Ayr

This was a cracking advert for the top of the club game, with a match that produced seven tries in all, four of which went to the winners, two to man of the match Kyle Rowe.

When Ayr and Heriot’s meet in the Tennent’s Premiership final this afternoon at Millbrae it will not just be the end of the league season, but the end of an era.

Ayr completed the semi-final double over arch rivals Melrose after following up their win over the Greeyards men in the play-offs last weekend with victory in the penultimate round of the Cup.

If a Copenhagen-based brewery company sponsored the Tennent’s Premiership, they could well have come up with the climax to this dramatic play-off semi-final, won by Ayr via a penalty try, awarded in the 86th minute.

The SRU succeeded in passing its motion regarding the placement of Super 6 “club XVs” into the second tier of the league at last night’s 
Special General Meeting.

Tonight’s SRU Special General Meeting at BT Murrayfield is the latest chapter in the ongoing Super 6 saga, with the vexed question of where the second XVs of the winning ‘franchises’ will play in the domestic structure next season to be decided.

Watsonians gave departing head coach Steve Lawrie the perfect leaving present with this win over Ayr.

The two top sides in the Tennent’s Premiership produced a Scottish Cup tie to remember, before Ayr’s forward power and defensive excellence nullified some terrific three-quarter play from the visitors.

The first season of Scotland’s new top tier rugby competition, Super 6, will start in early November 2019, following the Rugby World Cup.

Scotland’s Club XV put in a better showing in the second leg of the Dalriada Cup at Energia Park in Dublin last night by grabbing a late draw, but the home side lifted the silverware.

This bonus-point win ensured Ayr of top place in the Tennent’s Premiership, top seeding and a home semi-final in the end-of-season play-offs, with one game still to play.

Ayr proved too powerful for their hosts and scored five tries to move back to the top of the Premiership.

Ayr made things hard for themselves, but in the end 
their magnificent defence enabled them to stifle a powerful second-half Boroughmuir performance to grab four points and stay on top of the Tennent’s Premiership.

2018 proved a topsy-turvy year but then this is Scottish rugby so you probably knew that much already. The political row around the sacking of Keith Russell as the SRU’s head of domestic rugby was undoubtedly the most depressing aspect of Scottish rugby over the past year, with the structure of checks and balances struggling to keep some of the governing body’s bigger personalities at bay. The return of the Calcutta Cup to Murrayfield’s trophy cabinet for the first time in a decade proved the highlight – and there was plenty to ponder between those two extremes.

Ayr answered their critics in the most emphatic way by winning this top-of-the-table clash with a bonus point victory that hoists the Millbrae side to the apex of the Tennent’s Premiership.

Currie Chieftains have wished their coach Ben Cairns well after he was confirmed as the head coach of the Stirling County franchise in the new Super 6 league, which is due to start next season.

The head coaches for the new Super 6 tournament have been announced.

Heriot’s absolutely crushed the league leaders with a devastating display of forward power at a rain-drenched Millbrae.

Scotland centre Alex Dunbar is set to play for Tennent’s Premiership leaders Ayr this afternoon as they host third-placed Heriot’s in the game of the day.