League safety beckons for Boroughmuir

0 Craig Hamilton of Hawick confronts Watsonians’ Craig Borthwick during the Edinburgh side’s victory.

WATSONIANS 59 5

Hawick’s lack of squad depth was cruelly exposed when a side missing a host of the regulars who have sparked the club’s recent resurgence had no answer to the cutting edge of a powerful Watsonians unit that now sits third in the table, writes Colin Renton.

The Borderers were forced to field a weakened side because of the unavailability of several front-line players for a match that was rearranged from last month. The timing angered Hawick coach George Graham, who suggestedthatthedecisionto play the match on an international day was a sign of club rugby’s standing among the game’s administrators.

“I can say that I’m not happy but it will fall on deaf ears because the SRU are not remotely interested,” he said.

“However, it is outwith our control and you just have to do what you’ve got to do.”

Hawickmadeanimpressive start to the match and caught the Edinburgh side napping when Ross Combe sprinted in for a first-minute try.

But, from that point onwards, it was one-way traffic and Watsonians chalked up nine tries, with Jason Harries bagging a double while Michael Allen, Rory Drummond, Craig Borthwick, Michael Fedo, Mark Bertram, Willie Thomson and Darren Miller scored one each, seven of them converted.

The result, combined with those elsewhere, means that Hawick need one point from their two remaining fixtures to be sure of avoiding the automatic relegation spot, while Watsonians could yet finish in the top two and secure a home play-off.

While the player issue was felt more acutely by the visitors, the home side were also operating without some key individuals. However, coach Steve Lawrie acknowledged that his squad is benefiting from having selection options in various positions.

“We have a bit of depth in our squad. We have competition and that’s the main thing,” he said.

By contrast, Graham admitted that the absence of seven men had exposed Hawick’s limitations and highlighted the need to address that problem.

“It just shows that the strength in depth we’ve got is maybe not as good as we would like it to be.

“But I see that as a challenge”, he said.