‘Chaos’ cannot stop Highland celebrations in Edinburgh
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There was an element of relief for Highland Rugby Club head coach Dave Carson when the final whistle blew to confirm his side had beaten Stewart’s Melville last Saturday.
The match was constantly in the balance, but two tries from Grant Jamieson, one from Andrew Kellock and then a couple of penalties including a decisive one at the end saw Highland edge to a 21–18 victory.
Seven points was the biggest gap between the teams at any stage.
That lead to something of a nervy finish for Carson and the rest of the Highland contingent, but he was delighted to come away with four points in the end.
“We had quite a good start, a couple of good tries, and then they came back into us,” Carson recounted.
“We were sloppy, but we got ahead and then they got a breakaway try to level it up at 18-all.
“The last 10 minutes were a bit frantic to be honest. They liked chucking it about big time, like it was sevens, looking to get the breakaway. We had two or three penalties in their half, and Rory went for one and got it. That gave us the victory in the end.
“The last 10 minutes was just chaos. There were penalties, everything was going on.
“The referee didn’t lose control, but breakdowns became really messy and nobody knew what they were allowed to do. I was really glad to see the final whistle to be honest.”
There was some drama before the match even began, with kick off delayed as the referee arrived late – presenting its own raft of challenges.
“I hoped to be home a bit earlier than when we went to Kelso, but it didn’t end up that way,” Carson added.
“It was absolute chaos in Edinburgh. We got through okay, but the referee arrived at 4.05pm.
“It wasn’t good at all, thinking about the players’ food intake it’s all done so that they peak when they start playing.
“Warming up too, we were on the pitch at 2.30pm, then we heard he wasn’t going to make it until 3.15pm, and it went on and on.
“Hugo Crush is obviously a strength and conditioning coach with us as well, so he took control once we knew it was going to be delayed.
“We went for a walk before starting to build up to the game. He did a great job keeping everyone going, and everyone was firing by the time kick off came around.”
