Change of format for rugby’s Border League

​Though billed as the oldest rugby union league in the world, its 15-a-side competition hasn’t been contested in a league table format for years.

Instead, to avert the risk of fixture congestion, it’s been played in two pools, followed by a final between the top teams in each of those groups.

Now, however, it’s reverting to a league table format, a move called for by many fans of the competition, launched in 1901, for years.

Its line-up for the coming season will be the same as last year – Hawick, Jed-Forest, Kelso, Gala, Melrose, Peebles and Selkirk, 2023’s winners.

This summer’s rejig of Scottish club rugby’s divisions, slimming National League divisions 1 and 2 to ten teams, paved the way for that change as it means Gala, Melrose and Peebles will be playing 18 regular league fixtures rather than 22, as previously, allowing them more leeway to fit in regional games.

Kelso’s promotion to the Scottish Premiership to join Selkirk, Jed-Forest and current champions Hawick was another factor as the region’s top-flight teams will be able to play half their six Border League fixtures as double-headers counting both locally and nationally.

Melrose and Gala only have one double-header in prospect, however, and Peebles, being the region’s only representatives in National League Division 2, won’t have any.

Explaining this year’s rethink, league president Gary Isaac told us: “There’s a lot of positivity about everything, including the Border League becoming a full league again.

“It’s come about just because we’re now able to fit it in with the ten-team national leagues.

“Previously, it was difficult to fit in with everything else but now we’ve got the potential to do it and the appetite too.

“It’s definitely a positive step because a lot of the players realise the competitive edge they’ll get from playing in the Border League.”

Isaac, also Gala’s president, added: “It’ll take a wee bit to get bedded in and for the players to realise what it’s all about because a lot of them will never have played a full Border League. It’s a competitive league.”

Only one free-standing league fixture has been lined up so far and it’ll see Kelso host Peebles next Thursday.