On the road to familiar cup rivals
MUSSELBURGH RFC v HIGHLAND RFC 4th Feb 2023, Kick Off 1:30pm
Scottish Cup rugby is back on the agenda this season, after being dropped from the calendar since 2020 due to the COVID Pandemic.
Our last cup match was the National League Cup in April 2019 when we lost out to Aberdeen Grammar at Bridgehaugh, Stirling.
For Highland there are better memories from the fantastic semi-final victory, coincidently, over this Saturdays opponents Musselburgh RFC at Canal Park a month earlier.
The club and the pitch side areas were packed, there was a real buzz about the place. Most importantly everyone there was thoroughly entertained in a match that ebbed and flowed right to the end.
Personally I don’t think I’ve heard many louder cheers at Canal Park than the one that followed Rupeni Rokodugini all the way to the try line to put Highland ahead with minutes left on the clock. You can relive that day by clicking on the YouTube link.
A lot of time has passed since then, but some things remain the same. Musselburgh are still in the Premiership, Highland are still in National League Div 1.
The same challenges that existed for us back in 2019 are still the same ones we face this weekend. We’ll be facing a team that will generally be bigger than ourselves, and experienced in playing at a higher level.
It’ll be interesting to see what Saturday brings, this time we’ll have to do it the hard way, on Musselburgh’s home turf.