Caithness quartet named in Scottish squads as coach welcomes 'good recognition for club'
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Four Caithness players have earned places in the under-16 girls' and under-18 women's Scottish rugby squads.
Sarah-Jane Dunnett, Laina Munro, Hannah Dunnett and Morven Thomson were named in the national squads announced at the weekend.
Sarah-Jane and Laina are in the younger age group, while Hannah and Morven are gearing up for next month's U18 Six Nations Festival in the south of England.
Their selection comes after they represented Caledonia North in last month's inter-district series of matches.
It is the younger pair's first national call-up but Hannah and Morven have retained their places in the U18 squad from last year.
Caithness girls and U18 coach Sinclair Dunnett is pleased that the progress made by the club's youth sections has again been recognised.
He said the call-up for 16-year-old Sarah-Jane (no relation), from Watten, is reward for the prop's hard work on and off the pitch.
"I've been really impressed by how she has come on over the past year," Mr Dunnett said.
"She's part of the PDP [player development programme] and that has definitely helped her improve."
Laina, from Easter Ross, was a mini with Ross Sutherland and played football for Ross County's youth side before joining the junior Greens last year.
Mr Dunnett said of the 15-year-old full-back: "She was really into her football but she's got the rugby bug and has done really well in what has been her first full season for us.
"She's a natural talent, is very easy to coach and can read a game very well."
His daughter Hannah has been making marathon return trips from the far north to play for Heriot's Blues in Edinburgh.
The scrum-half has just received a boost in securing sponsorship from local distillery North Point to help with the cost of her travels.
The 17-year-old, who starts a sports science course at Glasgow University in September, was with the Scotland U18s in Wales at the weekend for a training game against their Welsh counterparts.
Morven was unable to make the trip because of illness but hopes to be fit for the start of the Six Nations competition at Wellington College in Berkshire between April 7 and 15.
From near Lairg, she too was a Ross mini before playing for Caithness while at school.
The 17-year-old, who plays centre or wing, is in her first year at Heriot-Watt University and has joined the growing Caithness diaspora playing for the Blues.
Scotland U18 head coach Duncan Harrison said: “It’s an exciting group. We’ve got good balance – some of the girls were here last year, and some who have come through the regional game series.
“The game against Wales gave everyone a meaningful opportunity to challenge what they’ve been working on.
“We looked at combinations and specific principles of play that we’ve been working on. It’s a really exciting opportunity to go into the Six Nations with that behind us."
The 42-strong U16 squad will spend time in camps over the next few months, with the coaches assessing players with the potential to progress to the U18 programme.
Head coach Gordon Lyon said: “The intensity of their experience increases each week. They’ve really had an introduction to what the next level is all about and the intensity doesn’t just mean running around harder, but also the intensity of the focus that they get on their individual techniques.”
Mr Dunnett was happy with the far north representation, though he felt a couple had been very unlucky to miss out.
He said: "Having our girls involved in the national squads is good recognition for the club.
"Our under-14 and under-16 numbers are increasing all the time. We've currently got 16 under-14s [who play 10-side] and 26 under-16s and we're looking good for next season."
The U16s are in action in Inverness on Saturday in the final of the girls' National Plate competition.
The match against Oban Lorne was due in December but had to be postponed because of a frozen pitch.
