Extra Borders team with ex-Selkirk head coach Scott Wight in charge to take part in 2024’s Melrose Sevens

The flagship event’s 1883 Centenary Cup hasn’t remained in the region since hosts Melrose last won it in 2011 and it’s not even stayed in the country since Edinburgh’s Watsonians beat the Greenyards side 19-14 in 2018’s final, but new invitational outfit South of Scotland Barbarians are hoping to break that duck come Saturday, April 13.

They’ll be overseen by former Selkirk head coach and current Southern Knights attack coach Scott Wight and he’s currently recruiting players with Borders connections not already signed up by the region’s seven national league sides.

The 38-year-old, formerly a stand-off for Melrose and Glasgow Warriors, said: “I am delighted to be leading the South of Scotland Barbarians team, and we intend to make the team as competitive as possible and give players with Borders connections not currently not playing for local teams an opportunity to showcase their talents.

“It is my personal passion to enable home-bred Borders players currently on the fringes of the professional rugby set-up a chance to play at the home tournament of rugby sevens.

“I really hope the Borders community gets behind this initiative and really supports the team.”

Wight isn’t naming any names yet but he’s expecting to include a few Knights in his line-up ahead of their last Fosroc Super Series Sprint campaign, kicking off at home in Melrose to Edinburgh A on Friday, April 19, at 7.35pm.

The idea for the new team arose from conversations with tournament director Phil Morris about how to boost Borders interest in a competition won by sides from outwith the region every year bar one this century, explained Wight, adding: “Being back at the club and involved with the Southern Knights, I’d been speaking to Phil and bounced a few ideas around about what would be good for the tournament from a local angle.

“Given where we are with the tournament attracting a lot of good teams from all over the world, local teams have been struggling to compete.

“Just look how long it’s been since there was a Scottish club winner, back in 2018.

“We’re just trying to put together a local team able to be a bit more competitive.

“Now it’s been announced, we’re trying to pull a team together, but there’s still a huge amount of club rugby being played and I appreciate that a lot of guys will want to play for their clubs.

“We’re looking within and outwith the region for players.

“We’ll support the team with a few of the local guys in the Southern Knights squad but it’ll be a bit of a balancing act for us as the season’s getting closer and we start it at home to Edinburgh A the following Friday night, so we’ll have to think about who to play at Melrose Sevens and how that will affect team selection for the following week, given that we’ve only got a squad of 29.

“It’s crucial that we get our Edinburgh A game right but there will be three, four or five guys from the Southern Knights involved in the South of Scotland team.”

Wight’s no stranger to competing at Melrose Sevens, having played there regularly in his younger days and coached other teams since

“I’ve actually been there with a few teams – Melrose, Glasgow Warriors and Aberdeen Grammar – and I’ve coached Melrose, Selkirk and the Co-optimists there,” he recalled.

The other Borders teams competing are Hawick, Gala, Peebles, Jed-Forest, Kelso, Selkirk and Melrose.

They’ll be up against Currie Chieftains, Watsonians, Boroughmuir, Heriot’s, Edinburgh Academical, Stirling County, Glasgow Academicals, Shogun, a British Army side, Assassins, Durham University, Hearts and Balls, Eric Liddell 100, Lion Rugby 7s, OG 7s and last year’s winners, Monaco Impis.

Morris added: “Melrose Sevens are really excited to support the request of the South of Scotland Barbarians team to participate in this year’s event and we look forward to seeing which exciting local players will be joining Scott’s squad.”

Melrose’s event is round three of the current Kings of the 7s campaign following tournaments at Peebles and Gala last August, and Kelso are currently top of the table on 20 points, with Selkirk second on ten, Gala third on seven and Hawick fourth, also on seven.

Tickets cost from £35. For details, go to https://melrose7s.co.uk/