Melrose win Kings of 7s tournament at Hawick

Melrose captain David Colvine happily shows off the Hawick 7s Cup (all pictures by Bill McBurnie)

The event was the central attraction at the three day Borders Festival of Rugby, in whcih it was book-ended on Friday and Sunday by Teri Touch rugby – six-a-side touch rugby with mixed teams – and a host of youth events and specially-arranged matches.

The Rose defeated Jed-Forest 19-12 in the final to chalk up only their fifth win at the Hawick tournament, the second oldest in Scotland, which was the first small-sided rugby competition in the region for two years.

Melrose were probably worthy winners on the day, having fought back from being behind in the final and also an earlier pool match against Gala.

Selkirk unfortunately dropped out of the competition earlier in the week when a member of the playing squad failed a lateral flow test.

Hawick themselves were understandably keen to make a big impression in front of their home crowd and made it to the semi-finals, losing 26-10 to Melrose.

It was generally agreed it was great to have traditional sports back in the Borders and there was a vast array of talent on display over numerous age groups across the three days. Good crowds turned out to support the events as well, with the U16s and U18s attracting a typically large following.

Before the main sevens tournament, forwards from the Robbie Dyes’ first XV joined up with second-team players to take on a line-up from Jed-Forest, which counted for many as a proper full pre-season game, so they were glad of the chance to play again.

Keiran Clark, for Melrose, was player of the tournament

This weekend, the action shifts to Galashiels, where this sevens contest, although not part of the King series, is connected to the biggest and newest rugby festival in Scotland. It will be one of the highlights at Netherdale of Maroon’d at Gala, a large-scale community event. Results from Hawick:

Final – Melrose 19, Jed-Forest 12. Semi-finals – Melrose 26, Hawick 10; Jed-Forest 26, Kelso 7. Pool A – Gala 17, Melrose 21; Melrose 33, Boroughmuir 22; Gala 29, Boroughmuir 12. Pool B – Hawick 43, Musselburgh 0; Musselburgh 7, Peebles 29; Hawick 27, Peebles 7. Pool C – Jed-Forest 44, Watsonians 0; Watsonians 38, Berwick 14; Jed-Forest 45, Berwick 0. Pool D – Edinburgh Accies 7, Kelso 26; Selkirk withdrew.

The competition should resume in April 2022 and Melrose top the table on 13 points after two rounds.

1 Melrose 13 points, 2 Jed-Forest 10 points, 3 = Hawick/Gala 8 points, 5 Selkirk 7 points, 6 Watsonians 6 points, 7 Kelso 5 points, 8 = Edinburgh Accies/Peebles 3 points.