Hawick rugby president Ian Landles calls for more of same after winning cup and league double

Doing that double saw current head coach Matty Douglas’s side follow in the footsteps of the club’s class of 2002, winners of both premiership and cup that year after claiming the league title the year before for the first time since 1987.

Now, however, Landles is calling on the club’s current line-up of invincibles, unbeaten since March last year, to go one better than their illustrious predecessors, with Greig Oliver as head coach and featuring future gaffer Nikki Walker among their playing line-up, by setting their sights on delivering doubles at the double even if that’s a tall order.

“The only thing we can do not to make a backward step is to win a double double by doing the same next year by winning the league and the cup,” he said.

“That’s going to be a very tough ask obviously.

“I think we’ll have to not get carried away with ourselves, but we can be very proud of what we’ve done this season and very grateful.”

Looking back over Saturday’s 31-13 cup final victory against Marr at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium, he added: “It was a pretty nervy start but it was quite convincing in the end.

“It was amazing. I’m delighted for the boys.

“It was the icing on the cake. Having had such a wonderful season, it would have been disappointing not to have cleared the final hurdle, but we did.

“The 2001/02 season was similar as we were unbeaten and won the cup too, and that was the last time it was done and probably the only other time it’s been done as there wasn’t a cup going further back than 1996.

“You always hope these days will come again. I’m just fortunate that I’ve been president at a time when so many good young players have come through and been moulded into a team by three very good coaches – Matty, Graham Hogg and Lewis Bertram. I could just as easily have been presiding over another fight against relegation, but instead it’s been a wonderful season.”

Landles also paid tribute to the hundreds of Hawick supporters that made the 100-mile round trip to the capital to cheer their team on, saying: “It’s difficult to put a number on it but the team were very well supported, particularly bearing in mind that it clashed with the common riding’s Bonchester rideout.

“Whether it would have made a thousand there I’m not sure but it was certainly a great turnout and we outnumbered – and outvoiced – the Marr support.”