Highland head coach Davie Carson says a victory over Biggar would keep his side firmly in the mix for the National 1 title.
The Inverness outfit missed out on the opportunity to move top of the table last Saturday when they went down 24-20 away to Cartha Queen’s Park.
Highland are on the road again this weekend, with the opportunity to leapfrog second-placed Biggar with a victory in South Lanarkshire.
Carson is eager to take advantage of a tightly-contested pack of teams in contention.
He said: “It’s really tight – with the top six all within four points of each other.
“Had we won last week we would be sitting top, with the way the other results went. There’s very little in it.
“Everyone has beaten everyone at some point. You can slip up and still be in the mix, compared with previous years when teams were creeping away already.
“Nobody has forced themselves away and everyone is still there or thereabouts.
“If we go down and get a victory at Biggar, we will be back in the mix.
Highland applying pressure late and deep into Carthas half, and cough up the ball and Cartha clear to touch to end the game.
Well done to Cartha well deserved win.
FULL TIME @CarthaQPRFC 24-20 Highland. pic.twitter.com/WZgvFH6qOf— Highland Rugby Club 🦅 (@HighlandRFC) October 23, 2021
“It’s exactly what we said last week.”
Carson believes this weekend’s match gives his side the opportunity to show a reaction to their surprise loss to a 10th-placed Cartha outfit, who won just their second match of the season.
He added: “We were really disappointed. I don’t know whether it was a hangover from the week before with the result against Melrose.
“No game away from home in National 1 is easy, it doesn’t matter who you are playing.
“Cartha ran Melrose pretty close as well. They did exactly what we thought they would do, but we didn’t respond to it quickly enough or in the right areas on the pitch.
“Everyone can beat everyone, especially on their home ground.
“This has maybe fired the players up a bit, and made them realise how hard they’ve got to work for the full 80 minutes of every game in this league.
“We have beaten Melrose and Heriot’s already this season. I have told the players we haven’t turned into a bad team overnight, but work-rate, decision-making and the basic skills have got to be spot on.
“You’ve got to concentrate and put the effort into every game for the whole time you are on the pitch, and you will come away with the result.
“We have trained really well this week, we have just got to move on from the disappointment and see what we can do.”
Highland will hand Magnus Henry a starting opportunity in place of the unavailable Craig Findlater, following his try after coming off the bench last weekend. Lewis Sinclair will also return at front row.
Carson says will players will have to scrap it out to claim the victory, adding: “It doesn’t get easier, Biggar is always a really tough place to get a result.
“It’s a doable job. It’s a very tough place, it’ll be quite a heavy, claggy pitch and I think the rain is forecast for this weekend.
“We had a good run on the grass last weekend so there’s no excuse for that. Everyone plays in the mud at some point, so we will adapt accordingly and hopefully come away with something.”
