Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Rugby: North teams aim to make winning start to the new campaign

Highland, Aberdeen Grammar, Gordonians and Orkney return to action this weekend.

Highland head coach Dave Carson.
Highland head coach Dave Carson.

Highland are aware that picking up points on the road will be crucial in what is set to be an ultra-competitive National One league this season, so they are keen to get off to a positive start when they travel to take on Dundee Rugby on Saturday.

Scottish Rugby has re-jigged the top few men’s divisions in clubland for 2023/24, meaning that below the 10-team Premiership there are now four National leagues made up of 10 teams each.

Last term Highland finished a creditable fifth in what was then a 12-team National One and head coach Dave Carson and his charges are keen to try and challenge up at the top end of the division once again.

The Inverness-based outfit pride themselves on their home form at Canal Park, but points on their travels will be just as key if they are to compete with the likes of GHA, Ayr, Melrose, Gala and others for top spot over the next 18 matches.

Dundee finished seventh last season – 22 points behind Highland – and, ahead of the opening day trip to the City of Discovery, Carson said:  “We are all really looking forward to getting going.

“Pre-season has gone well and we are getting good numbers at training with 60 or 70 players down at training every Tuesday and Thursday evening and as a coaching group that gives us positive selection issues.

“In terms of the first XV, we know that National One is going to be as tight as ever with all teams capable of beating the other teams, so we cannot look too far ahead.

“We just want to get off to a good start against Dundee if we can and then build from there.”

Strachan sets out stall

New Aberdeen Grammar head coach Eric Strachan is looking forward to leading the club as they begin life in National Two at home to Stirling County.

Grammar won just three matches in National One last time out and have been relegated two years in a row, but there has been a positive feeling building up during pre-season.

New Aberdeen Grammar head coach Eric Strachan. Image: Darrell Benns/DC Thomson

County were also relegated before the summer and ahead of the Rubislaw meeting Strachan, who is being assisted with the coaching by his son Ryan, said:  “We are looking to change the style of play in attack and defence, so there has been a lot for the players to take in during pre-season, but they have been receptive to the new ideas and things are starting to bed in.

“Over the first few games of the season we are hopeful that things will come together and that the team will enjoy the new style.

“With the likes of Gordonians and Kirkcaldy in the division we are looking forward to some good tussles and, in general, I think it is going to be a very competitive league.”

After winning the National Three title in 2022/23, Gordonians are excited by the prospect of competing in a higher league.

They start life in National Two on the road to Peebles who finished fourth last time out.

“We know it will be a step up in quality coming into this division and the boys are keen to test themselves and show what they can do,” Gordonians head coach Ryan Morrice said.

“As a club we want guys to embrace the challenge of playing against the likes of Grammar when those games come around and this game at Peebles will give us a good indicator of where we are at and how things are coming together at this stage.”

Orkney finished last season with a flourish, a 40-22 win over Gordonians in May helping them finish sixth in National Three.

They start this campaign in National Three with a trip to Glasgow to face West of Scotland who finished fourth last time out.

Caledonian One is into its second week of action and Ellon and Aberdeen Wanderers meet.

The Wanderers lost 68-5 to Mackie last weekend while Ellon were inactive.

Elsewhere in the North Conference, Mackie are at home to Caithness this time around with Highland’s second XV playing Aberdeenshire and RAF Lossiemouth taking on Moray.

The women’s Premiership also continues on Saturday and in round three of fixtures Garioch host Heriot’s Blues.

Conversation