The Eagles ran away with the victory in the end, but a Scottish Barbarians team that started the match short of players and had little preparation time put in a strong performance.

A sizeable crowd gathered in Edinburgh to watch an interesting end to the Eagles’ double-winning season.

And even the heavens opening for ten minutes early in the second half couldn’t dampen the spirits of either side.

At the conclusion of a game that was played in good spirits throughout, the Eagles were presented with their trophy, and were applauded by their Barbarians counterparts.

And the Edinburgh side revelled in their victorious shortened season, even though it didn’t end in the manner they had hoped.

Eagles Captain and Scotland International Lewis Clarke said:

“We’ve had the same sort of setup with the boys every single week, we’ve had the same boys at training, so it’s created a bond within the team.

“Looking at the turnout today, we fielded at least 30 boys, helping out the other side as well.

“It’s a good way to the end season.

“We didn’t want to end the season like that but we’re trying to grow the sport in Scotland.

“So ending with something like that, the other teams making a Scottish Barbarians, it was good to see just how many boys are part of the Scotland Rugby League setup, and just trying to expand that so more boys come next year.

“It’s been hard to pick a team because we’ve had 40 boys to training every single week, so to pick a squad of 20 has been really difficult.

“This is the first season we’ve had a committee team at training, in previous seasons we’ve been able to field a 20-man squad but it’s not the same as the ones who have trained.

“This season we’ve been able to do more socials as well, Covid dependent!

“I’m really happy with where we are as a club.

Coach Craig Robertson added:

“It’s getting boys on the park, you want boys to enjoy themselves, and you saw at the end there all the boys were smiling so it’s positive way to end an interrupted season.

“Next year we’ll be entering a team in the North-East and a team in the Scottish League as well.

“It’s been a development year this year, it’s a chance to give other boys a game.

“We’ve got a young lad Cammy Williams, just turned 17 a few weeks ago.

“The difference we’ve seen in him in 10 weeks has been unbelievable, so it’s been good.

“If we can go along to different teams’ training sessions, include them in things, show them what to do, then the standard can only get better.”