Currie v Ayr preview

It's the last round of the BT Premiership before the Christmas and New Year break, and Ayr travel to Malleny Park in Balerno to take on Currie on Saturday.

The hosts are currently fourth in the table but Hawick are hot on their heels in fifth place with an equal forty-two points.  So, with only a few matches left, Currie will be determined to cement their place in the top four to qualify for the play-offs.

Ayr head coach Calum Forrester know his men, despite their position at the top of the table, will be in for a difficult afternoon in that picturesque part of Edinburgh.

'Malleny is one of the toughest venues to play at in the league and given Currie's recent run of results, we expect that challenge to be even greater this weekend.'

The visitors are again bolstered by the presence of Glasgow Warriors' second row Greg Peterson, who put in a man-of-the-match performance in his Ayr debut last week.  His Scotstoun team-mate Junior Bulumakau moves from the bench to the starting line-up for his third appearance in the pink and black shirt.

Archie Russell drops out with an injury and his outside centre berth is taken by Richard Dalgleish.  In the forwards, Graham Fisken is at openside flanker in place of the unavailable Andrew Dunlop, and Steven Longwell and D'arcy Rae join Lewis Anderson in a dynamic front row.

Young prop Sam Kenny takes his place on the bench after some try-scoring exploits for the 2nd XV, along with scrum-half Jack Preston and winger Cameron Taylor.


Currie:
15. Blair Kinghorn; 14. Ruaridh Smith, 13. Fidiad Efthymiou, 12. Robbie Nelson, 11. Harvey Elms; 10. James Semple, 9. Charlie Shiel; 1. John Cox, 2. Matt Goodwin, 3. Alistair Hamilton; 4. Mike Vernal, 5. Kieran Lowe; 6. Luke Crosbie, 7. Travis Brooke, 8. Ross Weston (c).

Replacements:
16. Graeme Carson, 17. Shaun Ruwers, 18. Stephen Ainslie, 19. Chris Davies, 20. Matt McPhillips.

Ayr:
15. Grant Anderson; 14. Junior Bulumakau, 13. Richard Dalgleish, 12. Ross Curle (c), 11. Craig Gossman; 10. Frazier Climo, 9. David Armstrong; 1. Steven Longwell, 2. Lewis Anderson, 3. D'arcy Rae; 4. Scott Sutherland, 5. Greg Peterson; 6. Blair Macpherson, 7. Graham Fisken, 8. Pete McCallum.

Replacements:
16. Sam Kenny, 17. George Hunter, 18. Rob McAlpine, 19. Jack Preston, 20. Cameron Taylor.

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

The 2nd XV are away to Watsonians, kicking off at 2pm.  Their match can be followed live via the Ultimate Rugby app.