TO say that Murrayfield Wanderers and Hillhead-Jordanhill are streets ahead of the other women’s rugby teams in Scotland would be a severe understatement. Whole motorways would be more like it - in their Sarah Beaney Cup semi-finals, the pair won 98-0 and 108-0 against RHC Cougars and Ayr respectively.
Such mismatches do no good for anyone involved, but fortunately, the head-to-head battles between the two are altogether closer. Wanderers won last year’s final 25-22 and also won 23-10 in the league last week, but the Glasgow club claimed a 32-22 victory back in August. So the clubs, who again meet in the cup final at Murrayfield tomorrow, are grateful for a fierce rivalry that helps keep their standards up.
“I think it's a really healthy rivalry, to be honest,” said Jade Konkel, Hillhead-Jordanhill’s captain. “Being the top two clubs in Premier One, I think we need that hunger and desire to win.
“It's so different when you have a real competitive game for the whole 80 minutes. We relish that challenge every time we have a fixture against them.
“It would be great if we had more competitive games. That would definitely be a boost. It’s a continuing development and teams will get there.”
Lisa Martin, the Wanderers stand-off and Scotland captain, believes that the presence in the ranks of so many international players makes the rivalry all the keener. “It has that East v West thing to it, so there's a natural rivalry there,” she said. “And it's an unofficial Scotland trial in a way if you look at the number of girls from both teams in the national squad.
“It's going to be a great physical match-up on Saturday. We're all highly motivated and it's a chance to show how competitive and it can be and how fluid the play can be.”
The match kicks off on Murrayfield’s main pitch at 3.30pm tomorrow. On the back pitches, Howe of Fife meet Glasgow University in the Bowl Final at noon, and Stirling County play Watsonians in the Plate final at 1.30pm.
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