Hawick are aiming to complete an undefeated season and add the Scottish Cup to the Premiership title they won in March when they take on Marr on the international pitch at Murrayfield this evening (kick-off 6pm).
The Borderers have won the Cup three times previously, including the inaugural playing of the knock-out competition back in 1996, while Marr have never reached this last hurdle before – having climbed the Scottish club rugby ladder from the regional leagues during the last decade and
a half.
For Hawick, the experienced Stuart Graham is back from suspension, and he starts at blindside flanker in place of Sam Frizzel, who is
unfortunate to miss out on the match-day squad.
Club captain Matty Carryer is among the replacements, with 19 of the 22 players who beat Currie
Chieftains in the Premiership final
in March involved. Those missing
are Connor Sutherland, Hector Patterson and Ross Graham, who have since moved on to play Super Series rugby.
“To be able to play at Murrayfield will be an amazing experience for this playing group,” said Hawick head coach Matty Douglas. “They have worked extremely hard this season and now it’s about how we focus to take on Marr who are a quality side.
“We are not taking into account previous fixtures this season and we will need to start well and play with energy and real intent to overcome them. We are expecting a big Greens support and hopefully it will top off what has been an amazing season.”
Marr have opted to bring their Super Series departees back for this game, with hooker Blair Jardine, scrum-half Grant Baird and replacement prop Craig Miller all being released by Ayrshire Bulls (who don’t have a game this weekend).
“This is Marr Rugby’s biggest ever day,” said the Ayrshire side’s head coach, Kenny Diffenthal. “It’s our first ever Scottish Cup final and only the second time a Marr squad has featured in a Murrayfield finals day.
“The squad has been working hard – and very well –in building towards this day and some hard decisions have had to be made in selecting the squad. We will have to be playing at the top of our game to harness and control a high-flying Hawick side who have had a remarkable season and will be determined to do the double.”
The other showcase match is at 3pm when Corstorphine Cougars face Watsonians in the Sarah Beaney (Women’s) Cup Final.
Scotland breakthrough star Francesca McGhie will hope to emulate her recent Six Nations form – which included a wonder try in the team’s final round victory over Ireland – in the centre for Watsonians.
“For the first time this season everyone is fit and with our Scotland, Futures and under-18 international players available again, selection for the final was incredibly difficult,” said Watsonians head coach Bruce Millar.
“We’ve picked a team which is certainly capable of winning, but we’re under no illusions as to how difficult a task that will be against a Cougars side who have beaten us twice this season. However, if we trust our structures and front up in defence like we did in the semi-final, I’m confident we’ll produce a
performance we can be proud of.”
Meanwhile, Cougars will draw confidence from having won their two previous matches against Watsonians this season.
“Last week we put in an excellent performance at Union Park to get to the final,” said their head coach, Eric Jones. “We hadn’t played a competitive match in around five weeks and we can sometimes be a little rusty coming off such a long break, however, a bounce match against Cartha and an internal 15-a-side game kept us ticking over and it was a relief to see us score early against County.”
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