A warm welcome to Mansfield Park for our first Tennent’s Premiership home match of 2022. An added incentive today is the first defence of the Bill McLaren Shield won in a hard-fought victory against Edinburgh Accies in December. A particular welcome to Musselburgh RFC and their president Drew Johnston, players, committee and supporters. We were very honoured and proud to be part of their centenary celebrations at the lunch before the match in October. It was a special day for us all and I’m sure the close links will continue for many years to come. Musselburgh have played Hawick in a special fixture marking each of their 25 year anniversaries, the October match being the first time a league match has been part of the celebrations.
After a disappointing day through in Glasgow at the beginning of the year, we bounced back with a very convincing display at Riverside Park last Saturday. This was very much a team effort but in the pack Callum Renwick and Ross Graham were outstanding while in the backs the Welsh brothers had their best games in a green jersey.
The Force played at Mansfield and had an impressive display against Boroughmuir. There are a lot of talented players coming through but unfortunately there is a long injury list so in the circumstances Corker is doing amazingly well.
Today the Hawick Youth are playing West of Scotland in the National Youth Cup semi-final.
I was fortunate to be at Biggar for the last round and the togetherness and desire to win was very evident. Good luck today boys.
Finally, congratulations to Hoggy, Rory and Darcy on their selection for the Scotland Six Nations squad with Stuart continuing as captain. We at the club are very proud and hope a successful tournament awaits with England first up next Saturday at Murrayfield.
As ever be kind to match officials and be courteous to those around you.
Enjoy the match
