All Set for Kick-Off as Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership Returns

The weekend marks the start of an action-packed season at the top level of the Men’s adult game, with GHA captain Dario Ewing highlighting the competitiveness of the league: “When you look across the fixture list this season there are no easy games.”

The opening weekend also kicks off a busy schedule across the domestic leagues, with 141 men’s 1st XV, 62 2nd XV and 10 3rd XV teams taking to the field, alongside 51 women’s 1st XV and four 2nd XV teams.

After securing back-to-back Premiership titles last season with victory over Currie in the final at Millbrae, Ayr begin their title defence at home against Watsonians. The champions will be hoping to start their campaign with another strong performance, while Watsonians, led by captain Murray Scott, will be looking to spoil Ayr’s opening-day celebrations. Speaking at the Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership launch day, Scott outlined his hopes for the season: “Maintaining more consistency in performance is important to us. We were a bit up and down over the course of last season, so we’d like to set a standard and maintain that throughout the course of the season.”

Newly-promoted Edinburgh Accies are returning to the Premiership and to mark it, the Arnold Clark Men’s Premiership launch day was held at their iconic home ground, Raeburn Place, where the first international rugby match between Scotland and England was played in March 1871.

In more modern day Inverleith, Accies will be determined to make a positive start to the new campaign, having fought their way back into the Premiership, when they travel to Poynder Park to face Kelso. The hosts, captained by Dwain Patterson – last season’s leading points scorer – will be looking to build on a strong finish to the previous campaign and put a dent in Accies’ hopes of a winning return.

Elsewhere, Melrose travel to Braidholm to take on GHA. The Borderers will be aiming to begin the new campaign on a positive note under newly appointed head coach and former winger Callum Anderson. GHA, who finished sixth last season, will be looking to make home advantage count and prevent the visitors from getting off to a winning start.

At Goldenacre, Hawick travel to face Heriot’s, with Fraser Renwick and the Borders men looking to take a valuable opening-day victory. Heriot’s, meanwhile, will be hoping to begin their season with a positive performance on home soil and keep the likes of Andrew Mitchell, last season’s top try scorer with 16 tries, from crossing the whitewash.

The final fixture sees Currie journey to Balgray to face Glasgow Hawks. Having narrowly missed out on lifting silverware last season, Currie will be eager to put that disappointment behind them and start the new campaign with a win. Glasgow Hawks captain Ryan Flett, however, claims his club are up for the battle, saying: “We believe on our day we can cause anyone trouble.”

With ten teams competing across the Premiership this season, there will be plenty at stake as each side faces the other home and away. The top four will then progress to the playoffs, where they will battle it out to be crowned league champions. More games than ever before will be available to watch live on the Scottish Rugby YouTube channel this season and coverage will bring the excitement, stories and stars of the game to supporters wherever they are.

All five fixtures take place this Saturday, with kick-offs scheduled for 3pm.

Scottish Rugby Confirms Senior Academy and Pro Player Allocations to Premiership Clubs

Scottish Rugby has confirmed the Edinburgh Rugby and Glasgow Warriors professional and senior academy players that have been assigned to Premiership clubs for the upcoming season.

The arrangement will allow the players’ professional clubs to release them for additional game time with their designated Premiership side, as well as provide opportunities to feature during periods of injury rehabilitation. Their availability will be determined by individual development plans agreed with their professional club.

Glasgow Warriors players have largely been allocated to clubs in the west of Scotland, while Edinburgh Rugby players have predominantly been assigned to clubs across Edinburgh and the Borders.

The regional approach is designed to strengthen links between the academy players and Premiership clubs within their local catchment areas, while providing academy players with valuable competitive experience alongside their professional development.

Ayr RFC

Jake Shearer (Glasgow Warriors)*
Cam Van Wyk (Glasgow Warriors)*
Joe Roberts (Glasgow Warriors)*
Henry Armstrong (Glasgow Warriors)*
Callum Reidy (Glasgow Warriors)*
Seb Stephen (Glasgow Warriors)
Tavi Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors)
Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors)
Jamie Ritchie (Glasgow Warriors)
Ruwald Van Der Merwe (Glasgow Warriors)
Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors)
Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors)
Charlie Savala (Glasgow Warriors)
Josh McKay (Glasgow Warriors)
Macenzzie Duncan (Glasgow Warriors)
Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors)
Kerr Johnston (Glasgow Warriors)
Matthew Urwin (Glasgow Warriors)
Fergus Watson (Glasgow Warriors)
Alex Craig (Glasgow Warriors)

Glasgow Hawks RFC

Harry Provan (Glasgow Warriors)*
Max Morrison (Glasgow Warriors)*
Harvey Preston (Glasgow Warriors)*
Josh McKenzie (Glasgow Warriors)*
Campbell Waugh (Glasgow Warriors)*
Angus Fraser (Glasgow Warriors)
Ally Miller (Glasgow Warriors)
Murphy Walker (Glasgow Warriors)
Dan Lancaster (Glasgow Warriors)
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors)
Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors)
Gregor Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
Nathan McBeth (Glasgow Warriors)
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors)
Ruaraidh Hart (Glasgow Warriors)
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors)
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors)
Jamie Dobie (Glasgow Warriors)
Ryan Burke (Glasgow Warriors)
Kerr Yule (Glasgow Warriors)

GHA RFC

Ollie Mckenna (Glasgow Warriors)*
Rory Baxter (Glasgow Warriors)*
Lloyd Moncrieff (Glasgow Warriors)*
Jackson Rennie (Glasgow Warriors)*
James Mckenzie (Glasgow Warriors)*
Gregor Hiddleston (Glasgow Warriors)
Jare Oguntebeji (Glasgow Warriors)
Alex Samuel (Glasgow Warriors)
Duncan Munn (Glasgow Warriors)
Fin Richardson (Glasgow Warriors)
Ben Afshar (Glasgow Warriors)
Euan Ferrie (Glasgow Warriors)
Sam Talakai (Glasgow Warriors)
Bayley Kuenzle (Glasgow Warriors)
Max Williamson (Glasgow Warriors)
Rory Sutherland (Glasgow Warriors)
Sione Tuiplotu (Glasgow Warriors)
Jack Oliver (Glasgow Warriors)
Patrick Schickerling (Glasgow Warriors)
Jonny Ventisei (Glasgow Warriors)

Currie Chieftains

Toby Overson (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Adam Mckenzie (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Ben McDonald (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Alex Bryden (Glasgow Warriors)*
Paul Hill (Edinburgh Rugby)
Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby)
Ewan Ashman (Edinburgh Rugby)
Paddy Harrison (Edinburgh Rugby)
Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby)
Riley Higgins (Edinburgh Rugby)

Heriot’s Rugby

Guy Rogers (Glasgow Warriors)*
Henry Kesterton (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Hamish Macarthur (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Archie Appleby (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Cameron Scott (Edinburgh Rugby)
James Whitcombe (Edinburgh Rugby)
Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby)
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby)
Wes Goosen (Edinburgh Rugby)
Euan McVie (Edinburgh Rugby)
Louie Chapman (Edinburgh Rugby)

Watsonians FC

Oli Anderson (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Harry Jackaman (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Harry Clark (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Dan Kelly (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Conor McAlpine (Edinburgh Rugby)
Connor Boyle (Edinburgh Rugby)
Piers O’Conor (Edinburgh Rugby)
Mosese Tuipulotu (Edinburgh Rugby)
Dylan Richardson (Edinburgh Rugby)
Jack Brown (Edinburgh Rugby)

Edinburgh Accies

Harry Soboil (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Henry Widdowson (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Rory Purvis (Glasgow Warriors)*
Dan Halkon (Glasgow Warriors)*
Tom Currie (Edinburgh Rugby)
Malelili Satala-Navlivou (Edinburgh Rugby)
Callum Hunter-Hill (Edinburgh Rugby)
Matt Currie (Edinburgh Rugby)
Ben Muncaster (Edinburgh Rugby)
Geordie Gwynn (Edinburgh Rugby)
Oliver Duncan (Edinburgh Rugby)

Hawick RFC

Fin Thomson (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Matthew Fick (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Sam Byrd (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Ross Wolfenden (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby)
Charlie McCaig (Edinburgh Rugby)
Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby)
D’Arcy Rae (Edinburgh Rugby)
Glen Young (Edinburgh Rugby)
Ollie Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh Rugby)
Hector Patterson (Edinburgh Rugby)

Melrose Rugby

Ben White (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Fin Doyle (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Christian Lindsay (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Dylan Cockburn (Glasgow Warriors)*
Ross Thomson (Edinburgh Rugby)
Harri Morris (Edinburgh Rugby)
Tom Dodd (Edinburgh Rugby)
Freddy Douglas (Edinburgh Rugby)
Marshall Sykes (Edinburgh Rugby)
Alec Hepburn (Edinburgh Rugby)
Kienan Higgins (Edinburgh Rugby)

Kelso RFC

Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Jack Utterson (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Rory McHaffie (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Jamie Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby)*
Rob Carmichael (Edinburgh Rugby)
Rhys Litterick (Edinburgh Rugby)
Liam McConnell (Edinburgh Rugby)
Harry Paterson (Edinburgh Rugby)
Ben Vellacott (Edinburgh Rugby)
Jerry Blyth-Lafferty (Edinburgh Rugby)
James Grayson (Edinburgh Rugby)

* = academy player