban’s last group game came against some hefty islanders from Tonga, who were quick on their feet and direct.
Kolomotu’a took an early lead as Oban struggled to create attacking opportunities from their set piece and they added a second try on 35 minutes to make it 10-0.
Oban then worked hard to play wide and fast rugby after the interval, but the Tongans held firm and produced two late tries to give them a 22-0 win.
This meant Oban finished third in their group, qualifying them for the placing tournament in Digne le Bain to face the other third-placed teams.
Placing Tournament
Oban faced an organised and quick Carrasco Polo Club (Uruguay) side in the placing tournament.
Connor Taylor got an early score for Oban in response to two Uruguayan tries, but the opposition added a third before half-time to make it 17-7.
The Uruguayan club side stepped up a gear in the second-half to score four more tries to beat Oban 43-7.
Oban then faced Llandaff RFC from Wales in the 11/12th place play-off and they rallied to play with much more flair in a seven try thriller.
Fin Carmichael added the extras as Rado Makismov, Blair MacFarlane, Fergus Taylor, Luke Plummer scored tries. These and a Craig Wright hat-trick helped Oban to their second world cup win.
Wright was also awarded the player of the match to round off a memorable experience for Oban Lorne RFC as they became the first team to represent Scotland at the Amateur World Cup.
The Glencruitten side will look to grow from this experience after doing Oban proud with an 11th place finish in France.
Oban Lorne team manager Darrell Williams said: “This privilege has not been lost on the players who have been working hard on and off the field to prepare for this opportunity.
“A whole host of sponsors have stepped up to support players and the club to make this possible and we owe them a huge thanks and want them to know their support is hugely appreciated.”