Rugby: Head coach hails defensive heroes after keeping opposition to zero as Highland beat Watsonians in Inverness
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HIGHLAND have gone to the top of National One as they crushed Watsonians 41-0 to make it two wins out of two.
The hosts impressed in their first home game of the season at Canal Park and took the lead when prop Stuart Watson charged over the line from close range.
Hugo Crush extended their lead with some neat interplay with Gordon Gregor to give the Inverness club a 10-0 advantage.
Highland were awarded a penalty when Watsonians were guilty of collapsing the scrum.
But instead of going for the posts, they opted for a tap kick and Callum Macpherson found the third try with Scott Fraser landing his first conversion of the match.
The bonus point was secured before half time when Stephen Murray picked up the ball from a ruck and forced his way over.
Highland continued their dominance early in the second half when Crush managed to grab his second try of the match to make it 27-0.
Magnus Henry got Highland’s sixth try in an excellent run from half way when he beat several players before crossing the try line.
Rupeni Rokoduguni completed the rout by grabbing Highland’s seventh try with Fraser landing the final two conversions for a 41-0 victory.
Carson says it was an excellent attacking performance for his team, but the aspect of the game he was most pleased about was keeping the opposition’s score to zero.
“We had the bonus point in the bag, but I said at half time Watsonians were going to come at us,” he said.
“In the second half they did have a lot of the ball, but we managed to keep them out and we managed to keep it to zero. For me, for all the defensive work that we have done with the team, that was really important.
“When we were back on our own 22, we wanted to make sure that they didn’t manage to cross our line.
“I am delighted with our performance and it has backed up what we did last week.”
In other matches, Highland 2nd XV went down to a 27-24 defeat to Moray in Elgin in Caledonia Division One North Conference.
Inverness Craig Dunain got their Caledonia North Two Highlands and Islands Conference campaign off to a winning start when they beat 48-32 win over Moray 2nd XV, with Highland 3rd XV winning 38-5 in Skye.
