Quater Final Match Report – St Andrews 1st XV vs Heriot-Watt 1st XV
On a cold Wednesday night the Saints faithful and surprisingly a large group of Heriot-Watt supporters lined the pitch to watch the quarter final of the Scottish Trophy. The Saints lineup was largely unchanged. With a rest week in the u20 Six Nations, Oliver Finlayson-Russell returned to play at no. 8. With Ferg Cato on the bench, John Patterson was captain.
St Andrews got off to a quick start, early pressure was rewarded with a penalty close to the Heriot-Watt line. Opting to kick to touch, the maul powered over with hooker Archie McCusker scoring. Schreuder converted and the score was 7-0.
However, from here the momentum shifted. Heriot-Watt rumbled up to the Saints 22 before a smart chip in behind the defence by their fullback was scored under the posts by their outside centre. 7-7.
Building on this momentum Herriot-Watt struck again through some lovely phase play that began with direct carrying that opened space for their winger out wide, and his scorching pace did the rest. 14-7.
The Saints looked to answer quickly, stealing the restart and immediately battering at the Herior-Watt defence. Finlayson-Russell bounced off half their team as he rampaged into the 22, but unfortunately the potentially spectacular try went begging as the final pass lacked accuracy and was knocked on.
The rest of the half consisted of St Andrews getting into the opposition 22 but failing to look after the ball, leaving empty handed each time, much to the delight of the Heriot-Watt supporters. Heriot-Watt added three more points from the boot before halftime. 17-7
After halftime, Heriot-Watt scored quickly. Immediately following a Saints line-out turnover, the Heriot-Watt scrum half spotted the empty backfield which the Saints backs were scrambling to cover. His kick was perfectly placed, bouncing into the hands of their chasing flanker who beat the desperate closeout to score. The Heriot-Watt fans erupted. 22-7.
Looking to regain some momentum, coach Dave Morris brought on the steadying influence of captain Ferg Cato, along with replacement back rower Mark McKay. They made and immediate impact, providing dynamic ball carrying and giving the Saints attack more composure. This quickly paid off as McKay scored from another dominant maul. Schreuder added the extras, 14-22.
Fired up after the Saints try, freshman prop David Brown decided it was his time to shine. He burst through the defence and ran it deep into the Heriot-Watt half before offloading. Two phases of quick ball later, winger Tomas Russell scored in the corner. Schreuder’s touchline conversion drifted narrowly wide. 19-22.
St Andrews again struggled to score points despite dominating the possession and field position battle. With numerous penalties in range of Schreuder’s lethal boot, the Saints went to the corner each time and each time came away with nothing. The Saints faithful were wondering if they should have taken the 3 and tied the game.
Thankfully they didn’t have to wonder for long. And as was a theme before the Christmas holidays, Ollie Bloore proved to be the spark. Bloore made a nice run into the Heriot-Watt 22 off a scrum, then following some crunching carries from the forwards, Bloore dived over the line to score in yet another clutch moment. Schreuder converted to give Saints the win 26-22.
Link to watch the game: St Andrews 1st XV vs. Heriot-Watt 1st XV | University Rugby | 12/2/25