Now for Melrose as Ayr march on

First things first. After an accomplished afternoon at Hawick, it would seem unlikely that Finn Russell will be seen in an Ayr strip again anytime soon.

Warriors coach Gregor Townsend had said he would play the No10 as soon as possible even if it was only after one match and it would be a surprise if his name were not on the team sheet to face Ulster at Scotstoun on Friday night.

Everyone will wish him well, relieved that he has come back from an horrendous face injury against Connacht last season and particularly since his popularity at Ayr among the fans who he connects with so well is such that they could not be more delighted to see him return to the top level.

Ayr coach Calum Forrester echoed those sentiments after the Hawick game, stating that ‘ Finn didn’t seem to have any concerns about any part of his game which is great.’

He said: “We made too many errors in the first half and the strange yellow for Scott Sutherland when we had scored a try was a 14 pointer. The try was disallowed and then Hawick scoring while we were down to 14 men but the second half was an improvement when we used our territorial advantage much better.

‘ It’s going to be interesting on Saturday when Melrose pitch up because we have been leaking too many points and I am sure they would say the same so it could well be a high scoring and entertaining game.”

I bet the coach would still settle for 3- 0 up at the final whistle!