Rugby: Cambus grind out win over Waysiders

Jan 16 2013 by Kenny Smith, Rutherglen Reformer

Cambuslang Rugby Club made it hard going for themselves on Saturday after cruising into an early lead in Coatbridge.

The side had scored three tries early on in the first half, through Euan Jones, David Woods and Andy Dick, to set themselves up for a good win.

But Cambus - who have risen to fifth in the table after their weekend win - took their foot off the accelerator, allowing Waysiders to get back into the game.

That’s not normally the case for Cambus, as they traditionally take a while to get going, before finally finding their form and winning games in the second half.

Vice-captain James McLaren, who has been leading the side during the long-term absence of skipper Pete Callaghan, said: “In the first half, we really blew them away.

“We were looking tremendous, as we got three tries pretty quickly and thought we would get the fourth to get the bonus.

“We had been playing some good rugby, then we started to give the ball away and conceded some stupid penalties, and I’m including myself in that.

“They got a try and were coming back into it, but thankfully, we were able to hold them off untli the end and came back down the road with the win.

“It was frustrating that we made it hard for ourselves because we normally have a bad start and then get going, so it was the opposite on Saturday.”

This Saturday, Cambuslang host McLaren at Coats Park, with a 2pm kick off.

When the sides met earlier in the season, Cambus won 22-17, with McLaren currently sitting third-bottom of the table on 15 points from 12 games, while Cambus have taken 33 points from 11 matches so far.

James, a former pupil of Trinity High School, said: “Being honest, we still don’t know that much about them.

“We played them earlier in the season when we won down there, and it was a pretty small, tight pitch.

“When they come to use on Saturday, we’ll be able to use our bigger pitch to our advantage, hopefully.

“The thing is, we’re starting to look really, really good.

“We hardly played in November and December, then we came back last week and had a good win against Wigtownshire, even through we weren’t fully fit.

“But over the last couple of weeks we have been improving, and it’s just a case of us getting everything to click, and finishing off teams.

“Everything else is all but there - we just need to get everything to come together.

“At the moment, there’s slight misjudgements here and there, but we’ll be back up there challenging for promotion.

“Everything will come together soon - you can see it’s not that far away - and when it does, I think we’re going to be unstoppable.

“Everyone in the team is playing well, and we just need to get that final piece, then we’ll be there.”

James has captained the side in every game bar one this season, when Pete Callaghan made his only appearance, but he’s found that the position of responsibility is one that he’s enjoyed.

James explained: “When you’re vice-captain you expect to get the odd game here and there, but not as many as I’ve had. It’s a real shame for Pete.

“I’m still getting used to it - but the boys aren’t giving me too much of a hard time, and I’m getting lots of support, especially from the likes of Gregor Jones on the park.”