Ayrshire Bulls held off a second half fightback from Stirling Wolves to win the last ever Super Series title 33-19 in a pulsating contest at Millbrae.  

The home side opened the scoring when James Malcolm, the former Glasgow hooker, drove over from a close-range lineout.  

The hosts extended their lead inside the opening 10 minutes thanks to captain Blair Macpherson’s try from a similar distance after turning down a straightforward kick at goal.  

The home side dominated physically – both Wolves forwards Jare Oguntibeju or Ed Hasdell lost the ball in contact cheaply as Stirling struggled to get into the game. Even when Reiss Cullen through a wild pass, Macpherson had time to compose himself before picking up.  

When the Wolves did get into the game from a lineout drive of their own just after the half-hour, Ross McKnight and Glenn Bryce couldn’t link up from Craig Jackson’s cross-field kick.  

Oguntibeju and prop Marius Tamosaitis, the Lithuanian international tighthead, were heavily involved as the visitors attempted to bludgeon their way over, but the Ayrshire Bulls defence held out and cleared after McKnight’s attempted offload to Mikey Heron went forward.  

The home side punished their visitors further and tightened their grip on the game on the stroke of the interval when prop Calvin Henderson repeated the feat of his pack colleagues earlier in the half to score the Bulls’ third try. Another Simpson conversion gave the home team a 21-0 half-time lead.  

If the Wolves lacked a clinical edge in the opening 40 minutes, they were anything but after the break, Ruaridh Knott powering over.  

The hosts thought they had a fourth try when Luca Bardelli plucked a kick out of the Ayrshire sky and fed Tom Glendinning, but the winger was left red-faced after dropping the ball as he dived for the line.  

Macpherson stole a ball left unguarded at the base of a Wolves ruck and fed Mason Cullen, who ran 70 metres to score.  

The visitors showed no signs of rolling over and hit back when wing McKnight cut through from a scrum inside the home 22, and they were firmly back in the contest when Knott claimed a loose ball and fed Ryan Southern to score with quarter of an hour to play. 

Holden, who failed to convert McKnight’s conversion from just to the right off the posts, landed a much tougher kick to bring the visitors to within seven points at 26-19.  

When the Bulls won a penalty 5m from the Stirling line shortly after, they opted to tap rather than taking a straightforward kick at goal.  

The visitors lost replacement scrum-half Eric Davey to the sin-bin and from another penalty inside the Wolves’ 22, the Bulls again turned down three points but were rewarded when Jamie Shedden scored in the corner to seal victory. 

 

Ayrshire Bulls: Luca Bardelli; Tom Glendinning (Elliot 77), Jamie Shedden, Bobby Beattie, Mason Cullen; Richie Simpson, Reiss Cullen (Johnston 64); Jamie Drummond (Miller 60), James Malcolm (McGuire 54), Calvin Henderson (Tanner 50), Ed Bloodworth (Baird 54), Rory Jackson, Grant Stewart (Brown 50), Lewis McNamara (Sweeney 60), Blair Macpherson (c).  

Tries: Malcolm (6), Macpherson (11), Henderson (40), M Cullen (54), Shedden (75) 

Conversions: Simpson (7,12, 40, 77) 

Stirling Wolves: Glenn Bryce; Mikey Heron (Ferrie 50), Ryan Southern, Marcus Holden (c), Ross McKnight; Craig Jackson (Cunningham 45), Kyle McGhie (Davey 54); Liam Quarm (Rogers 76), Joe Roberts (Robertson 62), Marius Tamosaitis (Phelan 69), James Pow (Clarke 54), Jare Oguntibeju, Ruaridh Knott, Shaun Macdonald (Duncan 50), Ed Hasdell.  

Tries: Knott (43), McKnight (59), Southern (63) 

Conversions: Holden (44, 64) 

Yellow card: Davey (68) 

Player of the Match: Grant Stewart 

Referee: David Sutherland