BT Premiership PREVIEW | Marr look to down Hawks

Marr host Glasgow Hawks at Fullarton Park this Saturday (4 November, kick-off 2pm) in a replay of their fiercely contested BT Premiership opener.

Marr enjoyed a great start to their campaign, winning two and drawing one of their first four matches to remove any doubt that they had made the step up only to make up the numbers.

A run of losses since then has brought them back to down to earth, however, but they have proved a difficult side to beat and are optimistic that they can begin to put some distance between themselves and the bottom of the table.

Marr Head Coach, Craig Redpath, said: “There were some encouraging signs from our attacking play last week.

“If we improve our game management this week and reduce our error count we hope to punish a strong Glasgow Hawks team.”

The visitors, Glasgow Hawks, are wary of the threat that the league debutants can pose to anyone as they make a first trip to Fullarton Park.

Glasgow Hawks Head Coach, Finlay Gillies, said: “Marr have an excellent home record and will be an extremely tough team to beat.

“They boast some very exciting players – Kaleem Barretto has been in fine form this year and the young scrum half brings some impressive tempo to their play.

They have some huge outside backs with the Bickerstaff boys and Tom Steven who will offer a huge physical challenge out wide.”

After an open and free-flowing league opener at Scotstoun against Marr, Gillies is expecting a different kind of outing this time around.

He said: “The weather has been awful this week so we are expecting that this encounter will be played in a slightly different style to the last time we met at Scotstoun Stadium on the opening weekend of the season.”

Elsewhere, Watsonians welcome Melrose for a Friday night kick-off and Currie Chieftains host Hawick, who have improved under George Graham but are still searching for a first win.

Heriot’s, after a close fought win last week, travel to Stirling County who were able to secure a bonus point against Marr in the previous round.

Ayr host Boroughmuir at Millbrae in the remaining match.

Marr v Glasgow Hawks will be live-tweeted from @Scotlandteam.

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.

Marr v Glasgow Hawks, Fullarton Park, 4 November, 2pm

Marr: Dougie Steele; Scott Bickerstaff, Conor Bickerstaff, Toby Buchanan, Tom Steven; Craig Kolarik, Kaleem Barreto; Greg Jackson, Stephen Adair, William Farquhar, Ewan Bulger, Chris Nisbet, MacKenzie Pearce, Angus Johnston, Ross Miller

Replacements: Ollie Rossi, Samuela Vunsia, Ross Jackson, Max Freydell, Andrew Mill

Glasgow Hawks: James Couper; Kyle Rowe, Brendan McGroarty CAPTAIN, Davie Milne, Sam Yawayawa; Ross Thompson, Paddy Boyer; Steven Findlay, Grant Stewart, Gary Strain, Andrew Kirkland, Fraser Hastie, Stephen Leckey, Callum Kerr, Jake Eaglesham

Replacements:Paul Cairncross, Lewis Skinner, Kenny Beattie, Liam Brims, Callum Harrison