This past year saw great success for the School's rugby program with Loretto winning the Caledonia/East Schools Conference run by the SRU. This is a tough competition, with Loretto coming up against much bigger schools with greater pupil numbers and depth, including Robert Gordon's College, High School of Dundee and George Heriots.

This past season, our rugby teams were supported by strong coaches who helped guide all the teams during the season. Jason White (Hon.) coached the U14s, Ged Woolley (Hon.) and OL Charlie Arthur (2023) coached the U15s, Mr Thompson and Mr Stent coached the U16s, and Mr Barnett and Andrew Binikos (Hon.) coached the 1st XV. We also had Mike Topping (Hon.) and Mr Richardson as our in-house referees with the younger teams, and Lewis Freeman as our pitch side first aid support.

With such strong support, all of our teams put in incredible performances against our opposition to collectively win the entire school conference. This shows how the entire School program has moved forward in a collective way. A special mention goes to the U15 team and the 1st XV for their unbeaten runs in the conference. In other standout performances, our 1st XV beat Fettes convincingly in our 150th anniversary match and they also secured a win against Dollar Academy in the Scottish Schools Cup.

On reflection, the success of winning the conference is down to the hard work, commitment and dedication of the whole Loretto community. Our boys have individual skills development in activities, video analysis, strength and conditioning sessions, strong coaches and the backing of their parents. This all undoubtedly contributed to our success.

The season also launched Loretto's name in representative honours. We have had nine boys make the FOSROC academy where they represented Edinburgh and the Boarders, three boys in the national U18 squads and one boy travel to New Zealand on an exchange to play rugby and cricket.

If you would like to know more, please feel free to get in touch as I would be delighted to hear from OLs and have the opportunity to talk about our rugby program at school.

Andrew Binikos (Hon.)

Head of Rugby
abinikos@loretto.com