Highland head coach Davie Carson says his National Division One risers are in great shape ahead of their home crack at leaders Melrose this Saturday.
The Inverness team, whose season began with defeats against Ayr and Kelso, have roared back with wins against Heriot’s Blues, Boroughmuir, Dundee and Watsonians to move fifth in the table, six points behind the leaders.
The rousing 40-10 triumph over Watsonians at the weekend was their fourth home match and the run of fixtures in the Highland capital continues against the division’s early top dogs, who have five wins from six outings.
Carson is sure fans raising the volume at Canal Park can matter if the scorelines are close with points on the line.
He said: “The crowd can make a massive difference. It’s great to hear the noise from the balcony and around the pitch as it can make a big difference to the players as the game maybe gets a wee bit tense.
“When it’s a tight game, it can really lift the boys and take the game to another level.”
Room for improvement, says Carson
Although satisfied with the winning run, Carson feels there is still room for improvement, which will be required to see off Melrose tomorrow.
He added: “Once we get the ball, we have to keep it. We kicked a few balls away that we probably should have kept on Saturday.
“We need to be more confident with the ball at times and we shouldn’t expect to score after four or five phases. Let’s go to seven, eight or nine phases and the gaps will open up and we will get the tries.
“Last week, we didn’t concede any tries, only penalty kicks. It’s all about keeping disciplined in defence and try to disrupt their flow.”
Melrose are not unbeatable
Although Melrose are the team to topple, Carson points to recent efforts from the leaders’ opponents as an extra spur for this showdown.
He said: “Any team can beat another in this division when they play to their strengths.
“Cartha were 22-10 up on Saturday just after half-time. Melrose came back to 22-22 and two mistakes in the last eight minutes got them two tries.
“It was the same a couple of weeks ago for Dundee down at Melrose. Dundee were holding them before two interception tries in the last 10 minutes let Melrose in.
“It will be tough and it’s a great game for us after it didn’t happen last year due to the lockdown. We will go out to stick to our game plan, do everything right and give ourselves a real chance of getting the victory.”
Latest Highland home win welcome
With three of their next four games being away from Inverness, starting in Glasgow against Cartha Queen’s Park next Saturday, Carson was happy last week’s requested switch worked out well for them.
He added: “The game last weekend was rearranged after Watsonians asked for the switch.
FULL TIME at Canal Park@HighlandRFC 40-10 @WATSONIANFC pic.twitter.com/thgDGfAkAd
— Highland Rugby Club 🦅 (@HighlandRFC) October 9, 2021
“We were happy with that and we’ve managed to get points on the board early on.”
There were no apparent knocks of niggles after Highland’s game on Saturday, so the 20 named will be in the mix.
Seamus Ross also comes back into contention after playing 80 minutes for the reserves in their 20-20 draw with Moray, while Andy Stark is in the running after a recent hassle-free display for the seconds. Stuart Butler could be involved if he recovers from his hamstring injury.
