High hopes of being first in second-last Selkirk sevens

With the draw seeded, and Melrose, Jed, Watsonians and home club Selkirk in each quarter, it looks like there will be some exciting match-ups throughout the day.

After eight tournaments, Jed head up the table and require four more points than Watsonians to be crowned Kings of the Sevens on Saturday.

The Young twins were outstanding in their tournament win at Earlston on Sunday.

However, in the other half of the draw, Melrose were in terrific form last weekend, winning the Kelso tournament and scoring over 100 points in their semi-final and final wins against Watsonians and Gala respectively.

There are a few guest teams who will be very competitive, but the great unknowns in the tournament are Loughborough, who were very impressive last year and have a great history in the abbreviated game.

They are coached by former Selkirk player Ciaran Beattie, who will be keen to make an impression at his old club. The tournament is sponsored by Lawrie’s, St Boswells, and the cup by CPE Consultancy.

Action begins at 2pm and the first-round draw features:

Melrose v Peebles

Gala v Edinburgh Accies

Selkirk v Biggar

Kelso v Stewarts Melville

Watsonians v Falkirk

Loughborough v Langholm

Jed v Hamilton

Hawick v Berwick.

Lawrie’s Garage, part of the Border Motor Group, based in St Boswells, is once again sponsoring Selkirk Sevens, which takes place at Philiphaugh this Saturday, May 7. It’s the fourth year in succession the company has supported the event – and Lawrie’s sales manager David Henderson said the firm was delighted to be involved once again.

“We are very happy to continue our sponsorship and got a lot of positive feedback from last year’s event,” he said. “The Selkirk tournament is one of the most popular on the Kings of the Sevens circuit and Lawrie’s is pleased to be able to play a part in helping to enhance this reputation.”

Selkirk RC’s sevens convener is former Scotland internationalist John Rutherford, who said everyone at Philiphaugh was delighted to welcome Lawrie’s Garage back as the 2016 competition sponsor.

“Having Lawrie’s Garage on board for the fourth year in a row has given the 2016 sevens a massive boost and we’re delighted to be strengthening our ties with such a prestigious organisation,” he said, adding the tournament had again attracted an extremely strong line-up of teams. Lawrie’s Garage also intends to have some of its cars on display at the Selkirk tournament.