Rugby: Perthshire ready to take off against Haddington

Aug 27 2010 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Friday

PERTHSHIRE Rugby Club will begin their promotion push tomorrow at home to Haddington in the opening match of the new season.

Although the visitors are, historically, the Eagles’ rivals, they have been plying their trade at a higher level for the past few seasons.

But both sides will now be looking to seal a passage to the Premier 2 division come the end of the current campaign.

Perth-based coaches have said that the inaugural contest will be a good test to see if their side has what it takes to compete against the top teams.

Haddington have lost a lot of players from last season’s team, but these have been replaced by some strong youngsters and a number of astute signings.

And they have had a good pre season, beating an Ayr XV and narrowly going down against a rampant Gala team.

Shire are still trying to find their best XV, but they too, have prepared well and gave Premier 1 side Glasgow Hawks a testing time at Strathallan School recently.

They also defeated Murrayfield and ran a strong Heriots team very close.

The forwards have been strengthened by Adam Stone’s return to the club from Stewarts Melville.

Fans will be disappointed to learn that Sam Brand has joined Dundee High School and will line-up alongside an ever-growing pool of Perthshire players at Mayfield.

Jimmy Whyte is back for another season and, if half his enthusiasm rubs off on the youngsters in the squad, then the forwards will have nothing to worry about.

The Eagles’ pack ended last season as a dominant force and all the players have returned, and will be complemented by several new signings, with more possibly in the offing.

Simon Moffat has recovered from an early-season mishap and will be fighting for his place in the starting line-up.

The ex Peebles forward’s combative nature and experience is crucial to Shire’s success.

Dan Wilkie will effectively be the equivalent of a new player for Shire this year, as the big prop has shed a considerable amount of weight and obtained a level of fitness other members of the squad can only dream about.

As far as the backs are concerned, it is business as usual – apart from the loss of Rory Carmichael, who has moved to Harrogate for business reasons.

The form showed in pre-season has bee described as “awesome” at points, with the dynamic duo of Assenti and Oag to the fore, coupled with Jack Steele’s line interventions and defending.

Tomorrow’s match kicks-off at 3pm on the North Inch.

PERTHSHIRE’S young guns travel to Murrayfield tomorrow to play the Wanderers on one of the National Stadium’s back pitches.

This will be the first time the two team have met and the Edinburgh side should provide formidable opponents as they are part of the capital’s Premier League.

The Colts’ game last week, against a strong Portobello side, was a close encounter.

And it was the determination of the young Eagles that brought a well-earned victory in the final minutes of the game.

Players are asked to meet at 11.30am at Bell’s Sports Centre in Perth tomorrow, and the club have asked for parents and coaches to help with transportation to the game, as all the local bus companies are booked-up because of the Johnnie Walker Championships at Gleneagles this weekend.

There will be an additional pre-season training game next Tuesday evening against Strathallan School on the North Inch at 6pm.

If possible, players are asked to be at the ground and ready for a 5.30pm warm-up prior to the contest.

For further details contact Andy Cummins on 078359 29954.