Hudson Smith, Lee Radford, Justin Brooker and Paul Deacon are all earmarked to play, along with Neil Harmon, who has not figured in the first team this season.The League’s director of referees, Greg McCallum, has told match officials to use the video replay facility more sparingly. McCallum has listened to criticism about referees leaning too heavily on the video referee and, in particular, going back several tackles to find reasons to disallow tries.”I have asked the referees to utilise existing decision-making aids more often,” said McCallum, citing the touch judges and in-stand coaches as sources of help.. The Caledonia chief executive, Graham Kerr, expects team spirit to see his side through their tough Inter-District Championship game against Edinburgh at Kirkcaldy tonight. But Kerr admits his team would have preferred that last week’s washed-out game against Border Reivers had been played before the match against Edinburgh. The Caledonia chief executive, Graham Kerr, expects team spirit to see his side through their tough Inter-District Championship game against Edinburgh at Kirkcaldy tonight. But Kerr admits his team would have preferred that last week’s washed-out game against Border Reivers had been played before the match against Edinburgh.
“We were really geared up for the game last week and would have preferred to have played that game before the Edinburgh match,” he said.

“We were ready for the game last week, and because it was so late in being postponed some of the boys from Aberdeen had actually travelled.”We have a club spirit within the District, and the lads play for each other. We might not be expected to win, but the commitment will be there.”Kerr is adamant his team will not give in easily to their more illustrious opponents “Davie McIvor will have the boys fired up for the game. They were running through some moves last night and they won’t lack in commitment,” he added.Alistair Ness has been forced to withdraw from the Caledonia side because of exams. Gavin Broomfield, of Dunfermline, steps up into the pack after being selected for the bench last week – and Chris Hornibrook, of Aberdeen Grammar School Former Pupils, steps up to the replacements bench.

Ian Black will be facing his brother Chris, who has been named at scrum-half by Edinburgh.In the other Inter-District match, Glasgow have been hit by selection problems for the game against Scottish Borders at Braidholm.After the postponement of last week’s clash with Edinburgh, they finally get to kick off their campaign in Glasgow. However, their plans have been thrown into chaos with Ricky Munday, Cameron Little and Scott Hutton all ruled out through injury.Campbell Aitken and Torquil Mathewson are also unavailable, and Glasgow Hawks trio Kenny Baillie, Murray Scott and Kenny Sinclair come into the side.Glasgow’s postponed match against Edinburgh will now be played on Monday 15 May.. Bristol and Saracens may be eyeballing each other over next season’s Heineken Cup qualification, but they have far more in common than their mutual interest in a top-five Premiership finish. Both are at the cutting edge of professional union, both are owned by millionaire mavericks and both are utterly obsessed with big names: from Bob Dwyer to Francois Pienaar, from Henry Honiball to Kyran Bracken. It seems neither will be satisfied until Bill Clinton moves to the Memorial Ground as club president and Madonna joins the phsyio contingent at Vicarage Road. Bristol and Saracens may be eyeballing each other over next season’s Heineken Cup qualification, but they have far more in common than their mutual interest in a top-five Premiership finish.

Both are at the cutting edge of professional union, both are owned by millionaire mavericks and both are utterly obsessed with big names: from Bob Dwyer to Francois Pienaar, from Henry Honiball to Kyran Bracken. It seems neither will be satisfied until Bill Clinton moves to the Memorial Ground as club president and Madonna joins the phsyio contingent at Vicarage Road.
The headline-chasing rivals yesterday completed their latest high-profile signings. Saracens finally lured Thomas Castaignÿde, the 25-year-old French jacques-of-all-trades, across the Channel after two long years of negotiation, while Bristol persuaded Ellery Hanley, the one undisputed British great of the modern rugby league era, to switch codes and join a coaching team headed up by Dwyer and Dean Ryan and soon to include Joel Stransky, the former Springbok outside-half.Castaignÿde is a very decent capture, but Hanley’s signature counts for rather more while costing a whole lot less – more than 60 per cent less than the Frenchman’s reported £200,000 a year, according to the best Memorial Ground estimates. While Castaignÿde’s imminent arrival threatens one or more of Saracens’ exciting young home-grown talents – Rob Thirlby, Ben Johnston and Matthew Leek all play in positions in which Le Petit Prince has Test experience – Hanley’s input may well help the sleeping giant of the English club scene back on to its feet.”One of the huge spin-offs of Ellery’s presence at Bristol will be a strengthening of the culture of professionalism amongst the players,” said Dwyer. “When it was first suggested that I might talk to Ellery, I went to my rugby league contacts back home in Australia and learned for sure what I had already suspected: that his fantastic dedication and attention to detail would be a very serious asset indeed. When the Wallabies won the World Cup last year, they conceded one try in the tournament.

There are too many variables to make ‘zero tolerance’ realistic over the course of a long Premiership campaign, but if Ellery can reduce our try deficit by one a game, we’ll be a top two club.”Hanley won 36 Great Britain caps in four positions during his rugby league career – “The Australians rated him, and I can tell you they don’t rate too many from this part of the world,” remarked Dwyer – and, at his first attempt, coached St Helens to a Grand Final triumph last October. But he left the 13-man club scene under a cloud after making repeated public criticisms of St Helens’ apparent lack of ambition on the recruitment front.His new employers are anything but unambitious, as their pursuit of Jonah Lomu demonstrated last year, but Hanley can be a prickly sort if he detects any slippage in standards. Connoisseurs of verbal boxing would buy tickets to witness his first falling-out with Dwyer.”You cannot win any code of football without secure defence, a defence of steel,” said Hanley yesterday after finalising a deal that takes him through to the end of next season. “All players must understand that as soon as they cross the whitewash, the shirt they are wearing is their badge of honour. I’m not at Bristol to fool around, but to take the players to another level.”Although Hanley’s contract stipulates two days of coaching a week plus a watching brief on match days, Dwyer anticipates a much fuller commitment from his illustrious new colleague. “Judging by the conversations I’ve had with him, Ellery will put in five days a week if he feels it necessary,” said the Australian.