FORMER Burnley player and coach Phil Leck’s talent has been recognised with his appointment as coach of the Scottish club international side for two internationals against their French and Irish counterparts in March.
The side is drawn from the best club sides in the Scottish game.
Phil’s recognition comes after coaching the famous Hawick Rugby Club with distinction.
Phil played for Burnley, or Calder Vale as it was then, for many years before turning his hand to coaching, first at Burnley, then at the Sale Sharks academy, before moving to Hawick.
His two sons both play rugby, Chris as a professional for Edinburgh and Dominic for the Reedley-based outfit.
The only game to survive in the North West was Burnley thirds’ match at Fleetwood.
The pitch was in excellent condition and the game started at a frantic pace.
The excellent kicking of Gus Ferguson kept the Fleetwood team at bay, but the first score came from their fast full back.
Burnley replied with a penalty, but Fleetwood continued to apply the pressure despite stout defending from Eddie Blake and veteran John Richmond.
A further score from Fleetwood made the half time score 14-8.
Burnley started the second half full of confidence with some good breaks from Andy Dellany and Patrick Murphy, but the pace of the game and the pitch took its toll on Burnley, who started picking up injuries and had to make several changes.
This allowed some space for Fleetwood and they ran in a couple of quick tries.
Burnley regrouped and provided a stern test for Fleetwood with strong defence from Will Yip.
The blue and golds were camped on the home sides’ five-metre line for several minutes and came away with a penalty.
The resultant kick-off was returned swiftly, allowing Steve Harrison to run in an excellent try from halfway.
The final score of 34-18 didn’t reflect the effort that the team put in.
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