Hawick notch up shield wins at double as well as claiming first bonus point of new Tennent’s Premiership rugby season

Hawick not only kept up their unbeaten start to the new Tennent’s Premiership rugby season against new boys Heriot’s Blues on Saturday but also claimed their first try bonus point of the new campaign to stay within reach of table-toppers Currie Chieftains.
By Darin Hutson
Published 26th Sep 2022, 12:05 BST
Updated 26th Sep 2022, 12:05 BST
Hawick's Connor Sutherland, Gareth Welsh, Stuart Graham and Jae Linton get ready to pounce from a scrum (Photo: Malcolm Grant)Hawick's Connor Sutherland, Gareth Welsh, Stuart Graham and Jae Linton get ready to pounce from a scrum (Photo: Malcolm Grant)
Hawick's Connor Sutherland, Gareth Welsh, Stuart Graham and Jae Linton get ready to pounce from a scrum (Photo: Malcolm Grant)

On top of that, they also picked up trophies at the double at their Mansfield Park home ground, retaining the Bill McLaren Shield and winning the new Norman Suddon Memorial Shield created in honour of the club stalwart and Scottish international following his death in April at the age of 78.

That shield will be contested each time the sides play, the capital outfit having been one of the teams the late prop most liked playing against.

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A 52-21 victory for the hosts against their Edinburgh opponents was secured by tries from Nicky Little at the double, Andrew Mitchell, Dalton Redpath, Ross Graham, Jae Linton, Tom Hope and Ronan McKean, with Kirk Ford converting all but two.

A Lewis Ferguson tackle halts a Heriot's attack as Kirk Ford and Gareth Welsh offer cover (Photo: Malcolm Grant)A Lewis Ferguson tackle halts a Heriot's attack as Kirk Ford and Gareth Welsh offer cover (Photo: Malcolm Grant)
A Lewis Ferguson tackle halts a Heriot's attack as Kirk Ford and Gareth Welsh offer cover (Photo: Malcolm Grant)

Basement side Heriot’s try-scorers were Oisin Quinn, Craig Robertson and Paul Christie, with Graham Wilson, Christie and Guy Kirkpatrick adding conversions.

That win was Hawick’s third on the bounce following an opening-day draw at home to Selkirk, leaving them sitting fourth in the table with 15 points from four games.

Next up for head coach Matty Douglas’s Greens is a trip to seventh-placed Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians, beaten 43-40 at Currie at the weekend, this coming Saturday, with kick-off at 3pm.

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Home captain Matt Carryer was glad to see his team pick up a bonus point at the fourth time of asking, telling Borders Rugby TV: “We were happy to get the victory with such a big score but obviously there are still little things to work on.

Ronan McKean on the attack for Hawick against Heriot's Blues, with centre Andrew Mitchell in support (Photo: Malcolm Grant)Ronan McKean on the attack for Hawick against Heriot's Blues, with centre Andrew Mitchell in support (Photo: Malcolm Grant)
Ronan McKean on the attack for Hawick against Heriot's Blues, with centre Andrew Mitchell in support (Photo: Malcolm Grant)

“We’re not the finished article but we’re extremely happy to get that result.

“Last year, we let a few bonus points slip and it hurt us towards the end of the season, stopping us getting a home play-off semi-final, so if we can pick up as many as we can throughout this season, we’ll be quite happy.

“Fair play to Heriot’s, some of their moves were quite hard to defend against, but we could probably improve on that, so we’ll be looking at that and working on that in training.”

Related topics:HawickPremiershipBlues