BT Cup Final on knife edge as evenly matched teams meet

Melrose and Heriot’s today named their teams for this Saturday’s winner-takes-all BT Cup Final, the climax of the 12-team BT Cup Finals day that kicks off at 11am and concludes with the Cup kick-off at 5.45pm at the national stadium, BT Murrayfield.The two familiar foes have met twice before at this stage, with the honours even from the games in 2008 (Melrose, 31-24) and 2009 (Heriot’s, 21-19) and, while Melrose won both head-to-heads in this season’s BT Premiership, the Edinburgh men finished two-points and one place above the Borderers at the end of the regular season.Tickets cost£10 for adults and£5 for U18, student and senior citizens. In the first instance, please contact your / a finalist club to purchase tickets, as all monies are retained by the club for any tickets they sell.Melrose booked their place in the final after edging out this season’s BT Premiership table-toppers Ayr, 20-13 at Millbrae.John Dalziel’s men faced tough opposition on the road to BT Murrayfield, overcoming both Currie (25- 21) and Hawick (22-9) to progress. Melrose also made it to the BT Premiership semi-final but lost out to Ayr.Heriot’s secured their place in the BT Cup final following a 10-10 tie with Glasgow Hawks at Old Anniesland.Phil Smith’s men progressed to the semi-final following a narrow 20-19 victory over BT National League Division 1 side Jed-Forest and a 74-18 win over BT National League Division 2 side Cartha Queens Park.The club will aim to achieve the treble with Heriot’s having already won the BT Charity Shield at the start of the season, and the BT Premiership final against Ayr on Saturday 23 April on the horizon.Both sides have met twice this season in the BT Premiership, with Melrose overcoming Heriot’s both at The Greenyards (32-21) and at Goldenacre (18-14). Several players from both Melrose and Heriot’s have featured in this year’s Scotland Club XV squad, who recorded their first ever unbeaten season with back-to- back wins over England Counties and Ireland Club XV. Both teams will be searching for BT Cup glory with the final showcasing the best talent that Scottish club rugby has to offer.Team newsMelrose stand-off Jason Baggott returns to start at stand-off, allowing the Border side to return a number of players to their favoured roles; Scotland under-20 back Tom Galbraith moves to inside-centre where he partners fellow age-grade midfielder, George Taylor.The return to fitness of club stalwart Fraser Thomson at full-back also allows Nyle Godsmark to move back to the wing, making up a strong back-three.Up front, recently re-signed Edinburgh Rugby player, George Turner and another Scotland under-20 player, Ally Miller, come in at hooker and 8 respectively as part of a strong pack, which features promising youngster Lewis Carmichael alongside the experienced Graham Dodds in the second-row.A young and mobile back-row of Neil Irvine-Hess, Grant Runciman and Ally Miller completes the forwards.Melrose Head Coach, John Dalziel, said: “We prepare for our third match against Heriot’s this season and, as this is the BT Cup Final, it is clearly the biggest of them all.The players have prepared well and look forward to the occasion with a clear grounding and focus that it’s all about the eventual winners, and not the taking part.”Both teams are set up to play and Heriot’s are a well-prepared side, with experienced players who, like us, are no strangers to the big occasion.Edinburgh Rugby hooker Neil Cochrane is released by the PRO12 outfit to feature for Heriot’s in the final, while Liam Steele makes a timely return from injury.Consistency is the key for the Goldenacre men, with the rest of the squad having a familiar feel in recent times, though they still miss talismanic goal kicker and scrum-half, Graham Wilson, through injury.Heriot’s Head Coach, Phil Smith, said: “All Cup finals are special and the fact that it is the first of two back-to-back finals for the club is bringing some extra excitement to the squad.”Training has been of a high quality and I sense the boys simply cannot wait for kick off.Melrose will bring a lot to the party and we know that if we don’t cope with their areas of strength we will have a tough afternoon. At the same time if can get our rhythm going quickly we can pose our own problems for them.”If both teams get up and running quickly there should be a cracking game on show.”Melrose v Heriot’s, BT Cup Final, BT Murrayfield, Saturday 16 April (kick-off 5.45pm)Melrose: 15. Fraser Thomson; 14. Nyle Godsmark, 13. George Taylor, 12. Tom Galbraith, 11. Sam Pecquer; 10 Jason Baggott, 9. Bruce Colvine CAPTAIN; 1 Jamie Bhatti, 2. George Turner, 3. Nicholas Beavon, 4. Graham Dodds, 5. Lewis Carmichael, 6. Neil Irvine-Hess, 7. Grant Runciman, 8. Ally Miller. Substitutes: 16. Richard Ferguson, 17. Ruaridh McLeod, 18. Ruaridh Knott, 19. James Head, 20. Murdo McAndrew, 21. Andrew Nagel, 22. Joe Helps.Heriot’s: 15. John Semple; 14 Charlie Simpson, 13. Liam Steele, 12. Cammy Ferguson, 11. John Rae; 10. Gregor McNeish, 9. Tom Wilson, 1. Murray McAllum, 2. Michael Liness, 3 Struan Cessford, 4. Russell Nimmo, 5. Jack Turley CAPTAIN, 6. Struan Dewar, 7 Iain Wilson, 8. Jason Hill. Substitutes: 16. Neil Cochrane, 17. Martin Bouab, 18. Roan Van Heerden, 19. Jamie Syme, 20. Alex Henderson, 21. Andrew Simmers, 22. Max Learmouth.