“We could get our offloading game going by winning the forward battle. By going forward, we could look for passes. That was the difference in the second half: we were looking to go forward and, once we got in behind, we were very effective at finishing off.

“We’d already scored 30 points at half-time, so it wasn’t really our attack that was the biggest issue; it was our defence,” he added. “They have got a really good attack and we’ve got to credit that – it is not always on us.”

That was reflected by Calum Forrester, the GHA director of rugby, who accepted that his side had struggled for a while in the second half, feeling that a possible score chalked off for a foot in touch had been a key moment.

“It was a crucial turning point,” he said. “We were skipping over in the corner at 38–31, so it was very close. Currie scored a great try from their own try-line and we’ve got a lot of young faces, so heads perhaps went down a bit.

“We’ve had opportunities against all the big teams. I don’t want it to become an acceptable culture at GHA to just go through games. We want to do better.”

That said, they know that with seven tries against one of the top teams in the league, they have proved their attacking potential – a fact that was obvious within the opening 40 seconds as flanker Oscar Lonergan-Black found some weak shoulders to attack next to a ruck and burst clear. Though he was eventually caught, the Glaswegians recycled the ball and, with hooker Ruari Campbell acting as the final link, wing Struan Whyte crossed in the corner on his club debut.

That obviously rocked the home side as their defence around the ruck continued to look fragile, but they survived a couple of scares before hitting back. Ed Hasdell, the No 8, provided the initial break, offloading to lock Ali Bain, who seemed destined to score himself until he was caught by a couple of hard shots but found fly-half Alex Harley for the levelling score, with the same player converting to put his side ahead.

The fragile defence was still a problem for the home side, however, with centre Johnny Ventisei going close before fly-half Andrew Goudie measured his cross-kick to millimetre perfection for Whyte to snatch the ball out of the air and cross for his second.

Again, the advantage didn’t last as the lead changed hands once more. This time it was a couple of effective lumbers from props Jamie Stewart and Cairn Ramsay that took the hosts to the line before lock Rhys Davies, playing his 150th game for the club, found a superb offload to flanker Sam Cardosi for the try, with Harley again converting.

At last, things settled down until the half-hour mark, when Currie gave themselves a bit of breathing space as Cardosi found space to launch them into the opposition 22, and a huge miss-pass from scrum-half Gregor Christie put wing Kody McGovern in for their third try.

They needed the extra advantage too, as GHA kicked a penalty to the corner and, though the maul was held, centre Nicky Thompson had the power to force his way over. Currie’s reply came sharpish as a quickly taken penalty set them up, and flanker Archie Fletcher had the strength to make the final inches for the bonus-point try.

Again, the reply was almost instantaneous. GHA scrum-half Ben Curtis fooled almost everyone with a behind-the-back offload to send Goudie in for his side’s try bonus, and the lead then changed hands for the fourth time as the visitors drove a maul over the line, with Campbell getting the touchdown to send his side into the break with the lead after a 59-point half.

Nor did the flood of points stop, Bain getting the second half under way as he edged his side back in front by completing a move featuring half a dozen audacious offloads. That was soon followed by Cardosi grabbing his second, as a couple of penalties set up the attacking position and the forwards went for the pick-and-go option to do the rest.

By now, the Currie offloading game was a real threat, and after another Christie break they laid on another demonstration, with centre Scott Robeson the one to finish. By now, with the replacements flooding on, Currie were in control of the game and claimed their eighth try as Bain grabbed his second.

Smart handling from Charlie Brett at full-back gave wing Fraser Sayers an easy run-in for the ninth, but there was still a sting in the tail and some consolation for GHA. They were still an attacking force when they had the ball, and they demonstrated that right at the end of the game when Fraser Jackson, at full-back, was put clear for two consolation scores.

 

Teams –

Currie Chieftains: C Brett; K McGovern, E Crombie, S Robeson, F Sayers; A Harley, G Christie©; J Stewart, T Jeffrey, C Ramsay, R Davies, A Bain, S Cardosi, A Fletcher, E Hasdell. Subs used: A Maxwell, G Scougall, A Hoggarth, R Morrison, C Faulds, A McCall, C Gattinby.

GHA: F Jackson; S Whyte, J Ventisei, N Thompson, E McKirdy; A Goudie, B Curtis; S Collins, R Campbell, C MacGregor, A Kerr, H McKenzie, O Lonergan Black, D Ewing, L McCutcheon. Subs used: E McGovern, S Callaghan, M Conroy, G Drummond, G Baird, J Henderson, L Moncrieff.

Referee: Michael Todd

 

Scorers –

Currie Chieftains: Tries: Harley, Cardosi 2, McGovern, Fletcher, Bain 2, Robeson, Sayers; Cons: Harley 8.

GHA: Tries: Whyte 2, Thompson, Goudie, Campbell, Jackson 2; Cons: Jackson, Drummond 3.

Scoring sequence (Currie Chieftains first): 0-5; 7-5; 7-10; 14-10; 21-10; 21-17; 28-17; 28-24; 28-31 (h-t) 33-31; 40-31; 47-31; 54-31; 61-31; 61-38; 61-43.

 

Player-of-the-match: Loads of candidates with both sides producing some scintillating attacking rugby. In the end, though, it was the physicality of the home forwards that came up trumps with Ali Bain getting the award at the heart of a dominant second half pack effort.

Talking point: Both sides can take heart from this. While there is plenty for the coaches to work on, GHA did more than enough to edge ahead in the first half but couldn’t live with the home physicality in the second half. If they can get more ball, they will beat many teams.