“So, we knew we had the foundations there, and having two more sessions on Tuesday and Thursday this week gave us clarity. The guys have been really good at coming in and picking things up themselves. They’ve done their due diligence on the fine details of how certain players run certain lines, what each others’ skill-set is, and so on.

“That bond has really developed in terms of understanding how each other plays, but also how it means something more to them now through getting to know the guys they are playing next to. They know what they are fighting for … which is one another and getting a result for their district.

“That’s a big part of it for me,” he added. “These guys give up a lot of time to play high level club rugby, and they are now giving up more time to play in this competition, so we want to create something that is fun and is an environment they enjoy being a part of. That’s how we can make sure that this is not just a one-off but something we can build for Scottish rugby as part of a pathway for guys who maybe didn’t get picked up at under-20s but are still looking for an avenue to progress into the professional game.”

The host flew out the blocks with a powerful carry from Jamie Shedden allowing them to set up camp deep inside the South’s 22, and it was a matter of time before they snatched the lead through a close-range try from captain Blair Macpherson, which was converted by Andrew Goudie.

The South hit back through a Fraser Renwick try off the back of a powerful line-out maul, and Dwain Patterson‘s conversion squared the contest, but the scoreboard parity was short-lived.

Scrum-half Euan McKirdy nipped over on the right after another long period of play inside the South’s 22, and while Goudie couldn’t add the extras this time, he was bang on the money with another tricky conversion attempt on 21 minutes, this time from left of the posts after slick hands had given Euan Muirhead an opportunity to finish with some style.

McKirdy then went over for his second, again converted by Goudie, to make it 26-7 and less than half an hour played, with the South starved of possession and thrice losing the ball in contact on the rare occasions when they did have an opportunity to attack.

Jack Craig came off his wing to run home try number five for Glasgow & The West with just two minutes left in the half, and it was hard to see any way back for the visitors at this point.

But finally something clicked for the Borderers. Finn Douglas made the most of a rare opportunity to showcase his elusiveness with ball in hand by stepping in off his wing and dancing past two leaden-footed tackles, before being felled by a high challenge from Tim Brown, which led to a yellow-card for the flanker and an opportunity for the South to kick into the corner.

After two more penalties conceded by the hosts as they battled desperately to keep their line intact, the South’s driving maul eventually delivered again. This time it was Monroe Job who applied the final touch, and Patterson again converted. It was still a long way back for the away team, but they were not out of yet..

Sensing the opportunity, the South dominated proceeding at the start of the second half just as their opponents had at the start of the match, attacking their opponents’ set-piece and coming very close to pulling another try back when Brodie Allan carried through the middle, supported by Connor Sutherland, before the ball was shipped wide to Archie Barbour, who was squeezed into touch as he went for the line.

With Jack Fisher making big inroads carrying in heavy traffic, the South continued to turn the screw, and that third try eventually arrived on the hour mark through Ben Pickles hitting a perfect angle and tip-toeing past at least two defenders, before sending Barbour over with a lovely back-handed offload.

South kept hammering away, but became increasingly frustrated by their opponents obstinate defence, and Glasgow & The West then delivered a killer blow to visiting hopes of a comeback win when Shedden somehow managed to snaffle possession from Barbour to launch a 60-metre breakaway try which was finished off by Bobby Beattie.

The South weren’t quite ready to raise the white flag yet, and after Charlie Welsh went close on the right,Pickles found his way over the line to ensure that his team made the long trip back to the Borders with a bonus-point to show for their efforts.

“We didn’t compete hard enough in certain areas of the game during the first half, and if you keep giving them ball and space then they are going to score tries against you, and they did,” reflected Gordon Henderson, the South’s head coach, afterwards.

“But we had a really good conversation at half-time about how we were going to react to the position we found ourselves in, and we did react well. We scored two more really good tries, but then all of a sudden we got turned over in their 22 and they went the distance, which seemed like a soft score after all that hard work to get back into the game.

“We scored four tries, so we got something out of it, and I think for the neutral it would have been a good game of rugby. But I also think we lost it in that first half with how many easy ‘ins’ we gave Glasgow.

“They are a very good side. We knew we were coming through here for a tough game, but I just think if we could have stayed in the game so that we were within a score going into the last 20 minutes then we would have got it.”

These two teams will be back in action again on Friday 6th March, when Glasgow & The West visit Edinburgh (match details to be confirmed) and The South host Caledonia Reds at Riverside Park.

 

Teams –

Glasgow & The West: E Muirhead; J Couper, J Shedden, R Beattie, J Craig (E McAra 41); A Goudie (G Cruickshanks 68), E McKirdy; M Scott (J Drumond, 44), R Campbell (A McGuire 44), S Longwell (C Henderson 44), J Haynes (D Andrew 76), A Kerr, L McCutcheon (R Brocket 78), T Brown (M McCornick 76), B Macpherson.

The South: C Welsh; A Barbour, B Pickles, B Allan, F Douglas (M Wilson 77); D Patterson, S Clark (H Alderson 61); J Dobie (S Muir 63), F Renwick (B McLean 77), D Gamble (B Riddell 77), A Runciman (G Law 71), J Fisher, S Derrick (G Young 63), M Job (C Thompson 78, C Sutherland.

Referee: M Todd

 

Scorers –

Glasgow & The West: Tries: Macpherson, McKirdy 2, Muirhead, Craig, Beattie; Con: Goudie 3.

The South: Tries: Renwick, Job, Barbour, Pickles; Con: Patterson 4.

Scoring sequence (Glasgow & The West): 5-0; 7-0; 7-5; 7-7; 12-7; 17-7; 19-7; 24-7; 26-7; 31-7; 31-12; 31-14 (h-t) 31-21; 36-21; 36-26; 36-28.

 

Yellow cards –

Glasgow & The West: Brown (39 mins)