EDINBURGH EVENING NEWS REPORTS

BILL LOTHIAN


WATSONIANS centurion Will Campbell is banking on fellow BT Premiership rugby sides re-discovering a taste for giant-killing as the quest for the Division One title takes on an extra dimension.

Fresh from taking his points total for the Myresiders to 102 with two conversions and a penalty in the 17-12 win at Hawick last weekend, Campbell has re-affirmed his goals are primarily set on double the number of team prizes he thought might be available just a week ago.


'Sonians' latest success, while Glasgow Hawks were losing at Heriot's, has closed the gap on those leaders to six points, albeit Hawks have a game in hand.

But Campbell, an Australian-born but Scots-qualified full back, is increasingly convinced that the pressure might tell on Hawks whose recent record of one win from three starts contrasts with 'Sonians' 100 per cent credentials in the same period.

Campbell said: "I said as soon as we became the first team to beat Hawks in December that it could be a significant breakthrough provided we had opened the eyes of others to the possibility of following our lead.

"How often do we see in sport - Aussie cricketers during the Ashes series are an example - an all-conquering team finally losing so that others are immediately more prepared to have a go at them?

"That appears to be what is happening with Heriot's finding a way to overcome Hawks last weekend and especially if others are similarly encouraged we might yet pull off the title."

It is, of course, a tall order to close the gap with just six games remaining but Campbell says there is hope.

"Key could be the number of experienced pro players Hawks find themselves up against from here on, but there's no doubt that from focusing mainly on the BT Scottish Cup at the start of 2006 we are competing on two fronts again."

That Watsonians have battled back is in no small measure down to the 23-year-old Campbell and it is ironic that he, too, has used adversity as a springboard.

"I regard it is a great honour to have scored 100 points for Watsonians just as I do every time I pull on the No.15 jersey and recall it was once worn by Gavin Hastings.

"Living up to that tradition has been a spur in running at a goal-kicking average of 77 per cent, even if I did suffer humble beginnings in missing my first effort for the club in front of the posts at Heriot's in September."

With daily practice Campbell's technique has been honed to the extent that he is being regarded as a contender for the Scottish amateur team due to be launched in Ireland in March.

"[Coach] Cammy Mather mentioned the team and to be part of that would be awesome," said Campbell, whose Dad hails from Glasgow and was once on the youth books of Rangers FC and Birmingham City.

"Making a mark so that I might be considered for a Gunners contract, as well as checking up on ancestry was one reason for coming over from Australia, and when my manager starts to look around for next season hopefully there will be opportunities to remain in a city where I have settled well.

"The best way to ensure that is to be part of a successful side," adds Campbell, who certainly has experience of knowing what it is like to bring home a title. In his first season at Sydney's Eastern Suburbs club, after a spell in rugby league, Campbell helped ensure the Shute Shield was captured for the first time in 35 years.

Might he prove a similar catalyst in a Watsonians' debut campaign? And for those who believe in omens further encouragement surely lies in the fact they are due to sign off at Melrose - where they celebrated their only previous triumph, in 1998.

This article was posted on 11-Jan-2006, 14:41 by Hugh Barrow.