Biggar vs Stew Mel, 30/8/03

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Squad

The Stewart's Melville FP RFC team to play Biggar RFC on Saturday in Premier 2 at Hartreemill, kick off 3 pm, is:

The team includes five players making their competitive debuts for the club this Saturday, namely Tyronne Anderson (ex-Boroughmuir), Graham Shiel (ex-Melrose), Paul Wharakura (ex-Johnstonville, NZ), Stephan De Beer (ex-Pirates, SA) and Paul Sullivan (ex-Murrayfield Wanderers).

Returning to 1st XV action after his spell at Watsonians is Nick Wood, while Graham Lind returns to the starting line up for the first time since December 2001 after spending last season working in New York.

The following players are unavailable: Mike Elliott, Struan Samson, Stuart Bartwicki, Steve Cully, Bryan Thomson, Malcolm MacColl, Derek Freemantle and Peter McLean.

Any supporters wishing a lift to Biggar on the team coach should be ready to leave Inverleith at 12.30 on Saturday.

Riggers' Review

Not exactly the type of start we were looking for, both in terms of this game and the season. Conceding a try after 30 seconds of your opening league encounter is not what all the planning and training pre-season has been about, but you have to roll with the punches sometimes and we did come back and put in a solid, if unspectacular, first half performance.

We gave hints that we could have a decent scrummage. We gave hints that our lineout is more than competitive. We gave hints that we could create space. We gave hints that we have pace out wide. We needed more than hints though. We lacked two main things in the first half: clinical finishing and control. We could have been further ahead than 12-10 at half-time. We should have been further ahead than 12-10. That is lesson number one that we need to take from Hartreemill.

The start of the second half took me back to a cold, wet, muddy day last December at Burnbrae against West of Scotland. We came off the rails that day and, for 20 minutes yesterday, we looked like rabbits caught in the headlights. We couldn't win and retain ball, the tackles weren't counting and we gave Biggar too much time and space. To be fair to them, they showed a ruthless streak and converted all the chances that they created. Game over.

So where do we go from here? Well, upwards is the only way. Kelso come to Inverleith on Sunday afternoon and we start then. We start to put all the little things that didn't go right yesterday into place. We entered this season as a club and we will stand up and be counted like a club. There are 21 more league games to go. I still think we have as good a squad of players at Inverleith as we have had for a long time. There will be more good days than bad this season. You can trust me on that!

Riggers

Stew Mel Stats

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