The Bridgehaugh side scored a whopping 900 points in their National One campaign, but came up agonisingly short in their quest for promotion to the Premiership.
As his first campaign in the Stirling County hotseat draws to a close, head coach Craig Jackson believes this season of disappointment shows the fine margins in National One – and will spur his side to one place better.
County finished off a prolific campaign in Scottish men’s rugby’s second-tier with a thumping 16-try romp over Jed-Forest to cap a second place finish in which they scored a magnificent 900 points across their 18 fixtures.
But despite rattling in the equivalent of 50 points per match in their season, they didn’t get the statistic they most desired – top spot in the league, which instead went to GHA – unbeaten across their season with only a single draw against County being a blemish.
Jackson – who was elevated into the top step at County at the beginning of the season – was quick to congratulate the Glasgow side for their season but knows the pressure and the eyes will be firmly on Stirling to secure their own promotion next time around.
The County coach spoke to the Observer following Saturday’s big win about that and their season as a whole.
Jackson said: “We talked during the week about showing how good we can be and trying to get away from the disappointment of the Biggar game and it was a really good way to finish.
“The application was excellent and it was a complete performance from the boys; we asked them how motivated they can become from inside because there will be games next season where maybe the games won’t have the same magnitude and they had to get into the right head space to be effective.
“On the season as a whole, I suppose it’s mixed emotions – first credit to GHA, to go undefeated in this league is very impressive and they deserve their promotion but we have to remember we’ve played some outstanding rugby also.
“It was really two games that we’ll look back and say we slipped up on, GHA away and Accies away and it shows how tough a league this is to get out of, it is relentless every week, you see that with GHA who didn’t lose a match all season and it still went to the final round.
“We have to use the next few weeks to reflect on both the positives and the learnings we can look at and understand that rugby can be quite simple at times – if you want the game more than the other side, you’ll usually be able to win but you can’t play at 80 per cent.
“The points total we had shows when we play rugby we’re unstoppable, but at times, you have to win ugly and win in different ways and that’s just a learning process for us and having that process of winning games.”
The next few weeks are set to be busy as Jackson pores over every element of his side’s performance from the season – including his own – with much of the County squad already signed up or keen to stay on to secure that sought-after promotion.
“We’ve got a really good squad of players and some excellent youngsters as well coming through, players like Logan Gray and Ramsay Scott and Archie Rankin on the wing so the task will be getting them a little more experienced to add to what we have in the season”, Jackson added.
“It’s been a long year for some of the players who came from Super Series, so it gives them some valuable time off and opportunity to work on their skill-sets.
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“I’ve learnt every session and every day in the job and as a coaching team, we’ll all sit down next week and go through it all and making sure we’re doing enough to ensure we keep the standards high and what needs done on a daily and weekly basis.
“That is the fun part of coaching – the fact it is different every day and challenges you.
“But at the end of it, I’m confident we’ll be ready for whatever is thrown at us next season.”