Border Telegraph | Sport | Reivers wait for the big two

Monday, 13th October, 2008

Published: Tuesday, 6th December, 2005 15:10

Reivers wait for the big two

By Border Telegraph Sport

AS the Border Reivers prepare to resume action this weekend, coach Steve Bates will be looking to Gregor Townsend and Chris Cusiter to resume their partnership at half-back.

They have not played together since Townsend was injured playing against Llanelli Scarlets in September while Cusiter damaged a knee in the match with the All Blacks 10 days ago.

Cusiter has had a scan on his knee after the knock he suffered while playing for Scotland. The scan gave encouraging evidence and Steve Bates is hoping to have the player running this week.

After win over L’Aquila and defeat by Newcastle, Bates will be looking to get his players lifted for what is an important European Challenge Cup tie against the French in back-to-back fixtures.

It will be later in the week before it is known if Cusiter and Townsend will be fit.

But assistant coach George Graham is hoping that the players will be able to turn out with Cusiter the biggest doubt.

Semo Sititi has returned from Samoa’s huge win over Argentina in Buenos Aires.

“This is a massive game for us, but the players have been preparing well and raring to go.

“We are all looking forward to the match, but know it will be very tough,” said Graham.

The coaches saw Brive in their match against Newcastle Falcons and will again be studying tapes of the opposition.

Brive rounded off their preparations for their trip to face the Reivers with a hard fought 10-9 win over leaders Toulouse on Saturday.

Romanian international prop Petrisor Todersac scored the only try of the match, and the Australian scrum half Tim Clark added the conversion, as Brive reached the break with a 7-6 lead, and, after falling behind again, stand off Maxime Petitjean landed a penalty to snatch the win.

While the result means that Brive will arrive in Scotland with confidence high, their coach Laurent Rodriguez, who joined the club this season after six years at Biarritz, admitted that the appalling conditions may have worked to his side’s advantage.

Nevertheless, he was delighted, saying “It’s never easy to beat Toulouse. It was a day when things went in our favour. I know there will be many days when things go against us. There were some thing we didn’t do well, but the guys were motivated and overcame those problems.”

His attention now switches to the European stage, where his men have lost away to Newcastle Falcons and beaten L’Aquila at home in their two matches to date.

Key players in the side include the French international Sebastien Bonetti, who scored twice for Biarritz when they defeated Edinburgh Reivers at Netherdale in 2000. Also worth watching are Ludovic Valbon, a key man in Bernard Laporte’s current squad, and number 8 Lionel Mallier.

While there are fewer caps in the current line up than has historically been the case, this is a club with a European pedigree, having won the Heineken Cup in 1997, beating Leicester 28-9 at Cardiff Arms Park in the final. The following season the men from the Correze region were drawn in the same group as the Borders and handed out a 56-18 thrashing at the Stade Municipale before making it a double with a 39-29 success at Netherdale.

Brive progressed to the knockout phase in second place behind Bath and the pair clashed again in the final, when Scotland’s Andy Nicol led the English side to a 19-18 win in Bordeaux.

Those results came at the end of a four year golden period for the club that also featured a win over Pau in the 1996 French Cup and a defeat against Toulouse in the final of the Championship that same year.

The following season, with the implications of professionalism for French rugby starting to have an impact, Brive moved to strengthen their squad by signing three Scots — Tom Smith, Steve Brotherstone and Townsend, who moved across the Channel after a spell with Northampton.

However, the gathering pace of professionalism was a greater advantage to the giants of French rugby such as Toulouse and Stade Francais, and in 2001, Brive were relegated from the top flight. Two seasons later they were back challenging for honours and last season reached the championship play offs.

And, while domestic form is no guide to what Bates and his men cam expect on Sunday, this season has brought mixed fortunes, with Saturday’s victory the sixth of the campaign, after five defeats and a draw that leaves them in mid-table.

The game on Sunday kicks off at 4 p.m.

There is also league action at the weekend with the game of the day at Mansfield Park, where Hawick entertain Melrose.

In Division 2, the biggest crowd will be at Netherdale for the Gala v. Selkirk clash.

Social Bookmarking What are these?