Davie Carson hopes Highland take to the wings in a bid to outscore Ayr in rugby’s National Division One this Saturday.
The head coach hopes his fired-up players, who are seventh but just six points off second spot, follow up on their 36-31 victory at Stirling last Friday.
Ayr scored a last-gasp 13-12 opening day win in Inverness in September and Carson feels his improving side can take their training tips on their travels to notch what would be a vital win in the context of the season.
He said: “We’re looking forward to this. Ayr have strung a number of good results together against some of the big sides.
“It’s still a sore point that they beat us in the last minute at the beginning of the season. We’re in a better place now and a stronger side.
FULL TIME: Stirling County RFC 1st XV 31 – 36 Highland RFC 1st XV#STIHIG #Pitcherohttps://t.co/YESzWocGf4 pic.twitter.com/wBVG9KXLfk
— Highland Rugby Club 🦅 (@HighlandRFC) November 19, 2021
“We scored two great tries against Ayr out wide and we’ve been working on that this week in training. It’s about tying them up in the midfield and getting the ball out on the wings where we have a good bit of pace, which is an area where they don’t defend quite so well.
“We’d be looking to improve on the two tries we scored at home against them and maybe get more down there.”
Front line props Stephen Murray and Lewis Sinclair return to action for the trip to Ayr.
League with regular surprise results
Heriot’s Blues are five points clear of Ayr at the top of the table, but the chasing pack are all within striking distance.
Only Boroughmuir and basement side Watsonian are a tad cut drift from the rest, and Carson reckons it’s making for a fascinating campaign.
He said: “Apart from the bottom two, who are really out of it, any side can win any game, winning games at home or pulling off surprise results away.
“Heriot’s have stretched away a wee bit, but they have played an extra couple of games compared to others, so it is shaping up to be a really interesting second half to the season.”
The win at Stirling last week was well-earned, with superb scores and sensible game management helping Highland to gain a fine away result.
Carson was thrilled to come out on top of a close contest. He added: “It was really pleasing. It was a good game of rugby, which was quite close. We got five points ahead with about 10 minutes to go and we saw it out quite comfortably.
“We lost a couple of stupid tries, which put a bit of pressure on ourselves, but we scored several good tries and got the bonus point away from home, so we can’t ask much more than that.
“We’ve had a couple of close results where we haven’t been able to see it out, so we worked hard on slowing the game down and keeping possession and the players did that very well. That helped to quell any threat for Stirling in the last 10 minutes.”
Friday switch no hassle for Highland
And the switch to Friday didn’t faze the Highland group, with the reward of the weekend off the benefit of an early morning return home.
Carson said: “Everything worked fine. The boys ate and were hydrated at the right times as we changed from a Saturday morning to Friday afternoon.
“It was a late night. I got home about 2.15am and some boys were after 3am, but it was good to get Saturday off.”
Seconds train well ahead of return
Meanwhile, Carson said the seconds, who have been waiting for a return to action, have still be turning out in strong numbers at training.
They resume their bid for Caledonia League Division Two next Saturday when they go to Aberdeenshire, who are just above them in second spot, but have played two matches more.
Leaders Moray, who have played one game more than Highland, are three points in front, and are away to Banff this weekend.
