Rugby union in the Scottish Borders
Encyclopedia
Rugby union
in the Scottish Borders
has a long, and significant history.
The region has been responsible for several major innovations, and a presence in the national game which is disproportionately large, due to the fact it is the one part of Scotland, where rugby is the main sport and played by all classes.
. Undoubtedly their popularity paved the way for that of rugby. Ned Haig
, for example played Fastern's Eve Ba'.
Throughout the mid to late 1870s, another almost parallel world of club rugby grew up in the Scottish Borders. This brand of rugby, imported from Yorkshire through the burgeoning woollen industry, was a world away from the refined old boy circuit of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Borders remains the only part of Scotland - outside the predominantly middle class atmosphere of the Edinburgh elite - where rugby really managed to take root in Scotland. In small towns where there was little or no association football, clubs such as Gala, Hawick, Selkirk, Jed Forest, and Melrose, soon became the sporting focus for the hardy farming communities nearby.
Although the population of the Borders is only 100,000, its unique cauldron of local rivalries has produced some of the best players to come out of Scottish, or even European rugby. Many of the greatest
Scottish sides, including those who won the Grand Slam of 1990, contained a substantial number of Borderers. It says much for the quality of play in the area that the three most enduring club sides in
Scotland - Hawick
, Gala
(shiels) and Melrose
, have populations of 14800, 12300 and 1670 respectively.
Although the bulk of Borders rugby can be found in and around mid and lower Tweedsdale, the Border rugby region also takes in the likes of Langholm in Dumfriesshire in the south west, and Peebles, Innerleithen and Biggar (traditionally part of South Lanarkshire) in the west. The town of Berwick upon Tweed also has a strong association with the region, and its rugby club frequently plays against sides in the area.
and which remains the oldest organised league competition in world rugby.
The code was invented in 1883, when Melrose butcher and fly-half Ned Haig
suggested a shortened version of the game, as a means of raising money at a local fair. The idea was a resounding success,
with Melrose beating Gala in extra time to win the competition, and soon most towns in the Borders staged their own annual sevens tournaments in April and May.
So seriously do Borderers take the game, that when in 1983, the victorious French donated their Melrose Sevens winners' medals to the local lasses as a token of affection, that there was an uproar in the town. Borderers
see a Melrose Sevens winners' medal as the next best thing to a Scottish cap.
The Melrose Cup
is the main prize of the Rugby World Cup Sevens
, and is named after this.
and their demise was a minor scandal. Part of the problem was that while the Borders have produced much of Scotland's best rugby, they did not necessarily have the population to support such a team. The Reivers
were initially merged into Edinburgh, and then disappeared.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
in the Scottish Borders
Scottish Borders
The Scottish Borders is one of 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by Dumfries and Galloway in the west, South Lanarkshire and West Lothian in the north west, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian to the north; and the non-metropolitan counties of Northumberland...
has a long, and significant history.
The region has been responsible for several major innovations, and a presence in the national game which is disproportionately large, due to the fact it is the one part of Scotland, where rugby is the main sport and played by all classes.
History
For centuries Borderers had been playing various forms of folk football, that were extremely similar to rugby. Some of these are still played very occasionally, such as the game in JedburghJedburgh
Jedburgh is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and historically in Roxburghshire.-Location:Jedburgh lies on the Jed Water, a tributary of the River Teviot, it is only ten miles from the border with England and is dominated by the substantial ruins of Jedburgh Abbey...
. Undoubtedly their popularity paved the way for that of rugby. Ned Haig
Ned Haig
Ned Haig was a butcher and rugby union player notable for founding the sport of rugby sevens. He moved to Melrose when he was young. There he took up rugby and joined Melrose Rugby Football Club in 1880...
, for example played Fastern's Eve Ba'.
Throughout the mid to late 1870s, another almost parallel world of club rugby grew up in the Scottish Borders. This brand of rugby, imported from Yorkshire through the burgeoning woollen industry, was a world away from the refined old boy circuit of Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Borders remains the only part of Scotland - outside the predominantly middle class atmosphere of the Edinburgh elite - where rugby really managed to take root in Scotland. In small towns where there was little or no association football, clubs such as Gala, Hawick, Selkirk, Jed Forest, and Melrose, soon became the sporting focus for the hardy farming communities nearby.
Although the population of the Borders is only 100,000, its unique cauldron of local rivalries has produced some of the best players to come out of Scottish, or even European rugby. Many of the greatest
Scottish sides, including those who won the Grand Slam of 1990, contained a substantial number of Borderers. It says much for the quality of play in the area that the three most enduring club sides in
Scotland - Hawick
Hawick RFC
Hawick Rugby Football Club is a semi-professional rugby union side, currently playing in the Premiership Division One and Border League. The team are based at Mansfield Park at Hawick in the Scottish Borders....
, Gala
Gala RFC
Gala Rugby Football Club are a rugby union team based in Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, founded in 1875, they play their home games at Netherdale....
(shiels) and Melrose
Melrose RFC
Melrose Rugby Football Club, located in the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders, is one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world.-History:The club was formed in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880...
, have populations of 14800, 12300 and 1670 respectively.
Borders rugby
The area of Borders rugby is largely contiguous with Scottish Borders region, but also taking in Langholm and Biggar.Although the bulk of Borders rugby can be found in and around mid and lower Tweedsdale, the Border rugby region also takes in the likes of Langholm in Dumfriesshire in the south west, and Peebles, Innerleithen and Biggar (traditionally part of South Lanarkshire) in the west. The town of Berwick upon Tweed also has a strong association with the region, and its rugby club frequently plays against sides in the area.
Border League
As well as being geographically and culturally divorced from their city counterparts, the Borders clubs soon developed a competition of their own, the Borders League, which is still contested,and which remains the oldest organised league competition in world rugby.
Rugby sevens
The Borders is also the birthplace of the abbreviated code of the sevens, which is somewhat ironic since Borders rugby has traditionally been built around forward muscle, rather than fluent back play.The code was invented in 1883, when Melrose butcher and fly-half Ned Haig
Ned Haig
Ned Haig was a butcher and rugby union player notable for founding the sport of rugby sevens. He moved to Melrose when he was young. There he took up rugby and joined Melrose Rugby Football Club in 1880...
suggested a shortened version of the game, as a means of raising money at a local fair. The idea was a resounding success,
with Melrose beating Gala in extra time to win the competition, and soon most towns in the Borders staged their own annual sevens tournaments in April and May.
So seriously do Borderers take the game, that when in 1983, the victorious French donated their Melrose Sevens winners' medals to the local lasses as a token of affection, that there was an uproar in the town. Borderers
see a Melrose Sevens winners' medal as the next best thing to a Scottish cap.
The Melrose Cup
Melrose Cup
The Melrose Cup is the main prize of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The trophy is named after the town of Melrose, Scotland, the birthplace of rugby sevens. The trophy has been presented to the winner of the world cup since the inaugural tournament in 1993. The only teams to have held the trophy are...
is the main prize of the Rugby World Cup Sevens
Rugby World Cup Sevens
The Rugby World Cup Sevens is the premier international Rugby sevens competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, the International Rugby Board , and is contested by the men's national sevens teams every four years. The inaugural tournament was held in 1993 in Scotland, the...
, and is named after this.
Border Reivers
The Border Reivers were one of three professional sides set up by the SRU in the 1990s. While their appearance was initially regarded with some suspicion and derision, they did pick up something of a followingand their demise was a minor scandal. Part of the problem was that while the Borders have produced much of Scotland's best rugby, they did not necessarily have the population to support such a team. The Reivers
were initially merged into Edinburgh, and then disappeared.
Notable rugby players from the Borders
- Jim AitkenJim AitkenJim Aitken is a British businessman and former Scotland international rugby union player. He won 24 international caps and scored one try, playing at loose head prop, between 1977 and 1984, and captained the Scottish Grand Slam side in the 1984 Five Nations Championship.He is now a successful...
(Gala) - Gary ArmstrongGary ArmstrongGary Armstrong is a former Scottish rugby union player who played scrum-half. He played for Jed-Forest RFC, Newcastle Falcons, The Borders and represented Scotland and the British Lions. His nickname is the Border Terrier...
(Jed Forest) - Roger BairdRoger BairdGavin Roger Todd Baird was a Scottish rugby union player, who won 27 caps playing on the wing for between 1981 and 1988....
(Kelso) - Jock Beattie (Hawick)
- Peter Brown (Gala)
- Colin DeansColin DeansColin Thomas Deans born on 3 May 1955 in Hawick in the Scottish borders was a rugby union player with Hawick RFC and . His nickname was the Hawick Hooker.He made his debut against in 1978 when Scotland lost, 16 - 19...
(Hawick) - Ned HaigNed HaigNed Haig was a butcher and rugby union player notable for founding the sport of rugby sevens. He moved to Melrose when he was young. There he took up rugby and joined Melrose Rugby Football Club in 1880...
(Melrose) - John JeffreyJohn JeffreyJohn Jeffrey is a Scottish former internationalistrugby union player. His nicknames are "The Great White Shark" and "JJ", the former because of his blond "thatch of hair"....
(Kelso) - Craig JoinerCraig JoinerCraig Joiner was born April 21, 1974 in Glasgow, Scotland. Educated at Merchiston Castle School, he won 25 caps playing on the wing for the Scottish rugby union side between 1994 and 2000....
(Melrose) - Willie KyleWillie KyleWilliam "Willie" Elliot Kyle, was a Scottish rugby union player, who played as a forward.He was capped twenty one times for between 1954-1960. He also played for Hawick RFC. -References:...
(Hawick) - Charlie Laidlaw
- Roy LaidlawRoy LaidlawRoy James Laidlaw is a Scottish rugby union footballer. Laidlaw was capped 47 times, as a scrum half, for Scotland between 1980–1988, and British Lions in New Zealand in 1983....
(Jed Forest) - David LeslieDavid Leslie (rugby union)David Leslie is a former Scottish rugby union player. He played for Scotland 32 times between 1975 and 1985. He usually played at number eight, but occasionally at flanker....
(Gala) - Bill McLarenBill McLarenWilliam Pollock "Bill" McLaren CBE was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Until his retirement in 2002, he was known as 'the voice of rugby'...
(Hawick) - Hugh McLeodHugh McLeod (rugby player)Hugh Ferns McLeod is a retired Scottish rugby union player. He played for Scotland forty times between 1954 and 1962. He played 14 times for the Barbarians between 1954 and 1959, scoring only once, a try in their 1958 match against East Africa in Nairobi on 28 May 1958 Hugh Ferns McLeod is a...
(Hawick) - Duncan PatersonDuncan PatersonDuncan Paterson was a Scottish rugby union player. He played at scrum-half, for Gala RFC at club level and was capped at international level for Scotland...
(Gala) - Jim RenwickJim RenwickJim Renwick was one of Scotland's greatest rugby players, usually at centre. He played for Hawick Harlequins RFC and the full Hawick RFC team, and the British Lions, 1972–84. He earned 52 caps for his country. Allan Massie thinks his 1981-82 international season was his best, and describes...
(Hawick) - Keith RobertsonKeith Robertson (rugby union)Keith William Robertson is a former Scottish rugby union player. He played for Scotland forty four times between 1978 and 1989...
(Melrose) - Adam RobsonAdam RobsonAdam Robson, was a Scottish rugby union player, who played as a flanker.He was capped twenty two times for between 1954-1960.He also played for Hawick RFC and Hawick Linden RFC.-References:...
(Hawick) - John RutherfordJohn RutherfordJohn Rutherford may refer to:* John Rutherford , Scottish professor father of Daniel Rutherford* John Rutherford , governor of Virginia* Jock Rutherford , English footballer...
(Selkirk) - Tony StangerTony StangerAnthony George Stanger is a former Scottish international rugby union player, and is Scotland's joint record try scorer....
(Hawick) - Douglas Christie (Selkirk)
- Alan TaitAlan TaitAlan V. Tait is a Scottish rugby footballer and coach. He is currently head coach at Newcastle Falcons and a former rugby league and rugby union footballer who played outside centre for Scotland and the British and Irish Lions...
(Kelso) - Jim TelferJim TelferJames "Jim" Telfer is a Scottish rugby union coach and a former rugby player. A former headmaster at Hawick High School and chemistry teacher, he has won fame as a Scottish forwards coach who gave punishing training sessions to his players...
(Melrose) - Alan TomesAlan TomesAlan Tomes is a former international rugby union player. He toured South Africa in 1980 with the British and Irish Lions and at the time played club rugby for Hawick RFC.He is the father of Exeter Chiefs lock Sean Tomes.-References:...
(Hawick) - Gregor TownsendGregor TownsendGregor Peter John Townsend MBE is a former Scottish rugby union player who played at fly-half, full back and latterly centre....
(Gala) - Jock TurnerJock TurnerJohn "Jock" William Cleet Turner is a former international rugby union player.He was capped twenty times for Scotland between 1966 and 1971, winnings six caps at fly-half, thirteen as a centre and one at fullback...
(Gala) - Doddie WeirDoddie WeirGeorge "Doddie" Weir, born 4 July 1970 in Edinburgh, is a Rugby Union player, in the lock position.George Weir started playing rugby for Stewarts Melville RFC, his former school, in Edinburgh. He studied at the Scottish Agricultural College, gaining an HND, from 1988-1991 . He moved to Melrose RFC...
(Melrose) - Derek White (Gala)