County Jump Ahead In The Squad Announcing Stakes

STIRLING COUNTY yesterday announced a further six new signings for their inaugural FORSOC SUPER-6 season.

Proud Mum, La Presidente Dee, with Fergus Bradbury

who has signed for Stirling County's S6 side

The newcomers are: Fergus Bradbury, Robbie Kent, Alasdair Mackie, Ewan McGarvie, Bruce Sorbie and Lewis Skinner.

Mackie, McGarvie and Sorbie are familiar faces around Bridgehaugh, as to an extent is Stirling University student Bradbury, who is of course the son of SRU President Dee, younger brother of Scotland cap Magnus and himself a Scotland Under-20 cap, who has worn the County colours before. Kent and Skinner have been recruited from Glasgow Hawks, for whom they distinguished themselves last season.

These announcements bring to 19 the number of squad members whose names Ben Cairns has revealed. That makes County the most-open of the six clubs, ahead of Ayrshire Bulls, who have now named 14 of their squad and Southern Knights, who have named 9 of their players for the new season.

This beggars the question, what's the big secret in the capital, where none of the three franchises has yet named a single player. What, if any thing is happening in Edinburgh?

Toony has spoken and the Scotland squad to take on the Irish on Sunday morning (as ever in 1-23 order) is:

Allan Dell, Stuart McInally (captain), WP Nel, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson; Greig Laidlaw, Finn Russell, Sean Maitland, Duncan Taylor, Sam Johnson, Tommy Seymour, Stuart Hogg. Replacements: Fraser Brown, Gordon Reid, Simon Berghan, Blade Thomson; Ali Price, Chris Harris, Darcy Graham.

Aside from perhaps switching the loose-heads – if it is wet there may be a few more scrums than usual and I think Gordy Reid is a better scrummager than Dell, who is, however, better around the park, that's the squad I would have gone with.

Let's just hope the Irish have in fact peaked a year early and we can get this win in the bag early-on.

For me, however, it matters little, given who we get in the quarter-finals, whether first or second in the group. When you consider whho our alternative opponents in the quarter-finals are, if we can reach the semi-finals, we can win the thing.

Let's hope it's a good World Cup, and the wheels come off the chariot early doors, so we can all enjoy the tv coverage without it being all about England.

IN SPITE of what some inhabitants of the BT Murrayfield Big Top think, being anti-SRU is not my default position. On the rare occasions when they get something right, I am only too pleased to praise our governing body.

Hollie Davidson, Sam Grove-White and Mike Adamson spreading the stop concussion message

This I now happily do, with their high profile for the: “If in doubt, sit them out” concussion prevention protocols. There is a big piece on this on the SRU website, and I encourage everyone, particularly club officials, to have a read at it.

The top referees will now have the message embroidered on their match-day kit, so well done SRU.

Speaking of the wider SRU, I got a cheeky text message from one of our elected leaders, who is out there in Japan (at his own expense – #NAEJUNKETING).

His missive read: “You behave yourself while The Junta is oot here.”

I cannot promise I will try too hard.