Watsonians put teenagers on bench for cup tie with Boroughmuir

Watsonians coach Steve Lawrie has shown that he has an eye on the future as his men prepare to host Boroughmuir in the BT Cup tomorrow (kick-off 2pm), with a semi-final berth up for grabs.

Boroughmuir new head coach Peter Wright

Lawrie has named teenage talents Kieran Watt and Lomond MacPherson on the bench for the tie, which is the first leg of a double-header, with the same sides meeting on league duty next week.

Sonians have an enforced change at hooker where Darren Miller replaces Ross Graham who was injured while training with the Scotland squad, and Rory Hutton returns at stand-off, allowing the hosts to field their strongest back division.

“Boroughmuir showed exactly what they are capable of last week with a strong performing forward pack and a backline that looked full of running. We know just how tough a challenge we face,” said Lawrie referring to opponents looking to build on last week’s 47-5 win over Stirling County.

Not surprisingly, Muir coach Peter Wright has made no changes to the team that clicked into gear to devastating effect on that occasion. That means the 2015 cup winners will again have teenager Rob Ure in the back row. He caught the eye when he scored a try after coming off the bench in his recent debut away to Hawick then crossed the whitewash again last week on his first start for the club.

“It’s a wee distraction from the league,” admitted Wright. “After a good performance and win last week against Stirling, we must look to try and keep the momentum going against a very in-form Watsonians team.”

Meanwhile, Edinburgh Accies will have another opportunity to measure themselves against Premiership opposition when they travel to face Stirling County. Accies make the trip with confidence high having yet to taste defeat this season.

With a win over Heriot’s in the previous round and a league success against Stewart’s Melville last weekend, as they moved into a ten-point lead at the top of BT National Division One, the Raeburn Place men will have little to fear against a host side that was well beaten by Muir.

While the overriding objective for coach Derek O’Riordan is to secure a return to the Premiership next season, a win would edge Accies closer to replicating the feat of Gala and Muir, who both won the second tier league title and the cup in the same season.