Stirling Wolves travelled to Edinburgh to face Heriot’s Rugby on Saturday afternoon, for their fourth match of the 2022 FOSROC Super6 Championship.
The hosts started the game the stronger side and some quick footwork from Fraser Jones in the 8th minute helped him to break through the Wolves defence for the first try of the match. Bruce Houston converted. [7-0]
Heriot’s had their second shortly after. A successful line-out maul allowed Murdo McAndrew to make it over the line after 12 minutes, with Houston kicking successfully. [14-0]
Stirling got their first try of the game in the 16th minute as Gregor Hiddleston made it over following a successful line-out drive. Marcus Holden’s kick was wide of the posts. [14-5]
Benedict Grant was then shown a yellow card in the 19th minute for repeated Stirling infringements.
The Goldenacre side made the most of the man advantage almost immediately after, with Ruairidh Leishman scoring off the back of another line-out maul. Houston’s kick came back out off the upright. [19-5]
Wolves held strong to avoid falling further behind while a man down. With Grant returning to the field, Stirling began to threaten the Heriot’s try-line but were unable to make the most of their pressure.
HT: Heriot’s Rugby 19-5 Stirling Wolves
Stirling brought Ross McKnight and Andy Stirrat on for the start of the second half, in place of Logan Jarvie and Alex Thom.
Both sides had their fair share of the ball in the opening 20 minutes of the half, though neither team posed any real threat to the other’s try-line.
Wolves turned to their bench to try and get back into the game, with Keir Singleton and Callum Cruickshank being replaced by Callum Beckett and Jack Hill in the 54th minute. The remainder of the substitutes all entered the pitch just before the hour mark, with Ali Rogers, Robbie Deans, Rhodri Tanner and Harris McLeod all coming on. Cameron MacMillan, Gregor Hiddleston, George Breese and Adam Sinclair made way.
Heriot’s extended their lead in the 62nd minute, catching Stirling on the blindside of the scrum with Leishman getting his second try. Houston’s kick was successful, hitting the upright on its way over. [26-5]
Stirling responded just four minutes later, when Euan Cunningham spotted a gap in the Heriot’s defence following a promising Wolves attack and ran through under the posts. Beckett converted successfully. [26-12]
Heriot’s then ended any hopes of a late comeback for Stirling when Freddie Owsley raced through a gap in the visitors’ defence to score after 68 minutes. Houston converted. [33-12]
Owsley then added his second try just moments later, intercepting with Stirling on the attack and not giving the Wolves defence any chance of catching him. Houston again converted. [40-12]
The hosts completed the scoring in the 76th minute, with Jed Gelderbloom breaking through and Houston getting his sixth conversion. [47-12]
FT: Heriot’s Rugby 47-12 Stirling Wolves
HEAD COACH
Ben Cairns was asked his thoughts on the match:
“We talked about the start of the game being really important, but we weren’t good enough today. We had too many penalties, were 14-0 down and then a sin-bin. I thought we showed some character in the middle third, which was really competitive, and we could have got back into the game. But we just gave away some really cheap scores at the end. It was closer than the scoreline suggested but we were always chasing the game and made far too many mistakes.”
Match report by Andrew MacInnes
TEAMS
Heriot’s Rugby: 15. Dan King, 14. Fraser Jones, 13. Nyle Godsmark, 12. Ross Jones (VC), 11. Freddie Owsley, 10. Bruce Houston, 9. Murdo McAndrew; 1. Josh Scott, 2. Michael Liness, 3. Euan McLaren, 4. Fraser Hastie, 5. Ruairidh Leishman (C), 6. Joey Britton, 7. Iain Wilson, 8. Lewis Govenlock.
Replacements: 16. Cammy Fenton, 17. Struan Cessford, 18. Dan Gamble, 19. Sean Johnstone, 20. Callum Anderson, 21. Jed Gelderbloom, 22. Kyle Browne, 23. Bobby Kay.
Stirling Wolves: 15. Marcus Holden (C), 14. Logan Jarvie, 13. Alex Thom, 12. Craig Robertson 11. Craig Jardine, 10. Euan Cunningham, 9. Keir Singleton; 1. Cameron MacMillan, 2. Gregor Hiddleston, 3. George Breese, 4. Hamish Ferguson, 5. Adam Sinclair, 6. Callum Cruickshank, 7. Connor Gordon (C), 8. Benedict Grant.
Replacements: 16. Rhodri Tanner, 17. Ali Rogers, 18. Robbie Deans, 19. Harris McLeod, 20. Jack Hill, 21. Callum Beckett, 22. Andy Stirrat, 23. Ross McKnight.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Ruairidh Campbell
AR1: David Sutherland
AR2: David Changleng
SCORERS
Heriot’s Rugby: TRY: F Jones, McAndrew, Leishman 2, Owsley 2, Gelderbloom; CON: Houston 6
Stirling Wolves: TRY: Hiddleston, Cunningham; CON: Beckett
FOSROC Player of the Match
Ruairidh Leishman (Heriot’s Rugby)
Images: Calum Mackenzie
