Watson’s to host cup final conquerers at Myreside

Less than two months after meeting in the final of the Brewin Dolphin Scottish Schools Under-18 Cup at Murrayfield, George Watson’s College and Edinburgh Academy face each other at Myreside on Saturday.

Edinburgh Academy won the cup final clash by the narrowest of margins, but their coach Mark Appleson believes that the second meeting this season will have a different dynamic.

“I think it could be a totally different game without the pressure of playing in a cup final. In many ways it could be a better game,” he said.

The Academy, who received Rugby World magazine’s team-of-the-month award in December, will field a slightly different team to that which took the field at Murrayfield. “We want to reward the senior boys, a couple of whom were too old for the cup,” said Appleson, whose side’s other big game this school term will be against Stewart’s-Melville College in five weeks’ time.

Appleson would like to see the second term of the school year used for experimental fixtures. “We would like to be playing really meaningful competitive games and think outside the box for fixtures,” he said. “We could play a strong school side one week and then a club team the next. You need competitive games all the time.”

Another looking to reshape what is now a too traditional fixture list is the former international referee Malcolm Changleng, now a faculty head at Earlston High School.

Changleng is concerned that the Borders semi-junior league (under-18) is failing ambitious young players, who want to play at regional level. The evidence from the inter-district competition this season, in which Borders suffered big defeats, would suggest that Changleng is right.

He believes that the 12-team semi-junior league, needs modifications, and added: “If it was up to me, the under-18 clubs would play only one round of fixtures, with the top four playing off for top place The season would be designed to allow a league Saturday and then a development Saturday on rotation. ”

Changleng also believes that the Border junior clubs should be encouraged to seek fixtures outwith the Borders against the likes of Stirling County, Merchiston and Dollar.

He said: “The biggest weakness of the semi-junior league is Borders players are playing a very similar style of rugby.

“As a result the best players don’t learn to take on teams with a different strategic style.

“I appreciate that it bucks the traditional way of things, but we need to be more radical to help move on our best and developing players.”