After weeks of bad weather and postponed matches, Ayr will finally take to solid ground at Lochinch on Saturday morning to battle Glasgow Hawks for a place in the RBS Cup semi-finals.
The match originally intended to take place at Millbrae tonight was to have been the rescheduled RBS Premiership tie against Hawks (now scheduled for 15th March), but the Cup competition takes priority and the quarter-final must be decided.
Had the game been once again cancelled, it would have been decided by a cut of cards under new regulations, a scenario neither side would have wanted. But Lochinch, the recreation ground of Police Scotland in Pollok Park on the southside of Glasgow, has a 3G pitch, which means the fixture will definitely be played, no matter the weather.
Both teams will no doubt be on their best behaviour at the sporting home of the national police force but that won't nullify the edge to this match between such close rivals.
"There are some good battles across the sides because the players know each other well and we will have to play at our best to progress to the next round," says Ayr head coach Peter Laverie. "This will be a tight and keenly-fought affair and the players will enjoy the opportunity to express themselves on the Lochinch surface, which will make for a very good game."
Laverie sees another highlight of playing at Lochinch.
"The after-match food is an old school pie and beans. Kenny Murray may well be regretting his move to Warriors."
There are a couple of Ayr's second XV players who have made the step up to the firsts this week in the form of Craig Brown, who starts at lock, and Stewart Walker, who is amongst the replacements. With Andrew Dunlop unavailable, Callum Templeton moves into the back row.
There is yet again a strong bench, featuring David Young, who can play at hooker or in the back row, returning fan favourite Denford Mutamangira, lively scrum-half Peter Jericevich and young back Danny McCluskey, as well as Walker.
Team:
15. Grant Anderson, 14. Craig Gossman, 13. Robbie Fergusson, 12. Dean Kelbrick, 11. Kerr Gossman; 10. Ross Curle, 9. Murray McConnell; 1. George Hunter, 2. Fergus Scott, 3. Nick Cox; 4. Craig Brown, 5. Scott Sutherland; 6. Callum Templeton, 7. Graham Fisken, 8. Peter McCallum.
Replacements:
16. David Young, 17. Denford Mutamangira, 18. Stewart Walker, 19. Peter Jericevich, 20. Danny McCluskey.
Please note the earlier kick-off of 11.30am. We'll do our best to update Twitter and Facebook with the scores.
You can find the location of Lochinch here and we hope to see as many of you there as possible to cheer on the team. It's free entry!
EH
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