"DO YOU believe me now?" Heriot's coach Bob McKillop asked his players as they huddled on the pitch after this comprehensive victory over defending champions Boroughmuir, and the answer was obvious in the circle of laughing faces.
McKillop has been telling them all season they are good enough to beat anyone in Premiership Division 1; all they needed was to display some patience and composure and back it up with self-belief – qualities that shone as bright as the October sunsh
ine as it all came together against the pre-match favourites in a game televised live on the new BBC Alba channel.
"We put in a pretty good physical effort, but I think there was a mental shift as well," McKillop said. "We kept our composure which we haven't done in other games. So I'm pleased with the physical side and overjoyed with the mental side.
"We said at half-time we were only two scores down and there was no need to play catch-up rugby. We just had to keep doing the things we had practised, and we did and we went on to win. The challenge for me now is to get the same level of mental and physical performance next week."
The maximum five-point package from the game puts Heriot's into third place in the table, a single point behind Boroughmuir, who now face a top-of-the-table clash against Ayr, who lost their unbeaten record at Selkirk on Saturday.
The fall-out from that game could see Heriot's, who take on Edinburgh Accies, climb even higher if they continue to believe in themselves and exploit the blend of youth and experience that was so important incoming back from 17-6 down to run in four second-half tries.
And it was the side's youth which led the way, through winger David McCall, a Scotland age-group cap and former professional with Edinburgh who is still only 20. He caused havoc in the Boroughmuir defence early on and claimed two tries, the first from a pass he had to pick off his toes while travelling at full tilt, and the second after a cheeky interception in his own half and a 60-metre canter.
Then there was teenage flanker and Scotland Sevens player Chris Fusaro, fresh from warming the bench with the Edinburgh squad and revelling in some much-needed game time. There was one moment in particular: Boroughmuir full-back Greig Cottrell was carving a path through a crowd of players when he ran into Fusaro, who not only felled him in the tackle but instantaneously ripped the ball clear and presented it for his team-mates in what might have been an audition for an episode of the television series, Heroes.
And the strength in depth of Heriot's was further illustrated by another teenage flanker from the fringes of the Scotland Sevens squad, Struan Dewar, who only got on as a replacement for the second half and began his shift by ending an attacking surge with an aggressive 20-metre run to touch down between the posts.
By contrast, Boroughmuir's bright start faded like the daylight. A pair of tries by winger Tom Bury and hooker Bronson Ross looked to have laid the foundations to build a comfortable score, but Boroughmuir had no answer as Heriot's clicked into top gear, and Bury's consolation score in injury time came only after Heriot's full-back Colin Goudie had snatched the bonus-point try for his team.
Boroughmuir assistant coach Brian Richardson said: "We were second best. We played our best rugby at the beginning and at the end. The rest of the time we couldn't keep the ball. We were over eager and tried to force things when it wasn't necessary and we didn't perform to our best at all."
Scorers. Boroughmuir: Tries: Bury 2, Ross. Cons: O'Donnell 3. Pen: O'Donnell. Heriot's: Tries: McCall 2, Dewar, Goudie. Cons: G Wilson 2. Pens: G Wilson 3.
Boroughmuir: G Cottrell; T Bury, M Clapperton, E O'Donnell, E Mills; M Cannon, C Cusiter; C Costigan, B Ross, F Lait, G Scott, F Pringle, O Brown, E Matheson, A Martyn. Subs: N Malloy, S Waddell, B Fisher, A Seivewright, K Eseonu.
Heriot's: C Goudie; D McCall, R Mill, G Thomson, S Bell; G Rutherford, G Wilson; A Dymock, S Burnett, I Brown, I Nimmo, T McVie, J Parker, J Syme, C Fusaro. Subs: M Short, S Dewar, F Gillies, W Blacklock, S Wilson.
Referee: T Coutts.
The full article contains 760 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
