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Rugby: Highland aiming to kick on in return to National 1 action against Watsonian

Highland head coach Davie Carson.
Highland head coach Davie Carson.

Highland head coach Davie Carson insists his side are fired up for their return to National 1 action away to Watsonian on Saturday.

The fifth-placed Inverness outfit were defeated 36-30 in a thrilling encounter at home to Melrose in their last fixture on November 12.

After the match, Carson described it as the best second-tier match he has seen.

Despite the defeat Highland had been full of confidence ahead of their trip to Aberdeen Grammar last weekend, however the match fell foul of the weather.

Carson says his players are raring remain in determined mood in advance of this weekend’s fixture in Edinburgh.

He said: “Our captain Scott Fraser talked about how the momentum coming out of the Melrose game was really good at training, even though we were beaten in that match.

“We had been looking forward to the Grammar game to carry that on.

Highland kicker Scott Fraser.

“Not to have that was disappointing, but we just need to keep that momentum going against Watsonian.

“Given we have been away so much recently, we gave the players the weekend off to spend with their families.

“There were obviously no bumps and bruises, so we were full out at training on Tuesday night to get back into it.”

Carson aims to use pace to Highland’s advantage in capital

Highland have yet to come up against Watsonian so far this term, with the capital outfit 10th in the table.

Watsonian triumphed when the sides last met in January, securing a 32-25 victory over Carson’s men.

Carson, who is without the unavailable Grant Jamieson and Lewis Sinclair, is not reading too far into league positions ahead of the match.

He added: “They have only won two or three games, and although they have taken a couple of beatings the rest of the games have been pretty close.

“We will not be going down there just expecting a win, we need to put a performance in.

“We came unstuck down there last year and lost by seven points.

Action from Highland’s 40-10 win over Watsonian in 2021.

“They play a good brand of rugby and throw it about, so I think it will be quite an open game.

“We are looking for the pace we had against Melrose, and the multi-phase rugby that got us four tries against them.

“The pitch at Myreside is fantastic, it will obviously depend on how wet it is but if it’s a nice day we will look to throw it about.

“Even if it’s not really wide stuff, as long as it’s fast we are going to come up against a disorganised defence. That’s going to be the plan this week.”

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