- The 150 ladies who enjoyed the pre-match lunch at the Greenyards on Saturday saw Melrose’s seven try demolition of Currie Chieftains put eight points of daylight between themselves and the pack – ‘Ruthless and sublime‘ according to Alan Lorimer – And Robert Chrystie still wasn’t happy? Pull the other leg!
- Defence coach Graeme Young thought last week that Stirling County’s game against Ayr could be a valuable bench-marking exercise for them – but it did not go well. They were simply denied the opportunity to play by the robust Ayr pack – and their defence was nowhere near as tight as they had hoped. No propitious return to Millbrae for Ross Curle either!
- A dirty night at Myreside on Friday – but the crowd was decent – and the rugby interesting. Heriots showed that they can tough it out when they need to – and Stuart Edwards reprised the often overlooked merit of the dropped goal with a cracker.
- The process was poor, though the end product was definitely acceptable for Glasgow Hawks against Hawick – but the outcome might well have been different against stronger opposition. Fin Gillies will need to focus on game management and discipline (again!) this week.
- Currie Chieftain’s set-piece disintegrated against Melrose – and as their late Director of Rugby might have said : ‘You cannot fire a cannon out of a canoe’ .
- Reporting on Ayr last week Colin Renton was spot-on suggesting that ‘reports of their demise were greatly exaggerated’ – as Stirling found to their discomfit on Saturday. Despite a bad injury to Robert McAlpine and a plethora of yellow cards, they adeptly cranked their game up and effectively stuck the bold ‘Business as Usual’ sign back up on the Millbrae dressing room door.
- Watsonians are heading in the right direction – but they still have some distance to go. They have the bits and pieces – but are struggling to keep it all together for the full 80 minutes . Mansfield Park next Saturday will present them (and particularly Rory Hutton) with an interesting and important challenge.
- There was not much going for Boroughmuir last week but they dug in against Marr and concentrated on their basics. They had their ‘rocky moments’ and it was unbelievably tight at the end -– but they got the result that they so desperately needed – which might just jump start their season.