The part of the Ayr title drive that has been most impressive is that they have not just beaten their immediate rivals, they have hammered most of them. Of the four teams on their tail, only Heriot’s have seriously threatened them.

On Saturday, they swept Boroughmuir, the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership champions and their closest challengers, aside with a bonus-point win that was more comfortable than the 34-10 scoreline suggests.

They had the result wrapped up by the break and could afford to relax a bit in the second half, as the Edinburgh side mounted their predictable but altogether too little, too late comeback. When it mattered, though, the Ayr forwards were in complete control, making life easy for their half backs and with Boroughmuir contributing to their own downfall — the try by Andy Wilson, the wing, came from an interception and too much of their tackling was half-hearted.

Under Kenny Murray, the coach who joined them in the summer, Ayr have lost none of their forward drive and can still destroy opponents up front, but they have added genuine bite to their back division, making them not only the most successful team in the first third of the Premiership season, but also one of the most entertaining.

The win moves them six points clear at the top of the table, with Heriot’s now their closest challengers after hammering Edinburgh Academicals 49-15, with Jim Thomson, the Edinburgh professional, ruling the roost and David McCall, who has dropped off the professional radar but is still one of the most exciting runners in Scotland, collecting a hat-trick.

It is bunched up in the middle of the table with Watsonians easing past Currie, 32-8, to stay level on points with Heriot’s, while West of Scotland climbed to fifth, alongside Borougmuir, by beating Selkirk 29-17. At the foot, Stirling County’s woes continued at Melrose while Glasgow Hawks got the worse of their clash with Hawick.