The biggest club rugby crowd of the season assembled at the Greenyards on Saturday for the Howden Melrose Sevens and while they were denied a home victory, the hosts did make it to their first final since 2018. The honours, though, went to Shogun, a guest side filled with Spain sevens internationals who play on the World Series circuit. They won the Centenary Cup, coming from behind to defeat Melrose 12-5 in the final. While the weather wasn’t quite Costa Brava, it was warm enough and although the heavens opened during the second round tie between Selkirk and Shogun it did little to dampen the spirits of the 7,000 or so spectators. Tournament organisers had reshaped the draw this year in a bid to help the local teams. The guest sides, who tend to be filled with semi-pro and fully professional players, were all made to play in the first round while the seven Borders clubs and Watsonians were given byes into round two. As it turned out, only Melrose managed to make it through to the quarter-finals as Peebles, Hawick, Selkirk, Kelso, Gala, Jed-Forest and Sonians were all ousted in the last 16. Currie and Ayr flew the flag for the Scottish club game, with the former unlucky to lose 22-19 to Melrose in a cracking quarter-final tie. Ayr went one better, and enjoyed a highly impressive 28-0 win over New Zealand guests Te Awamutu before losing 33-26 to Shogun in the semis. Te Awamutu, from Waikato, treated spectators to an impromptu haka before the final. Shogun, founded by Englishman Terry Sands, are an elite invitational outfit who call on players from around the world. They also won at Melrose in 2024 but this year’s model drew heavily on Spanish talent. In the exciting Francisco Cosculluela they had the player of the tournament and there were also impressive showings from the likes of Jaime Mata, Noah Cánepa, Ángel Bozal and Gabriel Rocaries in a fiesta of rugby. For Mata, winning at Melrose felt like a special moment and very different to his experiences with Spain in the more strait-laced World Series. “I’d say this is like raw rugby sevens,” said Mata, who also played last year. “It’s pure sevens, and with the crowd and the atmosphere, it’s amazing. I really love playing here. I told all the Spanish guys about this tournament and they didn’t believe me and now they’re so happy. They think they’re in a movie!” Rocaries and Will Hendy scored Shogun’s tries in the final after Roly Brett had given Melrose the lead. Melrose, who had the compensation of being crowned Kings of the Sevens as the most successful team on this season’s Borders circuit, reached the final by beating Edinburgh Rugby 19-14 in the semis. The capital pro side sent an academy squad down to the Borders and there were stand-out performances from Jerry Blyth-Lafferty and Lewis Wells, particularly in their quarter-final win over the Breadalbane Storm guest side which featured Fijian international Niko Matawalu. Monaco Impi’s, who have the patronage of Princess Charlene of Monaco, also made it to the last eight. The Impi’s bolstered their Monegasque squad with a handful of former Scotland Sevens internationals. One of them, Freddie Owsley, scored arguably the try of the day in their win over Kelso. The former Edinburgh flyer collected the ball in his own in-goal area before dodging past a couple of Kelso players and running the length of the field. In the women’s final, Harlequins, coached by Jedburgh’s Chris Laidlaw, beat Shogun 28-7. MEN. First round: London Scottish 24-19 Edinburgh Accies; British Army 17-27 Currie; Stew-Mel 0-38 Edinburgh Rugby; Breadalbane Storm 19-12 Stirling Co; Shogun Rugby 20-7 Heriot’s; Boroughmuir 7-34 Monaco Impi’s; Te Awamutu 24-12 Glasgow Hawks; Glasgow Accies 7-33 Ayr. Second round: London Scottish 0-5 Melrose; Peebles 12-24 Currie; Watsonians 24-21 Edinburgh Rugby; Hawick 45-10 Breadalbane Storm; Shogun 31-7 Selkirk; Monaco 31-12 Kelso; Te Awamutu 47-0 Gala; Ayr 33-5 Jed-Forest. Quarter-finals: Melrose 22-19 Currie; Edinburgh Rugby 26-21 Breadalbane Storm; Shogun 29-5 Monaco; Te Awamutu 0-28 Ayr. Semi-finals: Melrose 19-14 Edinburgh Rugby; Shogun 33-26 Ayr. Final: Melrose 5-12 Shogun. WOMEN. First round: Newcastle Uni 10-33 Shogun Rugby; Harlequins 38-0 Hearts+Balls. Second round: Newcastle Uni 0-34 Hearts+Balls; Shogun Rugby 17-24 Harlequins. Third round: Newcastle Uni 0-52 Harlequins; Shogun Rugby 27-12 Hearts+Balls. Final: Harlequins 28-7 Shogun.