Losing start to 2026 goes on for Howe of Fife
Howe of Fife have got another two weeks to lick their wounds after their heaviest hiding of this rugby season but head coach Niall Lear says he’d like to see his team back in action sooner rather than that much later
The Fifers’ 63-12 defeat away to Glasgow High Kelvinside on Saturday saw them hit by their only 50-point-plus losing margin of this term, outdoing their 52-15 loss at Falkirk seven days prior by the equivalent of two converted tries.
The earlier of those two games also saw Howe on the wrong end of a winning double, having lost October’s reverse fixture at home at Cupar’s Duffus Park to Lear’s former club Falkirk by 48-22.
His side now have to play a waiting game until Saturday, February 28, to try to put those results behind them at Stewart’s Melville, with kick-off at 3pm, and that away-day also offers Howe an opportunity to attempt to make amends for a 52-36 loss hosting the Edinburgh outfit in September.
Lear would rather see his team getting back on the horse forthwith after making a losing start to 2026 instead of being sidelined for three weeks, though, telling Borders Rugby TV: “For us, the break now comes a little bit early as we would have liked to have had a couple more games to get back into our running, but it also does give us that opportunity to go away, get back to the drawing board and work out a really tangible plan of attack for the last five games of this season.”
Looking back over Howe’s seventh loss of this term, he added: “We weren’t really at the races and credit to them – they capitalised on every one of our mistakes and absolutely hammered us in transition.”