Stirling County v Heriot’s Blues – Bridgehaugh, KO 1pm

Round 8 kicks off with Stirling County hosting Heriot’s Blues at Bridgehaugh.

It was a close call in August when County and Heriot’s last met. Just nine points separated the two sides (Stirling 40-49 Heriot’s), so this should be another exciting contest.

County currently sit in second place in the table standings, just three points behind Watsonians. Last weekend they recorded their sixth win of the season with a 0-69 win over Stewartry.

After last weekend’s game against Hills was postponed, the Blues have a game in hand.

Looking ahead to this weekend, Blues’ Head Coach Craig Robertson said: “With a season that has been plagued with cancellations and postponements, we are desperate to give a good account of ourselves at Bridgehaugh and start to build some momentum. We had a good battle against Stirling in the first round of the leagues and look to make Saturday a similar encounter.”

Hillhead Jordanhill v Watsonian FC – Hughenden, KO 1.30pm

It’s West versus East on Saturday as Hillhead Jordanhill take on Watsonians at Hughenden.

The visitors are on a hot streak so far this seasoning as they scooped themselves a seventh consecutive win last weekend against Cougars to keep them at the top of the table as we enter the second half of the season.

Watsonians have scored an impressive 35 tries in their Premiership campaign so far this season with Number 8, Sophie Anderson, leading their try-scoring efforts with six so far.

Hills scoring abilities are also very strong, with 34 tries this season through 19 different players with Roma Fraser scoring five in just four appearances.

The last time Hills and Watsonians met, the Edinburgh side took a 43-26 win. Since then, Hills have been on a strong upward trajectory with four wins and a narrow loss to Stirling County.

Hills fixture against Heriot’s last weekend was postponed due to the adverse weather conditions hampering the pitches at Goldenacre, and captain Hannah Telling is raring to get back out onto the field.

“We can’t wait to welcome Watsonians to Hughenden this weekend”, said Hannah.

“They’ve had a great start to the season but we’re ready to meet them head on. Hills versus Watsons is always a cracking game so the supporters should be in for a great time on Saturday afternoon in Glasgow.”

But Watsonians are equally ready with their captain, Rachel Law telling scottishrugby.org: “We are very excited to play this weekend against Hills. They are a very tough team to play at the best of times, let alone at home so we are looking forward to a battle on Saturday.”

Corstorphine Cougars v Garioch – Union Park, KO 2pm

Garioch travel to Edinburgh this weekend to take on Corstorphine Cougars at Union Park.

The last time these two sides met, Cougars had a runaway 0-76 win. Since then, Cougars have gone on to claim three further wins, with Garioch still searching for one.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the Aberdeenshire side. The squad has continued to make strides in their performances and just earlier this week, captain Sammy Ross picked up Scottish Rugby’s Try of the Month award for her score against Watsonians in September.

Last weekend Cougars couldn’t quite do enough to overcome the current league runners, Watsonians, going down 13-21.

But Eric Jones, Cougars Head Coach is looking forward to starting the second half of the league afresh, saying: “We’re starting the second half of Premiership fixtures with real clarity on what we need to do for the rest of the season which will start with Garioch at home this weekend.

“Garioch have improved week on week so we’ll not be underestimating them despite their league position. Both our attack and defence are currently second in the league, so we know we’re not far away. We’ll be looking to bounce back after a disappointing performance last week and get the second half of the season off to a good start.”

Stewartry Sirens v Cartha Queens Park – Greenlaw, KO 2pm

Cartha Queens Park travel to Greenlaw this weekend to face Stewartry.

Whilst Cartha has a game in hand after their fixture against Heriot’s Blues was postponed last weekend, they are tied with Stewartry on the table, sneaking ahead on points difference.

This means this weekend’s fixture could be a crucial one to help sneak out into the middle of the table standings.

In their previous meeting in Round 1, Cartha came out on top with a 53-19 win.

Whilst Stewartry suffered a 0-69 loss the County last weekend, they will no doubt be looking to bounce back and prove themselves as they have done before, this weekend.

Speaking to scottishrugby.org, Sirens’ Player/Coach Donna Burns said: “As we head into the second half of the season we aim to take valuable lessons learned from previous games in to this weekends fixture with Cartha Queens Park. We are building on our performances each week, this is a crucial game for us and one we are looking to win.”