Glasgow 13, Scottish Exiles 34
PLAYING district rugby at Murrayfield is akin to holding a John Major
fan club meeting in a repair shed at Rosyth Dockyard, but the Scottish
Exiles have not been averse to promoting their rugby before the barren
wastes of the international cathedral's towering stands. They have won
their two games there so far this month.
After victories against the South and Glasgow, respectively
title-holders and runners-up, the Exiles are halfway to winning the
McEwan's 70/- district championship trophy for the first time. Their
remaining games, too, are at Murrayfield, but, more important to them,
they have already proved that never again can they be left out of the
district series, as they were from the truncated knock-out championship
last season.
It may mean that one of the home districts would have to be omitted
from the projected Super Twenty championship. So be it . . . unless all
five can be included.
Alastair McHarg, the Exiles' coach, was clear in expounding the value
of a team of Scots from across the Border. After their victory against
Glasgow -- the district through which he was originally promoted to
international rugby more than 25 years ago -- he named a selection of
Exiles who have beneficially appeared on the Scottish stage.
Alan Sharp and Andy Reed, McHarg said, have come from the Exiles in
the past couple of years to play for Scotland. Reed even had a Lions
tour within a year of his first district game, and the coach added that,
more recently, back-row players such as David Blyth, Eric Peters, and
Simon Holmes might not have been seen here but for the team that
currently encompasses Scots from England, Ireland, and France and has
included Wales in the past.
Peters looked to be a No.8 on the way up, as he had done for the
Scottish Select against the South Africans in Aberdeen last month.
Blyth, too, had an impressive work-rate, and one or other of them, if
not both, had a hand in each of the Exiles' four tries in Saturday's
wet, wild weather.
Malcolm Kemp opened and closed the game's scoring with tries. Derrick
Patterson and Peters had the others, and Stuart Laing, the stand-off
born of Scottish parents in Ireland, not only converted all four but
also kicked two penalty goals in the third quarter -- six successes in
all out of seven attempts. David Barrett managed only three from eight
for Glasgow.
Indeed, Glasgow might have been ahead at half-time instead of 3-14
down if Barrett had been in the groove. Even so, it would have been an
uneasy lead. The Exiles looked the probable winners even before Kemp ran
in his first try after 24 minutes.
Reed and Damian Cronin held a slight edge in the lineout. The Exiles'
advantage, however, was accentuated in the quality of touchline
possession.
A scrummage mix-up between Jim Brough and Cameron Little led to the
Exiles' first try. Mark Appleson scampered infield, Ronnie Eriksson and
Blyth laid down rucks for a switch of direction each time, and Murray
Craig put Kemp in. Barrett soon countered with a penalty goal, but
Peters's scrummage pick-up, Blyth's link, and Eriksson's inside pass let
Derrick Patterson in.
Glasgow clawed back from 3-14 to 13-20 midway in the second half, but
the Exiles made certain when surges by Blyth and Iain Morrison sent
Peters charging over. Another No.8 pick-up, Patterson's wide run to the
right, and his inside pass made Kemp's second try.
Glasgow had moments, not least two instances of creativity by Matt
McGrandles off Exile punts in the first half, but such pieces rugby by
them were rare. The only Glasgow scores were Barrett's two penalty goals
and his conversion of the penalty try that Ray Megson awarded when Kemp
obstructed Kenny Logan.
One shuddering tackle by Eriksson on Ian Jardine summed up the Exiles'
hold on the game. It was the sort of finality in stopping that the
Stirling centre is used to dishing out.
Yet Glasgow refused to lie down. Even with the game gone from them at
13-27, they sprung a breakout almost from one goal-line to the other.
Little cleverly kept the ball in play on the left, Barrett escaped from
his own twenty-two, Alan Watt rumbled on to set up ruck ball, Gordon
Mackay and McGrandles linked on the right, and Brian Ireland chipped
ahead, but Patterson denied Mark McKenzie.
Why do teams not unleash such initiative as an early gambit instead of
a belated desperation ploy?
Glasgow -- D N Barrett (West); M McGrandles (Stirling), C T Simmers
(Glasgow Academicals), I C Jardine, K M Logan; M McKenzie (all
Stirling), C E Little (GHK); J T Gibson, K D McKenzie (captain), G B
Robertson (all Stirling), A G J Watt, D S Munro (both GHK), G T Mackay,
J Brough, B Ireland (all Stirling).
Scottish Exiles -- G Fraser (Waterloo); M J Kemp (Saracens), M P Craig
(Waterloo), B R S Eriksson (London Scottish), M E Appleson (Sale); S
Laing (Instonians), D W Patterson (West Hartlepool); D I W Hilton
(Bath), B W Gilchrist, A P Burnell (both London Scottish), D F Cronin
(Bourges), A I Reed (Bath), captain, D Blyth (Waterloo), E W Peters
(Bath), I R Morrison (London Scottish). Replacements - R Scott (London
Scottish) for Cronin (79).
Referee -- R J Megson (Edinburgh Wanderers).
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article