Rugby: Season finale this weekend for Manx cup finals

Three matches including Manx Cup final to be held at Ballafletcher

Report by Dave Christian:

The curtain comes down on the rugby season this Saturday with a familiar looking line up in the Manx Cup final, multiple winners Douglas and Vagabonds.

The action at Ballafletcher gets underway at midday with a women's and girls touch rugby event. 

This is followed at 1pm by a friendly game between Southern Nomads and an Isle of Man Barbarians side with the grand finale due to kick off at 3pm.

It would be totally wrong to label Douglas as anything but the red hot favourites. 

They won their three qualifying games 64-0, 50-5 and 87-7, the latter of which was against Vagabonds. 

It may well be that 'Vagas' have a stronger side this time around and the berth in the final will be a big driver for the players however the size of the job in hand is likely to be too much on the day.

Vagabonds were solid against Southern Nomads last Saturday - number eight Tom Gascoyne and stand off Dan Bonwick both had excellent games but there were others. 

Jon Ferguson got around the park as well as being tough in the tight and Cal Donnell carried impressively as usual. 

Douglas however have a balance between pace and power - Liam Kirkpatrick, Blake Snell and Mark Oldfield can give both from the forwards, the Martin twins Craig and Kyle add zip to the backline and Harry Hewson at centre is deceptively elusive. 

Douglas have class in every position and on their bench and will surely be too much for 'Vagas'.

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