Pushed Around the Eagles Take a Step Backwards
West of Scotland 38 – 9 Perthshire
West overpower in a decisive second half.
This was a game of two halves. It was a dry day but recent rain made for a heavy pitch at Burnbrae and with Storm Malik blowing through a forwards game was on the cards.
The initial exchanges were fairly even, both teams playing a simple gameplan and defending it well. West were well drilled in the scrum and put pressure on Perthshire, something the Black & White pack have not really experienced this season. A scrum penalty followed by later indiscipline at the breakdown saw Perthshire retreating backwards. On the 8th minute West capitalised to score their opening converted try.
The next 25 minutes followed a similar pattern. Slowly but surely the Perthshire forwards made the hard yards entering in to the West half; carries from Ewen MacDonald, Calum Chalmers and Dan Rae making significant inroads. The backs saw some ball too, Mat Rae and Jonny Armitt making valuable metres when the space was there. Some errors would see ‘Shire go back, but return they would with relentless determination. When the assault got too intense West would concede a penalty. Up stepped Calum Bruce to duly slot them, 3 from 3 even in the wind. With 35 minutes on clock Perthshire took the lead 7-9.
A failure to clear the restart gave West valuable possession in the ‘Shire half for only the second time in the match. Rucks were keenly contested but after catching the eye of the referee one too many times Matt Jenns was shown a yellow card with 2 left minutes in the half. West used their numbers advantage in the scrum to hold the forwards in, creating space outside to run in a try, unconverted the half time whistle blew. West of Scotland 12 – 9 Perthshire.
‘Shire started the half with 14 men and battled well to hold off West, some strong tackles by Kieran Ramsay, Dan Rae and James Mair keeping West honest. Just as Matt Jenns was ready to return West claimed their third try.
The next score was crucial, down 19-9 Perthshire could recover if it went their way. Alas it did not, guilty of conceding penalties at the rucks and the scrum creaking ‘Shire were soon on the backfoot. West scored two more tries reasonably quickly to secure the result. Injuries to Ewen MacDonald and Shaun Barton did not help matters, a considerable reshuffling of the back line was needed seeing Man-of-the-Match Kieran Ramsay move out to the centre.
Individuals continued to battle hard but there was no luck for ‘Shire. Scrums held a bit better but gaps were opening up and getting tired Perthshire were guilty of going too high in tackles giving West some easy metres. When in possession support was too slow to make effective attacks and momentum lost. Eventually on the 80th minute West scored their 6th try to finish the match 38-9 winners.
This was a sobering experience for the Perthshire team who had trained well and came in with some confidence after the improved performance against Hillhead the week before. Plenty for coaches Alan Clark & Kenny Christie to work on before the challenge of Berwick on the North Inch in 2 weeks’ time.
It was a similar story for the 2s who worked hard but for little reward throughout their match. In it until the 2nd half eventually losing 7-34 against Dunfermline 2XV. See the full match report here: www.perthshire-rfc.co.uk/teams/2nd-xv
Meanwhile the Women’s team shared their opposition with the 1s travelling to Milngavie to take on the West of Scotland 2XV. This match marked a huge achievement as it was the first time they had a full 1XV thanks to players from Aberfeldy RFC joining the squad. They achieved a 45-15 win and more can be seen on their page: www.perthshire-rfc.co.uk/teams/women
Next week it’s the Calcutta Cup so no 1XV match but, the 2XV will be in action hosting Crieff under the North Inch floodlights on Friday night with a 7pm kick-off. Come down to support the players in Black & White! All are welcome to the Perth Bowling Club on Saturday to watch the 6 Nations matches, including the action from Murrayfield.
Photos can be seen here: www.westofscotlandfc.co.uk/galleries/west-v-perthshire-29_01_22
