We must start quickly after the break

Rugby coach Rory McKay says Perthshire must come out of the traps quickly when action returns after the Christmas break.

The Eagles are in a dangerous position in the BT National Legaue 3 and currently sit in the relegation zone, eight points from safety.

Crunch games with Highland and Orkney are up next in January and McKay said: “We are really trying to play entertaining rugby.

“There are a lot of good teams in the league and we need to turn our style into a winning one. We’re in a better place to kick on now.

“There are a couple of big games against Highland and Orkney coming up in January. We can’t afford a slow start and need to be gunning for it straight away.

“We’ll be speaking to the players over the break to make sure that everyone is up for it. Hopefully we can catch those above us who have a bit of a Christmas hangover.”

Shire battled well away at St Boswells to lead at the break but ultimately suffered defeat.

McKay said: “It didn’t help to have two injured in the warm up and then lose another during the game. But the guys responded really well.

“It was a difficult pitch to play on with the wind and slope. We didn’t get enough of a lead in the first half when we had the elements.

“The guys never stopped trying and played some good stuff and as I said we really took it to them in the first half.

“I guess you could argue that after winning the toss we should have played into the elements in the first half.”