| BORDERS TO TAKE ON THE CAPITAL IN SWRU FINAL |
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| Thursday, 13 March 2008 | |
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Borders women's rugby clubs, Gala U15 and Melrose U18, will face Edinburgh rivals, Murrayfield Wanderers, in the SWRU finals at Murrayfield this Sunday.
Scotland international -and Borders local- Ross Ford, will be on hand to present the trophies. Confidence is high in the Borders as Gala come to the final following a 35 - 5 victory over Monklands RFC in the semis while Melrose came through the semis with a hard-fought 36-31 victory over a quick footed Grantown-on-Spey. "We dominated the whole game but they had some real speedsters who could run it from their line," explained Melrose coach, Brian Tait. I expect Murrayfield to be strong and fast so itll be a similar game. Gala womens coach, Lesley Robertson, believes her side can do the job in the finals. She said: We beat Murrayfield the last time we played, and in the national 7s. I think I have a younger team but Im fairly confident and so are the girls. Despite good semi-final results, the Borders clubs face a tough test against two Murrayfield Wanderers who kept clean sheets against their semi-final opposition. The U15 side came through as 46-0 winners against Carrick Academy while the U18 side which features nine Scotland U18 international players - defeated Ayr RFC 54-0. Wanderers coach, Claire Cruikshank, heaped praise on both the Murrayfield sides: The under 15s semi-final was probably the best game the girls had played in the tournament so far. The under 18s cant do anything more, the girls have performed well in every round. But despite the results, Cruikshank was quick to point out the threat posed by the Borders sides. Gala has a pretty big pack and real pace out wide so we need to be aware of everything really. Theyve got the big ball carriers and if they get it out wide theyve pace to burn. Melrose are quite a newly formed side but they have about three girls in the under 18 squad. Theyre skillful players who do the basics right. The National Midi/SWRU Finals is the first time boys and girls rugby has been integrated into the same event and represents a major step forward for womens rugby in Scotland. Lesley Robertson added: Theres a lot more youth teams now and the schools are trying really hard to get more girls playing rugby. Its a serious and physical game but theres a great fun social side. Gala v Murrayfield Wanderers is the first final of the day kicking off at 11am, and is followed by, Melrose Womens U18 v Murrayfield Wanderers Womens U18 (12.30pm), and the Boys National Midi Finals where Stirling County U15 take on Currie U15 (2.30pm) and Boroughmuir meet Perthshire (3.40pm). Entry is free. Finals Day Schedule: 11.00 - SWRU U15 Youth Cup Final, Gala v Murrayfield Wanderers 12.30 - SWRU U18 Youth Cup Final, Melrose v Murrayfield Wanderers 14.10 - U15 National Midi Final, Stirling County v Currie 15.40 - U16 National Midi Final, Boroughmuir v Perthshir |
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