Rugby: Aitchison calls for rule clarity after his 'Sonians beat Accies

Published on Monday 5 October 2009 09:55

WATSONIANS coach Bruce Aitchison is hoping that the findings of a meeting with referees at Murrayfield yesterday will offer greater clarity and help his men build on their 17-7 win over Capital rivals Edinburgh Accies in Saturday's Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership clash at Raeburn Place.

Aitchison was among the presenters at the Murrayfield get together, and he wants all parties to use the points raised in the discussion as the basis of a plan that will allow them to work over the coming weeks to iron out common problem areas.

"The contact area is still messy," he said. "I don't think it's the referees' fault and I don't think it's the players' fault. There is just too big a grey area. I'm hoping we can pull something together that means we are all on the same page and tidy up games."

Aside from the problems of rule interpretation that meant 'Sonians had two men yellow carded and Accies also had a 10 minute spell with 14 men – all for offences at the breakdown – the coach was delighted with the attitude of his men as they posted their third win of the season.

"We came up to the mark. We looked determined and all the players gave everything they had. That's something that has been missing," he added. "I was really proud of the way they stuck in. Some of the rugby was great from both sides.

"We needed that result. That was us coming back to the standard we expect of the players. But there is still a lot to do."

And, conceding that the lack of consistency in his team's performances remains a major irritant, he stated: "It is the most frustrating thing in the world to have such peaks and troughs. Hopefully the penny has now dropped, that that is the way we have to play every week."

'Sonians led 8-0 at the break through a penalty from Mike Ker and a try by Stuart McInally.

That score came after a charge down by fellow back rower Gavin Callander, who had earlier spent 10 minutes in the sin bin, and was just reward for a fine performance from McInally who yesterday flew to India with the Scotland Sevens squad for a Commonwealth Games acclimatisation camp.

Accies were happy to be only eight points adrift and they introduced Fijian international stand off Jack Prasad and Edinburgh scrum half Ross Samson for the second half. And the pairing made an immediate impact with Prasad darting in for a try which Samson converted.

Further scores for the home side looked inevitable, but they failed to build on that breakthrough and their frustration at failing to do so led to a mounting penalty count that allowed Ker to clip over a second penalty then hammer two long-range efforts between the sticks to secure the victory.

Accies coach Ian Barnes was left fuming. "You knock your pan in on a Tuesday and a Thursday night and then they don't do what they are told." And he admitted that having faced the wind in the first half, he believed Accies were well placed to win the match.

"We were in it at half time and we were in it when we scored that try but the set piece collapsed. We did stupid things and then there was no fight.

"The front five caved in. That is probably the worst display by a front five in any team I have ever coached."

The result leaves Accies in fifth place and looking to right matters when they travel to face Boroughmuir on Saturday.

Scorers:

Accies: Try: Prasad; Conversion: Samson. Watsonians: Try: McInally; Penalties: Ker (4).

Accies: S Moffat; C Dickie, I Berthinussen, S Wilson, M Coupar; R Bonner, D Duffus; R Mathieson, M Strachan, J Henderson, E Stuart, G Campbell, R Snape, D Denton, T Drennan. Subs used: T Jackson, J Raduva, D Teague, J Prasad, R Samson.

Watsonians: M Ker; A McCulloch, D Brown, B Di Rollo, M Learmonth; R Martin, J Blackwood; G Holmes, G Wood, D O'Connell, R Dean, M Rennie, J Pelter, G Callander, S McInally. Subs used: G Scott, N Tunnah, T Weizman, H Grant, M McKee.