Stirling County are expected to win a second successive Under-18 SRU Youth Cup title tomorrow on the international pitch at Murrayfield where they face Selkirk YC in a repeat of last season's final.
The Bridgehaugh club are massive favourites against a Selkirk side that will find it difficult to cope with the power, strength and international experience of the Stirling pack, which contains five capped players, among them the prop Jamie Bhattie, who represented Scotland at Under-20 level this season.
"We'll look for the pack to dominate," said Eric Urquhart, the Stirling coach. "I think, too, that we could cause problems behind the scrum."
He has made changes to the side that defeated Gala Wanderers 47-7 in the semi-final, with Jack Dunn replacing Stuart Govan at hooker, Kieran Wood coming at scrum-half and Stephen Gillies moving to the wing in place of Adam Innes.
For Selkirk, reaching the final has been an achievement in itself, but they showed against Boroughmuir that, even if lacking the physical presence of their opponents, they are efficient. "We're not the biggest set of forwards but they work well," said club president Keith Monks.
Stirling will also be chasing the Under-16 cup title when they play Glasgow Hawks. Also staged are the Under-18 bowl (Perthshire Colts v Peebles Colts) and Under-16 bowl (Boroughmuir v GHA).
TEAMS.
Stirling County M Hall; B Clark, A Russell, A Tunaley, S Gillies; J Urquhart, K Wood; J Bhatti, J Dunn, R Murray, G Anderson, J Fuentes, R Leishman, S MacDonald, C Arnold.
Subs: B Dineen, S Govan, A Leishman, A Stewart, J Ortlepp, C Mundell, S Sneddon
Selkirk YC K Monks; T Duncan, L MacLennan, J Welsh, S Hendry; C McEwan, T Penman; C Turnbull, R Purves, F McKerracher, J Lunt, A Nichol, J Haughley, S McClymont, C Grieve. Subs: S McKinnon, B Riddell, C Mordue, J Houston, J Elliot, K Stillie, F Watt
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