ASMALL SLICE of history will be forged this afternoon whatever the outcome of today's match. The Scottish Hydro Electric Cup final takes place on a Sunday for the first time and never before have the same two teams that competed for last year's trophy taken to the Murrayfield turf for a re-match.
Twelve months ago Melrose blew Heriot's clean out of the old ground with four first-half tries that ended the match after just 40 minutes rather than the regulation 80. Heriot's fought back from 31-0 down to score four tries of their own but salvaged
nothing more than a smidgen of self respect.
This time round the ever optimistic Melrose coach Craig Chalmers sees plenty of parallels with last year's build up.
"First of all I think we are a stronger side than we were last time because (flanker] John Dalziel was unavailable last year but he will take his place in the starting team this time.
"There are also a couple of precedents. Last season the last team we lost to before the final was Heriot's and they are the only team we have lost to in this calendar year. Last season we beat the league winners Boroughmuir in the cup on our way to the final and this year we have beaten the champions Ayr on our route to Murrayfield. I think it's a good sign and I hope we can get the same result as we did last year over the same opposition."
It will surely be a closer encounter if recent league form is anything to go by. The last time these two teams met they shared 90 points and 13 tries at Goldenacre as Heriot's bounced back to win a thriller after trailing by 17 points. The fans would settle for something similar this afternoon.
There are intriguing match-ups all over the team sheets. In the midfield, Heriot's speedster David McCall will find the going tougher than usual up against Australian Sevens international James Lew, who looks every inch the professional player that many expect him to be next year. Up front, the ever-aggressive Jamie Syme is sure to crack heads with Dalziel in the back-row battle and at scrum-half there is a conflict of opposites with the capital club's classy distributor Graham Wilson facing a typical Borders livewire in Scott McCormick, who never lets the pace of a game fall below the frantic.
But the long and the short of it suggests that the two most influential people on the pitch this afternoon will be, well, the long and the short of it in the form of 6' 2" fly-half Scott Wight of Melrose and Heriot's 5' 8" pocket rocket Chris Fusaro.
Much of Melrose's success last year was down to a man-of-the-match performance by Wight and much is expected of him this afternoon. The leggy playmaker with a huge boot ensured that the match was played deep inside Heriot's territory and his strike runners did the rest. A joiner by trade, Wight is currently doing some building work on his coach's new house but he hasn't given up his dream of throwing in the trowel and joining rugby's professional ranks.
"You never really give up on what has been a childhood dream," says Wight, "but it's isn't getting any easier, especially with the Borders (pro club] going because I might have got in there. I just have to concentrate on putting on another good performance and getting my name mentioned somewhere."
His coach Chalmers has always maintained that the 23-year-old fly-half has as good a rugby head on his young shoulders as anyone in the country; what he lacks is the physical conditioning that comes with an academy place. With a chronic shortage of playmakers causing a major headache at both pro-team and international levels, Wight still has a chance of making the grade.
His case is helped by his marksmanship since the Melrose man is a prodigious gatherer of points in front of goal. Last year he hammered the final nails in the Heriot's coffin with four conversions from four attempts, three of them from the touchline. Glasgow rugby especially would welcome Wight's accuracy in front of goal (instead of Martin Williams') which would have turned several of their six narrow losses they have suffered this season into victories.
"Now you mention it I haven't actually been striking the ball that well recently," admits Wight. "But I got a chance on Friday afternoon to hit a few shots at Murrayfield itself. I did just the same thing last year so I don't want to change a winning routine. I could hardly believe last year. That first half was unbelievable, like a dream."
Out to give Wight a rude awakening is one of rugby's more tenacious characters in the small but muscular shape of Chris Fusaro, who hails from Howe of Fife. Another of Scotland's brighter young talents, the man they know as "Fuzzy" is admirably clear headed when it comes to getting what he wants. One of the game's thinkers, Fusaro has come through the age-grade ranks, is now part of the national academy and will be a key player in the Scotland U-20 squad in Japan this summer, although his career has had its fair share of setbacks.
He was overlooked by Edinburgh earlier this season when Andy Robinson, who knows a thing or two about vertically challenged flankers, signed Roddy Grant, the West of Scotland's Botswana-born openside on a pro contract ahead of the Fifer. By his own admission, Fusaro did not set Murrayfield alight on his previous visit to the national stadium in last year's final. Like most of the Heriot's team, he had an unhappy time of it and found himself substituted before the hour mark.
"I didn't have my best game, that's for sure," he admits. "I think that too many Heriot's players were just caught cold by the big occasion. This year we have tried not to do anything different from our normal routine. I think we made too much of a big thing of it last year.
"I will be after Scott Wight, especially early on; you want to let him know you are there and we failed to shut him down last season. The game will be won and lost in the forward battle. Whichever pack can win good ball for their backs will probably win the game because our back line have been on fire this season."
Neil Back and Wallaby Phil Waugh have both proved hugely successful at the very top end of the game despite a lack of inches but both men also prove one other truth; little blokes have to be aggressive. Fusaro fits the bill. In real life he prefers his meat raw and all of those carnivore instincts will be focused on one fly-half come four o'clock this afternoon.
For his part Wight knows that he will bump into the little man at some point in proceedings, the only question is how hard? The fly-half has a healthy regard for Fusaro: "He is one of the best number sevens in the club game, his work rate is unreal but it's up to our forward pack to make sure that he is as quiet today as he was last year."
It's a story that is as old as time itself; the battle between the hunter and the hunted, the aggressor and the finesser. It resonates throughout history and the outcome of that ageless struggle will go a long way towards deciding if another bit of history is made this afternoon; can Heriot's become the first team to avenge a cup defeat a mere 12 months on from their last humiliation?
Heriot's: J Alston, G Thomson, D McCall, R Mill, C Goudie; O Brown, G Wilson; A Dymock, F Gillies, W Blacklock, T McVie, M Reid, S Dewer, C Fusaro, J Syme. Substitutes: S Mustard, M Welch, J Parker, S McCutcheon, B Walls, G Rutherford, A Douglas.
Melrose: J Macey, C Anderson, J Lew, J King, C Hardie; S Wight, S McCormick; S Williams, W Mitchell, R Higgins, G Dodds, S Johnson, W Wallace, J Dalziel, R Miller. Substitutes: L Gibson, N Beavon, A Gillie, R Ovens, D Dodds, A Jessop, J Murray
Referee: A Ireland
The full article contains 1404 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
