Double-header yields ten-point haul for Ayrshire Bulls against Southern Knights in rugby’s Fosroc Super6 Championship

The Borderers, managed by Rob Chrystie at the time, went into that final on 36 points from ten games, five points clear of their South Ayrshire opposition at the top of the table and eight points ahead of third-placed Watsonians.

Fast-forward almost 12 months, however, and though the Bulls remain in occupation of second place, on 29 points from seven games, Watsonians are now in pole position, two points ahead of them, and the Knights are second bottom with five points.

That change in fortunes is down to a combination of factors, according to the Melrose team’s current head coach, Bruce Ruthven, their commitment to bringing through younger players and giving them game-time against more experienced opposition having been compounded by an injury crisis ongoing almost from the onset of this season.

The Knights and Bulls’ latest meeting, at Millbrae at Alloway, near Ayr, on Saturday, went the way of the hosts too, by 31-5, yielding a ten-point haul for them as they challenge for back-to-back titles, the stakes having been raised by the Scottish Rugby Union’s decision to make it a double-header to avert fixture congestion following the postponement twice over of the sides’ scheduled game at the Greenyards earlier this month.

Ruthven felt his side put in a reasonable display, especially after giving themselves a bit of mountain to climb by conceding 14 points in as many minutes, telling us: “On the whole, the guys stuck in really well.

“We knew it would be a challenge going over to Millbrae. It’s never an easy place to go.

“You look at their results over the last couple of months and they’ve skittled teams by 50 or 60 points, so going over there, we knew it would be tough, but the guys stuck in and showed some good character and great attitude.

“The directive is for Super6 to develop players for pro rugby and we had 12 guys aged 21 or under playing at the weekend there and Ayrshire Bulls had two, so it feels as if we’re on the right trajectory.

“We’re giving these guys exposure and challenges week in and week out."

A further such challenge will be presented by Watsonians at Edinburgh’s Myreside Stadium this coming Saturday, that game being a 5pm kick-off, and Ruthven isn’t expecting any easier a ride than last weekend.

“Watsonians are not too dissimilar to Ayrshire Bulls,” he said. “They’ll be strong at set-pieces, so that’s an area we’ll have to work hard at this week to get better at and be more clinical at, but it’ll be another young squad we’ve got going to Watsonians and we’ll be looking to compete as best we can.”

The Knights’ sole, unconverted try on the west coast was scored by Aidan Cross a couple of minutes ahead of the final whistle.

Touching down for their hosts, also awarded a penalty try, were Blair Macpherson, Liam McNamara, Will Hunt and Cam Jones, with Hunt adding two lots of extras.