THERE is a simple formula for success in rugby: attack well and defend well and everything should be all right. It is not exactly simple to put into practice, but the Ayrshire Bulls did so expertly yesterday to run out deserved winners of the first Super6 final.

They might well have thought the fates were conspiring against them in the closing minutes of the contest when, with scrum-half Jordan Lenac having just been sent to the sinbin for playing an opponent off the ball, lock forward Tom Everard was shown a red card for taking out Southern Knights full-back Jacob Henry with a no-arms tackle. Henry needed lengthy treatment on the pitch before play could resume, but thankfully it was later revealed he had not needed to go to hospital.

Given Yaree Fantini, a vital influence at the breakdown, had also been yellow-carded in the second half, the 13 men had to feel they were up against it at that stage as they defended a ten-point lead. But, helped to an extent by some over-elaboration from the Knights attack as they went in search of the two scores they needed to win, the Bulls held on in inspired fashion. “We saw at the end there that the effort the boys put in to keep the Knights out was second to none,” victorious coach Pat MacArthur said. “We were down to 13 men and under pressure, but not one man took a knee.”

The victory was secured by that final stand, but it was built on a storming opening spell which saw the Ayrshire side go 13-0 up before their Melrose-based opponents had got out of first gear. The Knights did close the gap to 13-6 thanks to a couple of Jason Baggott penalties before half-time, and in the second period they were briefly level at 13-13 and again at 16-16.

But they had had to fight every inch of the way for their scores, whereas the Bulls’ lead had been more cheaply won, and perhaps the difference in energy expended there had a telling influence on the Knights’ inability to seal the deal at the death. “We could have maybe just about got there,” the Borderers’ head coach Rob Chrystie said. “We gave ourselves a lot to climb after the first 20 minutes. I think Ayrshire Bulls were a little bit more clinical and defended a little bit better than us as well.”

The Bulls had taken an early lead when winger Eli Caven finished off following an attacking scrum. Stand-off Tom Jordan opened up the defence with a looping pass, and Caven had just enough gas to slide in at the corner before being forced into touch. Jordan converted, then after 10 minutes added a penalty to take his team into double figures.

The Knights nearly opened their account midway through the half, but their No 8 Iain Moody was held up by Bulls full-back Matt Davidson as he tried to ground. A second Jordan penalty extended his team’s lead, before those two kicks by Baggott brought the Knights a glimmer of hope before half-time.

That became more than a glimmer after the break when, with Fantini in the bin for illegally halting a maul, Henry touched down off a wide pass from Baggott. The stand-off’s conversion made it 13-13 and that was very much game on. 

The Bulls had barely featured in attack since their last score, but after 49 minutes Jordan restored their lead with a 25-metre penalty. Baggott equalised, Jordan nudged his team in front again, and with a dozen minutes to play the game still hung in the balance.

Then, after a solid attacking scrum and a half-break by Davidson, former Glasgow Warriors prop George Thornton barged through from the base of a ruck to score his team’s second try. Jordan’s conversion restored the ten-point advantage his team had enjoyed earlier, but when Lenac then Everard were given their marching orders there was still a lot of work to do for the Bulls before the celebrations could begin.