Victorious Ayrshire Bulls head coach Pat MacArthur praised his team as they finished the last Super Series league the way they’d finished the inaugural tournament, by lifting the trophy.
They raced into a 14-0 lead inside the opening quarter of an hour against Stirling Wolves at Millbrae, and extended that advantage to 21-0 before the visitors threatened a stunning second half comeback.
READ MORE: Ayrshire Bulls hold off Stirling Wolves fightback to win Super Series Sprint
But a late Jamie Shedden try saw the Bulls secure victory and lift the title in front of their own supporters.
MacArthur, who will step back from his role as the Bulls players fall back into the amateur game, it was a fitting way to bow out having lost to the same opponents in last year’s Super Series Championship final.
He said: “I mentioned in the week that we should have been going for a double.
“I’m so proud. If you look at the success of the club, it is built around the team. The last three or four years that I’ve been involved, it’s been the same players that have been here and that’s a massive thing to say.
“It’s a shame that is now the end of the Bulls, but we go out on a high.”
While three of the Bulls tries came from the pack, former Scotland hooker MacArthur singled out his three-quarters for praise.
He added: “Everyone says that if you can stop our forwards, you can win the game, but we have a really good backline as well. The first try, we broke it into the wide channel and then brought it back in for the forwards to do the work.”
With Super Series no more, Ayr will play in next season’s Premiership but MacArthur remains confident the Millbrae club can continue to thrive.
He said: “We will expect the same standards; this is what doesn’t change. We go out and play to a level that we can stand by and that won’t change next season.”
“The big thing is that the boys are at this club because they enjoy it so much. The club supports and looks after them as best they can, and the players give back as best they can. That’s why progression will come, and we can build off the back of this.”
Meanwhile, Stirling Wolves head coach Eddie Pollock lamented a slow start but was proud of his side's second half display.
"We gifted them attacking positions and against Ayr, especially at Millbrae, you will pay a price for that,” he admitted.
“We fought back into the game and played reasonably well in the second quarter but the score at half-time was crucial. We would have been quite confident at 14-0 with the wind behind us but that score gave them a buffer.
“Then we got ourselves back to a one-score game and had a chance to win but had three or four opportunities to clear our line and just panicked and lost control. No complaints; Ayr were simply better on the day.”
While the Bulls were winning trophies when the semi-professional league’s first season ended, the Wolves were propping up the bottom of the table.
They have made significant progress under Pollock’s guidance – and he believes the club, which will play in National League Division 1 next season, will retain many of its Super Series players.
He will oversee the coaching set-up as performance director at Bridgehaugh.
Pollock added: “I said to the players, you can’t win everything but they should be proud because they have played some fantastic rugby over the last 12 months and are a great team to watch.
“Ayr could easily have run away with it but we fought really hard. We made mistakes but nobody can question our fighting spirit. It’s a strong group and most of them will stick together next year.”
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