Highland out to leave St Boswells travel sick
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
HIGHLAND hope to blitz St Boswells early in tomorrow’s BT Cup clash – with the Borders club facing an eight-hour round trip to Inverness.
Head coach Dave Carson believes they plan to travel up on the day of the game, rather than coming up the night before or staying at a half-way point, so a fast start from the hosts could take advantage of tired legs on the opposite side of the field.
It is cup action for all sides across the National divisions tomorrow, providing the ideal chance to pick up some early momentum ahead of the start of the league campaign a week later.
Much like Highland, St Boswells have been promoted to National Three this season after dominating their regional league last season. Based in Melrose, just 16 miles from the English border, lost just once on their way to the East Regional One title, with that defeat coming on the last day of the season to North Berwick when the title was already won.
Their paths very nearly crossed last season, with St Boswells a try away from taking Carrick’s place in the National Shield final against Carson’s men, which Carrick went on to win.
With another trip to Murrayfield the prize at the end of this competition, Carson is keen to start off in high gear against tomorrow’s opponents.
"We’ve already spoken about it with the boys – If they’re travelling on Saturday morning, that’s a four or five-hour bus journey and the Borders boys are only used to doing about an hour or so each week," said Carson.
"We certainly want to coming out of the blocks firing. They will be a fair side and I’ve been hearing rumours they’ve recruited well around the Borders over the summer. I just want to see how they travel, because they’re not used to these bus journeys."
This weekend will also give Carson the first indication of how his side will fare making the step back up to National level, which Highland has not occupied for more than a decade.
The majority of the playing squad has been retained from last season’s promotion-winning side, with only Paddy Bryden and Richard Sim not part of the fold this season. New and old faces have been added, with Mike Gordon and Lewis Sinclair joining from neighbours Ross Sutherland and winger Darren Macleod, part of the side which won the RBS Bowl in 2014, returning from Australia.
A pre-season fixture against National One side Edinburgh Accies gave the Highland coaches a reality check of what to expect at the higher level, despite their opponents from the capital being two divisions above.
There are no illusions of what is to come this Saturday, with Carson adding that tomorrow provides a taster of what the season has in store.
"They could well be title challengers come the end of the season," he said. "If they gel quickly enough, then they’ll be there or there abouts.
"But we’re able to select a strong team and bench, which is fantastic. The boys that have come off the bench in pre-season have made a massive difference with their fresh legs – they’ve made a mark on the game, which is exactly what you want."
Steven Rutledge and Tam Magowan are long-term injury concerns for Carson at Canal Park tomorrow, with both recuperating from knee injuries sustained on the pre-season tour to Ireland.
Another change to the squad will be Stuart Watson, who is recovering from a chest infection and the starting front row will be Stephen Murray, Kevin Brown and Lyall Archer. Also starting at stand-off will be Scott Fraser.
The juniors launch their SRU President’s Conference campaigns this weekend, starting with the under-18s at home to Boroughmuir. The under-18s have had a good set of pre-season matches and will hope to get a good start to the league.
On Sunday the under-16s and under-15s are at home to Boroughmuir, while the under-14s and under-13s travel to play the Edinburgh club.
Highland’s second XV are not in action until next week, when they start their league campaign with a derby against Ross Sutherland.
