Several leading thinkers in the sevens game have called for a reduction in the number of rounds that make up the Kings circuit so that these ‘double’ weekends could be eliminated. In the current make-up, there are two such weekends, Hawick and Berwick forming one pair and Kelso and Earlston the other.

It would be hard, particularly on Earlston, which is always a popular tournament, to drop the smaller club tournaments from the Kings circuit. But on the evidence of this weekend it is clear that many of the teams competing were flagging somewhat and fielding diminished squads often as a result of hard competition on the previous day.

In many ways, Earlston was saved by the presence of two ‘fresh’ teams, Durham University and Stirling County. Durham played at Kelso but with a different squad that appeared at Earlston. “Early in our sevens season, we like to try and get as many boys game time as possible. We’re building towards the BUCS [British Universities and Colleges] on 6th June. We started training last week,” explained Simon Cully, head of rugby at Durham University.

“After today we’re a tournament every weekend up to June 6th. We have to be fit and we have to be tough … and we have to play some really good sevens. One of the reasons I bring the boys up to the Borders is because everyone knows their sevens really well. And it’s an educated crowd. Our boys play against some clever, clever players, and we have to learn to be streetwise,” Cully added.

Durham looked the part as they swept past Langholm in the first round before defeating Kelso in the second of the quarter-finals.  Then, in the semi-final, Durham were too pacy for an understrength Edinburgh Accies side scoring tries by Will Windows, Harry Dawson, Connor Holdcroft and Finn Stables to a try for the Raeburn Place men by Ben Roger.

But in the final the students high tempo rugby was tamed by a Melrose side that had to draft in the Stirling County wing Archie Rankin and Heriot’s Tom Dunn to cover for Douglas and Crawford. Melrose’s ability to win kick-offs and deploy their defensive nous prevented the Durham students from scoring in the first half, while in attack the Greenyards side had sufficient skill to score first half tries by Hamish Weir and the outstanding Corey Goldsbrough for a 12-0 interval lead.

Durham University were able to hit back at the beginning of the second half with a converted try from Morgan Williams but thereafter they were unable to break down the Melrose defence resulting in a 12-7 win for the Kings of the Sevens title leaders.

After victories over hosts Earlston and then Heriot’s, Melrose had reached the final with the narrowest of semi-final wins over a high tempo Stirling County side, Paddy Anderson and Goldsbrough scoring two tries apiece countering two touchdowns from Ryan Southern and one by Rankin, all three converted, to secure a 22-21 win for the Borderers.

In both the semi-final and final, Melrose faced quality opposition, but in the event the Greenyards men found an inner strength to carve out wins despite residual fatigue from four tough ties at Kelso 24 hours earlier.

After the final, Calum Anderson, the Melrose coach, focused on his side’s resolve under the pressure of playing against sharp sides and of coping with a depleted squad.

“We had to dig really deep for that, unbelievably deep,” he said. “They dug that semi-final out of God knows where – some character. You look at Corey Goldsborough there, he’s a man mountain, isn’t he? After we lost Declan Mulcahy yesterday Corey just picks up where he left off at Kelso and carries a lot of that weight. And Scotty Clark‘s really come of age.”

As a result of their injury accumulation, Melrose may not be as strong for next Saturday’s tournament at Selkirk, but with such a commanding lead in the Kings of the Sevens title race it may not matter. What Melrose will want, however, is for their squad to regroup ahead of their own tournament on 23rd May.  

 

Round 1:  Hawick 24 Watsonians 14; Edinburgh Accies19 Selkirk 5; Durham University 34 Langholm 7; Kelso 24 GAC 7s 17; Heriot’s 17 Edinburgh University 12; Melrose 40 Earlston 5; Gala 17 Jed-Forest 12; Stirling County 38  Peebles 0.

Quarter-finals: Hawick 17 Edinburgh Accies 25; Durham University 17 Kelso 12; Heriot’s 19 Melrose 26; Gala 19 Stirling County 33.

Semi-finals: Edinburgh Accies 7 Durham University 26; Melrose 22 Stirling County 21

Final: Durham University 7 Melrose 12

 

Durham University: M Williams, W Windows, C Holdcroft, H Dawson, F Stables, M Orange, J Wooler, R Telfer, F Callington, L Norton.

Melrose: P Anderson, J Douglas, S Derrick, A Rankin, C Robertson, S Clark, B Colvine, C Goldsbrough, H Weir, T Dunn.

Referee: Steven Turnbull.

 

One month to go: 10 things you need to know ahead of the 2026 Howden Melrose Sevens