SUPER6 breaks new ground this weekend with its first-ever finals series, starting tonight at Myreside when Watsonians play Stirling County in the third-place play-off game. Heriot’s meet Boroughmuir Bears at Goldenacre tomorrow to decide fifth place, then the Southern Knights take on the Ayrshire Bulls in the final itself, on Sunday at Edinburgh’s DAM Health Stadium.
When the SRU’s semi-professional tournament was first held in 2019-20, it just made it to the end of the regular season before the pandemic called a halt to all sporting activity. The plan then had been for the top four teams to contest semi-finals and a final as had been the case with the Premiership, but in such a small league there is little doubt that this season’s arrangement is a fairer reflection of form over the course of the campaign.
Watsonians topped the table in that first season and were the pace-setters again this time round, but a slump in form saw them lose ground to the Knights and the Bulls. They enjoyed a morale-boosting 43-14 win over the Ayrshire team last week, however, while County went down 36-7 to the Knights.
“Last week’s encounter at the Greenyards was one to forget for us,” Stirling coach Ben Cairns conceded. “We actually started the match fairly well and played some decent rugby at times, but were taught a lesson in game management and ultimately played most of the match in our own half.
“Watsonians will be delighted with how they went last week against the Bulls to secure the home tie this weekend. The teams know each other very well and both encounters have gone down to the wire. We would have loved to have been at home for our final match of the season, however Myreside under the Friday-night lights isn’t a bad place to go play some rugby.”
The teams have been very evenly matched on both occasions they have met so far this season, with Watsonians scoring late in the game to win their home tie 10-7 in early August and County then holding on to beat the capital club 41-39 at Bridgehaugh at the end of last month. While a third-placed finish is preferable to fourth, the real aim for both teams tonight will be to play their best attacking rugby. “We’re really looking forward to the game, and the challenge is to back up a strong performance against Ayr and finish the season on a high,” Watsonians coach Fergus Pringle said.
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