JAMES FERGUSON impressed at full-back as Musselburgh produces a spirited but ultimately fruitless performance in their tough season opener away to champions Marr, and he is joined in the back three by hat-trick hero Kody McGovern of Currie Chieftains and Ross Darroch of Glasgow Hawks, who took his try well against Heriot’s Blues.
Matthew Stewart was a real leader in the middle of the park for Hawks so is given the No 13 jersey this week ahead of Ryan Cottrell of Selkirk and Robbie Kent of Edinburgh Accies, while Greg Cannie was outstanding for Chieftains at No12 which puts him ahead of Kirk Ford of Hawick.
Vincent Hart started at inside-centre for Edinburgh Accies but moved to stand-off on seven minutes after Jamie Loomes suffered an injury to steer his side to a comprehensive home victory over GHA so edges out Jamie Forbes of Currie Chieftains, while Grant Baird‘s slick service for Marr sees him get the nod at scrum-half just ahead of Hawks’ Eric Davey.
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Up front, Grant Paxton has a big role in Jed-Forest’s scrum putting Chieftains under serious pressure so is at loose-head ahead of Marr’s Gordie Reid and Hawick’s Shawn Muir, Paul Cairncross of Glasgow Hawks took his try well in a solid all-round performance so is at hooker, and Zenon Szwagrzak of Selkirk is tight-head.
Ewan Stewart‘s work-rate and ball-handling for Currie Chieftains sees him link up with the ‘immense’ Fraser Grant of Marr in the second-row, with honourable mentions going to Dalton Redpath of Hawick, James Head of Selkirk and 17-year-old Euan McVie of Edinburgh Accies, who continues to produce performances which exhibit maturity beyond his years.
There is another Fullarton favourite in the shape of two-try Blair Jardine at blindside flanker. Matt Walker of Edinburgh Accies saw off stiff opposition from Sam Wallace of Heriot’s and Lewis Stewart of Glasgow Hawks at openside, while Jae Linton of Hawick edges out Monroe Job of Selkirk for the No 8 slot.
15. James Ferguson (Musselburgh)
14. Kody McGovern (Currie Chieftains)
13. Matthew Stewart (Glasgow Hawks)
12. Greg Cannie (Currie Chieftains)
11. Ross Darroch (Glasgow Hawks)
10. Vincent Hart (Edinburgh Accies)
9. Grant Baird (Marr)
1. Grant Paxton (Jed-Forest)
2. Paul Cairncross (Glasgow Hawks)
3. Zenon Szwagrzak (Selkirk)
4. Ewan Stewart (Currie Chieftains)
5. Fraser Grant (Marr)
6. Blair Jardine (Marr)
7. Matt Walker (Edinburgh Accies)
8. Jae Linton (Hawick)
Pretty sure Glasgow Hawks finished their game against Selkirk last week with six 18 year olds on the field, my son being of them. I think it’s great to see, there are some talented lads coming through.
I reckon there were 28 players aged Under 20 given game time on Saturday across the 5 premiership matches – that includes 2 who are still Under 18 this season.
There were a further 12 under 20’s playing in the Super 6 this weekend, with another 3 having played in earlier games.
In addition there are another 10 under 20’s at Stage 3 in the Academy who are allocated to Super 6 clubs who have not yet played, because they played in the Under 20 International Summer series, and this is their pre-season period. They will come back into consideration after this week.
There are quite a few more school leavers in the Premiership Club squads, and I believe the 30 stage 3 Academy players may be allowed to play down with premiership clubs as well once the Super 6 is finished, so hopefully by the time the 6 nations comes these guys will have had a lot more playing time than last years crop.
What impressed me on the various post match write ups was the number of young players the Premiership clubs are fielding down to 17-18 year olds .
Are the clubs doing what the Super 6 was set up to do – bringing on the youngsters as well as using the experienced players to do this?
Not necessarily disagreeing with you, but perhaps the Premiership is the “stage before” for these younger guys prior to the more physical S6. None of us would wish those guys to be promoted too early in their development & watch them chucking the game altogether as a result.
It’s a fine line to tread.
Understand your concern but this what the French and Aussies do and if we could back it up with more coaching
support to the clubs it could well work in Scotland too ,
Especially with young players who have “ missed”
the so-called development pathway.
It does have to be one or the other, both should be contributing to the development of young Scottish players. I also think people assume that the Super 6 doesnt play young players, without actually watching it. This week alone, 32 players who were U20 qualified played.
The average age of this premiership dream team is 26.6, this weeks Super 6 was 25.0.
My son turned 18 a couple of months ago. Moved to a Premiership side fully expecting to be ‘serve his time’ in the 2nd XV. Buzzing that he has been starting for the 1st XV – gives young players such a boost and fantastic match experience.