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25 May, 2025
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A day at the Melrose Sevens: Spanish armada, pain for hosts and jewel in crown
@Source: scotsman.com
In a week where the very future of the international sevens game has been called into question, it was heartening to return to Melrose and the place where it all began. The Greenyards is the most bucolic of settings and its original ‘sports day’ continues to entertain and showcase some of the game’s great talents. This latest renewal of the world’s oldest sevens tournament almost turned out to be the ultimate crowd pleaser as the hosts reached the men’s final for the first time in seven years. Unfortunately for the vocal home support, it was a round too far and Melrose were edged out by Shogun Rugby. The guest side won 12-5, retaining the Centenary Cup they lifted last year. The draw for the men’s tournament was revamped this year in a bid to help the local teams following a period of dominance by guest sides. All the Borders clubs - and Watsonians - were given byes into the second round, but only Melrose made it beyond that stage. Ultimately, however, they were sunk by a Spanish armada. Shogun were led by Ross McKnight, the Stirling County winger, but the rest of the squad was stuffed full of international players from Spain and they proved too strong for the hosts. Melrose got off to a flying start in the final. Will Hendy, Shogun’s GB Sevens international, was yellow-carded for slapping the ball away and Roly Brett grabbed the opening try almost immediately. Melrose’s lead didn’t last. Gabriel Rocaries scored a converted try to edge Shogun 7-5 ahead at the break and Hendy sealed the victory with a second-half score. “I’m immensely proud of all of our efforts today,” said Callum Anderson, the Melrose coach. “I’m just really, really gutted because there was so much effort there. We were just so close. “I just thought we could have had a moment that could have turned the game for us. Unfortunately, it fell to them but I couldn't be more proud of my boys. They came out with confidence to show what we've done over the season and I think we showed up really well. We controlled the ball so brilliantly.” The compensation for Melrose is that they were crowned Kings of the Sevens, having already won four of the previous nine tournaments on the Borders circuit. They lifted the trophy to great acclaim as dusk crept up on the Greenyards. The Melrose Sevens may be 142 years old but it retains its place in the Scottish sporting calendar, even if it has been shunted back a few weeks. But sevens rugby is an endangered species at the moment. The Ireland men's team will be cut at the end of this season and it was revealed on Friday that the Great Britain men and women's full-time sevens programme will be scrapped at the end of July. Scotland’s sevens team was disbanded long ago but down in the Borders there remains a thriving circuit of which Melrose is the jewel in the crown. They turned out in big numbers on Saturday and they saw some familiar faces. Niko Matawalu, the former Glasgow Warriors favourite, graced the Greenyards with his presence, turning out for guest side Breadalbane Storm. The Fijian international enjoyed himself in a leisurely second-round romp over Hawick. Storm led 31-0 at half-time but the young Hawick side rallied in the second half, scoring tries through Filip Kubicki and Liam Bouglas before eventually going down 45-10. Breadalbane were turfed out in the quarter-finals, losing to Edinburgh Rugby. The young pro-academy team had too much energy for the star-studded guests, who also included Boks sevens international Nabo Sokoyi. Jerry Blyth-Lafferty (two) and Rory Brogan scored first-half tries for the capital pro side and a further score after the break from Hamish Macarthur was enough to give Edinburgh 26-21 win and put them into the last four where they met the hosts. Melrose’s run to the semis hadn’t been straightforward. Having been waved into the second round, they led London Scottish 5-0 through a try from Douglas Crawford but were almost undone in the closing stages. David Heavey of Scottish broke from his own half and looked certain to score close to the posts only to drop the ball over the line. Agony for the Exiles but a touch of fortune for Melrose who then defeated Currie 22-19 in the quarter-finals. The crowd swelled noticeably for the semi-final with Edinburgh as the beer tents emptied and the home fans sensed an upset over the city side. And they were right. The hosts fell behind to an early Jerry Blyth-Lafferty try but tied things up through Connor Spence. A second-half try double from the impressive Keiran Clark put them in the driving seat and although Ross Wolfenden pulled one back for Edinburgh, Melrose had enough to power through into the final, winning 19-14. Shogun, meanwhile, were tearing it up in the other half of the draw. Having taken care of Heriot’s and Selkirk, they then proved far too strong for the Monaco Impi’s in the third quarter-finals, winning 29-5 with tries from player of the tournament Francisco Cosculluela, Jeremy Trevithick, Jamie Matta, Gabriel Rocaries and Noah Canepa. Ayr blocked their path to the final. The Scottish champions had been one of the day’s standouts and they had done it the hard way: no bye into the second round for them. They beat Glasgow Accies and Jed in the early rounds before overcoming New Zealanders Te Awamutu in the quarters. But Shogun reached their fourth Melrose final in a row with a 33-26 win over a valiant Ayr. Cosculluela was excellent, scoring a hat-trick to dash hopes of a first all-Scottish final since 2018. Harlequins, led by former Scotland attack coach Chris Laidlaw, won the women’s competition and were presented with the Doddie Claymore by Kathy Weir, wife of the late Melrose and Scotland great, after defeating last year’s winners, Shogun, 28-7 in the final.
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