Champions hold on to put themselves in pole position to reach title play-offs

Title-holders Heriot’s took a massive step towards securing a place in the BT Premiership play-offs with a hard-fought win over a Currie side left ruing a series of errors in the closing stages of an engrossing encounter.

With the top two sides in the table already having qualified and third-placed Glasgow

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Hawks needing only three points from the remaining three matches to join them, only one berth appears to be still up for grabs.

Heriot’s, who had tries by Struan Cessford, Andrew Simmers and Rory Carmichael, plus a ten-point kicking haul by Alex Hagart, now hold the initiative after withstanding a late flourish by Currie, who paid the price for a high error count as they chased the game in an effort to add to a touchdown by Ross Weston and a penalty try, both converted by Jamieforbes,whoalsolanded a penalty.

“The difference is that it is now in our hands. Neither of us has an easy run-in. There is so much happening, which is great. I think for the league that is great,” said Heriot’s coach Phil Smith. “I thought we were back to some good old-fashioned Heriot’s rugby – strong possession, lots of width.”

His counterpart Ben Cairns was happy with the commitment of his men but disappointed that they had failed to capitalise on their superiority late in the game.

“It’s frustrating”, he said. “I thought our attitude was spoton, the way we kept on playing. Saying all of that, we were in a position with 20 minutes to go where we’ve got the momentum, we’ve got a chance to get back in that game and make it a real fight to the end, but we shot ourselves in the foot with individual errors.” 0 Struan Cessford touches down during Heriot’s victory.