Broncos in tournament action for first time since September

The Broncos team that won the National Plate Competition last year

It promises to be one of the toughest weekends of the year as these will be the first competitive matches since the team won the National Plate competition in September last year.

Flagging New Year has grown into one of the best open competitions in Europe, with six overseas teams attending this year’s event.

Early last week the draw was made for the group stages live online. The Broncos were in Pot 1 along with Aberdeen Oilcats and Glasgow Hornets.

Pot 2 contained the other three Scottish Premier League teams, Carnegie Flag, Edinburgh Outlaws and Clyde Comets.

Pot 3 contained three talented English teams – Coventry Cougars, Leeds Samurai and Victoria Park Panthers.

The final pot contained the overseas teams – Balerna Beasts (Switzerland), Craigavon Cowboys (Ireland), Kocevje Wild Hogs (Slovenia), Purmerend Barbarians (Netherlands), Reckless Russians (Russia) and Vienna Spartans (Austria).

Broncos head coach Fraser Thomson watched the draw with baited breath. Group 2 was the Broncos group. They drew The Edinburgh Outlaws – old foes of the Broncos –Coventry Cougars, the Craigavon Cowboys and the Vienna Spartans.

Coventry could be an intriguing match-up. They are a fast paced team with a lot of talent, Craigavon Cowboys are the top team in Ireland at the moment and the Broncos fell foul of the Spartans in a narrow loss last year at the quarter final stage.

The Broncos playing squad will be without their player/coach Fraser Thomson, who continues his recovery from a ruptured achilles and Jimmy Thomson, who will have to make a call on his fitness on the day. Both Matthew Ross and Kevin Simpson are likely to be unavailable.

But the Broncos have been developing the team depth over the past year. Great Britain players Liam Fleming, Callum Woods and Kevin Woods will be the backbone of the team.

If the Broncos make the top two from the groups on Saturday, they will go into a Championship bracket for games on Sunday. There are five round robin matches, with the potential for a place in the final.

The action starts at 10am on Saturday with 40 games being played across three pitches until 5pm. Sunday will also start at 10am, with 33 games to be played and the final at roughly 3.15pm. Entry is free.