The Offside Line Podcast: The First for Scottish Rugby

Eck Hinnigan and Rangi Jericevich step into the breach in place of Robin - it is a two man job - to help Barney and Stuart reflect on round nine of the league season and look ahead to the start of the Inter District Championship (IDC) on Friday night.

Round one of the tournament (which will be played as a round-robin over the next three weekends) sees Edinburgh host The South at Stoneyhill (Musselburgh) and Glasgow & The West welcome Caledonia Reds to Braidholm (GHA), both kicking-off at 7.30pm.

Rangi explains why he was such a big champion of reviving the IDC and the guys discuss whether that competition and/or the Scotland Club XV could/should be extended.

This week’s podcast is sponsored by Ruck & Rack Vintage, Scotland’s home of affordable vintage rugby clothing.

Whether it’s cotton jerseys, unique training tops, track jackets or their popular vintage mystery boxes, Ruck & Rack has you covered with options from over 20 international teams and all major leagues from just £12, making a vintage rugby top the perfect Christmas present for rugby-mad loved-ones.

Shop online at ruckrackrugby.com, or visit their three Nations Championship pop-ups at The Pear Tree Pub in Edinburgh, during the games on the 7th, 15th and 21st of November. Get down early to browse the full range in the covered beer garden before they sell out!

Use code OFFSIDELINE for 15% off your order.
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Burnsy and Barney catch up for a quick review of last weekend's Arnold Clark Premiership action, where Ayr delivered another statement win, and Hawick took a big step towards safety with their away win over Edinburgh Accies.

They discuss how concerned we should be about Edinburgh's loss at Benetton, and celebrate Glasgow's free-wheeling start against Lions ... although they wobbles a but after the break.

And, of course, it All Blacks week, with Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend having some big selection decisions to make as his team seek to break their age-old losing record against a depleted New Zealand side.

This week’s podcast is sponsored by Ruck & Rack Vintage, Scotland’s home of affordable vintage rugby clothing.

Whether it’s cotton jerseys, unique training tops, track jackets or their popular vintage mystery boxes, Ruck & Rack has you covered with options from over 20 international teams and all major leagues from just £12, making a vintage rugby top the perfect Christmas present for rugby-mad loved-ones.

Shop online at ruckrackrugby.com, or visit their three Nations Championship pop-ups at The Pear Tree Pub in Edinburgh, during the games on the 7th, 15th and 21st of November. Get down early to browse the full range in the covered beer garden before they sell out!

Use code OFFSIDELINE for 15% off your order.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Barney, Robin and Stuart catch up to look ahead to the final round of Arnold Clark Men's Premiership matches before the halfway-stage break for the Inter-District Championship.

Ayr are back on top but face a tough assignment away to second-placed Melrose this weekend, while third-bottom Hawick have a chance to put further daylight between themselves and the relegation zone when they head to second-bottom Edinburgh Accies.

It was close but no cigar for Glasgow Hawks again last weekend, this time away to city rivals GHA, but they face an even bigger challenge when an in-form Heriot's pitch up at Balgray this weekend.

Meanwhile, fourth-placed Currie Chieftains will look to bounce back from last weekend's thumping defeat to Ayr when they host a GHA side looking to build some momentum and force their way into the play-off race.

Kelso are on a high after knocking Melrose off top spot last weekend, but will be without influential backs Dwain Patterson and Archie Barbour when they head to Myreside to take on Watsonians.

Plus, there's a look ahead to a potentially pivotal weekend across National One and National Two, with some intriguing top-of-the-table clashes on the cards.
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Barney and Burnsy are joined by friends of the show Mark Palmer of The Times and extraordinaire Craig Watson to chew over and digest Gregor Townsend's Scotland training squad selection for next month's Nations Championship Autumn Series, which will see New Zealand, Australia and Japan visit Murrayfield on consecutive weekends, followed by finals weekend in London on 27th-29th November. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Robin returns from a week off to jump right back into a fascinating weekend of Arnold Clark Premiership action.

Reigning champions Ayr got a fright last weekend against bottom of the table Glasgow Hawks and now face their closest challengers in recent seasons, Currie Chieftains, who are a team on the mission. It could be a class for the ages at Millbrae!

Meanwhile, it is derby day in Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Borders.

Hawks will be looking to build on the promising performance when they head across the city to take on a GHA team who need to start winning soon or let their play-off hopes go.

Edinburgh Accies will also be encouraged by their performance at Myreside last week when they head to Goldenacre to take on Heriot's.

And top of the league Melrose head to Poynder Park for a match against a Kelso team talking down their chances ... but Stuart isn't buying that!

The other top flight game of the weekend sees Watsonians head south to face Hawick.

If you enjoy listening to us talk about Scottish rugby, you’ll find much more of it written up on our website, theoffsideline.com. That’s where our reporters cover the game at every level: Scotland, Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh, the Arnold Clark Premiership, men’s and women’s, and the club and age-grade game too.

Visit us here to check out the subscription options today!
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