Head coach Alan Tait targeting top-four finish for rugby’s Southern Knights

Work commitments making that outward journey of over two hours a no-go for some of his players meant Tait wasn’t able to field what would have been his first-choice match-day squad against Ayrshire Bulls on Friday and those logistical issues go a bit of the way towards explaining the 28-0 hiding the Borderers were given at Millbrae, he reckons.

Tait also admits that failing to adapt to the evening’s adverse weather conditions as well as their hosts hampered the Melrose men’s efforts to get back into the game and avert their first whitewash of the campaign after falling 21-0 behind by half-time.

Luca Bardelli, Thomas Glendinning and captain Blair Macpherson at the double scored tries for head coach Pat McArthur’s table-toppers, with Brad Roderick-Evans converting all four.

“We were late because the traffic was horrendous and the bus couldn’t get within 400 yards of the ground so we had to carry all our kit and medical stuff all that way,” said Tait. “Honestly, it was a disaster.

“I’d been saying ever since I first saw this season’s fixtures ‘why are we going to Ayr on a Friday night?’

“It’s semi-professional and lads have had to take days off work and we had to leave others at home because they just couldn’t get time off.

“Why did we have to go over there on a Friday when everybody else from afar has come to us on Saturdays?

“It shouldn’t have gone ahead. We shouldn’t be going over there on a Friday night – it’s as simple as that.

“There were lads travelling to the game direct after working all day beforehand so there were only about 12 of us on the coach.

“We couldn’t expect to get much more than we got after what little preparation we were able to put in and the way the game was and the time it was at. It was a tough day.”

More kicking and less running with the ball might have yielded a better result, the 59-year-old concedes.

“We do try to play rugby and that’s been successful for us but on a night like that, you have to try to change your tactics,” said the 27-times-capped Scotland international.

“We still tried to play a bit too much rugby and we should have been a bit more savvy and played a kicking game.

“I’ve watched the game over and it wasn’t as bad as I first thought but going 21-0 down on 16 minutes killed us. We weren’t in the game. We lost it in the first quarter of an hour.”

Despite last week’s loss, Knights remain in the table’s top four, in fourth place on 20 points from nine fixtures, and Tait is hoping they can consolidate that position at home at the Greenyards to second-bottom Boroughmuir Bears this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 5pm.

It’s also an opportunity for Knights to make amends for their 44-20 defeat in the reverse fixture in Edinburgh in August.

“This is one of the biggest games of the season for us,” said Tait.

“We’re at a stage where we’re in the mix to finish in the top four and a game like Boroughmuir at home is one we have to win.

“They’ll definitely be targeting us as a team they want to win against as they don’t win many games, a bit like ourselves, and there are two or three Borders lads in their squad and they’ll want to get one over on us.

“It’s up to us on Saturday. We’ve got to come flying out of the traps and be relentless or we won’t get anything out of the game.

“We maybe went into our last game against them a bit complacent after looking at their previous results, thinking we should win it, but they scrapped for everything.

“They’re real scrappers and if you don’t get on top of them and stay on top of them, they’ll be in the game until the 80th minute, there’s no doubt about that.”

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