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Friday, 30th July 2010

 
Sporting Borders

Action at the Melrose Sevens

WHETHER taking part in sport is your thing, or even if you get exhausted watching, then the Borders is the place to be.

Rugby is of course the most hotly contested sport in the region, with the top sides being Hawick, Melrose, Peebles, Jed-Forest, Gala, Selkirk, and Kelso.

They are all in the top two divisions in the Premiership and local derbies are something to behold, with the teams fighting for pride as well as league points.

All these top Borders clubs also take part in the Border League, the oldest rugby competition in the world, sponsored for the first time this year by the Southern Reporter.

Joining them are near neighbours Duns, Berwick and Langholm, and despite having to barter with the national club leagues and the professional rugby scene for fixture openings, the competition is going from strength to strength.

Perhaps the most popular form of the sport (because of the social side) is the annual seven-a-side tournaments which are held in each town. Melrose were the first to hold the "Sevens", and thousands flock to the Greenyards each year, for a spectacle of flowing rugby played in a beautiful setting.


One of many fine courses.


The birth of the region's first ever professional rugby team, based in Galashiels and rather imaginatively named "The Borders" has added a whole new level to the game. This year, the fledgling team have had a difficult time of things in the Heineken Cup and the Celtic League, but their dedication and promise has gained them a hard core of support.

In football, Berwick Rangers, who despite living over the Border in England, are the region's only participants in the SFL, competing in Scottish Division Two. However, there are still many local rivalries in the East of Scotland league, with Vale of Leithen and Gala Fairydean heading the way.

If golf is your game, then there is a plethora of awe-inspiring courses to get your teeth into. How about a round at the Roxburghe, near Kelso. This championship course, home to the Scottish Seniors open for the next four years, will test anyone's handicap and is set in some of the most picturesque parts of the region. Most towns have courses with varying difficulty.

Another highly popular past-time in the region is, of course, angling. Salmon fishing in the world-famous junction pool at Kelso could be beyond many people's pockets, but they do say the "king of fish" has no respect for wealth or experience. There are many spots along the river Tweed and its tributaries which are more than likely to spring a few whoppers.

The Southern's angling columnist, Eoin Fairgrieve, has a website on www.speycast.co.uk, on which visitors can check out the best sites, as well as the most productive baits.

The region has a long history of bringing out the best in its athletes, and many Borderers are highly regarded in world sporting circles.

From Hawick’s Julie Forrest, who last year took home an armful of national and international bowling trophies to Gregor Townsend, who last year broke Scott Hastings' record for Scotland rugby appearances, and now plying his trade in South African Super-12 side Natal Sharks, the Borders can hold its head up high.

Why not come along and take in a rugby or football match, or stroll round a golf course, cursing that wee white ball all the way; you may just find out what makes this area so special!
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