SENIORS/U18's 2010/11 FIXTURES CAN NOW BE VIEWED ON THEIR RESPECTIVE PAGES ***********************************************************************************************************************************  PRE SEASON TRAINING STARTS ON JULY 6TH Pre season training starts for all Seniors and Under 17s/18s on Tuesday July 6th and will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the season. Please be available to start training by 7:15pm. All newcomers are welcome and in particular last years U16s for their first taste of training for Saturday rugby where they will be combined with last years U17s to form an U18 squad that will play in the East Midlands League, National Colts Cup plus Oceanic and Referees Cups. **************************************************************** NORTHAMPTON OLD SCOUTS RUGBY LTD - AGM The AGM will be held at the clubhouse on TUESDAY JULY 27TH 8:30PM ****************************************************************   APRIL 8TH - The club has been awarded the RFU Whole Club Seal of Approval and are only one of three clubs in the East Midlands to have gained this award to date. CONGRATULATIONS TO U14S AND U16S FOR BECOMING EAST MIDLANDS CUP WINNERS ***************************************************************** TWO OLD SCOUTS ON ENGLAND BENCH V SCOTLAND MARCH 13TH Steve Thompson and Courtney Lawes are both on the bench and should feature in Saturdays Calcutta Cu   Slinny grabs match winner   EAST Midlands U20s booked their place in the national quarter-finals and the Midlands final of the National Under-20 Championship with a 17-3 win over Leicestershire this evening. The Midlands Group A decider was switched from a waterlogged Belgrave to the 3g rubber crumb all-weather pitch at Leicester Tigers' Oval Park training ground in Oadby which produced an open and tight contest. The only score of the first half was a penalty by East Midlands fly-half Daryl Veenendaal (Bedford Blues) which was cancelled out by a similar effort from his opposite number Guy Swadling of Hinckley four minutes into the second half. Northampton Old Scouts winger Richard Slinn made the important breakthrough when he followed up a kick through from East Midlands fly-half Will Mardling of Peterborough to score the opening try after 55 minutes. Veenendaal added the conversion and he also improved his own try ten minutes later after he picked up and dotted down when winger Josh Barrett (Bedford Blues) was held short of the line. Scouts Jordan Dolman also took part as a replacement in the second half. East Midlands will now play either North Midlands or Notts, Lincs & Derbyshire in the Midlands final on March 10 at a venue to be decided. The Midlands winners will have home advantage in the national quarter-finals with the losers having to travel.   Scouts Under-10s win Saints Tournament Jan 17th 2010 The pitches had survived the snow and were in very good condition considering the recent weather and meant the children could show their stuff. All the children got really involved and fought hard despite it being bitterly cold. All the teams showed they had plenty to offer and put in some very committed performances. The final was battled out between local rivals Towcester and Old Scouts. Old Scouts came out on top in a gripping final, winning 3-1. The final was a great display of junior rugby with some really strong defensive displays and some great running rugby. "We're very pleased with the way we performed today" said Jon Sleightholme, the former Saints favourite and Old Scouts coach. "We have worked really hard on our defence and it's great to see it pay off." Towcester showed real character throughout the tournament having suffered early injuries and withdrawals. "The tournament was really well organised and there was some great rugby all round," said Stewart Rea, the Towcester head coach. "It was nice to have a final against our local adversaries and it was played in a great spirit."     New boy Courtney Lawes has the X-factor as he stands by for England debut   Chris Foy - Daily Mail October 29th   According to his sister, Courtney Lawes was remarkably 'calm and collected' on Sunday, when he discovered that he was being promoted to the senior England squad at the age of 20. Yet, for the Northampton forward's family, and for those who remember him as a gangly, basketball-playing youth who only took up rugby in his mid-teens, there has been a profound sense of shock at the news. The fact that he is now almost certain to make his Test debut against Australia at Twickenham next week has just heightened the astonishment in his home town at the speed of his rise to prominence. New star: Courtney Lawes during an England training session on Wednesday The Lawes family live just down the road from Franklin's Gardens - home of the resurgent Saints - in the St James area of Northampton. Courtney still lives at home, a few hundreds yards from his work-place, making him the archetypal local boy made good. Although his father, Linford, has no known background in rugby, his mother Val has a brother who played the game. She explained yesterday how pleased yet taken aback the family have been by the call-up. 'We are just so excited for him and extremely proud of what he has achieved,' said Mrs Lawes. 'It is quite surreal. It is something that you always hope for your children - that they will reach the highest level they can reach. 'But I can't get over how much he has achieved in such a short period of time. He is very proud to be born and bred in Northampton and representing his club and country.' Sister Lynzey, 31, added: 'We found out on Sunday. If it had been me I would have been jumping around screaming and shouting, but he was very calm and collected.' Courtney attended Northampton School for Boys until the age of 16, and at that time he was more interested in shooting hoops on the basketball court than smashing opponents on the rugby field. But he went along to Northampton Old Scouts RFC - where Steve Thompson and Ben Cohen before him had been honed as players - to try his hand at the oval-ball game. He was soon hooked, although he didn't look a natural straight away. 'Courtney didn't start playing rugby until he was about 15,' said club president Keith Shurville. 'When he came to the club he was a tall, lanky lad. He hadn't played any representative rugby at all until he played for Old Scouts colts under Chris Parr, who is now our first-team coach.   Ready for debut: Lawes could play against Australia next week 'As a 16-year-old who was quite new to the game, he was very raw. Coming from a basketball background you could see his ball-playing ability, but you would never have said that in four years' time he would be playing for England. Anything but. He only stood out because he is so bloody tall! 'Bedford had a look at him but he hadn't filled out at that stage. Chris Parr then pushed him towards Rob Hunter at the Saints academy. They had a look at him and signed him up, even though he was still very lean and skinny then. 'He was just starting to fill out when he was playing for the Saints academy side, and that was when he was spotted by the England Under 18 coaches. But since then, in the last couple of years he has come on beyond all recognition. 'Although Courtney is a laid-back character, he has learned quickly because he is a great listener. His mum has told me that rugby is his life - ever since he took up the game he has wanted to play for England, but he can't have imagined it would have happened so soon.' Having developed a taste for rugby at Old Scouts, he changed schools at sixth-form age - joining Moulton College which has strongs ties with the Saints. There, he acclerated his playing development while maintaining his education. 'He took a construction management course and got that qualification, so that he would have something to fall back on,' said Jon Phillips, Moulton's director of rugby. 'He probably played four or five games for the college. At the time, he was converting to rugby from basketball, which is where he gets so much of his athletic ability and hand-eye co-ordination from. 'We could all see his potential, but his skills and work-rate have really progressed since he started at the Saints. The speed of his development is testament to the effort he has put in. It is very impressive that he has taken rugby up so late and yet is already close to reaching the pinnacle of the sport. 'He always came across as quite a sensible, level-headed young man. He could switch into being aggressive on the field, but then when he came off he was normal again.' Dorian West, Northampton's forwards coach, has been honing Lawes into a prototype modern forward since joining the club in the summer of 2007. He is at pains to emphasise that he has plenty still to learn, but acknowledged that the Saints and England have a colossal talent on their hands. 'I first saw him about three years ago playing for England Under 18s in Munster,' said the World Cup-winning hooker. 'Courtney stood out as a big lad who was athletic. I remember him catching the ball in a lineout one-handed, landing, then running off and I thought, "This lad has got something". It was pretty obvious from that age that he was going to be a decent player.' Fine form: Lawes in action for Northampton against Perpignan two weeks ago While Lawes weighs around 18st and tackles like a human wrecking ball, he also possesses sublime handling skills, speed and stamina, all of which has convinced West that he is a unique asset. 'If you are comparing him to other locks, I can't remember another one anywhere who is as mobile as Courtney, but still as powerful and as good in the contact. I've never seen anyone like him. It is frightening to think how good he could be. 'Johnno has obviously seen something different in him, something you don't see in other 6ft 7in lads playing in the Premiership. He has that knack of being in the right place, making the tackle, getting back on his feet and competing for the ball. You don't see that in many big men.' With England releasing Ben Kay and Richard Blaze to return to Leicester, it seems certain that Lawes is being primed to start on the bench against the Wallabies, as cover for the second row and blindside flanker. So the big question now is, can he cope with the occasion, after just 32 senior club games? 'You can only judge on what he's done so far,' said West. 'There is always that little doubt in the back of your mind about a 20-year-old, thinking, "Is he ready for it?". 'But we had the same thoughts when we played him against Munster. They have a full international team and Courtney stood up well to the task. He has achieved everything we have asked of him so far and this is the next step up. Time will tell if he is ready for it.' Jim Mallinder, Northampton's director of rugby, admitted he would have preferred Lawes' ascent to the international stage to have been more gradual in an ideal world, but admitted Lawes has been in such good form recently that England's decision to pick him is understandable. 'You want players coming off the bench to do something totally different to the ones who are already there,' he said. 'That is what Courtney can do. He has that bit of X-factor, whether it's chasing kick-offs and putting in big hits, or carrying the ball, he has the ability to do everything. He could really excite Twickenham.     COURTNEY GETS ENGLAND CALL UP   October 26th 2009   20 year old Scouts product Courtney Lawes has been drafted into Martin Johnsons England Senior Squad for the Autumn Internationals and will be joined by World Cup winner Steve Thompson, who now plays his rugby in Brive and also started his career at Old Scouts.     LOOKING FOR AN OCCASIONAL GAME   Stuart Relf and Martin Pettit are trying to get a few games for guys that only want to play occasionally ie when the Saints are away. Contact Stuart on stre@hempel.com if you are up for it.     MINIS SUCCESS AT KETTERING FESTIVAL   October 11th 2009   All age groups from the mini section enjoyed a great day out at the Kettering Festival. The Under sevens improved on their Plate runners up position the previous week at the Bedford Festival and went on to win this Festival with an unbeaten run in matches against Wellingborough, Luton, ON's, Rushden and then Olney in the final. The Under 12s were also overall winners in their age group beating Olney in the semis and ONs in the final.   September 11th 2009 CONGRATULATIONS DD THE CLUB SALUTES YOU   September 11th 2009       ACTING CPL JOHN BALLANCE, ROYAL MARINES - MILITARY CROSS Acting Corporal Ballance's Military Cross is being awarded in recognition of his efforts to clear a path through Taliban fire to get towards a group of casualties. According to the Ministry of Defence, A/Cpl Ballance "repeatedly ran from cover into withering fire to manage the evacuation of a casualty and continue the battle".   Courtney Lawes surpised by Saxons call-up 26th August 2009 Northampton Saints forward Courtney Lawes admitted he was surprised by his call-up into the England Saxons squad. The 20-year-old back-row - a product of the Old Scouts club in Northampton - joins Saints team-mates Ben Foden, Shane Geraghty and Stephen Myler. "I'm pretty happy at the moment and I wasn't expecting it," said Lawes. "I've had a lot of congratulations but now I'm going to keep my head down, work hard during pre-season and hopefully come back a better player." Lawes, who began playing rugby just six years ago, is the only member of the England Under-20 squad that reached the final of the IRB Junior World Championships to be promoted into the Saxons. "I'm particularly happy for Courtney who's come a long way in a short space of time," said Northampton forward coach Dorian West. "With the amount of game time he had in the first team this year - and his performances in the IRB Championships - it's easy to forget that he only entered our Senior Academy a couple of years ago. "He has worked hard on and off the field, and his call-up is thoroughly deserved." As well as the quartet in the Saxons, Northampton hooker Dylan Hartley has earned a place in Martin Johnson's 32-man Elite Player squad. 2009-10 Summer changes 26th August 2009 You will be noticing a few changes that have taken place over the summer. The website is totally new and thanks goes to Paul at Digital Flair for the great work he has done to get this site up and running before the start of the season. Also thanks to Gary and Jo for the work they have done in the past on the previous site. The main changing room showers have been completely re-fitted and after the boiler replacement last season we have spent just under £40k in providing better facilities of which we recovered £6k back via an RFU grant. The changing rooms are undergoing a painting project which will be compleetd hopefully by the end of September. The far pitch over the road has now got grass on the bare areas and will become playable again. This will assist the Juniors with their fixtures and we will also have Northampton Lacrosse Club using it on a few Saturdays. The spare area that runs alongside the first pitch over the road is being cultivated to provide two Mini Pitches and the outside perimeter of the main ground is being rotivated to tidy up the ground, provide a bit more space, and hopefully get rid of a few rabbit holes.