There was a debut for Joe Tolu making his return to the game after several years on the sidelines with Gavin Tainsh leading the side out in a historic year for the Club.

It was a brutal game of big bosh rugby at times with the tackle count ticking over by the dozen as both sides looking to get the season off to a flyer.

Broughton were able to make the best use of turnover ball with a kick through by debutant Tolu that found Neil Armstrong who opened the scoring for the visitors.

After the interval, Alex McCutcheon got his hands on a Porty fumble to run half the length of pitch (we hear it was from inside his own 22 by 9pm) to dive over tight against the touchline to double the lead. Broughton then added a 3rd try courtesy of the talismanic Craig Wishart following a sustained period of determined running to lead 0-19 going in the final 10 mins.

A resolute Broughton defence almost held off the hosts from breaching their whitewash with tenacious tackling throughout however Porty were rewarded at the death with a converted try of their own.

24 hours later and it was the turn of the Women’s team to impress in front of a bumper crowd at Wardie for their opener against Howe of Fife.

New recruits Jacqui Kerr, Kay Lusby and Anna Scott were in the squad that saw Helen Lyon assume her berth at Hooker whilst Dawne McPherson made the move from the backs into the powerhouse pack.

A quick double whammy from the start caught the Cupar tourists cold as Olivia Henderson and Kay Lusby ran in for tries to put the home side 10-0 up after only five minutes.

Kirsty Venter, cheered on by a number of Heriots players who she turned out with the previous day, then converted her own try to make it 17-0 shortly after.

A chance to draw breath was to follow as the game simmered down to a mere frenzy as play swept from one end to the other resembling some form of Basketball meets Rugby on steroids.

Broughton’s penalty count started to creep up as the visitors pushed up the slope looking for a way back into the game and their patience paid off with a try that had the extras added.

However, with the last play of the half, the margin was restored when Erin Ramage popped up in the corner to dive in to collect the bonus point.

If the home crowd were impressed by the opening period, they were treated to a sublime second half up the infamous Wardie slope with a further six tries.

Venter looked to be in for another try however a high tackle thwarted her, only for the Referee to deem it denied her a scoring opportunity and raised his arm to award a penalty try.

The pick of the tries however came in the 53rd minute. Venter’s chip and chase saw the ball bounce kindly for the full back but it was a moment of sublime skill to collect and ship out to Alex Laidlaw to run in unopposed. Cue absolute scenes on the sidelines!

A solo lung-burster by Lusby saw the No.8 evade the desperate attempts to fell the forward to run in under the posts that were subsequently split by Vicki Anderson.

Venter then doubled her tally with an easy run in for Anderson to add the extras and bring up the half century.

Helen Lyon was next to get on the scoresheet, ducking under a tackle or two before galloping like a Gazelle towards the line.

With the waft of savoury delights from Piemaker emerging from the Clubhouse kitchen, there was just enough time for Captain fantastic Charlotte Blair to round off the perfect opener with a try of her own. Vicki Anderson completed the scoring with another conversion before the sides trotted off for post-match pints and pies.

Reporting from Johnny Wells and Mark Brown. More pie sports than Sky Sports.