Fixtures

LATEST BORDERS RUGBY NEWS
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June 30th
Gala's coaches Gary Parker and Richie Gray have resigned from the club, following reported "differences in opinion with the Gala executive board" on how to take the club 1st XV forward. A spokesman for the club talking to The Scotsman said: "The executive board have reluctantly accepted the resignations and would like to put on record their sincere thanks and wish them both success for the future."

Gary Parker and Richie Gray, who have quit Gala Rugby Club

Jedforest have announced their new coach as 41 year old Darren Cunningham. The former winger has been head coach at Morpeth for the last three seasons and sees this move as a very positive step in his coaching career. He's already taken a training session after impressing in original meetings with the club and the players are said to have responded very positively to his efforts. He will take over from Calum Brown who has stepped down after six years coaching at Jed. Among Calum's achievements with the club were two consecutive promotions with the 2nd XV and a semi final appearance in the National Shield competition. He also led the club to two Border League Finals a Kings of the 7s title and a Jed 7s victory.

To hear the first Borders interview with Darren click here.

Jed's new captain Gary Holborn (left) new coach Darren Cunningham (centre)
and Nicky Little, who will be moving to Selkirk from Hawick this season

Lawrence White is the new President at Jedforest while Gary Holborn has been named as new club captain at Jed. He led Berwick before joining Jed and has now played over 50 times for the club. Donald Grieve will be his vice captain. The club website has speculated that Garry Elder will be joining Melrose and David Grieve is planning a move to Watsonians but these are yet to be confirmed, while their claim that David Cassidy may be joining them from Selkirk is wide of the mark as Selkirk Director of Rugby Dennis Henderson told us that Cassidy is training with Selkirk with a view to playing with them this season. He also confirmed that Nicky Little has been signed up from Hawick as a replacement in the front row for Martin Murray who has retired from 1st XV action.

June 28th
Hawick Rugby Club have met with Jock Millican in his role as SRU Board member to convey the depth of feeling within the club regarding the loss of several of its players including Stuart Hogg (probably to Heriot's) and Robin Hislop (to Boroughmuir) who have both been awarded National Academy contracts, Because they have to train in Edinburgh and neither drive, they will be living in the capital. The club is very disappointed that they are not able to continue their rugby at Hawick and in a statement have said this is "simply because the SRU have reneged on their promised plan for a Borders Academy after the Reivers were disbanded." A review of the current SRU Academy set-up is being conducted by the Scottish Institute of Sport's Bob Easson along with ex-Hawick and Scotland winger Tony Stanger.

Hawick's popular centre and Scotland 7s star Graham Hogg has not had his contract with the National Academy renewed but has yet to decided where he will play next season. Nick McTaggart has advised the club that he will join Melrose.

June 27th
At the AGM of the SRU today Jim Stevenson retained the presidency after beating Finlay Calder and Jim Gracie. The first ballot was very close between the two with Calder getting the nod by one solitary vote, but the other candidate, Jim Gracie, was well adrift. But after the second ballot Stevenson picked up enough votes to overtake the former British Lions captain and will now complete a second year as President.

June 23rd
The Borders' top points scorer, Dan Boughtwood, is leaving Peebles for a new challenge in Southend. The announcement is not a big surprise as he stated he was keen to play rugby in a different environment, and with Peebles staying in Premier 2 - just missing out on promotion - it was really a matter of "when" he would leave the club rather than "if".

Peebles' points machine Dan Boughtwood is on his way to Southend
Picture courtesy Rob Gray, digitalpic

Dan said: "I have signed a semi-pro contract with Southend RFC in Southend On Sea about 40 minutes from Central London. They came down from National 2 last year and are looking to go back up. Unfortunately they've got a goal kicker but we'll see what happens. Have got coaching work also so I'm very excited and looking forward to a change."

Dan picked up four trophies at the Borders Rugby Awards for Best Borders Kicker and Best Points Scorer in both Premier 2 and overall in the Borders, and there's no doubt that his contribution to Peebles was immense.

June 21st
Scotland A team won the IRB Nations Cup competition beating France A 22-12 in the Final match, after beating the full Uruguay and Russia teams. Ruiraidh Jackson kicked five penalties for the Scots, and at one point they were 12 points ahead, but the French came back into the game to make it 15-12 before Ben Cairns offloaded to Richie Vernon who went in under the posts for the only try of the game. Jackson converted for a total of 6 out of 8 successful kicks.

Earlier in the day, over in Japan, Scotland's U20 team beat Tonga U20 29-25 to clinch ninth place in the Junior World Championship, scoring three tries in the process.

June 17th
Scotland U20 beat Fiji U20 39-26 with a five try haul to set up a 9th place clash against Tonga or Argentina on 21st June at 6am British Time. Selkirk's Alex Dunbar and Kelso's Grant Shiells both played their part in the victory. Finlay Gillies and Grant Anderson scored two tries apiece while captain Chris Fusaro crossed for the fifth for Scotland. Peter Horne kicked 14 points with the boot with four conversions and two penalties.

June 16th
Scotland A team beat Uruguay by 27-3 in a game which never got out of the starting blocks - no wonder in heat of 36 degrees Celcius! Uruguay missed many kicks at goal which made the score look more convincing than it actually was. Scotland ran in three tries through Simon Webster (2) and Scott Lawson with David Blair very sound with the boot, kicking all three conversions and landing two penalties. It was good to see former Gala man Geoff Cross back in action again following his injury sustained in his first cap for Scotland against Wales at full international level.

Ex Hawick centre John Houston selected for Scotland A
Picture courtesy Scottish Rugby

June 13th
Scotland U20 team made sure of qualifying for next year's 12-team World Junior Championship with a win over hosts Japan by 12-7, scoring two tries from Chris Fusaro and Grant Anderson with a conversion from Peter Horne.

June 12th
Selkirk's Alex Dunbar switches from wing to his favoured centre position for Scotland U20 in their World Junior Championship Pool match against Japan tomorrow. It's a must-win game for the Scots if they are to remain in the top tier for next year's competition. Only three teams from the four pools will qualify for the 12-team competition next season. Kelso's Grant Shiells is on the bench.

Scotland A began their IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest today with a comfortable win in the heat against the full Russian team by 49-7, racing to a 30-0 lead by the break. Of the eight tries scored there was a brace each for Scott Lawson and Jim Thompson, with Chris Cusiter, Ally Kellock, Ben Cairns and Rob Dewey getting the others. Ruiradh Jackson had a bad day with the boot missing five conversions. He kicked three and scored a penalty.

June 10th
The Hearts and Heroes Challenge was a great success recently and today more money went towards the three charities affiliated to the event - The Sportsman's Charity, Poppyscotland and Hearts and Balls - when Karen Barclay-Hogarth of The Scarf Shop, Bags, Beads & Beyond ... in Melrose handed over a cheque for £1405.20 to John Thorburn, secretary of Hearts & Balls, as a result of the Borders Rugby Awards event last month, which helped to raise money for the cause. The Scarf Shop, Bags, Beads & Beyond ... were main sponsors of the event, and Karen said: "The Borders and Borders people are very good to us in the support of our business and through this well deserving charity our sponsorship is a way of saying thank you."

Stuart Cameron from Borders Rugby Television, who organised the event, was delighted that a sum of four figures was raised. "We had a wonderful night celebrating Borders Rugby and the generosity of those attending was magnificent" he said.

John Thorburn added: "This contribution from the border rugby community is fantastic. The profile of the challenge was certainly raised at the rugby awards night at kelso and many thanks to everyone who helped raise this sum of money."

Karen Barclay-Hogarth hands over cheque to John Thorburn

June 9th
Scotland A failed to qualify for the big prizes as they lost 30-7 to England in their Pool this morning. Down 20-0 at the break despite edging the possession, Scotland scored their only try from Peter Jerecevich (converted by Peter Horne) in the second half. Grant Shiells of Kelso came off the subs bench to win a cap for Scotland at this level, while Selkirk's Alex Dunbar reportedly had a good game.

June 8th
Alex Dunbar of Selkirk and Grant Shiells from Kelso are in the 22-man Scotland U20 squad to face England in the IRB World Junior Championships in Japan tomorrow. After losing with the last kick of the game against Samoa in their first match in the pool a victory over England is a must for Scotland if they are going to qualify for the final stages. Dunbar will start on the wing while Sheills is on the bench.

Steven Ferguson, the Peebles forwards coach, has stepped down from his position next season. Bruce McNaughton will still be head coach.

Left to right: Alex Dunbar, Grant Shiells and Steven Ferguson

June 6th
Alex Dunbar, the 19 year old Selkirk centre, scored a try from the left wing for Scotland U20 in the Junior World Cup Pool match against Samoa this morning but Scotland, who were leading 14-7, conceded the game with an injury time drop goal to go down 17-14. They will play Japan and England in their other Pool B games.

Selkirk's U20 international Alex Dunbar in action against Melrose last season
Picture courtesy Grant Kinghorn

June 5th
Michael McVie has been confirmed as skipper of Selkirk for next season. The scrum half had a disappointing end to his season, missing out on key matches due to injury. He will take over from Neil Darling, who steps down after two glorious years in charge.

Selkirk's new captain Michael McVie
Picture courtesy Grant Kinghorn

The Border clubs met up to discuss many subjects at the Border League AGM and have announced a working party to look into the future of the Border League. Nothing will be announced until after the SRU AGM takes place on 29th June. The new-look Border League committee comprises secretary John Thorburn (Hawick), treasurer Norman Anderson (Kelso), vice president Mike Dalgetty (Melrose) and president Jim Wood (Langholm).

A protocol is set to be put in place so that clubs interested in signing players from other clubs will be required to make contact initially with that club. This follows a string of signings at the end of the season involving players from Gala and Kelso who will be playing for Melrose next season.

In other news, red hot favourite Andy Robinson was today announced as the new Scotland Head Coach. He will take charge of the Scotland A team who will take part in the Nations Cup in Romania later this month.

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