Aberdeenshire head coach Alex Duncan believes the National Cup needs revamped.
The Woodside men travel to Jed-Forest for a third-round encounter tomorrow but, for Duncan, finishing as high up the table in National 2 remains the club’s ultimate goal.
Jed-Forest are third in National 1 and bounced back from successive losses to Stewart’s-Melville and Edinburgh Accies with a 46-15 home victory against Hamilton on Saturday.
A chance to reach the quarter-finals is at stake this weekend but Shire coach Duncan feels the competition needs freshened to make it a more exciting proposition.
He said: “A lot of clubs don’t see it surviving and I think the format will be changed. It is difficult because the competition has lost its shine.
“We will still try to get the job done against Jed-Forest. They maybe aren’t firing on all cylinders but they play a good style of rugby. The league is always the priority. The cup is more difficult to manage. I think a new format is required to revitalise it.”
Shire were beaten 31-20 by third-placed Peebles in National 2 last week but Duncan felt his players performed well against their promotion rivals.
He added: “We played a good, competitive game. They were physical up front and Callum Anderson scored twice for them. He is a good player and has been a thorn in our side.
“They are a decent team and managed to edge a tight game. We didn’t make the most of our chances.
“Our two props, Liam Reid and Owen Jackson, played really well but they won’t feature against Jed.
“They both got head injury assessments so they have been ruled out for this weekend.
“The protocol now is the players have to go a week without playing after a head injury.”
