 As part of the Golden Oldies Festival, Wooden Spoon was invited to join in the fun at Murrayfield and show case their own ‘Golden Oldies’. A Spoon Legends Team and a Spoon Lionesses team took on a South African Legends team and a World XV team on the main pitch at Murrayfield making it a truly grand occasion.
On the Friday night, the weekend kicked off in style when all the teams got together at Tiger Lilly’s Hotel and Bar for a drinks reception kindly hosted by Wooden Spoon Scotland. Gavin Hastings opened proceedings with a thank you to all the players who had travelled far and wide to raise funds for Spoon. The drinks and conversations flowed, setting the tone for the weekend.
The South African Legends team was full of many former household names and on paper were a strong side. Competition for the tour had been strong and if gossip is to believed, a selection weekend took place to determine who would travel to the UK. Apart from playing the Spoon Legends, they also took on the Scottish Legends and several rounds of golf!
 Spoon Legends v South African Legends
The 49-12 result for SA Legends was built on pace, power and possession. The ‘training session’ seemed to pay off as they looked far more comfortable with the ball in hand than the WS Legends with much more vision and guile. The Spoon Legends went down 34-5 in the first twenty minutes which didn’t bode well but the team rallied and started to put together better passages of play. The second half was significantly better as the Spoon Legends pushed for the line but the WS Legends spilt too much ball and gave away too much possession and without the ball it is very difficult to score !!
The reality is that the WS Legends really had no answers to the skills of the SA Legends who were very confident to run the ball from their own line. When the WS Legends attacked their organized defence created a blockade and the British team were only able to run in two tries to the SA Legends Sevens. Regardless of the result and the competitiveness, the game was played in great spirit. There is no doubt that the Spoon Legends will want a rematch in the future to restore the British pride.
Spoon Lionnesses v World XV
 The final selected team had been looking forward to the first occasion the Classic Lionesses were to play on home territory, having only previously played in the World Classics Tournament in Bermuda for the past five years - and in much sunnier surroundings. Women qualify for the Spoon Lionesses team by being over 30 and having received 10 international caps. There were many who were desperate to be part of this fixture and there were some representatives from the four home unions who hadn’t pulled on their boots for several years but were still keen to be part of something so special. The teams were selected to ensure the best game possible, however, the injection of some youthful Scottish Internationals into the World XV looked on paper to give them the edge. The match definitely lived up to expectations, both halves being very different, with end-to-end rugby being played.
The first half, played in front of a packed sideline in the thick of the festival, saw the World XV determined in their efforts to not allow the Lionesses to assert themselves. The game immediately kicked off at a furious pace with Lioness Captain Gill Burns, who was enjoying her final run out before hanging up her boots, and tight head prop Ali Christie making some piercing dynamic runs which forced the World XV into making some rib thumping tackles to ensure the blue defensive line held firm. Jo Yapp (former England captain and scrum half) marshaled the Lioness forwards and her quick movement of the ball from breakdowns released a strong midfield centre combination of Assunta de Biase and Rimma Petlevanya, but again their Scottish opposite numbers Susie Newton and Rhona Shepherd stopped them in their tracks. The World XV half back combination of Susie Appleby and Louise Dalgleish exploited gaps near the breakdown, and with pace and support of the back three fullback Sarah Marsh the World XV managed to break tackles out wide and score the first try of the day. Lyndsay Wheeler, World XV second row, again powered through some Lioness tackles and thanks to outside centre Rhona Shepherd being right on her shoulder, a second World XV try was scored. The Lionesses responded to this with 10 minutes of pressure in the World XV 22, but a daring cross field kick from stand off Jodie Foster, caught and carried over by wing Lou Rickard, was disallowed by ref Cat Weasle!
 With the move onto the main field at Murrayfield for the second half, the pride and passion of the Lionesses certainly came to the fore, and the majority of the rugby was played in the World XV 22 with several phases being contained inches from their try line. Lioness winger Deb Francis was pushed into touch thanks to last ditch try saving tackles from World XV winger Ronnie Fitzpatrick and several pick-an-goes from the front eight just fell short of the line. Thanks to an organised penalty move, scrum half Yapp managed to sell a dummy pass and pop it to Ali Christie who with the help of a good forward drive burst through and over the line, making it 10 - 5. With a sense of urgency, the Lionesses again attacked but with only 2 minutes on the clock the World XV managed to hold out - but what a cracking game, with a spirit any game would be proud of!
Both games were hard, fast and competitive and the natural talent and enthusiasm of the players was evident throughout. The whole weekend raised the profile of Spoon amongst the international rugby world and the rugby family came together in friendship and fraternity. The games were played with smiles on their faces in a spirit that epitomises what Spoon is all about - fun and fundraising
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