Heriot’s 22-16 Southern Knights: Adventurous rugby gets its reward

Heriot’s secured back-to-back FOSROC Super6 wins over Southern Knights with a solid performance that featured two outstanding second half tries. The home side played the more adventurous rugby and over the piece committed fewer errors than their opponents.

Cameron Hutchison of Heriot's scores a second half try against Southern Knights. Picture: Bill Murray / SNS

For winless Knights it was another case of what might have been as they showed plenty of character but lacked composure at key moments.

“Last week the bench made the difference and again the bench made a big difference,” said Heriot’s temporary head coach Phil Smith, who is doing a fine job of filling the breach until Andy Kelly arrives in February. “We were in a position we could maintain the momentum because our subs are as good as the boys that were on the pitch.”

The Knights made a solid start but had nothing to show for an early spell of pressure that foundered on a loose pass that was intercepted and offered Heriot’s some respite. The hosts survived another period on the back foot before offering a glimpse of their forward power with a post-lineout surge that shunted Knights back.

Adam Sinclair was foiled just short of the whitewash but play was recalled for an earlier offence and Michael Liness subsequently crashed over to open the scoring, with Ross Jones adding the extras.

Knights battled back and earned penalties on two visits to opposition territory. Jason Baggott was on target with both kicks, reducing the leeway to one point before Jones responded with a penalty to take the Heriot’s tally into double figures.

Knights then enjoyed their best spell of the half, earning a string of penalties and applying relentless pressure to the home line. With the final play of the half, the Borderers finally managed to unlock the Heriot’s defence when Fraser Renwick hammered his way over, handing the visitors a single point lead at the break.

Within two minutes of the restart, the hosts had reclaimed the initiative when strong-running centre Cameron Hutchison blasted through two tackles and stretched over for a second Heriot’s try. Jones again stroked over the kick.

At that stage, it looked as if the next score would prove decisive. The crucial points went the way of the home side when slick handling saw the ball moved wide to James Couper, who deftly gathered a low pass and hurtled in at the corner.

Knights were not yet finished, however, and they ensured a tense finale when they bagged a second try of the afternoon with six minutes left to play. Heriot’s were powerless against a strong drive and Ruaridh Knott applied the final touch to haul Knights to within bonus point territory and offer a glimmer of hope.

But Heriot’s saw out the rest of the game to secure the win, leaving Knights coach Rob Chrystie to reflect on a third narrow defeat in five games.

“We keep making individual errors and not being as connected as we need to be. Until we cut that out it’s always going to be difficult,” he conceded.