That was chaos, admits coach Calum

Although one of the main talking points around the clash was the absence on a stag do in Bermuda of half the Hawick team, it is only fair to mention that Ayr too were missing a number of front line regulars.

Rob McAlpine, Scott Sutherland, Ruaridh McKenzie, Will Bordill and scrum half David Armstrong were sidelined so was some of the disarray in the Ayr ranks which almost caused a major upset down to key players being out?

Coach Calum Forrester admitted:“Chaos reigned. When we were 21 points down I thought we were up against it. Yes, the pack had been rejigged considerably and it was only just before kick- off that Blair Macpherson took over the responsibility for line- out calls.

“Missing key players made it tough for young Harry Warr in his first full game at scrum half so we knew things were a bit askew but that 20 minutes after half time was completely bizarre. Looking down the barrel, we started playing with composure, Frazier put the ball behind the back three to give us field position and we went through some wellexecuted opportunities taken at pace.”

So what then of the trip to the Greenyards on Saturday, the outcome of which will decide who tops the BT Premiership going into 2017 and possibly even top spot for the play- offs?

“Will Bordill and David Armstrong should be back and we hope Rob McAlpine will make out but we will play a simple game plan which has worked for us in the past. It will be a big one.”