Caithness rugby trio gain experience on world stage in France

A Caithness rugby trio are now able to enhance their playing CVs by citing an appearance in a world cup.

Tommy Sutherland, Hamish Coghill and Stevie Campbell guested for Oban Lorne in the Mondial Rugby Amateur, the inaugural world cup for amateur clubs, held in France.

They were based in Dignes-les-Bains, in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, for the tournament, running in parallel with the international Rugby World Cup.

The Caithness connection with the west coast club was forged by Tommy, who turned out for them when he used to run a hotel in Oban.

Stevie, a former Caithness captain, has occasionally played for them since he moved to work in the Ardnamurchan area several years ago.

Hamish, who is the Greens' skipper this year, was also invited to join up for the trip.

Lorne's group matches saw 24-0 defeats to South African side Hamilton Sea-Point and Kolomotu'a, of Tonga, in between a 15-13 victory over GFP Rugby, from Romania.

Oban went down 27-7 to Uruguayan representatives Carrasco Polo Club on Thursday in their first placement game.

They ended on a high after beating Welsh side Llandaff 47-3 to finish 11th.

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