BT Premiership play-offs: Ayr look to do the double over Hawks & Melrose host Currie

BT Premiership play-offs: Ayr look to do the double over Hawks & Melrose host Currie

Ayr welcome Glasgow Hawks to Millbrae this Saturday while Currie travel to The Greenyards to face Melrose as the four teams prepare to to battle it out for a spot in the BT Premiership final, kick-off 3pm.This will be the second consecutive week Ayr have hosted Hawks and they will be hoping for a repeat performance after defeating the visitors 28-10 last Saturday in the BT Cup semi-finals to secure a position in the final against Melrose who won 48-18 against Stirling County at The Greenyards.The Millbrae men will be eager to reach the BT Premiership final after losing out to Heriot’s on home turf in last season’s final, as the capital side won the title following a last gasp penalty try.Following their strong performance last week, Head Coach Calum Forrester has made only one change to the squad – bringing Robert McAlpine into the starting line-up after missing out last weekend through illness.Forrester said: “We are under no illusions that this will be a different Glasgow Hawks side that we face this weekend who will be determined to come away from Millbrae with a final to look forward to.We learnt last season that the results from previous matches mean nothing at this stage in the season. The players’ attitude has been great at training this week and our focus has turned fully to this weekend.”For his team selection, Glasgow Hawks Head Coach Finlay Gillies has produced a much changed squad this week as his side seek an improved performance from their last game, and welcome back Scotland U20 back rows Matt Fagerson and Bruce Flockhart to the starting team.George Horne who came off the bench for Glasgow Warriors last weekend starts at scrum-half, and fellow Warrior and former Hawk Scott Cummings is released to play.Gillies said: “After a very disappointing performance last week we have spent a lot of time looking at video analysis and have pinpointed a few areas to really focus on getting right.Ayr are a team that apply a huge amount of pressure on you when they have the ball and even more so when they don’t. This is last chance saloon for us at Hawks and we certainly don’t want to come off second best again.”In the Borders, Melrose welcome Currie to The Greenyards in the other BT Premiership play-off and will be confident after securing a spot at BT Cup Finals Day.Currie, however, will be looking to challenge their opponents having worked hard to push past Heriot’s for a top-four position in the league following consecutive victories against Hawick, Glasgow Hawks and Boroughmuir in the matches prior to the play-offs.Melrose Head Coach Robert Chrystie has thus put forward a settled and consistent team while Currie Head Coach Ben Cairns welcomes back four of Currie’s five Scotland U20 players, with three in the starting line-up, to boost his side.Chrystie said: “Currie showed great fighting spirit to get into the top four and will be looking to go one step further than last year.As always they will be well organised and we understand the effort required to break them down. There is a huge amount of excitement for the BT Premiership semi-final play-off around the town and Melrose Rugby, and I’m sure the huge crowd expected will be treated to a thrilling game.”Cairns said: “Having visited The Greenyards twice already this season we know how difficult a place it is to go and get a result.Melrose have threats all over the pitch who can sting you in the blink of an eye so we know we need to remain focused in our defensive efforts for the full 80 minutes. However, we go with confidence having been in good form of late and feel our preparations have gone well.With pace throughout both backlines and with both teams having a real positive attitude on how to play the game I would expect it to be a very entertaining match for what we hope will be a bumper crowd.”Clubs from across BT National Leagues 1, 2 and 3 will also continue their season on Saturday. For a full list of fixtures, visit scottishrugby.org. BT Premiership play-offs, Saturday 1 April (kick-off 3pm)Ayr v Glasgow Hawks, MillbraeAyr: Grant Anderson; Danny McCluskey, Archie Russell, Ross Curle, Craig Gossman; Frazier Climo, David Armstrong; George Hunter, Lewis Anderson, Steven Longwell, Robert McAlpine, Scott Sutherland, Blair Macpherson, Will Bordill, Pete McCallum CAPTAIN. Replacements: David Young, Djustice Sears-Duru, Adam Prentice, Gregor Henry, Harry Warr, Stafford McDowell, Richard Dalgleish.Glasgow Hawks: Jack Steele; Sean Yacoubian, Paddy Kelly, Brendan McGroarty, Kerr Gossman; Hagen Schulte, George Horne; Steven Findlay CAPTAIN, Cammy Fenton, Gary Strain, Scott Cummings, Andrew Kirkland, Matt Smith, Matt Fagerson, Bruce Flockhart. Replacements: Grant Stewart, Chris Barnes, Lyall Archer, Stephen Leckey, Tijuee Uainivi, Paddy Boyer, Josh Henderson.Melrose v Currie, The GreenyardsMelrose: Fraser Thomson; Austin Lockington, Nyal Godsmark, George Taylor, Sam Pecqueur; Jason Baggot, Murdo McAndrew; Jamie Bhatti, Russell Anderson, Ruairi McLeod, James Head, Ruaridh Knott, Neil Irvine-Hess, Grant Runciman CAPTAIN, Iain Moody. Replacements: Cameron McKay, Dan Elkington, Nick Beavon, Ali Grieve, Bruce Colvine, Craig Jackson, Gavin Wood.Currie: Harvey Elms; Ruaraidh Smith, Ratu Tagive, Robbie Nelson, Ben Robbins; Jamie Forbes, Charlie Shiel; John Cox, Graeme Carson, AP McWilliam, Hamish Bain, Stephen Ainslie, Luke Crosbie, Rhys Davies, Ross Weston CAPTAIN. Replacements: Paul Mundell, Reece Patterson, Mike Vernel, Scott McGinley, Matt O’Neil, Matthew Hooks, Cameron Gray. 

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