Whither Borders Rugby?

When I was growing up, and through the bulk of my playing time Borders rugby was the bedrock of the scottish game. Teams such as Hawick, Gala, Melrose, Kelso and to a lesser degree Selkirk and Jedforest produced countless Scottish players and many Lions. However it was a culture based on local rivalries between small towns, with the entire population of the area being considerably less than that of Cardiff, Swansea or Leicester. It was always going to be hard to overlay the Regional setup that Scotland opted for in the pro age on top of the Borders scene. The experiment of teh Borders Reivers was probably always doomed to fail.

This then leads me to my question - how strong is rugby in the borders at the moment. Are Edingburgh and Glasgow tapping in to this sourse of players as well as they should?

LT, Here's the Scottish prem table:

Team P W D L F A BP PTS
1 Melrose 11 9 0 2 318 210 8 44
2 Gala 11 9 0 2 281 171 7 43
3 Dundee High 11 8 0 3 301 235 6 38
4 Currie 11 7 0 4 369 219 7 35
5 Stirling County 11 6 1 4 271 246 5 31
6 Ayr 11 7 0 4 221 227 3 31
7 Aberdeen Grammar 11 6 0 5 256 230 5 29
8 Boroughmuir 11 4 0 7 261 247 8 24
9 Heriots Rugby Club 11 3 0 8 194 266 4 16
10 Glasgow Hawks 11 3 1 7 160 308 1 15
11 Edinburgh Acads 11 2 1 8 196 333 4 14
12 Hawick 11 0 1 10 152 288 5 7

Melrose and Gala top the table, Hawick are propping it up and Jed are in the 2nd division - still pretty strong. Loads of the current crop of internationals have their origins in the borders too

I suppose the question is are Glasgow and Edinburgh, using players from Melrose and Gala, as well as they do players from the likes of Hawks and Acads?

Or are Melrose and Gala left out of the pro scene a bit since the ening of the Boarders?

Kingshu, absolutely they are using borders players at the two pro-district sides - examples would be Greig Laidlaw from Jed and Stuart Hogg from Hawick

I would also add Scott Wight, Lee jone and James King to that

Scott Wight had a commanding season for Melrose last year, leading them to the league and Kings of the Sevens titles and got rewarded with a contract at glasgow for it.

Lee Jones got signed off the back of a great run of form for selkirk a season and a half ago and is now in line for an international call.

The big old names are still there, I just wonder what happens to any talented players that materialise in the area, provided they are swallowed up by the 2 city teams then there is nothing to worry about.

Sadly there just isn't the money to do anything constructive within Scottish rugby and their clubs seem to be more interested in competing in traditional matches than progressing the game in Scotland.

It also seems that the late developers are in danger of being missed.

However that seems to apply in England and Wales as well. If you are not on a club/region's books as a teenager there is a major risk of never making it.

LondonTiger wrote:It also seems that the late developers are in danger of being missed.

However that seems to apply in England and Wales as well. If you are not on a club/region's books as a teenager there is a major risk of never making it.

I'm not really sure that applies to Wales to be honest, we have a history of capping players late and spotting players who develop lateer than normal.
Paul turner was capped at 30, Robert Howley was capped at 26, Lee Bryne was described as a late developer by Gareth Jenkins also.
Ben Morgan was written off by england only to be developed fairly late by Ebbw Vale then the Scarlets.

Most players showing resonable promise are given a chance, the only wasteful region is the Ospreys, they have a nasty habbit of kicking players out too early, then having them come back and bite them on the backside.

Aled Brew was kicked out from the Ospreys early on, only for him to go to Blues and later the Dragons and become a good player. Though that might not of happened with Shane Williams keeping him on the bench at the Ospreys.

Matthew Jarvis has been impressive for Connacht by all accounts, yet was booted out by the Ospreys, that may be a mistake.

AD teh palyers you mention may have been capped late - but they were at big clubs from a young age.

I am thinking about grizzled forwards who used to play for village sides and only appeared for a top club side late(ish) in their careers etc. Who knows how many good players never get the chance.

LondonTiger wrote:AD teh palyers you mention may have been capped late - but they were at big clubs from a young age.

I am thinking about grizzled forwards who used to play for village sides and only appeared for a top club side late(ish) in their careers etc. Who knows how many good players never get the chance.

Fair play I'm stumped now

It used to happen pre-profesionalism. I guess it is just one of those things that has changed.

Interesting idea from Gary Armstrong in today's Herald about giving the South of Scotland a team in the B&I Cup: Borders rugby - imo, this would be even more interesting if the proposals to make the B&I Cup the third tier of European rugby competition behind the HEC and ACC come to fruition. In fact, I'd go as far to say that a combined Borders team would merit an Amlin place - am now ready to be shot down

LondonTiger wrote:AD teh palyers you mention may have been capped late - but they were at big clubs from a young age.

I am thinking about grizzled forwards who used to play for village sides and only appeared for a top club side late(ish) in their careers etc. Who knows how many good players never get the chance.

Peter Edwards for the Scarlets is 30, and only got his first professional contract last season after playing for Llandovery for a fair few years.

he's the only one I can think of though!