Ayr v Glasgow Hawks preview

Ayr welcome west coast rivals Glasgow Hawks to Millbrae for their second clash in this season's BT Premiership.

It was a close contest when the two sides met at Hawks' temporary home of Balgray back in September, with Ayr edging the win 20-18, and Ayr's head coach Calum Forrester is expecting another such encounter tomorrow.

"This is going to be a physical derby match.  Hawks come into it full of confidence off the back of two good wins in the league and cup."

He continues: "The November break has been a positive for us in that it has allowed the players to have a rest and get over a few niggles from the first half of the season.  The intensity of training has remained high throughout in order to best prepare us for this weekend's match."

These two sets of players know each other very well, but there's also a familiar face behind the scenes as Ayr's former head coach Peter Laverie is now assisting at Hawks. 

The squad has a familiar look to it, with Forrester naming an unchanged backline from the previous two matches. 

In the forwards, openside flanker Will Bordill takes the place of Andrew Dunlop, who moves to the bench.

Ayr field a youthful front row in twenty-three-year-old George Hunter, twenty-two-year-old Fergus Scott and nineteen-year-old D'arcy Rae, all of whom, however fresh-faced, have plenty of experience of Premiership clashes.


Ayr:
15. Craig Gossman, 14. Richard Dalgleish, 13. Ross Curle, 12. Dean Kelbrick (capt), 11. Robbie Fergusson; 10. Danny McCluskey, 9. David Armstrong; 1. George Hunter, 2. Fergus Scott, 3. D'arcy Rae; 4. Robert McAlpine, 5. Scott Sutherland; 6. Callum Templeton, 7. Will Bordill, 8. Blair Macpherson.

Replacements:
16. James Malcolm, 17. Stuart Fenwick, 18. Andrew Dunlop, 19. Graham Fisken, 20. Kerr Gossman.


Glasgow Hawks:
15. Andy Fleming, 14. Tom Steven, 13. Brendan McGroarty, 12. Davie Milne, 11. Paul Ramsay; 10. George Horne, 9. Paddy Boyer; 1. Steven Findlay, 2. Jack McFarlane, 3. Gary Strain; 4. Jonny Agnew, 5. Andy Kirkland; 6. Stephen Leckie, 7. Finn Gillies, 8. Tommy Spinks.

Replacements:
16. Grant Stewart, 17. Brendan Cullinane, 18. Scott Cummings, 19. Mateusz Bartoszek, 20. Jack Steele.


Kick-off 3pm!  Follow the scores live on Twitter.