Friday 5 August: Ayrshire Bulls v Heriot’s Rugby

2021 FOSROC Super6 Champions Ayrshire Bulls host Heriot’s Rugby at Millbrae on Friday
(kick-off 7.45pm) for the first fixture of the 2022 Championship.

How to Watch
All Friday games will be broadcasted live on free-to-watch
channel FreeSports. FreeSports can be found on Sky HD channel 422, Virgin HD
553, TalkTalk 64, BT Vision channel 64, Samsung TV Plus and is also available
on the FreeSports Player — www.freesportsplayer.tv.
For those who live outside of the UK and Ireland, you can watch these games
live on the Scottish Rugby website here.

Be there
Tickets are still available to watch the first game of the
2022 Championship at Millbrae. Find tickets to support your team here: https://www.ayrrugbyclub.co.uk/product/ayrshire-bu…

Match Officials

Ref – Ruairidh Campbell
AR 1 – Michael Todd
AR 2 – Neil Muir

What the Coaches said:

Pat McArthur (Ayrshire Bulls) said:

“There is a lot of competition for places across the team. Everyone is eager to play which made our selection meetings challenging. We feel the team we selected will best suit the game we want to play against Heriot’s.”

“It is a great opportunity this weekend to open the season at Millbrae against what will be a very strong Heriot’s team. Both Heriot’s and the Bulls start the season with a new set of coaches which will add a bit of the unknown to the contest and the players will be keen to impress.”

Fin Gilles (Heriot’s Rugby) said:

“We welcome some new faces to the team, giving us a nice blend of experience and youth going into the Championship. Dan King, Rory Steele and Fraser Jones will get their first caps as starters and Joey Britton will get an opportunity to make an impact from the bench. The pack has a very familiar look to it with a lot of experience, we are excited to have Jack Mann back in the fold after an extended layoff during the Sprint Series. The pack is rounded off with Heriot’s old timers Ruairidh Leishman and Iain Wilson who encapsulate everything that is great about Heriot’s Rugby club.”

“Dan King will start at Full Back, he has had an excellent preseason, and will be joined in the back 3 by fellow newcomer, Fraser Jones and Sam Pecqueur, who will add some experience. Bruce Houston has had a full preseason with Edinburgh Rugby and looks in excellent condition heading into our first game.”

“Our bench is as strong a bench as we could hope for with some of the most experienced players in the league in Michael Liness, Josh Scott, Dan Gamble, Nyle Godsmark & Ross Jones desperate to come on and make an impact.”

“Ayrshire Bulls away at Millbrae is about as tough a start to a season as you could ask for. We have fond memories of going down to Ayr for the opening weekend of the championship previously, Ayr Rugby Club made a huge effort with a great family feel last time and the Ayrshire community turned out in their droves for what was an excellent spectacle. Ayrshire Bulls are the current FOSROC Super6 champions, they have quality players throughout their squad, and we are playing them away from home…. Bring it on!”

TEAM SELECTIONS

The teams are in ahead of the 2022 #FOSROCSuper6 Championship opener! pic.twitter.com/MhevFjuqld

— FOSROC Super6 (@Super6Rugby) August 4, 2022

Saturday 6 August: Stirling Wolves v Boroughmuir Bears

Boroughmuir Bears kick off their 2022 FOSROC Super6 campaign
by travelling to Bridgehaugh residents Stirling Wolves. (kick-off 2pm).

How to Watch

All Saturday games will be shown live on the Scottish Rugby website,
BBC Sport website and BBC iPlayer.

Be there

Watch Stirling Wolves and Boroughmuir Bears compete for
their first win of the Championship in person. Get your tickets here: https://www.citizenticket.co.uk/events/stirling-wo…

Match Officials

Ref – Ian Kenny
AR 1 – Michael Todd
AR 2 – George Pounder

What the Coaches said:

Ben Cairns (Stirling Wolves) said:

“A loss at home to Saturday’s opposition, Boroughmuir Bears, was the most disappointing result of the FOSROC Sprint Series so hopefully we can right some wrongs this weekend. The Bears have built a cohesive squad, they have some of the best young talent in the country and work so hard for each other. They are a team who dig in and never know when they are beaten so we know our accuracy and consistency over the full 80 will be key if we want to get off to the right start.

“Saturday’s match is also the start of a new era for the club and for this Super6 group as we take the field for the first time in a competitive match as Stirling Wolves. We are all really looking forward to showing everyone what we are all about under this new banner. Wolves are all about family and we hope to see the County family down in droves this weekend, cheering us on and joining our pack.”

Graham Shiel (Boroughmuir Bears) said:

“Bridgehaugh is a tough place to open up our Championship 2022. The summer break has been tough to manage for all players and management so preparation has been tight and disrupted. Game one provides a real focus as we play the inform team of the Sprint as an opener away from home will test Boroughmuir Bears to the full. Our first three games for Bears’ Championship are on the road, so the quicker we adapt, the better we will fair in a very difficult opening to the season.

“Changes again to squads will take time to bed in and adding to the challenges as always player availability will play a big part in the competition.

“Stirling Wolves have grown in the Super6 competition and were deserved runners-up in the Sprint competition after an excellent campaign, arguably deserving more. They are a very tough side to play at Bridgehaugh, so Bears need to be at their very best to compete and stand any chance of getting a successful outcome.”

Saturday 6th August: Southern Knights v Watsonians

Southern Knights host 2022 FOSROC Super6 Sprint Series
champions Watsonians at The Greenyards (kick-off 4.30pm).

How to Watch

Watch this game live on the Scottish Rugby website, BBC
Sport website and BBC iPlayer.

Be there

Head along to The Greenyards on Saturday afternoon as Knights kick off their campaign on home soil. Tickets for the game are available online here: https://www.citizenticket.co.uk/events/southern-kn…

Match Officials

Ref – Jonny Perriam
AR 1 – Ross Mabon
AR 2 – Digby Thomas

What the Coaches said:

Fergus Pringle (Watsonians) said:

“Going down to play the Knights in Melrose is always a really tough challenge. They’re a proud club that has been very successful and they will be determined to start their campaign off well with a big performance.

“Our preparation this last month has been focused on getting our basics right while looking at a couple areas we feel can develop our game further. Everyone is really excited to get the FOSROC Super6 Championship underway and we know we’ll need to perform well to come out on top.”

Bruce Ruthven (Southern Knights) said:

“Were looking forward to getting underway on Saturday versus the Sprint Champions. If were going to test ourselves we might as well do it against the current top team. A good crowd at the Greenyards is expected so the stage is set for a mouth watering highly contested match.

“We know we will have to be at our best if were to match the power of Watsonians and Fergus has done very well with his recruitment so their will be some great match ups across the pitch which everyone is looking forward too.

“We have some good momentum coming into the match after a couple of quality weeks of training and were all very focused on the game ahead. When we met in the Sprint campaign it was a tough and close match but the players were disappointed with the last quarter of the game so we hope to be more consistent and accurate this time round.”