Scottish head North on Saturday for a tasty encounter with Tynedale in Northumberland. Tynedale have a great record at home in recent seasons and Scottish will need to ensure they remain on top form if they are to maintain their current winning sequence
The Tynedale ground nestles beside the river Tyne, a short walk over the bridge from the historical village of Corbridge. Rugby has been played in the Hexham area since 1876, however the current club came into existence in 1887, when a number of local clubs amalgamated to form Tynedale. The Tynedale club, due to it's geographical location in Northumberland has maintained a close connection with Scottish rugby in general. In fact, the Tynedale Colts side play in the Scottish Borders Semi-Junior league against teams such as Hawick, Gala and Melrose juniors and they are the current league leaders.
Last season Scottish were comprehensively defeated 59 – 22 by a rampaging Tynedale side in probably the most one sided defeat the club had suffered in many a year. A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since Scottish were last in town and there will probably be only 8 players remaining from last season's match 22 for this coming Saturday's game. Also, Scottish winger Charlie Broughton makes a return to the pitch, where he received his horrendous injury last season, which has kept him out of the side until he made a welcomed try scoring return last weekend.
The Tynedale form this season could be summarised as inconsistent, with their early season winning sequence a distant memory. Their current form over the last five matches reads L,W,L,L,W. Last weekend Tynedale lost in a close contest at Blackheath losing 25 – 18. Although the scoreline was close throughout the match, it was only a last minute penalty which finally confirmed Blackheath's victory. The Beasley brothers remain key players for the club, with fly half Gavin one of the leagues leading kickers currently on 121 points. Dutchman Sepp Visser, brother of the Edinburgh winger Tim is their leading try scorer with 8 touch downs. Other Tynedale players to lookout for are winger Hamish Smailes and England Students scrum half Harry Peck.
The kick off for the match is 2pm and with this weekends fixture being a 575 mile return journey, any Scottish supporters making the journey by train are recommended to catch the 8.30am out of Kings Cross, changing in Newcastle for arrival in Corbridge at 12.26pm. It is also hoped to see a good turn out from Scottish supporters, who will be making the relatively short journey down from Scotland for the match and it will be good to see you all there.
