Border League revamp announced

At a meeting at Riverside Park last night (Monday), the seven Border clubs participating in next season’s tournament agreed unanimously to the Border League continuing.

The clubs have agreed to have a league next season rather than the two pools and a final which has been in place recently. All clubs have also agreed to play a minimum of one fixture in August this year.

The Premiership teams involved – Gala, Melrose and Hawick – will double head their appropriate Premiership fixtures with Border League games, while the Borders sides in the National LeagueSelkirk, Kelso, Peebles and Jed-Forest – will do the same. The actual matches chosen for double heading will be announced at a later date when the SRU release the league fixture list.

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The national cup competition is likely to go back to a knockout format which means there will not be a Border Cup in place next season, meaning that double heading Border Cup games would not be possible.

Border League secretary John Thorburn commented: “While this means there will not be a Border League Final next year, the Border League will return to being a proper league with all teams playing each other – something which is a huge positive. There is a genuine commitment from all the seven clubs taking part to fulfilling matches and avoid a repeat of events this season.”