WHEN two teams are as evenly matched as Melrose and Ayr, every game challenges coaches and players alike to come up with something novel that could make the difference this time. When they are meeting for the second time in eight days, as they will do in Saturday’s BT Cup final at Murrayfield, the search for innovation becomes all the more pressing.
Not that there will be room for any off-the-wall experimentation. In the Premiership play-off final on Saturday, it was Ayr who came out on top, winning 12-8 at The Greenyards. Having lost out so narrowly on home ground, Melrose know they do not need a major rethink this week: being slightly sharper in certain aspects of their game could at last see them regain the trophy after being runners-up the last five times they have made the final.
And, having held on to become league champions, Ayr know that to be sure of completing the double they too need to become tighter in defence. In other words, the message from both coaches will be more of the same - just delivered more efficiently.
“I don’t think you can do anything drastically different - we’ve got a system that works,” Ayr coach Calum Forrester said. “But there are a couple of areas after the weekend that we’ll need to freshen up a wee bit.
“Melrose had obviously done their homework at lineout time on us. We won a fair amount of our ball, but they got up and challenged for that, so we’re going to have to make sure that we’re sharper in certain areas of the pitch this weekend.
“The last couple of months now, this group of players have learned a lot, being able to back up two semi-finals. The next challenge is to go out and be more effective than we were last weekend.”
There is a psychological challenge too for the players, who need to re-energise quickly for this match after the celebrations and the relief that followed their league win. It is a challenge, however, that Forrester is sure his players will take in their stride.
“I don’t think it is an issue. I’m very lucky with this group of players that I have. We’ve got young guys, we’ve got guys that have been there and won everything there is to win with Ayr over the last however many years now, since 2008. Scott Sutherland and Grant Anderson are two guys that really stepped up last week and let the other players know exactly what was happening.”
Having come off the bench to help inspire a second-half comeback that fell just short, Melrose captain Bruce Colvine will be spurred on by the disappointment of losing the league play-off, and is as convinced as Forrester is that his own team do not need to make any radical tactical departures. “There’s nothing major needs to happen – maybe a few small tweaks – for us to come out with the right result,” the scrum-half said.
“Being on the bench, you do try to add a bit when you come on, and speed the game up, but unfortunately we came up that little bit short. It’s never nice to get beaten regardless of how it happens, but to lose it so narrowly right at the death does drive home that sense of disappointment.
“We maybe went a bit cagey in that first half, let the size of the day get to us a wee bit, and we haven’t really done that before this year – we’ve always wanted to play. So we need to take a look at that during our review session tomorrow night and rectify it for Saturday.”
Saturday’s BT Cup Finals Day at Murrayfield includes six finals in all and begins at 11am. Tickets cost £10 for adults and £5 for under-18s, students and senior citizens, and can be bought in advance or on the day.
Back pitches: 11am: Women’s Plate final: Stirling County v Stewartry. Women’s Bowl final: Kirkcaldy v Garioch.
International pitch: 11am: Men’s Bowl final: Blairgowrie v Portobello. 1.15pm: Women’s Sarah Beaney Cup: Murrayfield Wanderers v Hillhead/Jordanhill. 3.30pm: Men’s Cup final: Melrose v Ayr. 5.45pm: Men’s Shield final: Murrayfield Wanderers v Carrick.
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