Hawick extend unbeaten run in rugby’s Tennent’s Premiership to 13 matches by thumping Edinburgh Accies 41-0

Hawick attacking in numbers during their 41-0 home victory against Edinburgh Academical on Saturday (Photo: Malcolm Grant)

Hawick are now less than seven hours of rugby away from going through the entirety of the regular part of the current Tennent’s Premiership season undefeated after inflicting a seven-try walloping on fellow title challengers Edinburgh Academical at home at Mansfield Park on Saturday.

Such a prospect might have looked unlikely in the extreme after they were held to a 20-20 draw at home to Selkirk on the opening day of the campaign back in August but the Greens have won all 12 of their games since, albeit only one, at home to Musselburgh last month, as emphatically as they saw off Accies at the weekend.

That 41-0 victory, leaving Hawick on 57 points from 13 games, as well as keeping the Bill McLaren Shield in their possession, sees them stay four points clear of second-placed Currie Chieftains, 37-32 victors at home to Heriot’s Blues on Saturday, at the top of the table and puts them 15 ahead of third-placed Accies.

It also extends their unbeaten run at Mansfield Park in the premiership to 21 matches, their last reverse there being by 10-6 to Glasgow Hawks back in October 2019, that being one of two home losses on the trot that month, the other being by 43-15 against Marr.

Andrew Mitchell on the attack for Hawick against Edinburgh Accies on Saturday (Pic: Malcolm Grant)

The hosts’ tries, accompanied by a penalty try, were scored by Gareth Welsh at the double, Jae Linton, Ronan McKean, Calum Renwick and Kyle Brunton, with Kirk Ford adding two conversions.

Saturday’s win against Accies was Hawick’s second of this term after edging them out 13-12 in the capital in mid-September and a third meeting might well follow in the end-of-season play-offs next year.

There are still a handful of matches of the regular part of the season to contend with ahead of that finale, however, the first of them being a trip to Edinburgh to take on second-bottom Heriot’s Blues this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 2pm.

Head coach Matty Douglas’s Hawick side won the reverse fixture in the Borders 52-21 in September and will be hoping to do the double against Edinburgh opponents for a second week on the bounce.

Ronan McKean on the ball for Hawick versus Edinburgh Accies on Saturday (Pic: Malcolm Grant)

That’s the Greens’ penultimate league fixture of the year, their last being a visit from seventh-placed Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians on Saturday, December 17, with that game also kicking off at 2pm.

Try-scorer Linton was delighted with his team’s performance, telling Borders Rugby TV afterwards: “I’m proud of the boys.

“You can’t ask for much more than not letting Accies score a point, so I’m chuffed for them.

“We’ve not been beaten here this season or last season so we just need to keep going at that and keep it up for as long as we can.”