Possession focus at Canal Park in Inverness as Highland Rugby Club look to ‘starve’ Glasgow Accies of the ball in National One clash
Dave Carson says Highland Rugby Club’s focus in training this week has been on containing Glasgow Academicals ahead of their match at Canal Park on Saturday afternoon.
Accies’ matches this season have seen on average more than 72 points scored per game, evidence of the threat they will pose in attack.
Highland, though, go into the match off the back of consecutive victories, 29-28 against both at home against Dundee and away at Peebles.
They have been able to welcome back the likes of Calum MacPherson and Grant Jamieson from injury, as well as Ruaridh Knott from suspension, and the experience of those players will be key against an Accies side who usually run Highland close.
“We’ve never lost at home to them in the last 10 years or so that we’ve been playing them, but they have always been really close games,” Carson reflected.
“We’ve won by a couple of points sometimes, so it has been tough. They’re a good side, and I think there were only three points in it at the end of the game last year.
“They’ve always had a tremendous set of backs who are really quick and really big, and they are well-organised.
“We just have to starve them of the ball. That’s what we’ve done in the past, our forwards made sure that they didn’t get any quality ball to get a win from.
“They will score tries on Saturday, there’s no doubt about that, we just have to make sure we score more.
“That’s not as easy as it sounds, because they have only lost one game this year. They’re going well.”
Rory Mighton is expected to return to Highland’s squad this weekend, but the game against Glasgow Accies looks set to come too soon for Gordon Gregor and Euan Milton.
While injuries have made it a tricky start to the 2024/25 campaign, others stepping up have threatened to give Carson a selection headache when everyone is back available.
“We’ve had injuries in the backs as well, so we had young Fergus Riach and Josh Talbot-Heigh making their first starts for the first team against Peebles,” he added.
“They did really well for us, making some good runs and some good defensive reads from both of them, so I’m delighted.
“I was hoping Gordon and Euan would be back, and if we were desperate they could start this week, but it’s a long season.
“If it means they are totally pain-free after another week, rather than bringing them back and being off for another four after that, it’s worth it.
“They’re going to have to fight for their places as well. In the back row for example, Ritchie Dinnes has been playing in Gordon’s position and he was man of the match by a mile last week.
“He has been absolutely outstanding. He empties the tank every week, to the point he can hardly walk when we have to sub him off, and that’s the kind of performance you want from these boys. They are certainly delivering.”