Ayr v Glasgow Hawks preview

West coast rivals Ayr and Glasgow Hawks play each other for the second time this season and the visitors to Millbrae will be eager to mete out some revenge after the hosts ran away with their first encounter back in August.

Hawks have put together some consistent performances to get to fourth in the BT Premiership and with Heriot's just above them in third place, they will be focussed on gaining as many points as possible on Saturday afternoon, while Ayr will be looking to stretch their lead at the top of the table.

Ayr head coach Calum Forrester is all too aware of the threat the Old Anniesland side poses.

'Hawks will come to Millbrae with a point to prove.  They have been playing some good attacking rugby, but our defence has been strong in recent weeks and will need to be so again.'

The squad isn't much changed from the previous week, with exception of Blair Macpherson taking his place on the bench after scoring four tries for the 2nd XV last Saturday.

David Armstrong starts at scrum-half with Jack Preston taking his place amongst the substitutes alongside Javan Sebastian, whose tighthead starting berth is filled by D'arcy Rae.

Hawks are led from the centre by Brendan McGroarty, with Glasgow Warriors James Eddie and Jerry Yanyanutawa - who have both pulled on the pink and black shirt in past seasons - in the squad.  Former Ayr head coach Peter Laverie is jointly in charge with Gary Mercer, so there will be no secrets between the teams.


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

Replacements:
16. David Young, 17. Javan Sebastian, 18. Blair Macpherson, 19. Jack Preston, 20. Archie Russell.

Glasgow Hawks:
15. Robbie Houliston; 14. Robert Beattie, 13. Brendan McGroarty (c), 12. Jack Steele, 11. Paul Ramsay; 10. Gregor Hunter, 9. Paddy Boyer; 1. Gary Strain, 2. Jack Macfarlane, 3. Brendan Cullinane; 4. Andrew Linton, 5. Andrew Redmayne; 6. James Eddie, 7. Fin Gillies, 8. Andrew Hill.

Replacements:
16. Grant Stewart, 17. Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18. Matt Smith, 19. Sean Yacoubian, 20. Erlend Oag.

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

Ayr 2nd XV v Glasgow Hawks 2nd XV kicks off at 2pm at Rozelle.