Silver Saturday - That's Not A Stupid Idea

I AM not going to mention Stupid 6 today, after this opening paragraph. Well, it is Silver Saturday and I really should, via the fellowship of rugby players, allow Lance-Corporal Trump, the esteemed SRU President, and the Warmington-on-Sea Home Guard, the SRU Council, have their day in the sun, without having to worry about the blogging wave machine based in Hole in the Wall, East Ayrshire.

Rob Flockhart, Mark Dodson and Scott Johnson line-up with some of the SRU Council for a pre-Silver Saturday picture

I feel sorry for the real rugby reporters today; guys like The Offside Line's David Barnes – and by the way, kudos (again) to Big Barney for the immense job he is doing in publicising Scottish Rugby – who will have to cover back-to-back games between the Bowl Final kicking-off at 10am, and the 1872 Cup being presented at around 9.45pm. Whichever Stockbridge wine bar Barney decamps to, to unwind tonight – he deserves his glass of Pinot Gricio.

When Keith Anderson led that great team at Sunday Times (Scotland), back in the Kinning Park days, he used to dole-out the Finals Day games to his whole team. So, we all got a piece of the action, by the way.

But, to this day. Some Wigtownshire and Ross Sutherland fans will surely have been up half the night. Well, they will have had the ki to milk, then the byre to muck-out, before changing and setting off for a 10am kick-off in the BT Bowl final at Murrayfield. Nothing quite sums up the breadth of the appeal of rugby than to have finalists in a national competition coming from opposite ends of the country; Invergordon to Stranraer would be one hell of a drive.

Good luck to both sides, enjoy your day out but, I hope the guys from Ross Sutherland will forgive me if I reveal my leaning towards 'Shire. I hope all those Parkers, Drysdales and so forth are celebrating tonight.

They are followed onto the international pitch by Carrick, hoping to hold onto the BT Shield, and Hawick Harlequins. Another interest to declare here, when, 50-years ago in June, I got married, our first house was in Maybole. So, had we lived there longer our daughters would have gone to Carrick Academy. As it was, the late Roy Alexander, when Head of PE at Carrick got me involved in coaching rugby – although Carrick RFC was already up and running.

An old Cumnock Academy team mate, Ian McClung, was one of the pioneers of Carrick, while I count some of the other older Carrick boys such as Euan Kennedy and Kenny Fucking Young (to give him his full title) as friends. So, I am in the Carrick corner. However, old romantic that I am, I would not be averse to that great servant of Hawick rugby, Gavin Douglas, and his fellow imminent retirees from the Hawick Harlequins squad, taking the Shield home with them.

Gavin Douglas of Hawick Harlequins, wants to go out in a blaze of glory. (picture courtesy of Alistair Learmonth and Offside Line)

The third of the five games on the big pitch today will be the Sarah Beaney Cup final, the show piece Women's event, which features hot favourites Hillhead-Jordanhill and Watsonians. The Watsonians gels face an uphill battle, and, while we ought to be rooting for the underdog, it is difficult to see anything but another Hill-Jills win.

Then, we have what, in any other year would be the big one – the BT Scottish Cup Final, with Melrose going for a league and cup double, against Stirling County. Much a I would love to see the likes of Ross Curle, Kerr Gossman, Pete Jericevich and Jonny Hope pulling-off a surprise and taking the cup back to Bridgehaugh, it is difficult to see the 'Rose not blooming.

 Will Melrose skipper Grant Runciman be kissing a cup again tonight?

Right from the afternoon, back in August, when they arrived at Millbrae and departed with the Charity Shield, Melrose have set a very high standard in Scottish Rugby. They lost to Watsonians in their own Sevens final, I do not see them losing again today and deservedly taking the cup back to The Greenyards. They really have been the Team of the Season and to not do the double would be strange. But, County will take them to the wire, that is certain.

 Or can Jonny Hope and his County colleagues surprise them?

There are a couple of minor Women's finals on the back pitches, both kicking-off at 11am, with the Plate being an all-West affair between Glasgow University Women and the ladies from Greenock Wanderers. My grand-daughter, who is just completing her first year at Gilmorehill, went along to a try-out night for the Uni girls back in September, but decided not to take-up rugby: “Some of these girls are scary,” she said.

The Women's Bowl final features two teams from the fringes of Scottish rugby, with the heiresses to the Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie Oh, from Garioch, taking on the girls from Oban Lorne – who will surely have support from the higher echelons of Murrayfield, in the person of VP Dee Bradbury.

But, the eight hours of rugby in those six games are merely the warm-up, for the main attraction, at 7.45pm, when Edinburgh and Glasgow kick-off in the 1872 Cup decider. By the time they get underway, Edinburgh will know the result of the Munster v Ulster clash, and whether they face an eyeballs-out, we MUST win this 80 minutes of if they can relax and play rugby, with their Guinness PRO14 quarter-final spot guaranteed.

Of course, it is Edinburgh v Glasgow, so local bragging rights are at stake but, I would like to see both sides turning on the style for what looks like being a near 30,000 crowd. By rights I should be backing the Warriors, but, I would quite enjoy Mark Bennett coming off the bench to score the winning try for the capital side.

 I'd love to see Marko come off the bench and do something special tonight

But, if you cannot get to today's big festival at Murrayfield, do consider popping down the road to watch your local club – there are some big games today particularly in the West Region, and, club rugby deserves more support than some of the Murrayfield “suits” seem to be giving it.

A final thought – will the Lesser-Spotted Johnson be seen around HQ today before the 1872 Cup match kicks off? Since he seems so-determined to fuck-up club rugby, it would be nice if he actually watched some.