Townsend To Lead Reivers In Galway

The Border Reivers return to action tomorrow night against Connacht in the Magners League after the break for the RBS 6 Nations last weekend. With Chris Cusiter on national team duty and Calum MacRae nursing a foot injury that he suffered whilst playing for the Scotland A team in their 13-7 win over Italy A last weekend, Scotland’s most experienced playmaker, Gregor Townsend, takes over the captain’s armband.The Border Reivers return to action tomorrow night against Connacht in the Magners League after the break for the RBS 6 Nations last weekend. With Chris Cusiter on national team duty and Calum MacRae nursing a foot injury that he suffered whilst playing for the Scotland A team in their 13-7 win over Italy A last weekend, Scotland’s most experienced playmaker, Gregor Townsend, takes over the captain’s armband. Speaking ahead of tomorrow nights game, head coach Steve Bates said: “This weekend is another big test for us but the mood in the camp is high. “Connacht at home are a very good outfit and we are all really looking forward to the challenge. This weekend, Bates welcomes back internationalists Ross Ford, Bruce Douglas and Opeta Palepoi. As a result, he has made three positional changes which see Scotland A prop Ed Kalman move to loosehead, John Dalziel move to the right of the scrum in the second row and Scotland 7s captain Scott Forrest pulls on the no. 8 jersey. On the bench, further international sevens experience is featured with former Scotland 7s captain Mark Lee who has been released on permit from Heriot’s. Lee could make his Magners League debut alongside Hawick prop Bruce McNeil. Border Reivers team to play Connacht in the Magners League at Galway Sportsground on Friday 2 March (kick-off 7:30pm) 15 Stuart Moffat 14 Dougie Flockhart 13 Ben MacDougall 12 Nick De Luca 11 Garry Law 10 Gregor Townsend CAPTAIN 9 Rob Chrystie 1 Ed Kalman 2 Ross Ford * 3 Bruce Douglas 4 Opeta Palepoi 5 John Dalziel 6 Scott Newlands 7 Andy Miller 8 Scott Forrest Substitutes 16 Steve Scott 17 Bruce McNeil 18 Mark Lee 19 Richie Vernon 20 Calum Cusiter 21 Steve Jones 22 Bryan Rennie * = Member of Scottish Institute of Sport NATIONAL ACADEMY (BORDERS) Five National Academy (Borders) players travel to Ireland this weekend as the Borders Reivers take on Connacht. Scotland Club International team prop Bruce McNeil joins the squad alongside hooker Sean Crombie, Scott Forrest, Scott Newlands and Richard Vernon. In Scottish Hydro-Electric Super Cup action, Hawick entertain Glasgow Hawks with centres Graham Hogg and Rory Hutton in the home line-up. Meanwhile, in Premiership Two, Gala welcome back Junior Academy full-back Fraser Thomson and Lee Kibble for the Maroons’ important match with Hillhead/Jordanhill at Netherdale. The Border Reivers Under 18 squad travel to Dalziel on Sunday to take on Glasgow. Included in the squad are props Nicky Little and Gavin Cameron and back-rower Ross Gibson. SENIOR NATIONAL ACADEMY (BORDERS) PLAYERS Apprentice Match **Sean Crombie Connacht v Border Reivers Scott Forrest Connacht v Border Reivers **Roddy Grant Injured **Ryan Grant Injured **Graham Hogg Hawick v Glasgow Hawks **Lee Kibble Gala v Hillhead-Jordanhill James King Injured **Bruce McNeil Connacht v Border Reivers Scott Newlands Connacht v Border Reivers **Mark Robertson No match **Richard Vernon Connacht v Border Reivers JUNIOR NATIONAL ACADEMY (BORDERS) PLAYERS Academy player Match **Callum Anderson No match **Ciaran Beattie Injured **Gavin Cameron Glasgow U18 v Border Reivers U18 **Ross Gibson Glasgow U18 v Border Reivers U18 **Rory Hutton Hawick v Glasgow Hawks **Nicky Little Glasgow U18 v Border Reivers U18 **Michael Tait Injured **Fraser Thomson Gala v Hillhead-Jordanhill ** = Member of Area Institute