Defeats on road for all three of Borders’ Arnold Clark Premiership rugby clubs

Melrose’s winning start to the new season was halted as they were edged out 32-27 away to Currie Chieftains but they returned south with a consolation losing bonus point to show for their efforts against an Edinburgh outfit level with table-toppers Ayr on a 100% haul of 15 points from three fixtures.

Kelso and Hawick both ended up empty-handed, however, after losing 57-12 to Heriot’s in the capital and 33-3 to defending champions Ayr out west respectively.

Head coach Callum Anderson’s Melrose drop one place to fourth but their bonus point keeps them level with third-placed Heriot’s on 11 points from three games.

Round three of the new term also sees co-head coaches Nikki Walker and Bruce McNeil’s Kelso go down three places to seventh, on seven points, and Graham Hogg’s Hawick slip two places to eighth, on five points.

All three of the region’s representatives in Scottish club rugby’s top flight are on home turf this coming Saturday for 3pm kick-offs – Melrose against Heriot’s, Kelso versus Ayr and the Greens against sixth-placed Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians.

Last season’s corresponding match-ups yielded a 43-17 win for Melrose at the Greenyards last August but defeats for Kelso by 52-12 at Poynder Park in January and Hawick by 29-20 at Mansfield Park 13 months ago.

Melrose’s try-scorers at Balerno’s Malleny Park were openside flanker Patrick Anderson, their head coach’s full-back namesake and right-winger Ben Pickles, with fly-half Luke Townsend kicking two penalties and three conversions.

Touching down for their hosts were Ryan Stewart at the double, Ryan Daley, Kyle Borthwick, Fraser Sayers and Alex Harley, with fly-half Harley adding one conversion.

Anderson senior was disappointed to see his side’s winning start to the season ended but remains hopeful of a top-four finish, telling the Offside Line rugby news website: “We were two very well-matched teams out there and you can talk about how much we put into that game, how much we deserved better, but ultimately we put ourselves in the position to come away with a good away win and didn’t nail it.

“Our aspiration is to be up there fighting in the top four and this is only game three, but we need to react well to this and prove over our next two games, both at home, that we are capable of that.”

Fly-half Liam Herdman and right-winger Hamish Tweedie scored Kelso’s tries at Edinburgh’s Goldenacre playing fields, one of them converted by left-winger Angus Utterson.

Scoring for their hosts, also awarded a penalty try, were Struan Talac and Euan McLaren at the double, Thomas Glendinning, Ross Brown, Rory Kirkpatrick and Daniel King, with Isaac Coates adding four conversions and Calum Jessop another.

Walker was unhappy about shipping a half-century-plus of points in the capital, saying: “It didn’t feel like Heriot’s had to do too much to score.

“They were really clinical from distance in terms of turnovers and transition – they didn’t have to be industrious to get their scores – so we just need to be better at what we’re doing.

“We found it difficult to get on the front foot.

“We’ve got key players missing and that does make a big difference, but you’re going to have that across the season, aren’t you?”

Hawick’s sole contribution to the scoresheet at Millbrae was a penalty kicked by replacement Zane Glanville.

Touching down tries at the other end of the pitch were Jamie Shedden twice, Adam McGowan, Cameron Reece and Jamie Drummond, with Liam Brims adding four conversions.

Hogg was delighted by his side’s defensive display as they kept their hosts at bay almost until half-time but was less happy about their performance going forward, saying: “I’m massively proud of that defensive effort.

“For 65 minutes, we really frustrated them with our defence. We’ve put a lot of emphasis on that the last couple of weeks and we were bang on.

“It’s fair to say that we are disappointed with our attacking game and we came away with no tries. We got into their 22 on a few occasions but didn’t execute our game-plan in there.

“Defensively, that has to be the level – we can’t drop.

“We’ve got three big fixtures coming up and hopefully the players can take confidence from coming to a place like Millbrae and really, really challenging.”