Updated: Rugby premiership play-off misses for Borderers a first

Since play-offs for the top four teams in the table were first contested in 2015, the region has always been represented, with two years off, 2020 and 2021, but that run is now at an end.

All four sets of Borderers in this season’s one-off 12-team set-up have secured their top-flight status for next term with one fixture card left to go but they’re all set to end up just about next to each other in mid-table.

Head coach Gordon Henderson’s Selkirk, beaten 43-27 at Glasgow Hawks on Saturday, got closest as they finish fifth, on 61 points from 22 fixtures, 13 shy of fourth-placed Currie Chieftains ahead of the Edinburgh outfit’s last game of the season this coming Saturday away to second-from-bottom Marr but also five better off than joint opposite numbers Scott Wight and Iain Chisholm’s sixth-placed Melrose, left with 56 following a season-ending 50-28 victory at home to basement side Musselburgh on Saturday, March 29.

That fixture card also saw co-gaffers Bruce McNeil and Nikki Walker’s Kelso conclude their campaign with a 27-24 win hosting Hawks, leaving them ninth on 46 points from 22 fixtures.

Like Selkirk, head coach Graham Hogg’s Hawick concluded their campaign on Saturday, losing 24-19 away to Marr in Troon, and with 53 points to their name, they end up seventh.

That follows three top-four finishes on the trot for the Greens.

They ended up top of last year’s ten-team table, on 77 points from 18 fixtures, going on to beat Kelso 25-9 in their semi-final last March but lose out to Currie by 26-24 in last May’s final, both at home at Mansfield Park.

The year before also saw them finish up as league leaders under prior head coach Matty Douglas, on 80 points from 18 matches, and that time round they went on to beat Currie 21-18 in March 2023’s final after getting the better of Marr by 18-6 in the semis, both at home too.

They finished third in 2022, on 62 points from 18 games, and lost 17-10 away to Marr in that March’s semis.

Both Hawick and Selkirk managed top-four finishes in 2020, the former third on 60 points from 16 fixtures and the latter fourth on 49 from 18, but no play-offs followed due to covid-19 restrictions cutting short that season.

Melrose were the Borders’ only top-four team in 2019, placing fourth, their fifth top-four finish on the bounce, with 62 points from 18 matches, and going on to lose a semi-final away to Ayr by 15-12 that March.

The same went for 2018, the Greenyards side ending the regular season in pole position, on 73 points from 18 fixtures, and they proceeded to beat Watsonians 37-8 in the ensuing semis and Ayr by 16-13 in that April’s final, both at home.

It was much the same story in 2017, with Melrose concluding their campaign as the top flight’s top dogs, on 78 points from 18 matches, but they lost that April’s final by 12-8 to Ayr after seeing off Currie by 42-15 in the semis, again both at home.

2016 saw Melrose wind up fourth, on 54 points from 18 games, going on to lose 48-10 away to Ayr in the last four.

The April prior’s inaugural play-off final saw Melrose beaten 22-20 away to Heriot’s after getting the better of Ayr away by the same scoreline in the semis, having finished the season third, on 57 points from 18 matches.

This year’s play-off semi-finals saw second-placed Heriot’s beaten 31-12 at home to third-placed fellow Edinburgh outfit Watsonians on Saturday, with fourth-placed Currie away to table-toppers Ayr on Saturday, April 19, at 3pm.

2025’s final is to be played on Saturday, April 25.