WHILE Heriot’s unquestionably enjoyed their BT Cup Final success at Murrayfield last weekend and Ayr, who lost out to Melrose in the semi-final, would certainly have loved to have been there too, neither club has made any secret of the fact that today’s Premiership Grand Final at Millbrae is the one that really matters.

Winning the cup is nice, but being league champions is the real proof that you are top dogs.

There is certainly much at stake and Heriot’s coach Phil Smith has stuck to his guns over the thorny issue of parachuting the vastly experienced Edinburgh professional Neil Cochrane into his squad for the first time this season last weekend, with the 32-year-old on the bench again this afternoon. He is expected to take the field sooner rather than later, as Heriot’s go hunting for the double.

Smith is hoping that the man who has captained Edinburgh on a number of occasions during the last two seasons can make as big an impact this time out as he did last week. However, the coach was also at pains to point out that, while Cochrane clearly added value to the team, the suggestion that he singlehandedly won the match for Heriot’s is well wide of the mark.

“He scored two tries, but they weren’t Neil Cochrane tries," said Smith. "They were Heriot’s forward pack tries. They got together and drove the line-out and he was at the back to get the ball down.

“Of course, he made a difference. He’s a good player with a lot of experience and that is why we picked him. He won us a few turnovers, he hit his line-outs, but the really big thing he did – which I didn’t appreciate until I spoke to the guys afterwards – is that he brought a calmness when things were getting a bit tense and the players were beginning to feel the pressure. He helped everyone refocus by saying: Its fine. It’s all under control. This is what we need to do. If we do that, everything is going to be okay.

“It might not seem like a lot, but having that voice of reason there at crucial moments can be the difference between winning and losing.”

Smith admitted that telling club stalwart Stewart Mustard that he was going to miss out so that Cochrane could be included in the squad was a ‘horrible’ moment, but felt that he had little choice in the matter.

“We play within the rules that are laid out for us. My job is to pick the best team available to me to win the most games possible, and when Neil was released by Edinburgh for the match, that meant putting him in the squad. That’s the nature of competitive sport,” he said.

It should be pointed out that Cochrane’s opposite number last weekend was George Turner - a fellow Edinburgh professional , although significantly less experienced) - while Ayr have selected James Malcolm, who has played in 13 games for Glasgow Warriors this season, at hooker for today’s match.

Heriot’s also have Glasgow Warriors pairing Jason Hill and Glenn Bryce in their squad, but as both those players have long standing connections with the club and have played a number of games at this level already this season, their selections are not quite so controversial.

Former Heriot’s star Junior Bulumakau, who has played four times for Glasgow Warriors this year, is on the wing for the hosts.

Using club rugby as a vehicle for giving professional players game time is established practice, and is generally welcomed by the clubs in the top flight as a way of raising standards. The problem is in defining the scenarios when it starts to compromise the integrity of the competition.

Perhaps a system similar to the protocol for players dual registered at club level – whereby they are not allowed to play for the lower-ranked side in the last three league games of the season or in the quarter-final stages or beyond of the Cup, unless they have played at least 50 per cent of their previous 1st XV matches were with that club – is worth considering?

While Heriot’s unquestionably enjoyed their Cup success last weekend, and Ayr would have loved to have been there, too – neither coach has made any secret of the fact that today’s game is the one that really matters. Winning the Cup is nice but being Premiership Champions is the real proof that you are top dogs.

Ayr are at home by virtue of finishing nine points clear at the summit of the Premiership table at the end of the regular season, and they made an impressive declaration of intent when blasting Melrose aside three weeks ago in their play-off semi-final. However, their slip up against the same opposition in the Cup semi-final the week before that shows that they are fallible if the opposition can stop them building up a full head of steam early on.

Heriot’s have developed a happy habit of squeezing through tight encounters in recent seasons, with their play-off semi-final victory over Currie thanks to a sensational injury time drop-goal from Gregor McNeish demonstrating why they should never be written off.

It was a similar scenario in last season’s play-off Grand Final against Melrose, when they were hemmed into their own 22 as the game went past the 80 minute mark, but somehow worked their way up to the other end of the field for Hill to score the winning try.

Ayr have won the last three encounters between these two team – but Heriots’ refusal to accept defeat means that only a foolhardy punter would wager more than their pocket change on the outcome.