Dec 22nd
Gala legend Duncan Paterson has died suddenly at the age of 66. The former Gala and Scotland scrum half capped 10 times for his country was also a selector and manager for Scotland. He was awarded a life membership of Gala earlier this season. He was uncle to Chris Paterson who has gone on to be Scotland's most capped player. He played in some memorable matches including the historic win at Twickenham in 1971 when he was instrumental in helping Chris Rea score that injury time try which fellow-clubmate PC Brown converted for victory. He also played in the Scotland v Wales international in 1971 at Murrayfield when John Taylor kicked that touchline conversion to win the game.

Tribute from Laing Speirs, Gala Rugby Club historian

Duncan Paterson was an outstanding player and administrator for both Gala and Scotland. He was one of the best attacking scrum halves produced by the club, and followed Tommy and Arthur Dorward, and then Brian Shillinglaw, into the national side. Earlier this year he was made a life member of the Gala club.

Educated at Galashiels Academy, he showed early talent and played in the school first XV for four seasons. He emerged through the semi junior side Gala Wanderers and first turned out for Gala in season 1960 - 61 against Tynedale. He went on to play until the spring of 1972, after close on 230 games. He scored 82 tries for Gala, and at one time, early in his career, he was taking the goal kicks, to give him a career points total of 280.

Dunc was capped ten times for Scotland, and toured Argentina with Scotland in 1969. He was one of the six Gala men who played for Scotland against England on two consecutive Saturdays in 1971, beating them on both occasions. But it was in sevens that his play will be best remembered. He was a member of the great Gala side which dominated the sevens circuit from 1968 to 1972, and won 50 medals and cups in the course of his career. His sevens career ended at Langholm in May, 1972, when he scored a try as Gala beat the Barbarians in the final.

He joined the Gala committee in 1974 and served for 20 years. His interest in administration took him to Murrayfield, where he occupied various key positions in the Union’s affairs, as a selector and as manager of the Scottish team. His other sporting interests included cricket, where he represented Gala, and golf. He was the brother of Dave Paterson, and the uncle of Chris Paterson, the current Scottish internationalist. Married to Lucille, he had three sons and a daughter.

His professional career was largely involved with the textile industry working with and later running successful companies in Galashiels, having started as a textile finisher. In later years he had extensive property interests.

Dec 19th
Gala did the double over Hawick as they won 21-18 at snowbound Netherdale to close the gap on their rivals in Premier 2 and end Hawick's 11 match unbeaten run. They deserved to win despite losing the try count 3-2. They more than matched Hawick up front and their discipline was far better than the Greens, who paid the price with two yellow cards handed out to Matt Landels and Sean Linton in quick succession. Hawick took the lead after just over a minute when the ball went out to the left where Lee Armstrong was, and he needed no second invitation to run over the line. David Lowrie kicked a penalty to make it 8-0 before Graham Speirs got on the score sheet himself with a penalty. He then went over for a try which he converted and added another penalty to help his side go into a 13-8 lead at the break. 

Left: Bruce McNeill charges towards Graham Speirs.
Right: Rory McPherson tackled by Andy McLean in the blizzard.
Pictures: Rob Gray, DigitalPic

More snow was expected in the second half but not enough fell to get the game abandoned. Speirs went over for another try to stretch Gala's lead to ten points before Craig Charters crossed for a pushover try. Hawick had opportunities for more points but neither Lowrie or Graham Hogg could find the target. Speirs meanwhile kicked his second penalty for a personal total of 21 getting all his team's points and racing past Gregor Hunter as the club's top scorer this season before Gary Johnstone ran in for a well-deserved try for Hawick in injury time. Highlights of the match can be seen here.

Melrose's ground staff deserve a big pat on the back for getting their match against Selkirk played without any underground heating. It wasn't a classic and it ended all square at 14-14 thanks to a last minute penalty from Selkirk's Scott Hendrie. Hendrie scored three penalties, as did Scott Wight for Melrose, while two second half tries from Lindsey Gibson for the home side and Fraser Harkness for the Souters completed the scoring. 'Rose coach Craig Chalmers admitted afterwards that Selkirk played the conditions better. Dropping more points at home virtually sees Melrose out of the Premier 1 championship race although mathematically it can still happen, while Selkirk will be pleased with another two points to take them even further away from the relegation zone and indeed up to sixth in the table on 33 points, a remarkable achievement considering their poor start to the season.

Left: Gavin Craig on the attack. Right: Rory Aglen rises above everyone in the snow. Pictures: Grant Kinghorn, GrantKinghornpics

Dec 17th
Melrose have announced the four guest sides taking part in next April's Sevens tournament at the Greenyards. Two South African sides will be coming including the current holders from Johannesburg University and Cape Town team Hamilton. Milano from Italy and a British Army team will also be taking part. The club is keen to have a Forces theme to the event in 2010 and a number of activities are planned. The club will also be heavily involved again with the Hearts And Heroes Charity.

Invitations have also been sent to non Borders clubs from Premier 2 and an announcement on the full line-up is expected soon. Meanwhile online ticket sales have been launched at www.melrose7s.com for the world famous event which regularly attracts thousands of people to the Border town each year. The Jim Telfer coaching clinic will once again take place as will the Veterans tournament and plenty of fringe activities.

In the draw for Round 2 of the Scottish Hydro Bowl Competition, Earlston have been drawn at home to Dunbar or Lismore, while Duns will host Edinburgh Northern and Gala YM will take on Hawick Harlequins. All matches are scheduled for February 6th.

Dec 16th
The South of Scotland held their first training session tonight at Netherdale ahead of the historic match against Northumberland at Mansfield Park on Wednesday 30th December, kick off 7.30pm.  Already injuries, illness and unavailability have combined to alter the make-up of the initial squad. Out of the equation for the first game are Gregg Minto, Ewan Ford, Lawrence Lemmon, James Henderson, Adam Clark and Graeme Bryce. In come Scott Hendrie, Mike Rutherford, Gavin Craig, Andy McLean and Nick McTaggart. Watch Team Manager Richie Gray's interview at the first training session here.

Dec 16th
A campaign to award caps to those who played for Scotland in non-capped internationals is gathering momentum, and Bill Lothian of the Evening News is championing it. It is hoped that the Scottish Rugby Union will look into the matter and maybe, just maybe, the guys who wore the Scottish jersey in the past will be rewarded with that ultimate accolade for any rugby player - a cap for their country to proudly display. The great Bill McLaren has always said that one regret in his life was to never have won a Scottish cap. He represented a Scottish XV against The Army and played in Scottish Trial games but didn't quite make it to full cap status. Many Borderers would be in line for a cap if the SRU decide to award them retrospectively. These would include Mark Moncrieff (Gala) who played for Scotland without winning a cap several times, Ian Elliot (Hawick), Steve Ferguson (Peebles), Gary Isaac (Gala), Ronnie Kirkpatrick (Jedforest), Craig Redpath (Melrose), Rob Scott (Selkirk) and Garry Waite (Kelso).

Dec 15th
The annual Borders Under 18 Pathway match went ahead at Riverside Park, Jedburgh last night, and despite injury and illness decimating the original selections, the two teams produced an entertaining encounter in wet, and at times monsoon conditions. The major difference between the two sides was the fact that the East side was able to field the originally chosen pack, and despite a promising start from the West, the power of the East forwards took the home side to victory.

In a game played in three 20-minute periods, West had opened the scoring with an early penalty from Josh Welsh but a Craig Dods penalty levelled the scores after ten minutes. Just before the end of the first period East took the lead when Rory Sutherland showed his power to brush aside four tacklers for a try which Dods converted.

As the heavens opened East stretched their lead midway through the second period after a turnover in their own 22 saw Sutherland storm 75 metres upfield only to be overhauled ten metres short of the West line. From the ensuing ruck the ball was spun right and full back Andrew Baxter stepped inside the cover to go over near the posts. Dods added the extra two points to stretch the lead to 17-3.

Going into the third period both teams were struggling to retain possession of the wet and slippy ball in contact situations, however East maintained a stranglehold in territory without adding to their points haul. West did create the occasional moment of panic for the East but were unable to maintain any periods of pressure and reduce the fourteen point deficit.

Dec 14th
Hawick Harlequins have been docked one point for fielding an ineligible player in their match against Duns on October 31st. They are now down to 30 points for the season as a result. The club did not appeal against the docking.

Left: John Thorburn with Darren Bunker and right, the QUBE Trophy
Pictures: Rob Gray, DigitalPic

The QUBE GB Cross Border Challenge Trophy has been unveiled by Border League Secretary John Thorburn and Darren Bunker, the Managing Director QUBE, the sponsors of the award. The trophy will be competed for by the South of Scotland and Northumberland in their home and away matches, the first of which will take place at Mansfield Park on December 30th. The first training session for the 35-man squad will take place this Wednesday and the announcement of the captain will be made shortly.

Dec 12th
Both Melrose and Selkirk won their Premier 1 games this afternoon with Selkirk beating Dundee HSFP 18-10, crucially getting four points to put themselves four points clear of Boroughmuir and West Of Scotland with a game in hand in 8th place. Selkirk are on 27 points, the same as Heriot's who have a better points difference. Selkirk's two tries were scored by Sean Crombie and Fraser Harkness with Scott Hendrie kicking two penalties and Mike Rutherford landing a conversion. You can see Selkirk's points here.

Left to right: Sean Crombie and Gordon Patterson in action against Dundee HSFP
Pictures: Grant Kinghorn, GrantKinghornpics

Melrose achieved a try bonus win at Stewart's Melville 34-12 with tries from Ben Allen, Fraser Thomson, James King and Rob Chrystie. Scott Wight had a good day with the boot scoring four conversions and two penalties. He closes the gap at the top of the Borders Rugby Rankings behind Jedforest's Ewan Scott with a 14 point haul and moves up to 134 for the season, just two behind Scott. In one of three local derbies next Saturday Melrose will host Selkirk at The Greenyards.

In Premier 2 Hawick kept up their challenge for the Championship and a quick return to the top flight with a 16-9 win over Aberdeen Grammar at Mansfield Park, but it was a different Aberdeen side which turned up from last week's side who lost 30-0 at home to Peebles; in fact the visitors nearly grabbed a late draw. Hawick's only try came from Craig Charters with David Lowrie kicking two penalties and a conversion, with Graham Hogg getting a penalty. This was Hawick's 11th game undefeated.

Left: John Coutts passes to Colin Murray against Aberdeen Grammar, while Rory MacPherson kicks ahead in the same match. Pictures: Kenny Baillie, Hawick RFC

Stirling County stay above them on points difference after their win over Gala. It was 11-5 at the break with Graham Speirs scoring a try for Gala, who were looking for their ninth win on the trot, but Stirling held out to win in a scoreless second half. Gala face Hawick at Netherdale next Saturday.

Kelso finally struck gold with a 5 point haul, beating Kirkcaldy 25-7. Their bonus point was collected thanks to two tries each from Mee Kaa Eel Hartley and Nathan Trotter with Greg Pontin landing a penalty and conversion.

Jedforest went down 13-10 at home to Biggar but in the first 20 minutes they were well in control. They went ahead on 4 minutes when Paul Pringle finished off an excellent move to score. Ewan Scott converted and it looked as if Jed would be awarded a pushover try soon after but the referee said the ball wasn't grounded. Biggar came back into the game to snatch the win. One point for Jed is not as many as they would have liked and the gap between them and Kelso has closed to one point with Kelso having a game in hand. Next week the two clash at Riverside Park and that will be such a big game for both as they each try to avoid relegation. It's looking like Dunfermline and Haddington the two most likely to fight with Jed to avoid the drop to Premier 3.

Left: Jed and Biggar scrum just about visible in the fog!
Right: David Gobby receiving close attention from Biggar players.
Pictures: Rob Gray, DigitalPic

Peebles lost 22-21 at home to GHA at The Gytes. They scored two tries from Neil Hogarth and James Oakes with Donald Anderson kicking three penalties and a conversion.

In National League 1 Berwick finally got a win, and they did it on the road at Livingston, winning 18-13 thanks to tries from Gareth Hill and Jamie Young, two penalties by Jack Webster and a conversion from Matthew McCreath. Not so good news for Langholm who were beaten heavily 43-3 by Whitecraigs.  In National League 2 Hawick YM were beaten 13-12 at home by Kilmarnock, with all their points coming from the boot of Gregor Welsh with four penalties. In NL3 Hawick Linden lost 19-12 at home to Aberdeenshire. Barry Sutherland  scored all his team's points with four penalty goals.

In East League 1 Hawick Harlequins took the scalp of Dunbar 15-7 for the only local win in that league. Earlston lost 20-10 at Edinburgh Northern while Duns went down 23-15 at Portobello.

East League 2 saw a local derby between Walkerburn and Gala YM and it was the visitors who won 31-6. In the other local game St Boswells cruised to a 40 points to 3 win at home to Liberton.

Dec 11th
When Langholm's match against Livingston was abandoned after 58 minutes on November 14th they were two minutes away from the magic one hour mark which would have ensured that the result stood. The club felt that the referee was wrong to pull the match short two minutes from that point and appealed to the Championship Committee who sympathised with Langholm and said that result - 27-7 - would now stand, giving them a much needed five points in their fight to avoid relegation. This decision heaps even more pressure now on Berwick who are deep in the relegation zone in National League 1.

Local referee David Changleng has been given two internationals to officiate at during the IRB Six Nations. He will be one of the two assistant referees at the England v Ireland and France v Italy matches.

Dec 10th
Melrose, Peebles and Selkirk have players included in the 35-man squad which will train together in preparation for the Scotland Club International games against France and Ireland in February and March next year. In the forwards, which are dominated by Ayr and Currie players, there's room for Melrose stalwart John Dalziel and Peebles Hooker Ryan McConnell, while in the backs Fraser Harkness and Lee Jones represent Selkirk, and Melrose have six selected - a tremendous achievement and just reward for their try-scoring feat this year where between them they have crossed the whitewash 32 times. James King, Callum Anderson, Scott Wight, Jamie Murray, Fraser Thomson and Scott McCormick have all been named in the squad. One of the internationals will take place at Netherdale on February 5th against France.

Three of the ten local players in the 35-man Scottish Club training squad

Dec 5th
Melrose went down for the first time at home this season when they lost 26-17 to table toppers Currie. They scored three tries from Ben Allen, Nick McTaggart and Fraser Thomson with Scott Wight converting one of them but it wasn't enough to topple the league leaders. Melrose are now six points behind Ayr and 11 behind Currie. Selkirk's game at Glasgow Hawks was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.

In Premier 2 Hawick won the top of the table clash 12-6 against Stirling County at Mansfield Park, but a late penalty gave County a losing bonus point which kept them top with a game in hand. Hawick's tries came from David Lowrie and Graham Hogg with Craig Neish kicking a conversion.