Rugby: A Goudie start to the season for Heriot's

In January last year, Goudie actually notched four tries in a match at Boroughmuir - and ended up on the losing side.

Goudie said: "To get a hat-trick in a win is definitely a bit better than scoring four and losing."

As for 'Sonians, they were left to reflect on the fact that pre-season form in which they appeared to be scoring tries for fun counted for nothing.

A 50th-minute try by flanker Sam Paulo at 9-29 adrift was a rare occasion they seriously threatened the Heriot's line, although Jamie Blackwood did manage a couple of decent thrusts from scrum half and Jamie Forbes showed plenty of dash on limited possession.

To compound Watsonian woes, the returning Andrew Skeen, just back from a spell in Italy, lasted ten minutes before suffering a medial knee ligament injury and clearly there is much work to do for a side who, on paper, looked solid but seemed to find difficulty gelling.

That was not the case for Heriot's, whose superiority was underlined by the fact that centre Pete Saunders scored both his tries around the time prop Wullie Blacklock was in the sin-bin for a technical offence and the team were short-handed.

On another occasion, the Heriot's pack drove their opponents back 25 yards in a maul and there was always the impression of extra gears if needed.

All this was in contrast to last season, when Heriot's lost their opening three matches including a 33-41 Goldenacre reverse against Watsonians.

Goudie admitted fear of a similar entrance had spurred his side on, saying: "We've been back in training since mid-June with good turn-outs every night.

"We were pretty disappointed with our previous start and decided we did not do enough early on. So much so that you could see there were a lot of fit boys on the Heriot's side with a lot left in the tank at the end.

"There is definitely more to come and while it was a bit frustrating, the number of penalties we gave away early on to take five points from a match so early in the season when you are a bit rusty can't be bad."

Goudie's tries, each of which involved a hearty injection of pace when venturing up from last-line, meant he is already almost halfway towards his total of eight for the whole of last season.

Then, the former Scotland under-20 cap was coming to the climax of medical studies. Not only has he now qualified, but his age-grade international captain and fellow doctor, Cammy Ferguson, has joined Heriot's and showed exceptional stan-off potential, especially in the second half.

"Cammy and I go back to under-16 level together, albeit from different schools, and it is certainly good to be playing club rugby together," said Goudie. "He made such an outstanding break near the end I was almost on the end of a pass that would have given me four tries."

Heriot's coach Bob McKillop was quick to endorse those remarks and also praise the debut from off the bench of Scotland under-18 stand-off Gregor Hunter (ex-Gala).

"I feel we now have two quality stand-offs to call upon. Colin Goudie he was absolutely top class as was (prop) Alan Dymock," said McKillop. "Colin's pre-season training suffered last year because he spent most of that period doing medical work in South Africa. This time round, he has hardly missed a session and it is showing in his play."

Heriot's now visit Stirling County - Watsonians entertain Glasgow Hawks - and despite cautious optimism, McKillop is unlikely to let his team get carried away. He said: "There were five moments in the game where we achieved what we wanted to and scored tries every time. In between those highs, we could not get through phases and when we did we slowed the ball down instead of speeding it up which is our trademark style. To still score 39 points in a game that never really got going was satisfying.

"But, in acknowledging that a lot of teams are going to be a little bit under-cooked, things are going to get a hell of a lot tougher. Let's face it, that was a game at home we really should have been expected to win although the emphasis we placed on defence throughout all of our Tuesday training session definitely helped."

Encouraging, too, was the incisiveness of double try scorer Saunders in his first run out since damaging a shoulder against Edinburgh Accies at the end of last season, while scrum-half and captain Graham Wilson has carried on where he left off in kicking 14 points out of a possible 19.

Scorers: Heriot's: Tries: Goudie (3), Saunders (2). Conversions: Wilson (4). Penalties: Wilson (2). Watsonians: Try: Paulo. Penalties: Ker (3).

Heriot's: C Goudie, G Walker, M Learmonth, P Saunders, M Nimmo, C Ferguson, G Wilson, captain, A Dymock, S Burnett, W Blacklock, R Martin, M Reid, J Parker, M Lee, P Eccles. Subs. - K Bryce, G Cameron, J Hill, G Hunter, G Bryce.

Watsonians: A Nash, captain, R Minto, M Di Rollo, C Sorbie, J Forbes, A Skeen, J Blackwood, C Owenson, G Wood, K Coertze, S Ursache, A Fisher,S Paulo,W Rowley, M Fedo. Subs.- E Huner, S Laird, D Finnie, G Somerville, M Ker.