Ayr upset as 'prima donna' West players take stance

Published on Sunday 21 February 2010 23:29

FURIOUS Ayr officials believe the "prima donna" attitude of West of Scotland's top players made a mockery of their battle to beat the weather.

They hit out after the crucial Premiership clash at Millbrae was called off less than 30 minutes before kick-off. And they pinned the blame on a stubborn group of West players, led by former Lions and Scotland player Gordon Bulloch.

An Ayr insider said: "Our guys wanted to play, West coach John Beattie seemed to be happy – and so were the bulk of the West players. It was an influential minority, including Bulloch, who dug their heels in. We forked out well over a 1,000 on hot-air blowers and lots of people devoted a huge amount of effort to make sure the game went ahead. But it all counted for nothing thanks to the prima donna stance of these players." Ayr director of rugby Jock Craig added: "The surface was actually more playable than it was the previous weekend when we played Birmingham in the British and Irish Cup."

Both sets of players had originally been happy with the condition of the main pitch at Millbrae. However, when referee Andy Healy carried out an inspection he said he was concerned that some areas were still too hard in the wake of frost throughout the week. Plan B was then put into operation – shifting the game to the adjacent second-team pitch. The champions gave the thumbs up, as did Beattie, but then came the decisive verdict of some senior West players.

Currie's hopes of taking another step towards stealing the crown from Ayr were also dashed when their tussle with Glasgow Hawks at Old Anniesland was postponed.