​South of Scotland’s rugby inter-district championship title bid left hanging in balance by loss in Glasgow

​That’s only their second loss of this century and, like the first, by 32-30 to Caledonia Reds in May 2023, it was inflicted on them at Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians’ Braidholm home ground.

It leaves the South, 31-7 down at one point on Friday before battling back to within eight points of the West, third in the table as one of two teams on six points from two fixtures, the other being their second-placed hosts, as they vie for their 19th title outright.

Caledonia Reds are three points clear in pole position, on nine points, after beating Edinburgh’s district side 36-14 in Dundee on Saturday, with that result leaving their visitors bottom of the table without any points.

That means this season’s title race will go to the wire, with its concluding matches being played on Friday, March 6, with kick-offs at 7.30pm.

They see head coach Gordon Henderson and captain Angus Runciman’s South hosting Reds at Jedburgh’s Riverside Park and Glasgow away to Edinburgh, with the venue for that latter match yet to be confirmed.

The red-and-white-hooped-shirted Borderers’ tries at Braidholm were scored by hooker Fraser Renwick, openside flanker Monroe Job, right-winger Archie Barbour and outside-centre Ben Pickles, with fly-half Dwain Patterson converting all four.

Touching down in the opposite direction for head coach Andy Hill’s hosts were Euan McKirdy at the double, Blair Macpherson, Euan Muirhead, Jack Craig and Bobby Beattie, with Andrew Goudie adding three conversions.

Renwick was one of three Hawick players in the South’s starting line-up, along with full-back Charlie Welsh and No 8 Connor Sutherland.

Job and Pickles were among four Souters, their Philiphaugh teammates being lock Jack Fisher and inside-centre Brodie Allan.

Barbour and Paterson were accompanied by Kelso teammate Dan Gamble at tighthead prop.

Melrose accounted for a third of Friday’s starting XV, lock Runciman being joined by left-winger Finn Douglas, scrum-half Scott Clark, blindside flanker Sam Derrick and loosehead prop Jack Dobie.

Douglas was replaced by Murray Wilson, Renwick by Ben McLean and Gamble by Bruce Riddell on 77 minutes, Clark by Hugo Alderson on 61, Dobie by Shawn Muir on 63, Runciman by Gregor Law on 71, Derrick by Garry Young on 63 and Job by Cammy Thompson on 78.

Selkirk head coach Henderson, nicknamed Sesh, wasn’t happy with his side’s performance in Glasgow, telling the Offside Line rugby news website: “We didn’t compete hard enough in certain areas of the game during the first half, and if you keep giving them ball and space, then they are going to score tries against you – and they did.

“We had a really good conversation at half-time about how we were going to react to the position we found ourselves in and we did react well.

“We scored two more really good tries, but then, all of a sudden, we got turned over in their 22 and they went the distance, which seemed like a soft score after all that hard work to get back into the game.

“We scored four tries, so we got something out of it, and I think for the neutral it would have been a good game of rugby, but I also think we lost it in that first half with how many easy ins we gave Glasgow.

“They are a very good side. We knew we were coming through here for a tough game, but I just think if we could have stayed in the game so that we were within a score going into the last 20 minutes, then we would have got it.”

Hill was the happier of the two gaffers after seeing his team bounce back from a 22-19 first-round loss to Reds at Stirling last month, saying: “That was a massive step forward.

“In terms of our lineout, it was night and day from the Caledonia Reds game. We said we wanted the same physicality, but this time we had a platform to play-off which allowed us to get into the game.

“We know we’ve got a good squad and the big disappointment of the Caledonia game was that we didn’t feel like it was a proper representation of what we are capable of.

“We just couldn’t get into the game, so we ended up defending for too long and ended up breaking, which is what happens when you find yourself in that situation up against good players.

“We knew we had the foundations there, and having two more sessions on Tuesday and Thursday this week gave us clarity. The guys have been really good at coming in and picking things up themselves. They’ve done their due diligence on the fine details of how certain players run certain lines, what each others’ skill-set is, and so on.

“That bond has really developed in terms of understanding how each other plays, but also how it means something more to them now through getting to know the guys they are playing next to. They know what they are fighting for, which is one another and getting a result for their district.

“That’s a big part of it for me. These guys give up a lot of time to play high-level club rugby and they are now giving up more time to play in this competition, so we want to create something that is fun and is an environment they enjoy being a part of.

“That’s how we can make sure that this is not just a one-off but something we can build for Scottish rugby as part of a pathway for guys who maybe didn’t get picked up at under-20s but are still looking for an avenue to progress into the professional game.”

The Offside Line’s match report can be read at https://www.theoffsideline.com/idc-glasgow-the-west-click-into-gear-to-see-off-the-south/