Weather not helping McCarter

Rugby coach Gerald McCarter admits its hard to motivate his players for this weekend's Schools Cup tie because of the terrible wintry conditions, with it looking even at this stage that the tie will be postponed.

"The weather is an extra hassle for me, because it's hard enough to try and get the boys out of class for training, because they have exams at this time of the year, but the weather being so bad training has been difficult," he said.

"We started a wee bit of training in the gym on Monday, but as I look out today (Tuesday) the snow is falling heavily, so the safety of getting the pupils home has to be more important than me trying to get them to stay on after school for training.

"But as I have already said it has been difficult to motivate the boys for the match because of the weather."

If the tie amazingly goes ahead McCarter believes the side which progresses to the third round will be the team who wants it most.

"Obviously we wanted a home draw so we are happy with that, but like any cup tie it all depends on who performs on the day.

"If the match is postponed this weekend then the Schools Cup Committee will want us to try and rearrange it weather permitting by Saturday, January 16." It's thought if the game is cancelled it will be after a pitch inspection has taken place on Friday.