BT Premiership

BOROUGHMUIR 10

AYR 32

by Elena Hogarth

THE grunt up front helped Ayr get over the winning line in their latest bonus-point victory, as they continue their dominance of Scottish club rugby.

It was a cold Meggatland that welcomed Ayr and it took a while before they and their hosts, Boroughmuir, warmed up.

When they did, it was Ayr’s forwards who got the fire in their bellies and all but destroyed Boroughmuir’s scrum.

The visitors were first on the scoreboard after one of countless sturdy scrums and prop George Hunter crashed over for the try. Stand-off Frazier Climo was again reliable with the boot, converting three out of four tries and adding two penalties.

Boroughmuir got their chance to reply when Ayr’s Will Bordill was yellow carded for deliberately killing the ball and, taking advantage of the ever-improving openside flanker’s absence, winger Jordan Edmunds ran through a Bordill-shaped gap in the defence for the try.

It was converted by former Ayr player Dougie Steele, who briefly returned to Millbrae at the start of the season after a spell in Dubai, before jumping ship to the Edinburgh-based side. His new team’s only other score of the match was courtesy of his boot too, as he kicked a second-half penalty.

Ayr scored before half-time thanks to captain Ross Curle, who flew over for the try after Climo and scrum-half David Armstrong got the Boroughmuir defence in a fankle with some nifty handling.

The scrum may have been in demolition-mode, but the line-out was a problem for Ayr, with a number of over-throws. They would’ve been in serious trouble in the first half if Boroughmuir hadn’t have knocked on several times when trying to retrieve stray ball.

Hooker James Malcolm and his replacement Lewis Anderson settled down in the second half and in general Ayr cut out the errors that prevented them scoring more tries earlier on. Wayward and forward passes, as well as toes in touch, denied them scores.

But they sharpened things up and there was a good showing from the bench, with two substitutes claiming the remaining tries.

Back rower Graham Fisken showed great awareness to be in the right place at the right time and go over in the corner, whilst Danny McCluskey’s keen eye got Ayr the bonus point when he intercepted and raced away for the try.

Ayr’s defence – when at the full complement of players – was solid, with everyone doing their bit. Props Hunter, D’arcy Rae and replacement Javan Sebastian may have added some heft, along with second row Andrew Dunlop and back row Blair Macpherson, but the forwards are proving just as useful in the loose. Number eight Pete McCallum is like an escaped bullock when he breaks from the back of the scrum and 6’7” lock Robert McAlpine can gallop off when given a bit of space.

Head coach Calum Forrester was pleased with his troops’ overall performance, especially as Boroughmuir beat them earlier in the season and said afterwards: "It shows just how far we’ve come. The Boroughmuir defence was good and we were frustrated at times, but we did well to hold on for the win."