Premier clubs hoping to beat the freeze

BOROUGHMUIR were confident last night that their Premier A clash against Heriot's, which is due to kick-off at Meggetland at 7.30pm this evening, will go ahead as planned - despite the arctic conditions which are forecast to sweep across the country during the next few days.

The pitch was soft enough to train on yesterday, although a heavy dump of snow or a deep frost before kick-off would clearly throw a spanner in the works.

The news was not so positive in the west, with Peter Wright, director of rugby for Glasgow Hawks, indicating that his club's match against last season's champions Currie looks almost certain to be postponed. A final decision on whether to play the match will not be made until lunchtime today; however, with the pitch frozen solid at 8pm last night, and there being little prospect of a thaw before kick-off time, Wright said he was 99 per cent certain that the match will not go ahead.

As each of the next four standby dates in the league timetable (which would ordinarily be used to reschedule this game) are already being used for Currie's British and Irish Cup campaign, this vital match between two of the leading contenders for the championship is now unlikely to be played before the 5th February. Given the headaches which fixture congestion has caused in recent league seasons, the clubs involved, as well as the championship committee, will be hoping that there are not too many more postponed matches.

Meanwhile, Peebles were adopting a wait-and-see approach to their Premier B fixture at home to Watsonians (kick-off 7.45pm), although coach Garry Parker said that the pitch was playable last night. The visitors will be particularly keen for this game to go ahead, so that they can look to build on the momentum they have generated with wins over Gala and West of Scotland during the last fortnight. They currently top Premier B on points difference ahead of Edinburgh Academicals.

Boroughmuir (v Heriot's, 7.30pm) S Ruddick; H Jones, M Clappertion, H Leonard, AN Other; A Warnock, S Johnson; N Fraser C MacIntosh, J Latta, D O'Riordan, A Davidson, G Scott, J Doubleday, A Rose. Subs: J Duley, G Jones, W Kay, N Rodger, S Wilson.

Heriot's: C Goudie; G Bryce, M Learmonth, C Ferguson, M Nimmo; R Mill, G Wilson; A Dymock, S Burnett, W Blacklock, J Hill, M Reid, P Eccles, A Spence, J Syme. Subs: K Bryce, J-P Ward, R Martin, L Seydak, J Kohn.

Glasgow Hawks (v Currie, 8pm): C Gossman; J White, D Kelbrick, D Milne, K Gossman; M Adamson, K Hamilton; A Smith, E Milligan, G Hunter, R Hamilton, N Campbell, R McKay, B Karalus, R Miller. Subs: G Strain, N Nyamba, G Strang, J Jericevich, T Preece.

Currie: T Brown; A Whittingham, H Abercrombie, A MacMahon, D Fife; M Scott, R Snedden; R Merrilees, S Simonsen, A Hamilton, R Wilson, G Temple, M Cairns, M Entwhistle, R Weston.Subs: F Scott, J Cox, A Best, S Burton, A Binikos.

Peebles (v Watsonians, 7.45pm): D Anderson; W Hogarth, D Clancy, D Mclean, M Cruikshank; N Warnock, D Moore; W Aitken; R McConnell, A Brown, D Harvey, S Taimiti, A Warnock, E Jackson, D Dayton. Subs: TBC.

Watsonians: J Forbes; A Skeen, B Di Rollo, A Nash, C Sorbie; R Aitken, J Blackwood; S Laird,N Hart, K Coertze, D Seeds, D Gorman, N Dennis, A Porter, J Ellis. Subs: D Moussa, H Grant, M Ker, M Henderson.