Melrose out to kick on after beating defending Arnold Clark Premiership champions Currie Chieftains

Melrose edging out Currie Chieftains 28-27 at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)Melrose edging out Currie Chieftains 28-27 at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)
Melrose edging out Currie Chieftains 28-27 at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)
​Two weekends into a rugby season with 123 more matches to follow might seem a bit early for a result to be proclaimed the biggest upset of the campaign, but that’s a description already being bandied around about Melrose’s 28-27 win away to Currie Chieftains on Saturday – and there’s every chance of that rush to judgement being proved right in six months or so’s time.

​That meeting of Arnold Clark Premiership newcomers Melrose and defending champions Currie might have looked like a mismatch on paper but it didn’t turn out that way on the turf of Edinburgh’s Malleny Park.

There might only have been one point in it as far as the scoreline goes – and the Borderers had fly-half Luke Townsend and full-back Keiran Clark’s 100% success at conversion-kicking to thank for that, compared to their Balerno hosts’ one-in-five ratio – but that was enough for the visitors to head home with five points in the bag, their first of the season.

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That sees them sitting in ninth place ahead of a visit from Edinburgh’s second-from-bottom Watsonians this coming Saturday, with kick-off at the Greenyards at 3pm.

Melrose getting a tackle in against Currie Chieftains during their 28-27 win at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)Melrose getting a tackle in against Currie Chieftains during their 28-27 win at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)
Melrose getting a tackle in against Currie Chieftains during their 28-27 win at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)

Melrose’s tries were touched down by tighthead prop Zen Szwagrzak at the double, left-winger Robin Sharp and Clark, with Clark converting three and Townsend one.

Touching down tries for Currie were right-winger Ryan Daley, blindside flanker Rhys Davies, tighthead prop Cairn Ramsey, replacement Alex Harley and left-winger Iain Sim, with debutant fly-half Scott Clark adding one conversion.

Melrose co-head coach Scott Wight was delighted to see his team, captained by Angus Runciman, bounce back from their 35-22 opening-day defeat at home to Heriot’s seven days prior, telling Borders Rugby TV afterwards: “I thought the boys were absolutely outstanding in terms of the character that we showed.

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“Last week we weren’t far away but you’re not going to come to many tougher places in week two.

Currie Chieftains on the attack during their 28-27 loss to Melrose at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)Currie Chieftains on the attack during their 28-27 loss to Melrose at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)
Currie Chieftains on the attack during their 28-27 loss to Melrose at Edinburgh’s Malleny Park on Saturday in rugby’s Arnold Clark Premiership (Photo: Bob Douglas)

“It’s easy to turn up for week one and chuck your hat in the ring, but in week two, you’ve got to back it up, and I thought from No 1 to No 22, the boys were absolutely outstanding.

“We went through a really tough spell in the first half and we were camped on our own line for 15 to 20 minutes, but credit to the boys, they turned up and just kept digging away and held on.

“It’s a huge, huge boost for the boys going into our home game next week against Watsonians.”

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