Melrose, Currie and Ayr all opened their British & Irish Cup campaign this weekend, taking on professional or semi-professional opposition in Bedford Blues, Leeds Carnegie and Plymouth Albion respectively.

As if the pro-team wins weren’t enough to give us a little fillip here in the world of Scottish rugby, Melrose and Ayr both fought back to secure last-gasp victories as they edged past their respective opponents 19-17 and 18-17.

Ayr were boosted by the addition of Johnnie Beattie and Jon Welsh with the former grabbing a try in the closing minutes after the Scots were down 17-5 at half time, while Melrose were down 17-0 at halftime and fought back for the win at the Greenyards.

It wasn’t all cheery though, as Currie were defeated 16-31 at Headingley. London Scottish were in action too, going down 63-0 to Llanelli who must be building a fair bit of depth, the Scarlets having also been in Heineken Cup action this weekend winning 31-23 (Sean Lamont dotted down for a try).