Hawick to play Currie twice in space of four hours – at Melrose Sevens and at XVs in rugby’s Scottish cup

Elliot Stanger in action for Hawick at 2022's Melrose Sevens (Photo: Bill McBurnie)

This week’s draw for next month’s Melrose Sevens sees the Greens go up against the Edinburgh outfit in round one of the day’s 1883 Centenary Cup competition.

This year’s Greenyard sevens take place on Saturday, April 13, and they open with Hawick’s tie against Currie at 11.04am.

That’s just short of four hours before the Greens’ XVs side host Scottish Premiership title rivals Currie 19 miles south in the last four of the cup, kick-off there being at 3pm, and it’s three weeks ahead of Currie returning to Mansfield Park for 2024’s premiership play-off final as that’s now confirmed for Saturday, May 4, with kick-off at 2pm.

Hawick and Currie’s opener at Melrose, to earn a round-two tie against invitational outfit Assassins 7s, is followed by back-to-back Borders derbies pitting Gala against Peebles and Jed-Forest against Kelso.

The first round’s others five ties include Edinburgh’s Boroughmuir and Watsonians vying for a round-two tie against the new South of Scotland Barbarians and Selkirk playing Edinburgh Academical with a second-round meeting with Melrose at stake.

A Durham University side await Gala or Peebles in round two and Jed or Kelso will go on to play charity outfit Hearts and Balls.

Quarter-finals follow from 4.10pm and semis from just before 6pm, with this year’s final kicking off at 7pm.

The full draw can be seen at https://melrose7s.co.uk/news/melrose-sevens-announces-fixtures-draw-for-1883-centenary-cup-and-mike-bleasdale-cup/

Tournament director Phil Morris said: “We are thrilled to unveil the fixtures draw for the 1883 Centenary Cup and Mike Bleasdale Cup tournaments at this year’s Melrose Sevens.

“With a line-up of exciting matches and the chance for sponsorship, we invite rugby enthusiasts and businesses alike to be part of this historic event.”

Tickets for this year’s sevens at Melrose cost from £35. For details, go to https://melrose7s.co.uk/tickets/