“That performance was not acceptable to us. We’re not looking for any excuses; not looking to pass the buck. There were too many dropped passes and too many missed tackles,” he said.

You could be mistaken for thinking those words came from Johnny the BATS coach, however they did in fact come from Scotland coach Matt Williams who lambasted his charges after their heavy 10-45 loss to South Africa in the final Abbey Autumn Test at Murrayfield on Saturday!

In a bitterly cold & wet day at Arboretum, the world record for scrums was surely surpassed and will be unlikely to be beaten for sometime as feet and hands seemed to mysteriously swap places on the anatomy of a large percentage of the 30-odd players causing the referee to ask Santa for a fresh pea for his overworked whistle!

The BATS took the game to their hosts from the start and despite dominating the majority of the 1st half, they only had a Mad Mike MacLennan try, converted by Ollie the Welsh wizard to show for their hard work.

In an error strewn match, it was perhaps a stunning surprise to see inventive play bring the Inverleith team level with 5 minutes left on the clock.  I think it was a string of AT LEAST 3, maybe 4, non-spilled passes that allowed the home team to earn a share of the spoils at 7-7.

Oh and how it could have been so different for the aforementioned boy from the valleys!  The match official awarded a penalty 25 yards out, tight on the Ferry Road touchline and with no time to kick for touch, the wee man opted for the sticks to grab a late winner.  Your friendly scribe ran onto the pitch with the only visible kicking tee on the sidelines, only to be advised that this was not the correct one and it was only a marker cone he required!  The referee, obviously wanting to get to Murrayfield for the game, blew for the end of the game during this comedy moment!!! 

Whilst I could have thumped young Ollie, I would have probably landed myself in bother.  The reason why?  BATS in Europe are protected under the Wildlife Order 1985 and this law make it illegal for anyone without a license to intentionally kill, injure or handle a bat of any species!!  (Where do I get this rubbish from?!)

A big warm (oh, can you smell the irony) Broughton welcome to Nick Etuk who played the 2nd half of Saturday's match.  Nick joins a growing list of bankers at the Club and the former London Nigerians second / back rower enjoys a bevvy as well!