THERE has been a cold start to what promises to be a hot month of rugby this December. The prospects of a full club card tomorrow are, at this stage not great and already one or two games have been called off, but, 'twas ever this in Rugby Union.
There is certainly a great start to the month, tonight, when Munster entertain Glasgow Warriors at Musgrave Park in the BKT United Rugby Championship. Winning the corresponding game last season was one of the first indications that Franco Smith might be the Coach Warriors had been crying out for since Gregor Townsend had been promoted to the Scotland job. OK, Warriors caught Munster cold that night, and in the end, the Irish side had their revenge in the play-offs, so, the men in red are unlikely to be complacent tonight.
It says much for how Warriors have progressed under Smith that they can travel tonight without several of their big hitters and the fans will know, they will go out there to have a go, and not be in let's keep the score down mode. This one will be a cracker, I suspect.
EDINBURGH are also across the Irish Sea, at The Kingspan, to face Ulster. Having lost in Glasgow last week, the men with the Red Hand on their shirts will not want to lose a second successive game to a Scottish side.
Sean Everitt has re-cast his capital side for this one. Near Forgotten Man Tim Swiel makes his debut at full-back, while Blair Kinghorn packs for his move to Toulouse. It will also be interesting to see how the youthful boiler-house pairing of Jamie Hodgson and Marshall Sykes go. However, it might be worth the entrance money alone for the first scrum, where Stephen Kitshoff locks horns with WP Nel. Two of the best scrum technicians in the game today going head-to-head – one for the purists.
FOR MY money, Game-Of-The-Day in Clubland is National 3, at Pennypit Park, where table-topping Preston Lodge entertain the unbeaten Shock Jocks of the National Leagues – Orkney. This one should be a cracker.
In the Premiership, there is another battle of the big guns, with third-placed Currie Chieftains hosting defending Champions Hawick. Second-placed Marr face a potential banana skin at Kelso, while Musselburgh will move three-quarters of the way to having their name on the Bill McLaren Shield, if they can beat Selkirk. The pitch at Raeburn Place is frozen, so, Edinburgh Accies' meeting with Glasgow Hawks has already been called off.
In National 1, back in September, I watched Watsonians make Ayr work hard for victory at Millbrae. Tomorrow's reverse fixture has been moved from Myreside to Peffermill, with a 2.30pm kick-off, and, with an unbeaten home record to defend, the posh boys from the city will be keen to be the first side to defeat Grant Anderson's high-flying league leaders.
Elsewhere in N1 there are a couple of local derbies, with Gala welcoming Melrose and GHK slipping through the hedge to take on Glasgow Accies.
National 2 leaders Falkirk have home advantage against Berwick, while second-placed Peebles are at Bridgehaugh to face Stirling County.
I have already mentioned the big game in National 3, however, as the vagaries of programming a computer has it, there is another big game in this division, with third-placed Allan Glen's forsaking their beloved Bear Yard, borrowing the all-weather pitch at Clydebank Community Sports Hub to ensure their meeting with fourth-placed Howe of Fife goes ahead.
There is a huge game too in National 4, where runaway leaders Garnock will be hoping, after being idle last week, to pick-up where they left off and make it 11 wins from 11 games as they travel to second-placed Strathmore.
THIS REALLY is the week-end for top-of-the-table clashes; this trend continues in Caledonia Midland Conference 1, where first meets second in the clash of Panmure and Dundee 2.
In a shortened programme in North Conference 1, the interesting game is at Ellon, where the fourth-placed home side take on third-placed Highland 2.
MIDLANDS 2's big match is at third-placed Glenrothes, where the visitors are second-placed Alloa. Elsewhere, league leaders Blairgowrie entertain DUM (that's Dundee University Medics for the uninitiated).
Second v Third is also the main feature in North 2, with Garioch making the long trek to Shetland; table-topping North Police Scotland have a shorter beat, entertaining Banff.
The far-flung Highlands and Islands Conference sees another top-of-the-table clash, with conference leaders Ross Sutherland entertaining the Kinloss Eagles. The question here is, will the Eagles borrow a chopper and fly across, or will they got the long way round, by road?
There is another Second v Third meeting in Midlands 3, with Bannockburn hosting Strathmore 2, while league leaders Crieff and Strathearn are at home to Grangemouth Stags 2 in the other feature match.
Just one game in North 3, and what do you know, it's another third v second game, with Aberdeen Grammar 2 hosting Turriff. The visitors here, along with the idle and unbeaten league leaders Aberdeen University Medics have clear water between themselves and the rest – however, a couple of bonus points wins from their games-in-hand could get Grammar 2 into the mix, so, much to play for here.
LANGHOLM were unbeaten in their three games in November, so that makes them dangerous visitors to unbeaten league leaders Linlithgow in East Region 1. Langholm beat second-placed Haddington last week, so, if they have been paying attention, Linlithgow will know what's coming.
Haddington entertain Forrester, while Broughton take on Portobello, as the top six go against each other, leaving an interesting bottom of the table clash between Royal High and Leith. A home win here and league positions are reversed.
Duns (propping up the table) v Hawick Harlequins is the only match scheduled for East 2 tomorrow.
It's a case of top v bottom in East 3, with table-topping Trinity Accies making the short hop to basement boys Inverleith, while second-top Earlston's visit from Gala YM is already showing as “off” on some platforms, but not on the SRU website.
IT'S A case of all the As at the top of West 1, with runaway leaders Ardrossan Academicals entertaining Annan. I don't suppose Hughie Parker has been presented with his retrospective cap yet, so, if not, and I know this is short notice, but, tomorrow's Wigtownshire v Kilmarnock game would be a good game at which to hand it over.
Looking at the West 1 table, this really is a competitive league, in which, anything can happen, any Saturday.
Regional game of the day in the West, however, is surely at the top of West 2, where league leaders Cambuslang entertain second-placed Bishopton. The visitors have two game-in-hand over their hosts tomorrow, so an away win could really open things up.
West 3 leaders Birkmyre have a day off tomorrow, so a win away at Isle of Mull would enable the chasing Irvine to go back to the top of the table.
Sadly not to be AA.
ReplyDeleteThe more interesting aspect of all this was the games scheduled to be played in 4G surfaces that were also called off. Garioch v Cartha Women & Watson’s v Ayr. Livingston v Ross County also off in football.
While these pitches better resist ice and snow. They are still affected especially snow. I recall the Gala pitch being cleared of snow and they discovered they’re removed a lot of the rubber crumb with it!