Ayr v Hawick preview

League leaders Ayr welcome fourth-placed Hawick to Millbrae for round nine of the BT Premiership, kicking off at 2pm.

They don't get much tougher than Borders teams, and after a hard-fought win away at Selkirk last weekend, it's another difficult prospect in the shape of the men in green.

'Hawick were the only team to defeat us home and away last season,' says head coach Calum Forrester, 'so we are under no illusions as to the task in hand this weekend.  They come to Millbrae on the back of four straight wins, so we'll have to be at the top of our game again this Saturday.'

Ayr lead the BT Premiership by six points, but Heriot's, Melrose and Hawick are bunched together in second, third and fourth place respectively and all will be looking to scramble over each other to track down Ayr.

There are a few changes in the squad, with two youngsters earning starts: Lewis Anderson at hooker and Jack Preston at scrum-half.  Anderson has made some impressive appearances as a replacement in recent weeks and Preston has been on great form for the 2nd XV.

Danny McCluskey takes Ross Curle's inside centre berth, with the captain moving to the outside.  Andrew Dunlop returns at blindside flanker, whilst on the bench Davids Young and Armstrong take their place.


Ayr:
15. Grant Anderson; 14. Haddon McPherson, 13. Ross Curle (c), 12. Danny McCluskey, 11. Cameron Taylor; 10. Frazier Climo, 9. Jack Preston; 1. George Hunter, 2. Lewis Anderson, 3. Javan Sebastian; 4. Robert McAlpine, 5. Scott Sutherland; 6. Andrew Dunlop, 7. Will Bordill, 8. Pete McCallum.

Replacements:
16. David Young, 17. D'arcy Rae, 18. Graham Fisken, 19. David Armstrong, 20. Archie Russell.

Hawick:
15. Ali Weir; 14. John Coutts, 13. Wian Griebenhow, 12. Rory Hutton, 11. Craig Russell; 10. Lee Armstrong, 9. Sean Goodfellow; 1. Shawn Muir, 2. Lindsey Gibson, 3. Matt Landels; 4. Bruce McNeil (c), 5. Craig Charters; 6. Nick McTaggart, 7. Rory Scott, 8. Keith Davies.

Replacements: 16. Gary Douglas, 17. Terry Skeet, 18. Stuart Graham, 19. Greg Cottrell, 20. Sean Chapman.

Kick-off 2pm!  Follow the scores live on Twitter.  The 2nd XV play Hamilton 2nd XV at 1pm and scores will be updated via the Ultimate Rugby app.