LATEST BORDERS RUGBY NEWS
brought to you by Border Insurance Services

July 25th
Melrose players are going to be enjoying a very special training session on Sunday with Scotland's Coach Andy Robinson and the rest of the national coaching staff. If that doesn't get them in the right frame of mind for the season ahead, nothing will. Their first friendly will take place on August 7th against Selkirk at The Greenyards before they travel to Tynedale a week later for another trial match prior to the start of the season proper in the new-look Premier League at home to champions Currie.

Cammy Murray (left) is resuming his playing career at Melrose while Ewan Ford
moves from Kelso to the Greenyards

The club have announced that former Scottish international Cameron Murray is returning, along with Alec Jessop, and these will be joined by ex Hawick prop Nicky Little, last year's Jed skipper Gary Holborn and Kelso's fly half Ewan Ford. New Zealander Hayden Mitchell - a second row specialist - is also coming on board along with former Stew-Mel prop Ruairidh McLeod. As announced previously Lindsey Gibson and Nick McTaggart are heading back to Hawick while Luke Pettie will once again wear Gala colours for the new season.

July 24th
Mike Howe, from Top Marque Sports, has organised a free sports nutrition seminar at 7pm on Wednesday 28th July in the auditorium at the Heart of Hawick. Two of the UK’s leading sports nutritionists will be there to give a talk on the value of effective nutrition for elite athletes. Professor Don MacLaren and Dr Graeme Close are the speakers - they are currently working with Munster RFC, Northampton Saints RFC, Everton FC and the GB Olympic Rowing team. Click here for the new NUTRITION X brand details.

July 22nd
This year's Premier Cup has been split into 9 pools of four teams, making up the 36 sides from the three Premier Divisions.  Melrose have drawn Biggar, Haddington and Ardrossan Accies; Gala have Dundee High, Falkirk and Musselburgh in theirs, Jedforest will meet Edinburgh Accies, Glasgow Hawks and Dumfries, while Peebles have been matched up with Stirling County, Boroughmuir and Dalziel - but it's in Pool G where things are very interesting!  Selkirk, Kelso and Hawick have all been drawn together along with Morgan Academy.
 
Each team will play each other in the pool in a round robin competition starting with games on November 6th.  The most successful eight will then go through to the knockout stage at the end of February.

No pools for the National Shield competition and no Langholm either as we already mentioned recently. They've pulled out of the tournament. But Hawick YM, Berwick and Hawick Linden are taking part in the knockout Round 1. Berwick host Allan Glens, YM are away at Irvine and Hawick Linden travel to Helensburgh.
 
The East League Regional Bowl will feature all six of the Borders teams in a knockout competition.

For full Draws click here. 

Berwick have announced that none of their players have left the club following the disappointment of relegation last season from National League 1 to NL2. They have recruited two players from Jedforest. Paul Pringle and Roy McFarlane will be wearing the black jerseys this season. They have a busy pre-season schedule lined up with warm-up games against Alnwick (7th August), North Berwick (14th) and Morgan Academy (21st) before they start the league season on 28th with an away match at Stewartry. Stalwart Colin Young said: "We're delighted that the boys have all stayed on to help us get promotion and with Paul and Roy in the squad we look forward to a much better season."

Selkirk have confirmed that Ross Armstrong will be staying with them for another season at least. There was speculation that a move back to Hawick was a possibility but that has now been ruled out. Greg Cottrell and Bruce Campbell have returned to Hawick from Boroughmuir and Hawick YM respectively. Cottrell is expected to replace retired Kevin Reid at scrum half. Bruce McNeil has been announced as captain of Hawick while Rory Hutton is vice captain.  Ex Gala player Bruce Aitchison has left Watsonians but has decided to take a year out away from rugby, so there will be no return to Netherdale for him.

Paul Pringle (left) is returning to Berwick to see out his playing career,
while Colin Young is confident that Berwick will bounce back this season;
but Ross Armstrong (right) is staying put at Selkirk.

July 19th
A lot has been happening in the close season with the inevitable chopping and changing of players and coaches, and we'll give you an insight into who has gone where in our preview of the new season. And it is going to be a very exciting Premiership as spectators and players get to grips with the new format. The new style of league and pool competitions should keep the interest going right to the end of the season.

Melrose will see their New Zealand back Ben Allen return for another campaign and he will bring with him fellow Kiwi Hayden Mitchell, a No.8 specialist. He will have stiff competition as he attempts to keep Ross Miller out of the side, but once again the strength in depth of the Melrose club will be a key factor. James King has won a pro contract at Edinburgh but Nicky Little will be exchanging the Hawick Green for the Melrose black and yellow, but hooker Lindsay Gibson is moving back to Hawick from Melrose, and he's not the only former "Green" heading back to Mansfield Park.

Rory Hutton and Nick McTaggart have confirmed they will be playing for Hawick next season, and there are promises of more ex Hawick players coming back. Deke Armstrong has replaced Gerry McGuinness as Head Coach while Rocky Johnstone will be his assistant. McGuinness has joined Gary Parker at Peebles.

Meanwhile at Selkirk, Fraser Harkness is the new skipper and Conor Patton from New Zealand comes in. He will come in useful in the second row or back row. He has Selkirk connections because his uncle is David Bell, who captained Selkirk several times in the 70s. Another newcomer is Matt Weller from Gloucester who will take the place of the retired Martin Murray in the front row. I can also confirm that Ross Armstrong will be staying at the club (despite rumours of a move back down the A7 to Hawick) and that David Grieve will return to Jedforest following a year with the Souters. Jon Smyth has returned to New Zealand while Lee Jones and Alex Dunbar have both got pro contracts. Rodney Pow and Graham Marshall are the two new coaches for this season.

Fraser Harkness (left) is Selkirk's new captain while Ewan McQuillan has
pledged his allegiance to the Netherdale club for this season.

Jed's Director of Rugby Roy Laidlaw has stepped down from that position and Billy Grieve comes in to the newly created Convenor of Rugby post. Ross Goodfellow is the new Jed captain while Darren Cunningham and Kevin Amos will look after coaching duties aided by Kevin Barrie who takes over as Youth Development Officer following his successful spell at Selkirk.

Over at Netherdale Scott Nichol replaces Ecky Boland as backs coach with George Graham in charge for another season. Graeme Speirs and Mike Christie have left the club but Ewan McQuillan has decided to stay at Gala for at least another season following speculation that a move to Melrose was on the cards.

No doubt there will be a few more moves before the season kicks off on August 21st, including news from Kelso who are yet to show their hand at time of going to press, but I must mention that the Border League have once again resisted making any changes to the format, which is disappointing, particularly after the chaos of the previous three seasons when dates were changed due to the bad weather and people were left not really knowing what was going on.

While clubs insist that they still care about the competition - and over 1000 always turn up at the Final of the competition - I really do have my concerns that the Border League is becoming less and less attractive to the media and spectators. Changes are needed to make the oldest league in the world special again, but while all the other competitions take priority, it will always be the poor relation. Add to that the one-sided results between the likes of Berwick and Melrose, and you do wonder if we will ever see a relevant Border League tournament again. It is indeed a worry.

But whatever happens this season you can guarantee that we will be covering the Borders teams' progress at our brand new website, with plenty of video action, stats, news and results. We update the site several times a day to break the latest news, so if you're as passionate about Borders Rugby as we are at Borders Rugby Television, then join us anytime. You will be most welcome.
 

July 9th
Rocky Johnstone will help out as Deke Armstrong's assistant coach for Hawick this season. This is the player's biggest challenge yet as a coach and he told the Hawick News that he'd "like to copy the Melrose attitude where everything is done professionally and done right." He went on to say that discipline is very important both on and off the pitch, and this is one thing he intends to hammer home at the club as they prepare for their first season back in the top flight. "We've lost a bit of that in recent years" he admitted.

Rory Hutton (left) and Nick McTaggart on their way back to Hawick

Things are shaping up well down at Mansfield Park with Rory Hutton returning to the fold along with Lindsay Gibson who has been playing for Melrose. The former Green will be joined by another returning player who ran out for Melrose last season in Nick McTaggart. There's talk of Stuart Hogg and Greg Cotterill being on the Hawick hit list as well as Ross Armstrong, who has been wearing Selkirk colours for the past two seasons. But one player who is moving from Hawick is Nicky Little who has signed up to Melrose.

The new-look Premier 1 format has been kind to Hawick with the six top teams from last season being drawn at home.

Over at Peebles, where former Hawick coach Gerry McGuinness has gone to hook up with Gary Parker, Willie Aitken has been made captain for the second year. There was a move from new President Lindsay Laird to have an "off field" captain as well but this was shot down in flames at the recent AGM by the players who felt it unnecessary. Peebles are hoping to have a 3rd XV in operation this season.

July 6th
Langholm Rugby Club have once again decided to pull out of the Scottish Cup to concentrate on their campaigns in the National League and the Border League. The announcement was made at the club's AGM, where new Head Coach David Scammell was also revealed. Last season Scammell was involved in the coaching set-up at Hawick along with Gerry McGuinness.  He replaces Rob Little who has retired from the post. Jake Little is the new Langholm President, following on from Kenneth Pool, who completed his two year stint in the position. Little is also Director of Rugby with Michael Bell team manager. A captain will be announced soon. 

Talking about opting out of the cup, Jake Little said: "After discussions with players and coaches the club decided that being involved with the cup would mean that we would be playing far too much rugby and something had to give. The cup was the obvious choice as it is also an added expense that the club could do without."

Over at Netherdale Gala have announced a backs coach to replace Ecky Boland. Scott Nichol will join up with head coach George Graham. Scott won two caps for Scotland and has played for several local clubs.

Meanwhile the fixtures for the new 2010/11 season have been announced. The new format will see 11 games being played by all 12 teams in Premier 1 and 2, with the top four from Premier 2 at the end of the matches breaking off into an eight-team competition against the four bottom sides from Premier 1. 

Selkirk, Hawick and Melrose have all been given home matches on August 21st against Boroughmuir, Ayr and Currie respectively in Premier 1, while two of Premier 2's four local teams will take part in a local derby at Netherdale when Gala and Kelso go head-to-head. Peebles will visit Kirkcaldy while Jedforest travel to GHA.

Melrose are also in the British & Irish Cup and in their pool they will meet Munster Development XV, Llanelli, Esher, Bristol and Nottingham, kicking off their campaign on December 11th with a home tie against Munster Development XV at The Greenyards. Melrose, along with Currie and Ayr, are the Scottish teams in the competition. Ben Allen has confirmed he will play for Melrose next season, and will be joined by fellow New Zealander Hayden Mitchell, a No.8 specialist.

Scott Wight (Melrose captain) is joined on Hadrian's Wall by Ayr's Glen Tippett (centre) and Currie's skipper Andy Adam to fly the flag for Scotland's Club elite

July 4th
The world famous Melrose Sevens has been on the BBC for a number of years but the 2011 event on April 9th is not guaranteed to be on terrestrial TV. Media Rights negotiations for the event are handled by the SRU and its Chief Executive Gordon McKie has come out publicly against the BBC's low offers to broadcast rugby events in Scotland. The BBC still want to broadcast the Melrose Sevens, but the SRU, in looking for a better offer, may yet partner with a satellite station such as Sky.

June 22nd
The Border League have decided to stick to the same format for next season despite calls for change to a system which would avoid cricket scores and ensure the top Borders teams played against each other so that the winning side would truly be champions of the Border League. Local rugby legend John Rutherford has always said that to truly be Border League champions you have to beat the best of the Borders, but next season the pool system will mean that the team who wins the title will not have to face two of the Borders top teams.  The proposal to address this by splitting the league into two pools based on finishing positions in the League was thrown out, with the only change being one game being played pre-season. But this does not go far enough. At least two and preferably three matches (including a midweek fixture pre season) would have been the obvious solution.

Meanwhile the new President of the Border League is John Reed, the current Vice President at Melrose, who slots into the position instead of Mike Dalgetty who has too many other commitments to take up the position. The Border League Final will take place on the Wednesday after the Melrose Sevens tournament at The Gytes in Peebles. An announcement on the make-up of the Kings of the Sevens tournament will follow shortly after the SRU AGM takes place next Saturday.  John Thorburn and Norman Anderson remain as secretary and treasurer of the Border League respectively for another season.

PROPOSED BORDER LEAGUE FIXTURES

14 Aug 2010
Pool A
Peebles v Melrose
Jedforest v Langholm
Pool B
Berwick v Selkirk
Haddington v Gala

11 Dec
Pool A
Hawick v Peebles
Pool B
Kelso v Selkirk

18 Dec
Pool A
Peebles v Jedforest
Pool B
Gala v Kelso

27 Dec
Pool A
Langholm v Melrose
Jedforest v Hawick
Pool B
Selkirk v Gala
Kelso v Haddington

3 Jan 2011
Pool A
Melrose v Hawick
Pool B
Berwick v Kelso

15 Jan
Pool A
Langholm v Peebles

5 Feb
Pool A
Hawick v Langholm
Pool B
Haddington v Berwick

26 Feb
Pool B
Selkirk v Haddington
Gala v Berwick

19 Mar
Pool A
Melrose v Jedforest

June 22nd
Jedforest have announced that Roy Laidlaw has stepped down as Director of Rugby and the role has been renamed as Convenor of Rugby. That role has been filled by Billy Grieve, who will oversee a rugby committee made up of Alistair Campbell, Donald Miller and Glen Gibson. Ross Goodfellow will captain the side next season with Neil Cook his vice captain. Gary Holborn will move to Melrose and Paul Pringle has decided to retire, although it wouldn't surprise anyone if he rejoined Berwick to help them get back on track again. David Grieve has left Selkirk and will return to Jed. Darren Cunningham remains Head Coach with Kevin Amos looking after the backs, while Kevin Barrie is the new Youth Development Officer who will also help bring on new coaches including James Henderson.

From left: Ross Goodfellow, Darren Cunningham and Neil Cook

June 21st
Melrose player Nicola Halfpenny is the only representative from the Borders in the Scottish Women's squad who will take part in the World Cup in England in August and September. Donna Kennedy, who has won 110 caps, is also in Peebles and Scotland's Women's coach Gary Parker's squad.

Gary Parker (left) and Melrose's Nicola Halfpenny

June 19th
Scotland achieved a remarkable two-test series win today in Argentina as they took the game 13-9 to go 7th in the world rankings. It was a fantastic display with the Scottish pack once again awesome. They conceded no tries this week thanks to a spirited defence and will be bringing home two trophies to display at Murrayfield when they return early next week to a heroes welcome.

Jim Hamilton put Scotland ahead on just two minutes with a drive-over try, using all of his 6'8" frame to touch the ball down on the try-line. Dan Parks converted before Felipe Contepomi brought the Pumas back into the game with a couple of penalties. Parks extended the lead to 10-6 to put his team in at the break four points clear.

Argentina, despite being reduced to 14 men after a yellow card was shown, were the better side for most of the second half and they deservedly got within one point of the Scottish total with a third penalty, but another Parks penalty with just over 10 minutes to go meant that the hosts had to score a try to win the game. Scotland's defence held firm for an historic victory as well as a psychological boost since the two teams will meet in the pool stages at the next World Cup. It was Scotland's first ever test series win in history.

June 17th
Scotland could jump from 9th to 6th in the IRB World Rankings this Saturday with another win against Argentina in the second test on Saturday evening. A similar win would automatically put them 7th, but if Australia beat England by more than 15 points in their game at the weekend, this would propel Scotland into sixth position, and equal their highest ever ranking which dates back to Frank Hadden's reign in 2006. The game kicks off at 7.45pm and is live on BBC Scotland. Scotland have made just one change in personnel for the game, bringing in Simon Danielli for Nick De Luca.

June 12th
Scotland pulled off a magnificent away win against Argentina by 24-16 at Tucuman, a venue the Pumas have never lost at in seven previous tests since they first played test rugby at that venue 37 years ago. Dan Parks kicked all of Scotland's points - 12 in each half - with six penalties and two drop goals, and with the territory and possession stats going their way, the fact that Argentina scored the only two tries of the game became incidental. It's only the third time Scotland have beaten Argentina in capped matches and two of them have now been on South American soil.

They trailed 13-12 at the break but the performance of all the players would have delighted coach Andy Robinson as they achieved back-to-back away wins for the first time in a very long time. Victories away from Murrayfield are very rare so to win at Croke Park against Ireland at the end of the Six Nations campaign and then in Argentina is a magnificent achievement for Scottish Rugby and a huge boost to the game north of the border. There were four internationals today with England, Ireland and France all going down heavily to southern hemisphere opposition. Scotland will want to do it all again at a different venue in Argentina next Saturday if they are to collect their third away win on the trot.

June 8th
Alex Hastie, the former Melrose and Scotland scrum half, has died at the age of 74. He won 18 caps for Scotland, many of them partnering team mate David Chisholm, whom he played with for over a decade at Melrose.  He died yesterday at the Borders General Hospital.

Melrose President Mike Dalgetty said: "The club is deeply saddened by the death of Alex "Eck" Hastie. He was very much part of the fabric and history of the club. He partnered his great friend David Chisholm 13 times for Scotland and they still hold the record of remaining undefeated on ten continuous occasions. It's unlikely this will ever be repeated. He was an inspiration as a coach to the Melrose Colts and a wonderful family man. His legacy will remain with us forever."

His funeral will take place at Melrose Parish Church on Tuesday 15th June at 1.15pm followed by a burial at Wairds Cemetery in the town. A collection will be taken at the funeral in aid of the British Heart Foundation.

June 4th
This time last week Gerry McGuinness was Hawick Head Coach and looking forward to the new season in Premier 1. Two days ago Hawick sacked him and installed Deke Armstrong. Today we can reveal that Peebles have swooped to gain Gerry's services as their Forwards coach following the departure of Bruce McNaughton at the end of last season after five years in that position. Director of Rugby at Peebles, Bob Hogarth, said he was delighted that Gerry had agreed to join new coach Gary Parker at The Gytes. "This is a big boost to the club and I am looking forward very much to working with Gerry. We have an excellent coaching team in place and we will certainly be aiming to do very well in Premier 2 next season."

Gerry told us: "I am really pleased to be involved at Peebles, and to be working with such an experienced coach as Gary. This is a new challenge for me, and I know that Peebles are already a hard team to play against, but if we can find a little bit extra here and there, who knows what can be achieved."

Gary Parker (left) and Gerry McGuinness head the new coaching team at Peebles

June 3rd
A Celebrity-Amateur Golf day is taking place to raise funds for the Bill McLaren Foundation on Friday 20th August at Vertish Hill in Hawick. The event will feature 18 teams of four. Each team will field a celebrity, a member of Hawick Golf Club, a sponsor and a guest and the £300 entry fee per team will include golf and food. Among the 18 celebrities will be Andy Irvine, John Rutherford, Tony Stanger, Jim Renwick and Gregor Townsend. Details from John Thorburn at 07929 655132

June 1st
Hawick Rugby Club won promotion this season back into Premier 1 under Gerry McGuinness but following a review by club officials and players they have decided that his services are no longer required. Deke Armstrong moves up from Assistant Coach to take over the reins at Mansfield Park.

Left: Deke Armstrong takes over at Hawick from Gerry McGuinness

In a short statement, Hawick RFC said: "Hawick RFC has confirmed that the services of last season's head coach Gerry McGuinness are no longer required at the club. This decision was taken following a full review of the season involving players and coaches. His replacement will be Deke Armstrong who was an assistant coach last season. Armstrong will have an early start with pre season training starting on June 15th to which all new and current players are welcome."

Armstrong is looking to add to the squad with a few players but said that it was a shame that Gerry had to go after he worked so hard to get Hawick promoted. "It wasn't my decision to sack him but I have always wanted to be head coach and I am very excited about the prospect."

Gerry McGuinness told us: "I was informed last night that my services were no longer needed at Hawick, and I have to say it came as a complete surprise. Davy Scammell and I had taken a demoralised group of players, who had been relegated from Prem 1 for the first time, and turned them into a team who could compete with any side in Scotland, and in doing so, we achieved our goal of promotion back to Prem 1, beating eventual champions Stirling both home and away. We were looking forward to continuing their development in Prem 1 this coming season and I have no doubt that the players at Hawick are more than capable of holding their own in the top flight, and I wish them well for the new season".

May 30th
Scotland ended their second day at the IRB World Series Sevens at Murrayfield with victory in the Plate competition after a disappointing loss to England in the Cup Quarter Final by 19-7. They went on to win their Plate Semi Final against South Africa 19-14 before seeing off Argentina 19-0 in the Final. With five wins in six games over the weekend, it was a remarkable performance by Scotland who had never made a Cup quarter final all season. Ex Gala player Roddy Grant was many people's Scottish Player of the Tournament but the whole squad, including skipper Greig Laidlaw (pictured below with the Plate), played their part in giving coach Steven Gemmell a tremendous send-off as he moves to another position within the SRU. Samoa went on to win the Final against Australia and also take the overall Series title for the first time in their history.

With five of the 12 Scottish players having Borders connections it once again showed the importance of Borders Rugby to the game of Sevens. Looking back at this season as a whole it has been a disaster. The policy has been one of chopping and changing players over the eight tournaments due to pro players being unavailable. This was clearly a headache for coach Gemmell who could only work with the players he was given, and it became clear with the likes of Australia that their model of bringing in a squad of new players dedicated to Sevens at the start of the season is definitely the way to go if Scotland are to make any kind of impact in the future.

My own solution is controversial but one which would ensure that Scotland's Sevens squad would be together for the whole season enabling a team to play consistently with each other. I would pick a squad of around 16 players from those available who would not be first choice players for Edinburgh or Glasgow Warriors. Instead I would pick from fringe pro players (like Lee Jones of Selkirk who has just signed for Edinburgh) and the best of the club players who have experience on the Kings of the Sevens circuit this year. 

Future Scotland Sevens stars?
From left: Lee Jones, Fraser Harkness & Fraser Thomson.

Players like Grant Somerville (Watsonians), Fraser Thomson and Callum Anderson (Melrose), Fraser Harkness (Selkirk), Rory Hutton (Hawick) and Gregg Minto (Kelso) should be put on a contract at the start of next season and they would be representing Scotland on the circuit. The benefits are that they already know each other well, they have experience of the shortened game, they would be given special fitness and conditioning training and would be moulded into a team. 

Those who say that the level would be too high to step up for most of these players are wrong. Fitness levels would increase with the extra time devoted to this area, and players like Jones and Hutton have already performed with credit on the IRB World Series circuit. If Australia can bring in a bunch of youngsters to go from nowhere to two finals in one season, there is no reason why Scotland could not do the same. It's all about playing consistently together and that is something the Scotland squad have not been able to do over the past few years.  At the end of the day Scotland have nothing to lose by at least trying this, and after the season is over you can guarantee that all selected for the Sevens squad will have benefited greatly as players, and come out the other side having developed their skills as well as enjoying an amazing experience at a higher level.

The time has come for Scotland to treat their Sevens squad as something completely separate from anything else.  Yes, continue to allow these players to turn out for their clubs throughout the season, but playing Sevens would be the priority and this would ensure the team would go forward together, building a strong team dedicated to this particular sport.

The SRU are due to make an announcement over the next few weeks with regards the future of Sevens rugby. They know something has to be done, especially with the threat of being kicked out of the Commonwealth Games hanging over them. While this weekend's team performed magnificently to ensure that we are capable of winning a medal with the right team on the pitch, it is obvious that most of the squad at Murrayfield would not be regularly available for the Sevens team in the future because of pro rugby commitments, and it is this fact alone that tells us that we must breed a Scottish squad of players who will be available for every tournament on the IRB World Series circuit in the future. They would then have the choice at the end of the season to seek out contracts in the 15-a-side game or concentrate on representing Scotland at Sevens Rugby, but not until they had served a year under contract playing the abridged version of the game for their country.

NEWS ARCHIVE MAY 2010

NEWS ARCHIVE APRIL 2010

NEWS ARCHIVE MARCH 2010

NEWS ARCHIVE FEBRUARY 2010

NEWS ARCHIVE JANUARY 2010

NEWS ARCHIVE DECEMBER 2009

NEWS ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 2009

NEWS ARCHIVE OCTOBER 2009

NEWS ARCHIVE SEPTEMBER 2009

NEWS ARCHIVE AUGUST 2009

NEWS ARCHIVE JULY 2009

NEWS ARCHIVE JUNE 2009