Barrow Raiders 74-6 Scotland XIII
When you hear the scoreline of 74-6 between a club side and an international team, you’d be forgiven for assuming it was the former that was on the wrong end of a heavy defeat. You can therefore equally be forgiven if you’re surprised that it was Barrow Raiders who ran out comfortable victors against a Scotland XIII in Shane Toal’s testimonial fixture on Saturday 10th January. But if you scratch beneath the surface, you’ll perhaps understand the result a little better and see the “bigger picture”.
At 3pm, at a bitterly cold Craven Park, over 1000 hardy souls turned out to support primarily Shane Toal – Barrow Raiders player of 11 years and Scotland heritage #167.
Scotland’s Max Anderson-Moore, who played one half for country and one half for club, kicked off for Scotland towards the Hollywood Park end of the ground and Championship club Barrow.
The Raiders squad was littered with former Super League players with hundreds of games between them at the top level, and an Italian World Cup star, alongside established Championship players and some talented homegrown youngsters.
When you compare that to a Scotland XIII squad that contained ten players from the domestic competition, three from the current U19 squad going to this summers European Championships, a handful of former pathways players and only two from the paid ranks, the result becomes perhaps easier to comprehend.
This isn’t in any way, shape or form, meant as an excuse or intended to be disrespectful to anyone, but it’s meant to be an explanation that might make the defeat easier to swallow if you’re a Scotland supporter.
Barrow started with their “big guns” and dominated the first half, running up a 44-0 lead at the break. Man of the moment, Toal grabbed a brace as Scotland muscled up well in the middle but were caught out on the edges.
The second half saw a number of changes for the hosts and the less experienced Scotland side held them out for 25 minutes. A try from Jacob Grierson, converted by an eager Jordan Duncan, meant Scotland actually won the third quarter 6-0.
The last quarter saw a number of the starting thirteen returning to the pitch for Barrow and taking a grip of the game again to give a final score of 74-6.
Each and every one of the Bravehearts gave their all and can hold their heads up high despite the disappointing scoreline. Nobody looked completely out of place in a team that had a hour together pregame, against a team that had a gruelling seven weeks of preseason together.
Hopefully everyone got something out of the game. Shane’s testimonial fund should’ve received a nice little boost to the coffers, Barrow were able to run plays and give much-needed game time to some of their extended squad, and Scotland’s players got the opportunity to face a high-quality opposition as part of their preparation for facing the USA in Las Vegas next month.
Thank you to APX and Rhino for the support.
Alba gu brath
