South of Scotland name slimmed-down squad of 33 for this rugby season’s inter-district championship
South of Scotland have stepped up their preparations for next month’s inter-district rugby championship by whittling down their initial 48-strong training squad to 33.
One of the 15 players leaving their training camp is Kelso fly-half Dwain Patterson, having been ruled out by a dislocated shoulder sustained during the Poynder Park outfit’s 39-22 Arnold Clark Premiership derby victory at home to Melrose on Saturday.
The 25-year-old has been an ever-present in South squads since the championship’s revival in 2023, initially as injury cover for Kelso teammate Liam Herdman, and also started for Scotland’s club XV for their 42-33 loss away to Ireland in Dublin in February.
Saturday’s injury will keep him out of action at least until December, so he’ll miss all of this season’s championship, leaving Herdman, also able to play at full-back, and Melrose’s Luke Townsend to vie for his No 10 jersey.
Head coach Scott Wight’s slimmed-down squad, made up of 19 forwards and 14 backs, will regroup on Sunday to prepare for the coming three-match campaign and he’ll name their match-day line-up next week for their opener away to Edinburgh at Musselburgh’s Stoneyhill on Friday, November 6, with kick-off at 7.30pm.
The South are then away to Caledonia Reds in Aberdeen on Saturday, November 14, and conclude their campaign by welcoming reigning champions Glasgow and the West to Melrose’s Greenyards on Saturday, November 21, with respective kick-offs at 2pm and 5pm.
Melrose and Kelso account for just short of a third apiece of the squad, supplying ten players each.
The Greenyards club are represented by four forwards and six backs and their Poynder Park rivals by five of each.
The Melrose forwards selected are Patrick Anderson, Sam Derrick, Jack Dobie and Angus Runciman and their backs, besides Townsend, are Callum Anderson, Donald and Douglas Crawford, Ben Pickles and Gavin Wood.
Harry Borthwick, Dan Gamble, Euan Knox, Gregor Law and Grant Shiells are the Kelso forwards swapping black and white hoops for red and white ones, accompanied by backs Hamish and William Tweedie, Archie Barbour and Angus Utterson, as well as Herdman.
The Borders’ other premiership club, Hawick, supply seven players – one back, centre Andrew Mitchell, and forwards Nicky Little, Calum and Fraser Renwick, Jae Linton, Shawn Muir and Connor Sutherland.
They’re joined by two other representatives of Scottish club rugby’s top flight, Currie Chieftains’ Gregor Christie and Jack Fisher.
Two of the region’s three Arnold Clark National League Division 1 clubs provide the remaining four members of the squad, Jed-Forest being the odd men out, and they’re made up of Selkirk’s Bruce Riddell and Gala’s Angus Dunn, Robbie Irvine and Ben Gill.
Looking ahead to the fourth championship since the competition’s revival three years ago, former Melrose and Southern Knights co-head coach Wight, also returning as an assistant coach for Scotland’s club XV next year, said: “We’ve led in terms of attack structures and then just let the boys get on with it, and it’s been really pleasing how quickly they’ve picked that up.
“There have been some really good conversations around that as well with some of the players and now we’ll decide on the way that we’re going to play.”
The South, Reds and Glasgow have won one championship each since the competition’s revival after over 20 years in abeyance, respectively in 2024, 2023 and earlier this year.