THE TIMES REPORTS
Lewis Stuart



The importance for Currie of maintaining their winning run was underlined yesterday when it was confirmed that the new year will bring a Scottish Premiership finale calculated to confuse and befuddle even the brightest of players.
The problem comes with the bold agreement confirmed yesterday that the Premiership clubs will test the new laws that the International Rugby Board is considering bringing in sometime after the 2007 World Cup. By trying to make the ruck pointless and end the days of the dominant maul, the laws will have a fundamental effect on the game and will help to create a focus and interest in the second half of a domestic season that might otherwise have petered out into apathy.



However, the new laws are being used in the new Super Cup — four rounds and a play-off weekend — which is scattered around the final weekend of the league and the early rounds of the Scottish Cup, all of which will be played under the existing rules, meaning that players, referees, coaches and fans are going to have to get used to switching between the old and the new.

For Currie, unless they have already wrapped up the title, their opening Super Cup tie against Melrose will be nothing more than an unwelcome distraction ahead of the old-rules final league game. That is another home game, this time against Watsonians, their closest challengers for most of the season and it could be a case of winner takes all.

If they keep playing as they were when rattling up 88 points against Boroughmuir two weeks ago, Currie will have the trophy sitting in the Malleny Park cabinet before Christmas, but they do not need reminding that the fixture list is skewed against them with the easy games coming early and the big tests at the end. Melrose today is followed by a trip to Ayr, lying second and with a formidable record atMillbrae, a home game against Glasgow Hawks, the champions, and away to Heriot’s.

Today’s trip is testing enough, even though the Borders club is missing a few first-choice forwards. Melrose have not had a vintage season, the losses exceeding the wins, but they have a habit of pulling out the results. It was only a late flourish that pulled Currie clear in the Malleny clash between the sides and the Greenyards is never comfortable for visitors.

Ayr will expect to have things easier when they visit a Boroughmuir side that is still missing key players and is still shellshocked by its own ineptitude in that 14-try humiliation by Currie. However, Boroughmuir won the reverse fixture and they have a lot to prove.

Even though they are ten points off the pace, Watsonians still see themselves in the title chase and will expect to pick up maximum points at Aberdeen GSFP, who look more and more like a club destined to drop a division and will certainly be hoping that Heriot’s can do them a favour by beating Hawick.

The weekend is completed when Dundee HSFP meet the Hawks. The two sides have an identical win-lose record but the Glasgow side have picked up more bonus points and are well ahead. Dundee need only a point to be mathematically certain of avoiding relegation.

This article was posted on 2-Dec-2006, 08:29 by Hugh Barrow.