EIGHT Premiership teams will see action on Saturday as they look to end 2021 with a bang and set themselves up for a positive 2022.
The first game of the day kicks-off at 2pm when second placed Marr host eighth placed GHA at Fullarton Park. When the sides met nearly three months ago at Braidholm, Marr won 22-0, but they will be expecting a tougher time this time around.
At 2.30pm leaders Currie Chieftains will take on sixth placed Selkirk at Malleny Park. The sides know each other well because the met at Philiphaugh just three weeks ago. Currie came out on top, 21-12, but Selkirk ‘won’ the second half and will have taken some heart from that.
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Then, at 3pm, there are two massive games in terms of relegation and the top four. Bottom club Aberdeen Grammar know they must get a win over ninth placed Jed-Forest at Riverside Park to close the 11 point gap at the foot of the table, while third placed Hawick take on fourth placed Edinburgh Accies with the latter taking the Bill McLaren Shield on the road to Mansfield Park.
The Musselburgh-Glasgow Hawks match has been postponed due to Covid concerns in the home club’s ranks.
VENUE: Fullarton Park @ 2pm
TEAMS –
Marr: D Steele; S Bickerstaff, J Shedden, M O’Sullivan, G Montgomery; C Sturgeon, S Broad; B Sweet, B Jardine, W Farquhar, J McLean, F Grant, R Jackson, R Brown, M Pearce©. Subs: C McMillan, C Miller, G Reid, B Johnston, C Inglis.
GHA: G Mollison; C Hyde, C Lonergan, A Stirrat, R O’Keefe; T Lonergan, G Baird; D Hunter, G Hiddleston, M Fox, J Campbell, J McCarthy©, W Graham, S Plumridge, J Bruce. Subs: D Ewing, J Low, M Marinkovic, M Johnstone, M MacFarlane.
KEY BATTLE: Blair Jardine versus Gregor Hiddleston
TEAM NEWS –
Marr: The only change to the squad this week is the return of Gordon Reid from his short spell at Wasps, the former Scotland man taking up a place on the bench. Having had the red-card he was shown against Aberdeen last week rescinded, Jordan McLean resumes in the second-row.
GHA: Tom Lonergan joins his brother Charlie in the backline at 10, making his debut for the club’s 1st XV. In the pack, Walker Graham comes in for the unavailable Adam Kerr, with Josh Low named in the squad for the first time this season on the bench.
WHAT THE COACHES SAY –
“After a good win up over Aberdeen in terrible conditions we are back at Fullarton for the final game of 2021 looking for a good result before the festive break. GHA were unlucky not to win at home against Currie last week so we will have to be wary of the threat they have behind the scrum as their midfield caused the Chieftains problems. They will be confident of a win a Fullarton as they have a good record against us at home …” – Craig Redpath (Marr)
“A very frustrating result last week against Currie, a game which we feel we should have won, so have been building on all the positives from that game at training this week. We need to keep to the standards we set last weekend and have a bit more control and composure in key areas of the field. Fullarton Park is a hard place to go and get a victory, we know exactly what the challenge will be this week against a strong Marr team …” – Trevor Carmichael (GHA)
VERDICT: Marr do not often lose at home, but they did last time out at Fullarton Park a fortnight ago against Currie. They will want to put that right this week and although GHA pushed the Chieftains hard last weekend, the fact that Marr have been able to name an unchanged starting XV should give them the upper hand.
Home win.
VENUE: Malleny Park @ 2.30pm
TEAMS –
Currie Chieftains: C Brett; A Hall, J Reynolds, DJ Innes, J Forbes; G Hunter, P Boyer; G Carson, R Stewart, AP McWilliam, S Edwards, H Ferguson, G Nelson, F Scott©, W Nelson. Subs: E McCallum, C Ramsay, E Stewart, C Gray, R Southern.
Selkirk: J Hamilton; C McNeill, R Chalmers, R Nixon, F Anderson; B Pickles, E McVicar; L Pettie, J Bett, B Riddell, T Brown, A Renwick, A Grant-Suttie, S McClymont, E MacDougall©. Subs: R McFadzen, TBC, A McColm, R Cook, A Bulman.
KEY BATTLE: Joe Reynolds versus Robbie Chalmers
TEAM NEWS –
Currie Chieftains: Sam Edwards comes into the team in the second-row after performing well for the ‘A’ team in recent weeks, and Fergus Scott returns to lead the team from open-side flanker after being ill last Saturday. In the backs, Watsonians Super6 duo Joe Reynolds and Jamie Forbes start after being unavailable last week, and James McCaig misses out due to a hamstring pull.
Selkirk: Andrew Grant-Suttie reverts back to six as Ross Nixon is fit to play centre, while Jack Hamilton starts at 15 in place of the injured Keiran Clark.
WHAT THE COACHES SAY –
“We are back at home this week after three tough games on the road. The guys have trained well and are excited to play at Malleny in front of an expected big home crowd in the last game of the year …” – Mark Cairns (Currie Chieftains)
“We all know how well Currie are playing at the moment, but we go to Malleny Park with nothing to lose and understand that we have to be far more accurate than we have been over the last few weeks …” – Scott Wight (Selkirk)
VERDICT: Currie have not been at home since they defeated Hawick in one of the games of the season to date in early November. They are looking to make it 12 wins in a row and their squad depth is shown by the fact that they can bring in players such as Sam Edwards, Joe Reynolds and Jamie Forbes. Selkirk certainly caused Currie issues at their own ground a few weeks back, but the hosts have to be favourites here.
Home win.
VENUE: Riverside Park @ 3pm
TEAMS –
Jed-Forest: L Young; M Cullen, Gregor Young©, D Buckley, R Marshall; R Nichol, G Munro; G Paxton, F Scott, P Ferraira, C Skeldon, G Law, D Wardrop, D Gillespie, C Cowan. Subs: F Campbell, H Meadows, T Jeffrey, J Howe, N Stingl.
Aberdeen Grammar: C Shepherd; D Russell, M New, T Aplin©, B Renton; C Scott, P Ritchie; M Schosser, L Buchan, G Breese, C Walker, C Robertson, P Mulholland, B Inglis, C Buchan. Subs: G Robertson, S Renfrew, J Burnett, A Addy, S Knudson.
KEY BATTLE: Gary Munro versus Patrick Ritchie
TEAM NEWS –
Jed-Forest: One change in the forwards sees Dan Wardrop come into the back-row in place of Jack Howe, who drops to the bench. Rory Marshall returns on the wing, with Ross Nichol replacing the injured Matt Russell at 10. Nik Stingl is added to the bench.
Aberdeen Grammar: The starting XV has a settled look with some continuity in selection developing. Patrick Ritchie and Cammy Scott start in the half-back slots while Grammar are looking for impact off the bench.
WHAT THE COACHES SAY –
“This is a massive game for ourselves, the club and the town …” – Scott Tomlinson (Jed-Forest)
“This is a huge game for us in the context of our season. We had to fend off a number of injuries within the squad this week and now we’re all pretty motivated to get down to Jed and put in a performance. This one goes into the category of ‘must win’ which will be tough as jed at home are a formidable outfit …” – Ali O’Connor (Aberdeen Grammar)
VERDICT: This will not be one for the faint-hearted. Something will have to give and although Grammar have clearly made marked improvements in the last month or so, Gregor Young and his Jed team will want to put in a strong performance for the Riverside crowd.
A tight home win.
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VENUE: Mansfield Park @ 3pm
TEAMS –
Hawick: B Donaldson; L Gordon-Woolley, B Evans, A Mitchell, R McKean; K Ford, D Lightfoot; S Muir, M Carryer©, D Gamble, R Smith, S Fairbairn, C Renwick, C Sutherland, S Graham. Subs: C Tait, R Macleod, R Brown, S Frizzel, A Redpath.
Edinburgh Accies: B Appleson; H Janes, V Hart, N Armstrong, K Bird; J Loomes, J Troup; C Imrie, R Montgomery, C Lacour, J Mills, F Simpson, J Sole, M Walker, R Campbell©. Subs: S Gunn, F Riddle, S Hegarty, B Grainger, W Stephen.
KEY BATTLE: Matty Carryer versus Ryan Montgomery
TEAM NEWS –
Hawick: Calum Renwick starts at six which sees Stuart Graham move to No 8, with Rudi Brown dropping to the bench. Ross Graham is unavailable so teenager Corey Tait comes onto the bench.
Edinburgh Accies: Three changes to the starting team from last week with winger Kento Bird, centre Vincent Hart and hooker Ryan Montgomery replacing the unavailable Ross Lile, Richard Mill and Callum Black. No 8 Ruairi Campbell takes the captaincy on. Freddie Riddle joins the bench.
WHAT THE COACHES SAY –
“We know exactly how important this game is in context of the top four. We let ourselves down at the start of the season against Accies up at Raeburn Place and we know that they will be coming to Mansfield full of confidence and looking for a victory. On the flip side, we are a different team now, not in personnel but in terms of the way we are performing in big games. We have two important fixtures before and after the Christmas period, and its crucial we put in a big performance at the weekend. For added incentive, a win would mean reclaiming the Bill McLaren Shield, and I know the players will be eager to have that back down at Mansfield over the Christmas period …” – Matty Douglas (Hawick)
“We were delighted with last week’s performance in tricky conditions to get our name on the Bill McLaren Shield. Hawick away is a massive challenge …” – Iain Berthinussen (Edinburgh Accies)
VERDICT: With silverware up for grabs and a point separating the sides in the table, this has the makings of a good game. Hawick acknowledge that their performance in the loss at Raeburn Place in September was their worst of the season to date while Accies have been hot at home, but have struggled a bit for that same consistency on the road.
This will be a close one, but Hawick are formidable on their own patch, home win.
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