Ayr v Currie Chieftans
21st March 2026
I am going to begin this post with a bit of a rant: What is the point of League Champions Play-offs?
I get the promotion and relegation ones, even if they can occasionally result in sides finishing fifth, say, being promoted over a club who may have finished third and a dozen or so points ahead of them. It is all about maintaining the competitive aspect to a league, as deeply as possible into the season.
But, when a team who has finished top of a league, has to play-off against sides who have finished below them, in order to ascertain who is crowned Champions, that is just plain bonkers.
Thankfully football has not adopted this nonsense (yet), but I see the system in place in Rugby League, Ice Hockey, Curling (witness GB's Mixed Doubles team in the recent Winter Olympics) and also, here, in Ruby Union.
I remember well, that 2002/3 English Premiership season, when Gloucester (who had topped the table by 15 points) lost a one-off play-off to second placed Wasps. And, at the time thinking: What a Mickey Mouse system.
Amazingly Wasps went on to win the title via the play-offs after finishing second in each of the following two seasons as well. This bizarre (and frankly unfair) outcome to an English Rugby Premiership season has occurred on 6 further occasions since Wasps' hat-trick of phoney titles; most recently in 2019.
It is clear the English Rugby Football Association view their premier competition as primarily a cash-raising exercise, rather than a robust and reliable method of ascertaining the best team in the country.
The Scottish Rugby Football Union initially resisted this silliness, until finally introducing play-offs in season 2014/15. And there can surely be no better evidence for binning this dumb system, than this season (2025/26). For, not only did Ayr RFC romp away with the league, winning it by a whopping 33 points, but did so with a 100% record. Including (obviously) two wins over this afternoon's Play-off Final opponents Currie Chieftans.
It is clear the English Rugby Football Association view their premier competition as primarily a cash-raising exercise, rather than a robust and reliable method of ascertaining the best team in the country.
The Scottish Rugby Football Union initially resisted this silliness, until finally introducing play-offs in season 2014/15. And there can surely be no better evidence for binning this dumb system, than this season (2025/26). For, not only did Ayr RFC romp away with the league, winning it by a whopping 33 points, but did so with a 100% record. Including (obviously) two wins over this afternoon's Play-off Final opponents Currie Chieftans.
In what world could anybody with even a modicum of investment in Sporting Integrity, think Ayr should have to play-off to decide the "true" champions?
In the end Sporting Integrity did win out, but for most of this match Currie, were (worryingly) well in the match. Indeed, leading 10-7 after 20 minutes, and 20-19 just following the break. By the hour mark, Ayr had edged into 26-20 lead, but the visitors were clearly still well in the contest.
But the match was won and lost, in my opinion, when Ayr centre Jamie SHEDDON galloped on through the visitors' defence to open up a 13 point gap between the sides, with just over a quarter of an hour remaining.
The clubs traded further tries late on, but (cliche alert!) Sporting Integrity, I am pleased to relate, won the day.
