Glum Craig Chalmers eclipsed by a true breath of fresh Ayr

A GLUM-LOOKING Craig Chalmers may have kept an uncharacteristically low profile yesterday,

eschewing a spot on the sidelines and remaining virtually superglued to his seat in the main stand, but Scottish rugby's renegade coach's pawprints were all over this enthralling encounter. His Melrose side were true to their man: spiky, assertive, well-organised and with an ingrained level of self-belief that for much of this match helped his overpowered side retain an outside chance of derailng the Ayr

freight train which threatened to run

over the top of them.

For the second week in a row the pride of the Borders came within spitting distance of the main prize. This time, however, there could be absolutely no argument about the outcome, no need for Chalmers to engage in any post-match histrionics or to trouble the local rozzers. If this contest was far closer than the scoreline might suggest, with last year's beaten finalists within a converted try of victory with less than ten minutes remaining, Ayr nevertheless had a clear edge throughout, largely thanks to the undoubted power of their grizzled pack. It was to Melrose's huge credit that their tenacity and spirit ensured that the result was in doubt until the final moments of an occasionally feisty encounter.

If Chalmers has had a bad week, he can at least reflect that his influence was unmistakable in the play of Melrose skipper Scott Wight, who was the pivot around which the whole of his side revolved. Like his coach, the 25-year-old joiner isn't a natural athlete, but as the stand-off has the happy knack of rarely putting a foot wrong that is of secondary concern.

Yet for all the organisation of Chalmers' side and the experience they have gained from contesting the cup final for the past two years, this was definitively Ayr's day. The Millbrae side also have an influential pivot in former Taranaki stand-off Frazier Climo, whose enormous boot was as evident at Murrayfield as it has been at Ayr all season.

Yet the plaudits for this win belong with Ayr's pack in general and their captain and man of the match Damien "Skippy" Kelly in particular. Of their five tries, the first three were scored by forwards, and it was at the coal face that the Ayrshiremen generated the most heat. Melrose's forwards lived with the Ayr pack for much of the game, but the sheer brute strength of the men in pink and black eventually wore them down.

Kelly has been at Ayr for almost a decade now and has become the heart and soul of the club. Yesterday, he exemplified what Ayr are all about, with the second row's strong-running and impressive tackle count one of the major reasons behind their triumph yesterday. Because of a chronic foot injury, every time the bluff Aussie pulls on his boots he butts up against the pain barrier, and in many ways he typifies the spirit of a side which looks set to be a force in Scottish rugby for years to come.

The Ayr revolution hasn't exactly been quiet – they became league champions for the first time last year and are still chasing a double this season – but theirs has all the hallmarks of a change here to stay.

Not only have Ayr drawn the best players from the whole of the south west, with players such as Scott Sutherland coming from as far away as Greenock, but the club has put down deep roots in the community too. Kelly can take his share of responsibility for that, with the big man working as a rugby development officer in southern Ayrshire and managing to get rugby into every school in the area. It shows at Millbrae, too, with the place a hubbub of activity every weekend, which is why there were 15 coaches full of ecstatic Ayr supporters sporting pink afro wigs or pink baseball hats among the 5,616 fans yesterday at Murrayfield.

Although the men from Millbrae managed to make a bad week for Craig Chalmers even worse, they have also shown that there's life in the grass-roots of Scottish rugby. Despite an icon's discomfort, that is surely something worth celebrating.