Selkirk head coach Gordon Henderson confident second-bottom Souters are heading in right direction

​Selkirk might be losing more than twice as many games as they’re winning in rugby’s Scottish Premiership but head coach Gordon Henderson is confident they’re on the right track to chart a course up the league table as the season goes on.
By Darin Hutson
Published 17th Oct 2023, 16:46 BST
Updated 19th Oct 2023, 13:29 BST
Andrew Cochrane on the ball during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)Andrew Cochrane on the ball during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)
Andrew Cochrane on the ball during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)

All that’s stopping the Souters picking up more points is a recurring failure to take advantage when opportunity knocks, he reckons, but seeing as they’ve managed to do so against Borders rivals Kelso and Jed-Forest, he can’t see any reason why they can’t also manage it against opposition from further afield.

Saturday’s 26-13 loss at home at Philiphaugh to Edinburgh’s Heriot’s Blues was their fifth defeat in the seven games they’ve played this campaign, four of them to top-five teams, but they’ve won two of their two games against fellow bottom-half sides and Henderson, alias Sesh, is hoping they can add to that tally hosting Edinburgh Academical this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.

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“It’s a slow process but we’re going in the right direction and there’s a lot of rugby to be played yet,” he said.

Jake Milburn being tackled during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)Jake Milburn being tackled during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)
Jake Milburn being tackled during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)

“We’re just not taking the chances we’re creating and that’s down to a little bit of confidence, I think.

“We’ve always had a couple of players missing to stop us putting a full-strength squad out, though I guess every team are the same, but once we’re able to field our strongest squad, we’ll be able to compete with any side in this league.

“It’ll just be one of those moments that gets us over the line. We had one of those moments against Kelso and it got us over the line but we didn’t this week.

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“The Accies game this weekend is vital for us, so we’ve got to put in a strong performance and take the opportunities that we create.

Ben Pickles scoring a try during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)Ben Pickles scoring a try during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)
Ben Pickles scoring a try during Selkirk's 26-13 loss at home to Heriot's Blues on Saturday (Photo: Grant Kinghorn)

“We’re growing in terms of performances that should see us winning and a couple of wins on the bounce would really help.”

​Selkirk are currently second from bottom of the table on 11 points, eight worse off than their sixth-placed visitors.

Their two tries at the weekend were scored by captain Scott McClymont and Ben Pickles, with Aaron McColm adding a penalty.

Paul Christie, John McNaughton, Trent Storen and Rory Kirkpatrick touched down for Heriot’s, with Kenta Kutsuna converting three.

Related topics:BluesSelkirkScottish PremiershipKelso