HELENSBURGH Rugby Club's senior squad are gearing up for their final pre-season friendly this weekend before the start of a brand new league campaign next month.
The Greens saw off nearest neighbours Loch Lomond by a convincing 41-14 margin at Ardencaple last weekend, with a big crowd braving some distinctly un-summery weather to watch Helensburgh take on the first visiting team to play in the town for 18 months after the pandemic.
This Saturday, August 28, Helensburgh travel to north Ayrshire to take on a Garnock team whose own pre-season preparations were interrupted earlier this month after a positive Covid test within the senior section.
In a post on the club's Facebook page looking back on last Saturday's game and forward to the trip to Garnock, a spokesperson said: "It was great to see the youngsters getting thrown in against Loch Lomond on Saturday.
"They may not be the finished article but they are fit and fearless with no respect for reputation.
"I’m sure the coaching staff along with skipper, Mark Robertson, were pretty chuffed with our overall performance against an outfit that have posed us problems in the past.
"Coach Cammy Kerr thinks this [Garnock match] could be our hardest game of the season and if we can do ourselves proud then we can feel good about ourselves going forward."
Helensburgh's campaign in Tennent's West Regional League Division 2 – one level below Garnock – begins on September 4 with a trip to Cumnock, before Wigtownshire visit Ardencaple on September 11.
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