The Inter-District championship continues tonight when Glasgow and the Exiles meet at Burnbrae, while dethroned champions Caledonia travel to Kelso to face Scottish Border Reivers, who are opening their campaign.
Something has to give at Burnbrae as Glasgow are looking for their third win and the Exiles were successful against Caledonia in their only outing this term.
Both sides have been hit by injury. However, home manager John Roxburgh remains upbeat: ''There has been no problem in filling the places because there are a lot of promising young players coming through.''
Among them are East Kilbride youngster Fraser Sinclair, who makes his debut at stand-off. Other changes from last week see Kenny Baillie return at full back, while scrum half Iain Monaghan and prop Andy Welsh, who came off the bench, retain their places.
The Exiles' Alastair McHarg is in no doubt that the return of his side to the championship this season is a good thing for Scottish rugby: ''If we had our full squad there would be at least 10 candidates for pro contracts up here,'' he said. ''Real Scots who happen to be living elsewhere - not mercenaries drawn to Scotland by the whiff of international rugby.''
These players from outside Scotland now aim to raise their individual profiles on the rumoured eve of an extension of the SRU's professional game.
lSaracens yesterday called off their planned tour of South Africa, which would have featured games against Super 12 sides the Stormers and Blue Bulls.
A combination of injuries and player availability caused the trip, scheduled between May 14 and 26, to be postponed.
Saracens ended their season with a 45-17 Premiership play-off defeat at Northampton last Saturday, and are now sweating on Heineken Cup qualification next term.
lNeath kept their hopes of Heineken Cup qualification alive as they edged out Bridgend
13-12 in a rugged Welsh/Scottish League encounter at The Gnoll.
Kevin James and Rowland Phillips claimed tries for the Welsh All Blacks, who dominated for much of the game. But Bridgend refused to buckle and got to within a point of their rivals when scrum half Jason Hewlett crossed for a try Paul Williams converted three minutes from time.
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