Mar 30th
One of the worst kept secrets in local rugby has finally been allowed to go public. Kevin Barrie and Michael Jaffray will be leaving Selkirk Rugby Club at the end of the season purely amicably. The media have known for several weeks but have respected the club's request to wait to the end of the season. Graham Marshall, who has been in charge of the U18 team, is expected to be announced as Head Coach in the near future.  Talking to me several weeks ago Kevin said: "My life has been revolving totally around rugby and there's been very little time left for other things. It's been a case of which track suit do I put on today?" Kevin has been working with the Scotland Club International Squad as well as other duties, and he is expected to carry on coaching at a high level, but also devoting more time to family life. Michael Jaffray's promotion within the Fire Service has meant he has less time on his hands, and as a result he cannot devote as much time as he would like to Selkirk.

As we revealed last week Peebles are making changes too. Bruce McNaughton is seeking out a new challenge after five years as Head Coach. The club will announce his replacement at the Peebles Sevens in a few weeks time.

Mar 30th
All three matches due to be played tonight in the Border League were scuppered as snow and sleet forced the cancellation of them all. Peebles v Berwick and Gala v Haddington will be re-arranged probably next week but the Jedforest v Selkirk looked like being switched to tomorrow. Selkirk found it difficult to put a team out and offered Thursday, but with a big game for Jed against Hawick on Saturday they felt a two day turnaround would make life very difficult.  The net result of all this is that nine Border League games are still to be played before the final on April 14th, which is a disastrous situation and one which must be addressed for next season. Clubs need to get round the table and sort it out once and for all. There are simple solutions which have been well documented here which will make the oldest league in the world successful and meaningful again. Let's hope that the Border League representatives will follow through this time and learn from this mess and show everyone that they really care about the Border League and its future.

Weather permitting Kelso will take on Hawick at Poynder Park this evening at 7.30pm.

Mar 28th
Melrose have been drawn at home to Currie in next Saturday's Semi Final of the Scottish Cup. The other tie will be between Ayr and Heriot's at Millbrae.

Selkirk Youth Club won the Peebles Colts Sevens today, going through the card to win all their games against Gala Wanderers (41-5), Musselburgh (37-7) and Berwick (29-5) before beating Haddington in the Final 22-5. The victorious team are pictured by Grant Kinghorn. Back Row Left to right: Ryan Godsmark, Alan Lambie, Nyle Godsmark, Josh Welsh, Ewan MacDougall, Callum McColm.  Front Row: Allan Smith, Lewis MacLennan, Michael Davies (Captain) and Iain Douglas.

Mar 27th
Hawick's win against bottom club Dunfermline in Premier 2 by 48 points to 13 confirmed their position as the Borders' most successful team this season. They have now amassed 79 points for the season and cannot be caught by their nearest rivals Melrose. It means that the Scottish Hydro Electric trophy will move from Mansfield Haugh to Mansfield Park when the Borders Rugby Awards are handed out at Kelso on May 14th.

Hawick scored seven tries but their victory was far from impressive. Assistant coach Deke Armstrong said that his team would come straight down from Premier 1 if they played like they did this afternoon. There were too many turnovers and poor handling and they found it difficult to recover from an early shock when Dunfermline went ahead 7-0 after just four minutes when their big second row Jene Simmiss caught the ball at the tail of the line-out and fell over the line to score a try which was converted by 17 year old Greg McNeish, who also kicked a penalty in the first half. But Dean McCracken and Steven Anderson crossed for tries with Neil Renwick adding the extras to give the Greens a 14-10 lead at the interval.

Chris Ritson (left) and Ali Marsh (right) in action against Dunfermline.
Pictures: Kenny Baillie, Hawick RFC

Hawick had the elements in their favour in the second period and eventually wore down the spirited Dunfermline team, scoring a further five tries, four of them converted by Renwick. In fact Renwick scored 23 points for the day with a penalty and two of the tries, with Gary Johnstone, Keith Davies and Bruce McNeil also getting on the score sheet. For McNeil he goes clear second in the Borders Top Try scoring table with his 13th try of the season.

Jedforest won the local derby in the same division with a 28-26 win at The Gytes against Peebles which made them safe from relegation. Although they were outscored 4 to 3 in the try count, they did enough to win with a late Gary Hill try. Jed's other tries came from Darren Gillespie and Robert Hogg with Ewan Scott going to the top of the Borders Points Scoring table with three penalties and two conversions. For Peebles they received two bonus points for their efforts. Their four tries were scored by Donald Anderson, Steven Gee, Darren Kerr and Donald Sangster - Anderson kicked three conversions.

Also in Premier 2 Kelso made it six victories in a row with an emphatic win at Neilson Park against Haddington by 41-12. That result sent Haddington down to Premier 3 with Dunfermline and in the process they scored six tries with Gregg Minto getting another hat-trick, with Iain Moody, Mee Kaa Eel Hartley and Chris Keen getting the others. Greg Ponton had another good day with the boot, landing four conversions and a penalty.

In Premier 1 Selkirk made sure of their place at the Premier 1 table next season by destroying already-relegated Stewart's Melville 49-3. They managed seven tries from Fraser Harkness, Simon Willett, Gordon Patterson, Rory Aglen, Andrew Renwick, Mike McVie and Scott Tomlinson, with David Cassidy converting four of them as well as bagging two penalties.

Left: Man of the Match Andrew Renwick on the ball for Selkirk.
Right: Scott Tomlinson seals victory v Stewart's Melville with his team's 7th try.
Pictures: Grant Kinghorn, GrantKinghornpics

In the Scottish Cup Quarter Finals, Melrose overcame a stuffy Perthshire side at North Inch 24-12 to progress to the semi finals. They scored three tries from Jamie Murray, Garry Elder and Grant Runciman with Scott Wight successful with all of them and a penalty, but Gala won't be in the hat with them. They travelled to Ayr and lost 32-0 although things were tight at the interval with just a penalty separating the sides.

Berwick played their quarter final tie in the Shield competition but couldn't recover from a 23-0 lead in the first 20 minutes. They lost in the end to Whitecraigs 28-12 with their only points coming from tries by Stuart Cockburn and Matthew McCreath, with McCreath converting his own score. Berwick will now concentrate on survival in National League 1 with four games remaining, three of them on the road, and with a 12 point deficit to make up.

In National League 3 Hawick Linden recorded another away win - this time at Marr - by 24-19, with tries from Gary Wardle and Steven Bouglas. Barry Sutherland kicked four penalties and a conversion.

Onto the East League and in Division 1 Hawick Harlequins won the local derby against Duns 27-25. It was their first win over Duns in three attempts this season while Earlston went down at Dunbar by 22 points to 15.

Finally in East League 2, Gala YM won promotion beating Moray House 14-13 on the road to record a double over them. It was Moray House's last game of the season, and next Saturday YM travel to the team above them, Dalkeith, for a "winner takes all" encounter which will decide who goes up as champions. Two points separate the two teams but Dalkeith have the best points difference by well over 100 points so a draw would be no good. Earlier in the season YM beat Dalkeith by five points so a repeat of that performance will do the trick. Again, the team will appreciate as much support next Saturday as possible.

Two other games in that division involving local teams - Walkerburn went down 60 points to 7 at Dalkeith while St Boswells lost 51-40 at Inverleith.

Three Radio Borders Border League games have been arranged for next week. On Tuesday night it's Jedforest v Selkirk in Pool A and Peebles v Berwick in Pool B, while Kelso take on Hawick in Pool A on Wednesday night.

Mar 23rd
Kelso finally got their Border League Pool A campaign on the road tonight at Milntown when they took on Langholm. They scored six tries in a 38-17 win with Gregg Minto scoring a hat trick, with Tony Wichary, Iain Moody and MeeKaaEel Hartley also crossing the whitewash. Gregg Ponton kicked four conversions. For Langholm they were one try short of a bonus point with three tries from Steven Nicol, Alasdair Cavers and Stuart Graham. Colin Jardine scored a conversion to complete the home team's scoring.

John Dalziel will be swapping Melrose colours for the blue of Scotland's 7s squad as he has been called in to take part in the Hong Kong 7s this weekend. It's been quite a year for the popular flanker who has already captained the Scotland Club International side this season and worn the famous Barbarians jersey. He will join up with Selkirk and Barbarians winger Lee Jones as well as former Hawick stand off Rory Hutton.

Borders Rugby legends John Rutherford and Roy Laidlaw have been chosen to be ambassadors for the Scottish leg of the IRB Sevens in Edinburgh at the end of May.

Mar 21st
Border Reivers U16 team were beaten by their Glasgow counterparts 29-25 in a close game at Philiphaugfh tonight. Reivers' points came from Cameron Scott, Blair Hutchison, Callum McEwan and Frankie Robson with tries. Gregor Mein kicked a penalty and conversion. In the U18 international played at the Greenyards Scotland lost 30-3 to Wales. Scotland's team featured several Borders players including Stuart Hogg, Gavin Robertson, Andrew Nagle, Rory Sutherland and Robin Hislop.

Left: Earlston High School's Cameron Scott going over for a try for the Reivers.
Right: Kieran Monks of Selkirk on the charge at Philiphaugh.
Pictures: Grant Kinghorn, GrantKinghornpics

Mar 20th
Hawick have been promoted back to Premier 1 with a victory on the road at GHA by 24 points to 19. Their scorers were Neil Renwick, with a try, conversion and four penalties and Gary Johnstone, who went over for a try.

With Dunfermline losing heavily at home to Stirling County another nail went into their coffin as they edged even closer to relegation along with Haddington. Meanwhile Kelso beat Aberdeen Grammar 24-15 at Poynder Park. With Dunfermline's loss Kelso are now absolutely safe from any relegation worries while Jedforest need four points from three games to confirm their Premier 2 status, and that would only come into play if Dunfermline miraculously won their remaining three games with bonus points, which is highly unlikely.

Kelso scored three tries from Kevin Utterson, Iain Moody and Gareth Riddle with Gregg Ponton kicking three conversions and a penalty.

Gala raced to a 25-0 lead at Kirkcaldy but let the home side back into the game and they ended up winning by just five points. Gala scored five tries for a bonus point from Lee Miller, Graham Speirs, Chris Weir, Willie Cox and Scott Chapman crossing for tries. Speirs kicked a penalty and conversion while Miller also landed a conversion for the Maroons.

In National League 1 Langholm went down 45-7 at home to Dalziel; their only points were a penalty try which was converted by Niall Cubbon.

Hawick Linden won away at Lenzie by 14-13 after being behind for most of the match in their National League 3 game. Graham Colville scored their only try with John Tait kicking two penalties and Barry Sutherland one.

In East League Division 1, Hawick Harlequins lost 27-22 at home to Portobello while Earlston beat Lismore 15-7 on the road.

Gala YM once again scored a cricket score at Netherdale. They beat Queensferry 119-0 and now must take on the two teams above them, Moray House and Dalkeith, in their two remaining games, in their bid for promotion to Division 1.

Mar 19th
Selkirk's Fraser Harkness scored another try for Scotland's Club International XV against Ireland's equivalent, but it wasn't enough to secure a victory as a late drop goal from Ireland's Darragh Fitzgerald stole the match for the Irish 21-18. Melrose fly half Scott Wight kicked two penalties and a conversion.

Mar 17th
Jedforest are now very close to surviving the drop to Premier 3 after crushing Haddington 37-23 at Riverside Park tonight. They scored a bonus point with a four try haul - the first time this season they've won a try bonus in Premier 2. It means that Haddington are all but relegated. Jed would need to lose their next three games by a cricket score and Haddington would need to win their last game by a huge margin which even they would admit is beyond their wildest dreams.

The four tries came from Robert Hogg, Lewis Young and two interception tries by Paul Pringle and Chris Laidlaw, while Ewan Scott kicked all four conversions and slotted three penalties. They led 13-6 at the break but allowed Haddington back into the game to level things at 13-13. After the hour Jed pulled away to take this game comfortably, and a late try from the visitors took a bit of the gloss off the winning scoreline.

Jed are now on 28 league points with a 223 points advantage over Haddington who have 23. Jed have three games to play, while Haddington have just one, against Kelso, at home. Dunfermline could yet spoil the party but again, this is very unlikely to happen. They are rock bottom on just 17 points and while they have four games to play, they are against table toppers Stirling County, second placed Hawick and Gala and Peebles from the top half of the table. It's hard to know where their points would come from, particularly following their recent bad form when they lost by 40 points at home to Kirkcaldy and 83 points against GHA.

Jedforest will play Peebles at The Gytes on March 27th, and will host Hawick on April 3rd, with another home game against Kelso to be played next month.

Premier 2 Bottom of the table
9 Kelso P19 W7 D0 L12 305-358 -53 7BP - 35pts
10 Jedforest P19 W5 D2 L12 349-465 -116 4BP - 28pts
11 Haddington P21 W4 D2 L15 283-622 -339 3BP - 23pts
12 Dunfermline P18 W3 D0 L15 227-607 -380 5BP - 17pts

The Run Ins
Kelso - Aberdeen Grammar (H), Jedforest (A), Haddington (A)
Jedforest - Peebles (A), Hawick (H), Kelso (H)
Haddington - Kelso (H)
Dunfermline - Stirling County (H), Hawick (A), Gala (H), Peebles (H)

Mar 16th
Melrose have been drawn away at Perthshire in the Quarter Finals of the Scottish Premier Cup, while Gala have a much trickier draw at Ayr. Meanwhile in the Shield competition Berwick are at home to Whitecraigs. Duns are still in the Bowl competition but will have to dig deep in their pockets as they have an away draw at Orkney for their quarter final tie. All Cup and Shield matches are due to take place on March 27th while the Bowl quarter final games will be played a week later. If Duns do decide to travel to Orkney and win, they could face another long trip against Aberdeen University if they get through their tie. Click the SHE Cup button above to see the full draw.

Mar 15th
Melrose made it three out of three in the Border League tonight as they destroyed Berwick 87-0 in Pool B. Thirteen tries were scored including a brace from Tim Miskelly, Ben Allen and Luke Pettie. Richard Higgins, Kieran Cooney, Robert Chrystie, Joe Helps and Richard Ferguson scored the others with Bruce Dick converting 11 of them. The one-sided match did nothing for rugby, certainly did nothing for Berwick, and the sooner the structure of the Border League is changed into a format which puts the best teams together in one division with the smaller clubs in another the better. Melrose need to beat Gala in their remaining fixture in the Border League Pool B to make the final at The Greenyards on April 14th.

Fraser Thomson, Fraser Harkness, James King, Scott Wight and John Dalziel will make up a third of the starting team for the Scotland Club International game against Ireland at Donnybrook on Friday night. In one of two changes from the team which beat France Melrose winger Callum Anderson's place on the right wing has been taken by Dundee's James Fleming and he is not included in the 22. John Dalziel will again captain the side.

Mar 14th
Scotland U18 lost to France U18 34-26 at Philiphaugh on Sunday but it was a former Hawick player, Stuart Hogg, who was awarded the title of Man of the Match. Seeveral Borders youngsters were in the Scottish squad including Hawick Wanderers and Langholm prop Robin Hislop and Jed Thistle's Andrew Nagle who started in the pack.

Stuart Hogg (left) and Murray McConnell (right) in action for Scotland U18 at Selkirk.
Pictures: Grant Kinghorn, GrantKinghornpics

Mar 13th
While Scotland and England were playing out a 15-15 draw at Murrayfield, there was plenty action taking place involving Borders teams, and Melrose comfortably disposed of Third Division side Falkirk 67-3 at The Greenyards in the 2nd Round of the Scottish Premier Cup with a 10-try haul. Fraser Thomson got a hat-trick, Ben Allen scored two and the other five went to Jamie Murray, John Dalziel, James King, Grant Runciman and Garry Elder. Craig Jackson kicked seven conversions and a penalty.

Left: Ben Allen skips over for one of his two tries against Falkirk.
Right: Garry Elder charges down the field with Scott McCormick in support.
Pictures: Rob Gray, DigitalPic

Over at Second Division Stirling County, they welcomed Premier 1 opposition in the shape of Selkirk, and they won 23-12 to provide something of a cup shock.

Ardrossan Accies got rid of Aberdeen Grammar in the previous round and were looking to knock out another Premier 2 team in Gala, but they couldn't quite manage it although they put up a good fight - but Gala went through 26-22.

In Round 3 of the Bowl Earlston lost 12-10 to North Berwick at The Haugh to end their Murrayfield dreams.

Turning to league business and Langholm just about secured National League 1 survival with a home win over Edinburgh University 27-10 at Milntown. In doing so they helped their Border rivals Berwick who are hoping to stay up at the expense of the Edinburgh team, but with just four games to play Berwick are still 8 points adrift of Uni.

National League 2 saw Hawick YM win again with a bonus point. They beat Cambuslang 34-27 to ensure League 2 rugby again next season.

In East League 1 Hawick Harlequins also gained a victory over Penicuik, winning 22-17 to move themselves up to fifth in the table while Duns beat Dunbar 20-15. In East League 2 Gala YM destroyed Liberton on the road 91-0 to go third in the table with a game in hand and score over 600 points for the season. They scored 14 tries with Gavin Dalgleish converting nine of them, and Dale Hadden scored a hat trick of tries.

Mar 12th
Borders teams were involved in three games this evening and in all there were shock results. First in Premier 2 at The Gytes, home team Peebles went down 19-0 at the hands of Kelso, who look to be safe from any relegation worries now as they bagged all four points in a comfortable win. 6-0 up at the break thanks to two Greg Ponton penalties, Ponton added another two after the interval before Iain Moody wrapped things up with a try 15 minutes before the end. Ponton kicked the conversion to give them four more points in the league and their third straight win.

Meanwhile in the Radio Borders Border League Jedforest left it late to snatch a dramatic win at Mansfield Park against Hawick in a game which doubled as a Skelly Cup match. Jed won 27-22, scoring three tries from Lewis Young (2) and his brother Gregor. Ewan Scott kicked two penalties before going off injured. Donald Grieve scored two conversions with Chris Laidlaw getting another. For Hawick, Matt Landels and Keith Miller scored tries with Neil Renwick kicking four penalties. It throws the Border League pool wide open now as Jed are unbeaten in two games, Hawick have won two out of three, and it brings Selkirk back into the mix as well, because a win in their remaining three games puts them in a position where they could make the final. And let's not forget that Kelso have yet to play their four Border League games in that Pool.

But the biggest shock was at Murrayfield. Berwick, who are fighting an uphill battle to stay in National League Division 1, won a Scottish Shield Round 2 match against Murrayfield Wanderers by 35-26. They crossed the line five times with Richard Hume and Dan Law getting a brace each and Jamie Young the other. Matthew McCreath completed the Berwick scoring with two penalties and two conversions.

From left: In the news tonight - Bruce McNaughton, Iain Moody and Gregor Young.

The shocks didn't end there. Bruce McNaughton, the Peebles coach, announced tonight that he is leaving the club at the end of the season after five years service. It is a totally amicable decision and Bruce is keen to continue his coaching career elsewhere with a new challenge, and he told Borders Rugby Television that he would be very happy to still be coaching in the Borders if the opportunity came up, so watch this space!  Peebles have got a replacement lined up and will announce him officially at their Peebles Sevens tournament next month.

Borderers will line up as part of the Scotland U18 squad to meet Wales at Philiphaugh on Sunday at 3pm. Robin Hislop (Hawick Wanderers), Gavin Robertson (Melrose Wasps), Andrew Nagle (Jed Thistle) and Rory Sutherland (Hawick Wanderers) are all forwards. Admission is free.  Meanwhile Rory Hutton (former Hawick player) and Selkirk's Lee Jones have been selected to play for Scotland 7s in this weekend's leg of the IRB World Series at Adelaide in Australia.

Mar 10th
Talks have been going on behind the scenes for several months in a bid to re-vamp the Borders Sevens circuit, which has been known as the Kings Of The Sevens tournament for a number of years. The big problem with it has always been the fact that two of the ten events have been held pre-season while the other eight are played eight months later; something which has been very un-satisfactory for all. Poor attendances and clubs not wanting to field their best players pre-season has been a disaster for Kelso and Selkirk with falling attendances and teams calling off.

The sensible option was to put all tournaments together in one place at the end of the season, and that now looks as if it will happen. Last year the Border League showed that they can address issues and make things happen when they resurrected the South of Scotland team from the ashes and now the clubs have got together and seemingly sorted the 7s problem out.

Border League secretary John Thorburn said: "Nothing has been agreed so far but we will be meeting later this month to talk more."

The plan, following an expected re-structure of the season discussed last night by Colin Thomson and the Championship Committee, is for Kelso to have the old Gala date and Jedforest to move their traditionally final event on the circuit back a week, therefore creating a gap for Selkirk to stage their tournament on the second Saturday in May.

Selkirk President Donald McLeod told local journalist Atholl Innes: "We have been aware that a number of spectators have dropped and this is a logical step. We are very grateful to Jed for agreeing to switching their final tournament back a week."

We understand that talk is still going on between Gala and Kelso but all this makes perfect sense and we look forward to a re-vitalised Spring Sevens circuit in the Borders.

The next thing to sort out is the Border League which can be made once again into something special, rather than the disaster that it has been for the past few years as far as spectators and media are concerned. Hopefully the new season structure will enable changes to be made. Selkirk's most capped international player John Rutherford told me: "To win the Border League is fantastic but you really need to beat all the best Border teams to really feel you are the best. I support a two tier structure whereby the best Borders sides are in one competition and the others are in another."

Double heading Premier 1 and Premier 2 games would reduce fixture congestion while getting other fixtures out of the way early in the season instead of letting them build up due to the weather is a must and hopefully the Border League will address this. 

Our initiative for all Borders Clubs to introduce a "Border Pass" for all fans would bring much-needed funds into local rugby by allowing holders free entry to all Borders grounds throughout the season. The benefits are enormous. Clubs would enjoy pre-season income, spectators gain access to live rugby at a very attractive price of around £100 a year which means bigger crowds. Once fans are in the grounds they will spend in any case. It has to be a no-brainer if the clubs subsribe to it. By each club keeping 100% of the money from these passes it is a tremendous incentive for them to sell.

Stuart Cameron, BRTV

Mar 9th
Nick De Luca returns to start for Scotland against England in the Calcutta Cup clash at Murrayfield on Saturday. Coach Andy Robinson has given most of the team who played against Italy another chance to deliver the goods in front of their home crowd. Hugo Southwell will start at full back, Sean Lamont and Max Evans are on the wing, with Simon Danielli dropping to the bench. Graeme Morrison and De Luca will be the Centre partnership with Dan Parks, who will win his 50th cap (who would have thought that before the season began?) and Chris Cusiter the half back pairing. In the front row it's Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford and Euan Murray, Jim Hamilton has beaten off Nathan Hines to retain the number 4 jersey and will pack down with Alastair Kellock in the boiler house. The Killer Bs of Barclay, Beattie and Brown make up the back row. On the bench are Rory Lawson (for the injured Mike Blair), Phil Godman and Danielli providing back cover, while the four forwards replacements are Scott Lawson, Geoff Cross, Nathan Hines and Alan MacDonald. Dickinson and Strokosch were ruled out due to injury.

So this is Robinson's fourth RBS 6 Nations game in charge of Scotland and probably this is the one more than any other he would love to win. Scotland are looking for a hat-trick of wins against England at Murrayfield and there is absolutely no reason why they cannot deliver a big win. A fourth defeat will be hard to swallow, but as always, if the boys play as well as they can do, and deliver some tries to add to a defensive display which they seem to be able to deliver at will, a home win is by no means out of the question. The big question for me is in the centre which constantly under-performs. This is their big chance to shine for once. Let's hope they do.

Mar 8th
Semi Junior rugby is in crisis at the moment due to a shortage of referees. Neil Crooks, Admin manager for the East Region, said: "No Society referees were available this weekend. Clubs should find their own suitably qualified referees to cover games if they can."  This has put pressure on the East of Scotland Cup and as a result the Edinburgh U18 League Executive committee decided to withdraw the Edinburgh teams from the competition.

Mar 6th
All but one of the Borders' Premiership teams were victorious today in what was one of the best days for local clubs this season. Starting in Premier 1 Selkirk gained a try bonus against relegation rivals Watsonians to move up the table and put distance between themselves and the Edinburgh club with a 34-14 win. Their four tries came from Lee Jones (2), Callum Johnston and Gavin Craig. David Cassidy converted all of them and also kicked two penalties.

Gavin Craig (left) and Lee Jones (right) on their way to scoring against Watsonians.
Pictures: Grant Kinghorn, GrantKinghornpics

Melrose helped their neighbours too by beating Edinburgh Accies, who are also in the relegation zone, by 34-13. Fraser Thomson bagged himself a brace of tries to extend his lead at the top of the Borders Try Scoring table. Callum Anderson, Ben Allen and Nick Beavon also crossed for tries to give Melrose another bonus point. Scott Wight could only kick one conversion, and after missing penalties the goal kicking was handed over to James King, who converted two tries and scored a penalty.

In Premier 2 all eyes were on Kelso and Jedforest at the wrong end of the table. Both desperately needed wins and both got them. Kelso outplayed league leaders Stirling County and were excellent value for their 20-15 win, and while there was just one try in the game, this was as entertaining a match as any played this season in that division. Greg Ponton for Kelso and Brian Archibald for Stirling County both kicked five penalties as well as missing their fair share, while an interception try by Gregg Minto in the first half was the difference between the two sides.

Jedforest had the lead early on against Aberdeen Grammar but, as has happened so many times this season, it looked as if they might let it slip. But they hung on to pass the winning post and win 20-18. Their three tries were scored by Paul Pringle, Roy McFarlane and Darren Gillespie with Ewan Scott kicking a penalty and a conversion. Their four valuable points put them above Haddington who lost 26-18 at home to Hawick, but the Greens had to work hard for their win. They were trailing for much of the game but pulled away to deny Haddington a bonus point. Hawick's three tries were credited to Graham Hogg, Bruce McNeil and Michael Graham while Hogg also kicked a drop goal and Ally Weir landed two penalties and a conversion.

GHA leathered bottom team Dunfermline 83-0 who look certain to go down, especially as they have a very difficult run-in against top clubs in the division. Jed are third bottom on 23 points and have a game in hand on Haddington while Kelso now have 31.

Peebles destroyed Kirkcaldy 38-11 with five tries from David Anderson (who got two of them), James Oakes, Darren Kerr and Donald Sangster. Neil Warnock struck three accurate penalties and two conversions.

Not so good news for Gala who came back from Biggar with a losing bonus point for their efforts. They were beaten 10-3 with Graham Speirs kicking a penalty.

In National League 1 Berwick's woes continued with an expected defeat at Whitecraigs by 36-3, but Langholm managed a bonus point in defeating RHC 28-14. Their four tries were scored by Steven Nicol, Keith Davidson and a brace from David Irving. Colin Jardine kicked a conversion and two penalties. Langholm are on 31 points in 9th place and move above Edinburgh University on 29. Berwick are second bottom on 21 with Annan doomed on 16. Berwick realistically need to target their remaining four games as must-wins to stand any chance of surviving. It really is crisis time down at Scremerston, particularly as three of those four matches are away from home.

In National League 2 better news for Hawick YM. Although they had three points wiped from their total last week for not fulfilling a game against Newton Stewart earlier in the season, they bounced back with five points in winning against, ironically, Newton Stewart, by 36-19. If they can get a few more points they should survive in that division without any problem.

One league below and Hawick Linden managed an away bonus point with a narrow 28-21 loss at Helensburgh. Barry Sutherland completed a rare full house with a try, conversion, drop goal and two penalties. Graeme Anderson scored Linden's other try.

In East League 2 there were losses for both Walkerburn, who went down 37-0 at Moray House, and St Boswells, who lost narrowly 15-12 at Queensferry, while in Round 2 of the Scottish Bowl Earlston knocked out Dunbar 21-18. Meanwhile in Round 3 Duns won the local derby at Hawick Harlequins by 18-8 to progress even further to a potential return to Murrayfield.

Mar 6th
The draw has been made for the Gibraltar Asset Management Melrose Sevens which takes place on April 10th starting at 11.30am.

Round 1

Gala v Stirling County
Stewart's Melville v Boroughmuir
Hawick v Currie
Heriots v Glasgow Hawks
Kelso v Edinburgh Accies
Langholm v West of Scotland
Dundee HSFP v Peebles
Jedforest v Aberdeen Grammar