Girls’ Cup Finals return to BT Murrayfield

The Scottish Rugby Girls’ Cup Finals will take place on Friday evening at BT Murrayfield with six games involving teams from across Scotland. The under-18 Cup final is a repeat of last year with Hillhead Jordanhill looking to rectify the result which saw them lose to rivals Murrayfield Wanderers. Their road to the final featured a 58-0 victory over Ayr in the quarter-final before a draw with Community School of Auchterarder seeing them through in the semi-final as the away team.The club’s senior women’s team is top of the BT Women’s Premier League and will take on Ayr in the semi-final of the Sarah Beaney Cup on Sunday 27 March.Coach and Scotland Women player, Megan Gaffney, said: “We moved the ball well in our quarter-final against Ayr and were really comfortable playing at home.”The Community School of Auchterarder are a very good team so we made sure we stuck in during our semi-final draw to reach the final.The girls are really excited to be playing on the International Pitch at BT Murrayfield and they all totally deserve to be there, the squad are full of confidence and many have stepped up from our under-15 team.”Their opponents, Murrayfield Wanderers, will be looking to build on last year’s Cup final victory where they defeated Hillhead Jordanhill in a spirited game.Wanderers’ defeated Oban High School in the quarter-final and secured a convincing victory over Ellon in the semi-final to pave their route to the final. Coach, Michelle Ovens, said: “The team have improved throughout every game in the Cup competition and many of the squad members from last year still feature in this age group.Our result against Ellon was a great team performance, with the girls working well together to seal a terrific win.”We have received great support throughout the competition and hope we can bring our best performance to the final.” Murrayfield Wanderers will arrive at BT Murrayfield for the under-15 Cup final following an impressive performance in their semi-final. The team overcame Caithness/Orkney 31-24 in a game which saw forwards and backs combine to push past strong opposition.Wanderers also defeated Lismore/RHC 52-0 in the quarter-final of the competition with the victory creating an opportunity to claim silverware.Coach, Michelle Ovens, said: “We performed well in our semi-final against Caithness/Orkney and worked as a team to overcome tough opposition.The squad are relishing the opportunity to play at BT Murrayfield and there is a real buzz in our ladies section at the club given that both our under-15 and under-18 squads are involved.”Hopefully, our under-15 team can perform on the day and win the Cup.”This season sees Murrayfield Wanderers compete across both age groups with the under-18 team facing Hillhead / Jordanhill in the under-18 Cup final.Wanderers 1st XV are also currently sitting in second place in the BT Women’s Premier League and will take on RHC Cougars Women in the semi-final of the Sarah Beaney Cup on Sunday 27 March.The club’s under-15 side will face up Biggar, who enjoyed a 49-0 win over Ayr at Millbrae in their semi- final to reach the final. Biggar under-15 defeated Annan in the quarter- final stages of the competition. The club’s under-18 team have also progressed to this year’s Bowl final and will compete against Oban Lorne for the title.Biggar under-15 Girls’ head coach, Eric Shearer, said: “Both girls’ teams have been playing brilliant rugby this year.The under-15 team are taking part in the Cup final for the second year in a row and all of the girls are looking forward to running out onto the International Pitch at BT Murrayfield.””Everyone, especially the coaches are very proud of what the girls’ have achieved this year. We couldn’t have reached the final without the help of forwards and strength and conditioning coach, Mark Foster, several other coaches who have had an input throughout this season, the management staff, and finally the girls’ enthusiasm and dedication.”We gave them the tools, but they are the ones who have learnt how to use them.”In the Shield competition, the Community School of Auchterarder will take on Ellon in the under-18 final and Ayr will face Caithness in the under-15 final.The under-18 Bowl sees Biggar and Oban compete for the title with Annan meeting Lismore/RHC in the under-15 Bowl final. Scottish Rugby Girls’ Cup Finals (Friday 25th March – free entry) U18 games kick-off at 7.45pm U18 Cup Murrayfield Wanderers v Hillhead Jordanhill, International PitchU18 Shield Community School of Auchterarder v Ellon, Back PitchesU18 Bowl Biggar v Oban, Back Pitches U15 games kick-off at 6pm U15 Cup Biggar v Murrayfield Wanderers, International PitchU15 Shield Ayr v Caithness, Back PitchesU15 Bowl Annan v Lismore/RHC, Back Pitches