Rory Kerr comes full circle with return to Murrayfield

Kerr, who won three caps for Scotland in 2002 and 2003, has been back playing at his first club for the past couple of seasons and admits to being "really excited" to be heading to the national stadium with the Fintry-based outfit to take on Duns.

He said: "I have enjoyed coming back to the club that I started playing rugby with, playing with old friends and local people I know, and it is really what rugby is all about being able to see a club like ours play on the big stage."

Like many of Strathendrick's players Kerr was a pupil at Balfron High School and at an early age headed along to Ruth Menzies Field to play mini rugby. As he got older he played some matches for the second XV, when he was lucky enough to play alongside his father and, after impressive displays for the first XV, he headed to West of Scotland to play at a higher level.

In 2000 he was handed a contract with Glasgow and his good form on the wing for the pro team saw him pick up full caps against Canada, USA and Wales.

After Scotland lost to Wales 23-9 at the Millennium Stadium in a World Cup warm-up match he was omitted from the World Cup squad in favour of Nikki Walker. And, after bad knee problems, Kerr decided to take a year out from professional rugby in 2005 before reappearing with Glasgow Hawks in the 2006/07 season as the men from Old Anniesland beat Edinburgh Accies in the cup final.

Kerr said: "I always wanted to come back to Strathendrick at some point and it is a good bunch of guys to be part of. The squad is full of all sorts of guys from schoolboys (Ruaraidh McLaughlin and Ruairidh Clark] to prop Sandy Cuthbertson who is in his 50s, but the great thing is that we work hard together and have been rewarded this season. I think sometimes professional sportsmen can forget about the grassroots game, so I have thoroughly enjoyed mucking in and playing wherever the team needs me."

This season in West One Kerr - who works for Ecoliving and on the family farm - has mainly been utilised at stand-off and has helped propel Strathendrick to within a whisker of the title.

Back in 2000 the club made it to the semi-finals of the BT Cup beating RAF Kinloss, Ross High, Langholm, Stewart's Melville and Musselburgh from National and Premier Leagues along the way before bowing out to eventual winners Boroughmuir.

If this year's squad can lift silverware on Saturday it will go down in club folklore along with that run 11 years ago. And you get the feeling there would be no one in the ground with a bigger smile than Kerr if that were to be the case.