The curious workings of the fixture computer has seen the top four sides in the RBS National league interchanging fixtures in the last three weeks and they all meet again this week.
Dundee HSFP, buoyed by their best league performance of the season beating Kelso last week, are at Myreside to meet a Watsonians side that almost hit the buffers unexpectedly against Hillhead Jordanhill.
After three bonus point wins, the division leaders needed a second half rearguard action to win their fourth by a single point.
Former Scotland centre Marcus Di Rollo, now coaching the club, will take that as a big wake-up call with High calling.
Allan Jacobsen, who retired last year from Scotland, then pro rugby, is listed as one of five options for the Watsonians front row which suggests what they expect from High, who should restore skipper Alan Brown from the start.
Watsonians also have Ramsay Young, who played briefly for High last year as a back-up scrum-half, although he’s been seeing action mostly on the wing this year.
High’s win over Kelso was the second of three successive weeks when they face the other three leading sides in the division, two of them away from home.
Kelso are at Boroughmuir, who have quietly tucked in behind their near neighbours in second place.
These four have already detached themselves from the rest of the division, Selkirk hanging on grimly in fifth, and if High can get something from Myreside it would put them in an outstanding position with the glaur of winter still to come.
High’s win last week was dedicated to Terry Allison, the club’s former stand-off and treasurer who died after a long battle, and this week there will also be commemorations mixed in with the game as Watsonians pay tribute to Iain Brown, the director of sport at George Watson’s College, who died on September 7.
Brown was a supporter of the FPs team and coached many of the players who came through the school to play with them, and kick-offs of both first XV and second XV fixtures tomorrow have been delayed to 3.30pm for those attending a celebration of his life earlier in the day.
Howe of Fife made a pretty strong statement about the real pecking order in the RBS Championship when they demolished Aberdeenshire, who had been feeling pretty good about their first month up from the regional leagues until they were flattened by the Howe juggernaut.
Centre Girvin Imrie’s six tries in one game constitute some kind of record although the SRU archives do not have a definitive answer.
Garry Horne continues to shuffle an impressive group of backs as Howe host Haddington, who lie in mid-table after their defeat of Lasswade last week.
Kirkcaldy’s strength for as long as most can remember has been a big, driving pack but this year they’re playing free-flowing stuff with an outstanding young back division.
It meant that even struggling a little in the set-pieces on the back pitches at Murrayfield last week they were able to make hay for another try bonus point and fourth place in the table, just two points behind Howe.
Wing Chris Mann was the chief weapon this time but the Littlejohn brothers, Kurt and Conor, are cutting up defences as well.
Aberdeenshire are the Blues’ hosts this week.