Weegies Don't Do No Surrender

I DOUBT if many of the Warrior Nation, in Belfast in numbers on Friday night were surprised at the defensive effort of Ulster in the first half – in the Warriors' world we know all about “No Surrender” and doughty defence. We certainly saw ample evidence of this aspect of life in the province during that first half.

Then in the second half, the Irish side came more into the game and Glasgow's much-vaunted defensive systems were given a serious work-out before, right at the death, as good teams do, Warriors found a way to win a difficult match.

It was their first victory over Ulster at Ravenhill for 13 years; they deserved to win and it is a sign of just what a good team Franco Smith has built at Scotstoun, that, on a night when they perhaps only hit 90%, against commited opponents, they found a way to get the job done.

With their pack on top throughout, the Glasgow backs got plenty of chances to run at Ulster, but their attacks foundered on some of the best defence I have seen for some time. However, Glasgow didn't panic and in the end they got their reward.

They now know, they will have home advantage in every knock-out game, although, if we can avoid Coach Smith's one game at a time mantra and look, hopefully, towards the Grand Final – we still don't know where that game, should it happen for Warriors, will be held.

OPTING TO watch the Ulster v Glasgow game and leave the Edinburgh v Connacht meeting until Premier Sport replayed it on Saturday morning was a no-brainer. This was one I never fancied Edinburgh to win and my pre-game forecast proved correct.

The match was effectively over, with the Irish visitors leading 19-0 at half-time. OK, the second half was a lot closer, but, again, Edinburgh disappointed. A final comment on this game: Aimee Barrett-Theron is no Hollie Davidson.

The BTL comments below Stuart Bathgate's TOL match report made interesting reading. It's almost as if the Edinburgh faithful are now used to mediocrity and can see no end to their disappointment. A serious reboot is called for next season.

CONNACHT'S PRIZE for their win at The Hive is another trip to Scotland, on Friday week, when they will pitch up at Scotstoun to meet Warriors in the quarter-final.

The Warriors medical staff are going to be busy over the next ten days or so, the Glasgow side are carrying a fairly-hefty injury list at the moment and they need to get some big names closer to full fitness before the match. One of the TNT Sports Prem cheerleaders came away with a rare shaft of intelligence over the weekend: the suggestion that - with the attritional nature of professional Rugby Union in the 21^st century, at this time of the season, just about every player is carrying some type, however slight, of injury. The quarter-final may come down to survival of the fittest.

Connacht will be no pushover, however, every club which has navigated those 18 rounds of regular season play to reach the knock-out phase of the League, has to treated as a threat and Franco and the players will know what is coming. With Warriors' home record, you have to fancy their chances.

The other quarter-finals will be equally hard-fought, they are:

• Vodacom Bulls v Munster – at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria

• DHL Stormers v Cardiff – in Cape Town

• Leinster v The Lions – Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Now, the season gets interesting.

IF – AND IT'S a big IF – Glasgow get through their next two games safely, they will have home advantage in the BKT Unitd Rugby Championship Grand Final. Except they will not.

Scotstoun was never big enough for such a game, that's a given. So what alternatives are there? For various reasons, none of the three big Glasgow football grounds could take the game. Not a problem, there's always Murrayfield, which is a second home to the team. Except, the National Stadium will not be available that weekend, as it will be in use for a cash-generating pop concert.

Now this has got the usual suspects in the Scottish Rugby up in arms. “Disgusted of Stockbridge” and the like will be fulminating against the unavailability of the ground, totally denying the fact, the SRU is trying to fight its way out of a bit of a financial black hole and the income generated by such off-season concerts goes a long way towards offsetting the losses sustained via trying to run professional Rugby Union in a nation obsesses with the round ball form of Football.

The sad fact is, there are only four sports grounds in Scotland capable of hosting a major match of this standing and for various reasons, none is available on the set date. That's what happens when you play what is regarded as a second rate game, in a colony, administered by third or fourth rate politicians and sports administrators. That's life folks.

 

Another Win For The Glasgow Globetrotters

THERE IS an awful lot of bullshit spoken or written when it comes to Sport – perhaps the best example being that Olympic Games creed: “The glory is not in winning but in having taken part.”

These noble words are immediately undercut by the Olympic motto: “Citius – Altius – Fortius” = “Faster – Higher – Stronger” which rather assumes, instead of simply taking part, you have to push yourself to beat your personal best and hopefully everyone else.

Sport is all about winning, particularly in professional sport. With most teams a win is a win, however it is achieved, but, there are other teams where the objective is to win with style and panache. In winning, that team is expected to lift their fans and everyone else, by showing additional elan and panache while going about their business.

Cardiff RFC is one such club – their distinguished history, particularly during the Amateur Era, demands that they put on a bit of a show whenever they take the field. Glasgow Warriors do not – as yet – have that burden of expectation on them, but, under Franco Smith, they are starting to forge a reputation for entertainment to the extent television talking heads, ok, not the most self-aware creatures on earth, do not feel embarrassed at dubbing them: “The Glasgow Globetrotters.”

So, when Cardiff ran out at Scotstoun on Friday night, there were great expectations of an entertaining 80 minutes or so – and, to the delight of the fans, both teams obliged.

Whatever else happens, the basic gospel of Rugby Union applies: “Forwards win matches, backs decide by how much”. The Glasgow pack which took the field on Friday night might not have been the club's strongest – the absence of the likes of British Lions Gregor Brown and Scott Cummings makes that obvious; however, the pack which did play was good enough to win the forward fight and give the talented Glasgow backs the foundations to win the game.

From the get-go, both sides sought to move the ball into the wider areas whenever possible. This made for an entrtaining match, but, behind the scrum, Glasgow had the brighter lights – the outstanding George Horne, Dan Lancaster, Kyle Steyn, Kyle Rowe with, for added enjoyment, a late cameo off the bench from Ollie Smith.

The bonus point win kept Warriors at the top of the BKT United Rugby Championship “log” - they are now guaranteed a top four finish, a home quarter-final at least. Winning their final game, against Ulster in Belfast will not be easy, but, the Ulstermen do have a Challenge Cup Final coming up and a lengthy injury list. They currently lie eighth in the standings, just ahead of Connacht, so cannot take it easy on the night.

The fact that the vagaries of the fixture list has thrown-up two crucial cross-channel matches in the round: while Glasgow go to Belfast, Connacht head for Edinburgh, addes picquancy to the round.

SPEAKING OF the capital side, that was an uplifting victory over the Dragons, in Newport on Saturday night. Given their up and down form this season, this was the sort of fixture from which you expected little of Edinburgh earlier this season.

However, they maintained their late season form by securing a third straight win, at a ground where they have folded in the past. It wasn't easy, at times it was “clunky” but, they got the job done.

The half-back pairing of young Harry Patterson and Ross Thompson gelled well, the returning Duhan van der Merwe did what he does – give him the ball and a metre of space and he will score. But, for me, the late career flowering of Grant Gilchrist has had a highly-positive effect on his club over these three wins.

The onus is now on Edinburgh to sign-off a disappointing season in style by beating Connacht in their final game. This is a challenge which has implications for Scottish more than Edinburgh Rugby culture.

I WATCHED Bristol v Saracens on TV on Saturday. A little-discussed one v one in the game was the clash of the tens: Fergus Burke for Sarries and Tom Jordan for the Bears. These two are vying for the understudy role to MacMessi in the national team, and their head-to-head was one of the highlights of an entertaining game.

I felt, on the day, playing behind the dominant pack and on the end of young Charlie Bracken's slick service, Burke took the honours, but, both produced quality performances.

It was good, too, to see Robbie Smith starting at hooker for Northampton in the East Midlands Derby, where Leicester's Nicky Smith won the Mince for Brains award on the day by having a go at Robbie early-on.

Acting stupidly with a Galloway Irishman – not a wise move, one which sparked-off a spirited spell of handbags and proved to many – props wear their Iqs on their backs.

Still in the over-hyped Prem, I seldom miss a Finn Russell performance, but, having watched his last two or three club games, I do feel MacMessi would benefit from a lengthy break. It will not happen, of course, but I feel, right now, he is running on fumes – although that still makes him a very-good player.

 

Eet Is All Appening In France

THE BIG NEWS in Scottish Rugby this week is the return of Jamie Ritchie from France. The talk o' the steamie is that, at the end of the season, he will swap Perpignan for Glasgow. This, should it happen, will be a major coup for Glasgow. I am not surprised, I was tipped off that it was happening a few weeks ago, by a friend with little more than a passing relationship with Rugby, but, a son who is aparently on very-good terms with Jamie.

However, the real stooshie from the weekend came from elsewhere in France, with our southern neighbours more than a little perturbed at what they saw as French frolics in the match between UBB and Bath. Leading the charge of unfairness, aimed at the French TV director, are Lawrence Dallaglio and Andy Goode.

From where I am sitting, I always wonder how The Italian Gelding – as I refer to Big Loll – still gets TV time. For me, he should have been kicked into the long grass alongside Inverdale and Woodward. Goode, I have a wee bit more time for, he does a good job when on URC duty alongside oor ain Barclay-Wilson Friday night double act. However, like many otherwise good English talking heads – David Flatman, Austin Healey, when put on a game featuring an English team, he reverts to being a fan with a microphone, convinced the sterling English Yeomen can do no wrong.

OK, suppose the French TV director did keep under wraps camera angles which might reflect badly on a French side – that's not a uniquely French attitude; I've watched the English edit of the 1967 England v Scotland football match at Wembley – the one we won 3-2 going on 6-2.

We played them off the park that day, but, if you view the BBC England highlights package, it comes across as us being the jammiest team on Earth to have won. TV directors and editors can easily turn fact into fiction.

The answer is to have, as happens in properly-financed leagues such as the NFL, a television stream independent of that going out to the general public, under the control of the governing body and linked directly to the TMO. This feed, and only this feed, would be used for those incidents where the TMO gets called-in. Bring this in and no domestic director could mess about with the neutrality of the match officials.

Mind you, there is another area where the NFL's in-house TV feed differs from how we do things in Rugby. They have a central point of reference, one studio covering all games, and, the replays are in real time – none of these super-slow-motion replays which can distort reality.

Any way, UBB won and won well. I had to laugh reading The Guardian's below the line comments from readers on the game. The usual English suspects were keen to blame Finn Russell for Bath losing. OK, MacMessi didn't have one of his best games; this was a solid 7/7.5-10 performance, but, on the day, with Bath losing the forward battle and UBB coming up on him quickly, not even Finn could control matters, although he did produce his usual handful of wonderful moments.

I HAVE been getting some flak from elsewhere in Ayrshire, for waxing lyrical on Ayr's double, achievded on Super Saturday, while ignoring Carrick's win in the National Shield.

I am now prepared to say congratulations to the Minnieboolers on their well-deserved success. I was involved in starting Rugby in the Capital of Carrick, when I lived there during the early years of my marriage. The late Roy Alexander, a fellow Cumnock Academical was Head of PE at Carrick Academy at the time and I helped him introduce the game at the school.

This was a few years before the Carrick club was formed, with another old Academy team mate – Ian McClung – playing a prominent role in the early days. They have come a long way down there in Carrick and it was such a pity that they could not back-up their Shield win by also winning West Division One, being pipped to the title by Lenzie.

Still, Carrick are going in the right direction, while my old club Cumnock are heading in the opposite one, relegated out of West One. It's a fair scunner.

BOTH IN FOOTBALL and in Rugby, I've been on the wrong end of some hammerings, but, I don't think I ever suffered a 100 points thumping. So, all I can say to the girls of the Scotland Under-21 team, who were thrashed 0-113 by France at the weekend is, sorry girls, you just have to suck it up and hopefully learn from this chastening experience.

I honestly feel forry for our women players, because I genuinely feel, there is a lasting institutional feeling inside the Murrayfield bubble that Rugby really isn't a game for girls. You see this in the way a lot of women's teams have to struggle to get an even break at their clubs. We really need to have a good, hard look at how we run the women's game in Scotland.

Speaking of Women's Rugby, I see World Rugby is introducing a smaller size 4.5 ball into international women's games later this year. This is a move I have long advocated, however, as ever when change is mooted, some women players are against the move.

Time will tell, but, I hope it works.

 

Going Out In A Blaze Of Glory

OUR DEAR friends from South of the Limpopo do rate their Rugby teams highly – and never tire of telling us how they've won four World Cups. This has led to some of us rating South African teams as better than they perhaps are. Certainly, they have excellent home records in the BKT United Rugby Championship, but, on the other hand – they sometimes travel as well as Belgian wine.

If we accept that Edinburgh is the Rugby Union equivalent of Partick Thistle when it comes to consistency of performance, then it stands to reason, not even the most myopic Hive regular had great expectations prior to the kick-off on Friday night.

The Sharks set the pace from the off, and with their scrum totally-dominant things looked bad for the home team. However, the visitors failed to fully make the work of their pack pay off and at the break, it was all-square, mainly thanks to a brilliant break by Grant Gilchrist, who set-up Glen Young for the match levelling try late in the first half.

With The Sharks employing their Bomb Squad after the break, they again pulled clear; however, in a golden spell in the middle of the second half, Edinburgh shot past them and established a lead which they comfortably held until the final whistle.

Ewan Ashman, who switched from hooker to open side when Dylan Richardson replaced the outstanding Fredde Douglas won the Man of the Match vote, but he had excellent support from the aforementioned Douglas, Hector Patterson and Darcy Graham.

However, this was a triumph of teamwork, with every Edinburgh player standing up to be counted on the night. The Sharks did have one or two individual cameos, but, clearly, this is a team with serious problems – the whole team does not add up to what the sum of their parts might indicate.

Highlight of the night was surely when The Sharks' scrum-half was pinged for a squint scrum feed. The last time I saw that was over a decade ago, when, playing for Edinburgh, the young Sean Kennedy was pinged in a pre-season game at Northampton Saints – and that was as a result of a short-lived RFU-directed purge on squint feeds, which didn't survive the opening month of the real season.

It's long past time for World Rugby to clamp down on this and the other Laws of the Game which they have allowed to slip – allegedly in the interests of making the game more exciting. Aye Right!

SUCCESS IN SPORT often comes down to timing. For instance, in Football, Scotland always seems to play better the season before performing in either of the big championships. Thus, it appears, between tiredness and the timing of injuries, Glasgow has gone off the boil as they enter the home strait of the season.

They looked like a team running on fumes in losing in Cape Town on Saturday, a defeat which knocked them off the top of the URC table. They really have to make the best of their fallow week to get back to winning ways for their final two regular season games.

YOU PERHAPS heard my roar of anguished pain as Ayr went up to collect the Scottish Cup on Super Saturday. This broke as I realised, here I am, the voice of good sense and reason in Scottish Rugby Writing, effectively banned from Murrayfield by the diktakt of the chocolate fire guard what mismanages the SRU's media operation – yet, what do I see live on television: degenerate chancers Auld Auchlin (Jock Craig) and Billy McHarg, sitting among the great and good in the committee box at HQ!!!

All kidding aside, I was delighted for Jock and Billy, and the other Millbrae Silverbacks that they got to properly celebrate such a stellar season for their club. If the other Premiership clubs had a Billy McHarg running things, then Scottish club rugby would be a lot healthier.

Super Saturday, however, belonged to one man – Ayr Captain Blair Macpherson. It is often said, the hardest decision any sportsman has to make is when to hang up his boots. It falls to a scant few to be able to go out right at the top – scoring a hat-trick, winning the Man of the Match call in a national cup final, in which his team has just completed a league and cup double in an unbeaten season.

Big Blair got it spot-on, way to go Son. He took his inspiration from Jon Bon Jovi and Kenny Rogers and went out in a Blaze of Glory.

But, in hailing Ayr's achievement, it would be remiss of me not to praise Currie's contribution to the final. Before the game, I had this horrible feeling, they could well rain on Ayr's parade. In reality, they gave the Millbrae men perhaps their sternest test of the season, only to fall just short.

I had this sense during the game, if the back divisions had been switched, Ayr would have won by a distance. On the day, the Ayr backs looked second-best to the Currie septet, but, as we all know: “forwards win Rugby games, backs decide by how much” and the Ayr eight were again dominant.

I am sure there are a lot of sore heads down in Ayr this morning. The bad news for the rest is, Billy will be back in his office on Monday morning, plotting how to keep Ayr on top of the heap, without the immense on-field presence of Blair Macpherson.

FINALLY, I am reliably informed, the Scottish Cup Final result wasn't up on the SRU's official website until 9pm on Saturday night, some four hours after the game ended.

Four hours to get the result from the main pitch to one of the offices under the main stand at Murrayfield and then onto the internet. Did the carrier pigeon have a broken leg and difficulty walking that distance.

I have been saying for years, the SRU's Communications Department, run as it is by the ultimate chocolate fire guard, has long been unfit for purpose, this is merely the latest example of this numpty's inadequacy – how is he still in post?

 

Another Legend Has Been Taken

THE FINAL WHISTLE has sadly blown on one of Scottish Rugby's most iconic figures, with the death of Allan Hosie. Allan had been ill for some time, but, he bore his troubles lightly and in many ways, his passing is a blessing after a lengthy period of darkness.

 

 His father was a stalwart of Queen's Park FC, and this meant the young Allan had a close-up view of some of Scotland's biggest football matches, as a ball boy at Hampden. However, he went to Hillhead High School, a rugby-playing scholl, and thus he played the handling game, before, after injury curtailed his playing ambitions, he switched seamlessly to refereeing.

At school, he had hooked for the XV from 1961 to 1963, however, a bad back injury saw his playing career curtailed at the age of 19.

His work in the insurance industry meant that Allan was able to make himself available to referee midweek games more regularly than officials in other fields of life. This meant he rose through the ranks at a phenomenal level and at the tender age of 27, he refereed his first Test Match – going on to handle over 20 Test matches, at that time a record for a Scottish match official.

Allan loved the game and this was obvious in his control of matches, he refereed with a smile on his face and a quip for everyone. He liked to keep the game flowing, but, he was not averse to moments of humour.

There was his legendary inter-change with the late, great Gordon Brown, in a West of Scotland game which was threatening to get out of hand. “There are too-many would-be referees on this field,” said a frustrated Hosie at one point. “Aye, and you're no the best one,” was the reply, allegedly from Broon frae Troon.

In a past life, I was full-time touch judge for Ayr, back in the days when even top clubs had to supply a flag bearer on the lines. We frequently found oursleves being refereed by Allan, and it was always a joy to see him.

I remember one game at Millbrae, when Ayr winger Stewart Hay intercepted and broke away from his own 22. None of the opposition chased him, but, as touch judge, I had to follow him up the park, as did referee Hosie. Oblivious to the lack of genuine pursuers, Stewart kept the foot down, collapsing over the line for a try, then seeing the pursuers he had heard had been Hosie and I, he cast aspersions on our parentage – Allan led the laughter.

Another game I recall was an evening match at Burnbrae, West v Ayr and at one scrum near the West line, as West scrum half Tommy Motherwell went to feed the scrum, Allan discovered he could not get close to him, since that weel-kent Yorkshireman and Ayr fan Arnold Pickles was actually on the pitch and looking over Motherwell's shoulder.

Allan thanked Arnold for his assistance, but assured him he had control of the situation, as he escorted him back behind the ropes.

On another occasion, he had to endure a lot of ribbing from the Glasgow and District Referees Association, after he went down on his knees to assure himself a try had been scored in an international. Legend has it, at the Association's annual dinner, he was presented with a prayer mat, should he be required to make a similar decision in the future.

From refereeing, he graduated to the ranks of the Alickadoos, initially with the Glasgow District Union committee, before he was elevated to the ranks of the Murrayfield Mafia.

He served the Union with distinction, was President in  2001-2002 and Scotland Team Manager on the South Pacific tour of 1993; whilst also taking his talent and knowledge of the game to the positions of Chairman of the Five Nations, then the Six Nations committee – where he famously, at the lunch/peace talks in Glasgow's Drum and Monkey pub, he so-charmed Bill Beaumont, then President of the RFU, that England's attempts to virtually take over the tournament were averted.

He also made a serious impact on the global game as Chairman of the International Rugby Board's (as World Rugby was then known) Laws Committee. He was not, however, a fan of the introduction of the yellow and red cards, perhaps correctly forecasting that some referees would use the yellow card as a cop out for offences which perhaps demanded expulsion from the field.

He also, famously, advocated the introduction of “The ten-point penalty” for serious fould play on the park. As Allan saw it, this would have been a kick at goal, taken from a “penalty spot” in the middle of the 22-metre line. I have always held, that idea should have been taken up by the game.

Although always identified as a Hillhead man – Hughenden was his second home – he lived for many years in Ayr, where he was a member of a group of what I called: “The Millbrae Silverbacks”, offering criticism and comment from the back row of the Millbrae stand, and great company in the clubhouse, and at their lengthy lunches in Grant Steele's Chestnuts Hotel.

Indeed, on one of his last visits to a game at Millbrae, before illness kept him confined to home, he was able to watch a young lady named Hollie Davidson taking charge of the game and afterwards forecast great things for her.

He was followed into refereeing by son Andrew, who emigrated to Canada and became one of their top officials. Allan had hung up his whistle by the time the Rugby World Cup was instigated, but, Andrew made it to that level. He is survived by wife Fiona, Andrew and Malcolm and their families.

It was a priveledge to call Allan Hosie a friend. He was a truly-great referee, but, more than that, he was a true Rugby Man – Rest In Peace old friend.

It's Hard In The Shallow End of the Player Pool

THE REALITY IS – Scottish Rugby is so small, we can barely muster a full 40-man International-Class national squad. At international level, our depth chart is much shallower than that of England, France and Ireland, perhaps also Wales. Given that our few genuinely World Class Players – the likes of Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn naturally, from their desire to maximise their earnings, are forced to leave our only two full-time professional outfits, these two teams are carrying more Journeyman Players than their rivals.

This drawback has affected Edinburgh more than Glasgow, and it has shown over recent weeks with a lack of consistency and wins. However, the manner in which they buckled down to snatch victory at the end of Friday night's Hive clash with Zebre Parma was impressive.

In truth, it wasn't a great game – an at times ugly clash of two teams over burdened by distinctly-average players, but, given they hadn't won their last three meetings with the Italians, the Edinburgh players will surely be delighted to have taken this one.

Edinburgh Coach Sean Everitt has had to endure constant abuse and criticism from a portion of the team's following throughout this season. The genial South African forged his coaching reputation as an encourager of young talent, so it was perhaps fitting than a team, heavily-reliant on youthful promise, should post this victory.

Some of the kids, such as debutant scrum-half Hector Patterson, actually impressed more than the more-established players did; this, for me, has been the captial side's problem all season – some of the regulars have failed to deliver on a regular basis.

The Edinburgh squad now contains some highly-promising young talent, the problem is, as I see it, a lack of above-average talent among the more-established squad members, this will handicap the team going forward for a season or two – regardless of who is Coach.

Still, a win is a win, so, let's celebrate it.

FIFTY-FOUR YEARS have elapsed since Lions Legend Dr Doug Smith first pointed out the problem of jet lag in international sport – after the Lions squad he ultimately led to the only Test Series win in New Zealand had tripped-up, first time out in Australia.

Later in the 1970s the problem of adapting to the rarified air on the high veldt in South Africa got Rugby Union's scientific community in a bit of a fix, one I don't think they have yet properly answered.

Certainly, flying straight down to Johanseburg means there isn't the problem of crossing time zones, but, as I understand it, not every team flies straight UK to South Africa. However, adapting to life at altitude still takes a wee bit of getting used to and I just wonder if Glasgow Warriors gave themselves enough time to adjust before Saturday's thumping at the hands of The Lions.

The South African outfit looked highly-impressive as they repeatedly cut through a distinctly off-colour Warriors' XV. Their off-loading at pace was a cut above anything Glasgow could produce on what was an extremely bad day at the office for the URC table-toppers.

When this Glasgow side is good, they are very good; but, on off days like Saturday, they can be poor in the extreme. Let's just hope they can get back to being themselves in Cape Town this coming weekend.

Every team has its low point during a season-long campaign, it just strikes me as bad timing in the extreme that Glasgow should be having theirs at a crucial stage of their season.

 

What Did Kipling Know

THIS BLOG has long preached: no nation has greater victories, or worse defeats than Scotland. This has been our lot from Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn, via Flodden, Culloden and – when national sport replaced war – various visits to Wembley, Twickenham and World Cup and European campaigns. When it comes to victories or defeats which reflect on our view of ourselves and our nation – we Scots definitely lack a sense of proportion – and don't think much of Rudyard Kipling's advice in If.

Thus, when the draw for the quarter-finals of The Investec Champions Cup handed Glasgow Warriors home advantage against Toulon, we Scots found ourselves in perhaps our most dangerous spot – we fancied our chances, we began to dream of greatness.

Beat Toulon – we have home advantage against Leinster; beat them, we're in th final: it's the latest version of an auld Scots sang – we've been there before. And as seems to always happen, our dreams were broken on the rocks of superb Toulon defence and their ability to take chances which was, on the night, far better than Glasgow's.

Warriors went into the game below strength. We had two promising but distinctly “green” locks in the boilerhouse; we were fielding our third-choice scrum-half. On a night which called for a near 100% performance, we got at best a 75% one.

On the night which called for greatness, we got a thoroughly bad night at the office and another chastening defeat. Fair play to Toulon, they might not be the star-studded squad of their days as triple European Champions, but, forged in the white-hot heat of the Top 14, or travel as well as Belgian wine, however, they were more-prepared for the big night than Glasgow.

I canot say I was surprised at the outcome. I had a bad feeling about this one in the build-up. But, in my eightieth year, I've seen this movie before, with different casts of Scots.

My thoughts in the aftermath went back to something Jim Sillars came up with in his days of political activism. I think it was during the unsuccessful 1970s campaign for the setting-up of a Scottish Parliament. The bold Jim suggested if the Old Testament tale of Manna from Heaven – Exodus 16, had been about the Scots rather than the Israelites, they'd have told God: “thanks, but no thanks” - clearly happiness is not for us Jocks. This defeat was just the latest in a lang, sorry story, going back centuries.

Europe has gone, but, Warriors still top the BKT United Rugby Championship table. They have four regular-season rounds to go:

• Round 15 – Lions (away)

• Round 16 – Stormers (away)

• Round 17 – Cardiff (home)

• Round 18 – Ulster (away)

At the time of writing, these four opponents lie (in order): fifth, second, sixth and third. The only game you would, at this stage, classify as a banker Warriors' win is the home meeting with Cardiff. A first or second-place finish, and therefore the guarantee of home advantage in the play-offs, is far from a given.

The pressure is now clearly on Warriors' medical staff, to get their injured stars back and able to contribute during the run-in.

As Rabbie said: “Forward, tho' Ah canna see, Ah guess and fear”.

HIGHLIGHT of the weekend for me came on Friday night, during that fantastic Bath v Northampton game. No prizes for guessing what I am going to highlight – it has to be that Finn Russell try.

It was right up there with The Archie Gemmill Goal. The difference was, wee Archie did it all with his left foot – Finn used both feet, and had still to get to the ball in that ridiculously-narrow Rec in-goal area.

BTW – I came across this picture on a Rugby Site's Facebook page – someone, obviously Scottish, had captioned it: “Fin, Finn and a Fanny” - I like it.

I'VE HAD A strange relationship with Ayr Rugby Club for some 65 years – there is something strangely-compelling abiut those pink and black hoops. Over those 65 years, the Millbrae club has produced a number of guys who are club legends - “Stiffy” McClure, Alastair McClelland, Auld Auchlin (Jock Craig to the uninitiated), the Brown Brothers, “Skippy” Kelly, the McCallums (Colin, Chtis and Peter), to name but a few.

On Saturday, Blair Macpherson's name was added to that illustrious roll-call. He signed-off in his final game at Millbrae, by leading Ayr to victory over GHA and a place in the Scottish Cup Final, at Murrayfield, next month.

Few players get the chance to go out in a blaze of glory, following a national cup final, at the national stadium. If the Gods of Rugby Union have any sense of fairness, Blair will hang-up his boots as a double winner – he deserves to.

So, why do I have this sense of foreboding. Having offered Ayr their stiffest tests of a hitherto unbeaten season – might Currie Chieftains prove to be the ultimate party poopers? Again: “Forward, tho' Ah canna see, Ah guess and fear”.