Impressive Ayr display fires warning to top-flight rivals BOROUGHMUIR AYR 17 36
● ‘Best team in league by a mile’ says Wright
Ayr flaunted their impressive credentials as the Tennent’s Premiership’s only unbeaten team by over-running a plucky but limited Boroughmuir.
The bonus point was in the bag by half-time when the game was over as a contest and the visitors switched to cruise control.
“We were up against the best team in the league by a mile,” said Muir coach Peter Wright. “They have firepower everywhere, physicality everywhere and those guys are not just big but they are good rugby players who run hard and direct, they offload well in contact, and they have a forward pack that gets better and better.
“We are not disappointed at the result but we are disappointed in the manner we gave away a couple of tries. We stuck in, we battled away, we got three tries, so we are pleasantly optimistic about our chances of making the top four which is the challenge we have set ourselves.”
Ayr opened the scoring a few minutes into the first 40 when former under-20 Scotland captain Stafford Mcdowall scored the first of a try double. Full-back Grant Anderson and Kiwi stand-off Frasier Climo got the others to wrap up the bonus point before the first half was over.
Muir did enough to get an early try when captain Johnny Matthews hustled over from a lineout and maul but it hardly caused Ayr to break their stride.
Muir winger Jordan Edmunds grabbed a try after the break and Matthews got a second to show there was still some fight in a beaten team, but Ayr cancelled them out with a brace of their own from Robbie Nairn in the backs and Blair Macpherson in the forwards to round off an allround performance that sends a warning to all other teams in the Premiership.
Ayr coach Peter Murchie said: “We played pretty well today. Defensively, I thought it was one of our better performances and it was pleasing to be good at the set-piece as well and we took our chances in attack.
“The players had to work hard. I said to them earlier in the week, if you want to be a Super Six team away from home you have to play well. You can’t just rock up and play badly and expect to win. You have to have the right mindset. At the moment we are all on the same page and we have to keep that going.”