Hawick Force keep hold of trophy as Hawick Linden’s rugby sevens return after five-year absence

​That was only the sixth time Linden have hosted a short-sided tournament and it went the same way as their last one, in 2019, with Hawick Force winning for the second time.

Saturday’s sevens at Volunteer Park were contested by two pools of four, and the Greens’ reserves, with Andrew Mitchell and Hughie Donaldson as coaches, won all three of their group games on their way to a 17-7 victory in the final against Haddington.

Those group-stage wins were against Gala YM by 43-0, Walkerburn by 71-0 and hosts Linden by 27-14.

The other games in Force’s pool were victories for Linden by 69-0 versus Walkerburn and 58-0 against Gala YM and a 38-5 loss for Walkerburn against Gala.

Haddington, like their fellow finalists, were unbeaten in their pool, winning by 31-10 against Duns, by 19-7 against Hawick Harlequins and 41-5 versus Langholm.

Their pool’s other games were wins for Quins by 14-7 against Langholm and 41-5 versus Duns and a 45-17 victory for Langholm over Duns.

A shield final was also contested by the hosts and Quins, with the former winning by 38-0.

The prizes for both player of the tournament and try of the day went to Linden captain Tom Huggan.

Force’s tries in the final were scored by Sam Frizzel, Lewis Ferguson and Sean McMichan, with Harvey Blake getting one back for Haddington.

Captain Cian Riddell was pleased to see his team retain Linden’s sevens trophy, telling Borders Rugby TV afterwards: “The boys are happy. They played well and they deserved it in the end.

“It was a good shift from the boys.

“We deserved it in the end because we put a shift in.

“We’d never played Haddington before. They were a good team and they knew what they were about and they were tough finalists definitely.”

Linden vice-president Kieran Murphy was delighted to his club’s sevens back, saying: “It was a great day. We got great numbers and the sun was shining, which brought people out.

“I heard nothing but positive talk from everyone today, and even better was seeing Linden winning the shield competition and another Hawick club winning the cup competition. That just shows the talent in the town at the moment.

“I’m happy with the outcome. I’d rather the boys come away with a shield instead of picking up a silver medal. It worked out well. We’d have loved to have won our tournament, of course, but we’ve come away with the next best thing and that’s all we can ask for.”

Scottish Premiership table-toppers Hawick having moved their sevens back to April, Linden’s sevens are one of three being held this month in the Borders, along with Peebles’ and, this coming Saturday, Gala’s and Murphy would like to see that continue.

“After how the day went, it will be a permanent fixture in the rugby calendar,” he added.

“I hope that none of the top eight sides put their tournament back to August so we can use this as a platform for the years ahead as, from word of mouth, it seems like everybody enjoyed themselves.”