The path to catching Melrose would require Accies to produce top performances in the Melrose Sevens next Saturday as well as the Edinburgh Sevens at Raeburn in the final round the following week, a feat that could be possible, according to Bonner, as a consequence of a number of influential players being available for the final two rounds.

“We’ve got a number of boys coming back next week from injury, wedding, stag-dos, etcetera. So we will have a stronger squad, although, to be honest, it would be pretty harsh to drop some of the boys who played today. That could include boys like Vincent Hart, Robbie Chalmers, maybe Robbie Kent and Ryan Godsmark. That’s just four, but there’s a few others around as well who’ll be putting their hands up for selection,” predicted Bonner.

Accies came through the first two rounds of the lower half of the draw with wins over Langholm by 45-12 and Gala by 31-10 before defeating Kelso by the narrowest of margins in the second of the semi-finals with a 22-21 scoreline, and then going on to show their strength in the final against Boroughmuir.

Bonner admitted that he had not started the day with high expectation for his weakened Accies squad, saying: “This morning, I certainly didn’t expect to be in the final if I’m being totally honest. We were struggling a wee bit for a squad this weekend. But we drafted in four school boys  all 18 or under, which is amazing. And they did fantastically well.”

And for much of the semi-final against Kelso it looked as though Bonner’s pre-tournament doubts would be proved correct, especially when the Poynder Park men led 21-10 early in the second half after scoring tries by Liam Herdman (2) and Murray Woodcock, all converted by Dwain Patterson.

But Accies, who scored two first half tries from Joe Townshend, responded strongly with late tries by George Barlow and flier Gavin Welsh, the latter score converted to give Accies a 22-21 victory and a place in the final.

Boroughmuir also had several teenagers in their squad, and this was the first time the Meggetland club had appeared in a Borders Sevens final since 2019 when, in addition to their current coach and former Scotland international sevens player, Jordan Edmunds, their squad included stellar players like Chris Laidlaw and Johnny Matthews. Edmunds believes that reaching the final at Jed is exactly what the Meggetland club needs to further whet its ambition of  playing at a high level in sevens rugby.

After the final Edmunds spoke about the  future of the short game at Boorughmuir saying: “For us, this is the starter for something special that we can build on over the next few years. Hopefully we can become a fixture in the Kings of the Sevens. Unfortunately, we missed out on Kelso and Earlston, but ultimately, if we can get a full tournament list, that’s exactly what this group want. They’re all hungry for it and we’ve probably got a group of about 20 plus guys that are really keen to do some damage on the Kings circuit.”

Boroughmuir, playing in the opening match of the tournament, showed their ambition by defeating an admittedly less experienced Melrose side 28-12 before achieving a 33-19 win over Watsonians to reach the semi-finals where they had to pull out a lot of stops to come from behind and overcome the host club Jed-Forest by 33-17.

“We talked about the fact that we’ve never won Jed before, so it wouldn’t be easy for us playing the home team in the semi-final and then going 17 points to  seven down in the first half, but we managed to pull it back” reflected Edmunds.

In the final, Boroughmuir again had a difficult first half, conceding three tries to Edinburgh Accies who scored through Townshend (2) and Welsh, to trail 0-17 at the break. A try by Jock Lawrie early in the second half extended Accies’ lead before Boroughmuir were rewarded for some good attacking rugby with a try by Gavin Lockhart.

But in the last play, Cameron MacDonald, one of the consistent performers for Accies, bagged a fifth try for his team to give the Raeburn Place side a 29-5 win and the Jed title for a second consecutive year.

 

Jed-Forest Sevens results –

Round 1: Melrose 12 Boroughmuir 28; Hawick 10 Watsonians 22; Jed-Forest 48 Berwick 0; Selkirk 35 Stirling County 12; Langholm 12 Edinburgh Accies 45; Gala 24 Heriot’s 17; Kelso 31 Edinburgh University 10; Peebles 43 Musselburgh 12..

Quarter-finals:  Boroughmuir 33 Watsonians 19; Jed-Forest 33  Selkirk 28 (AET); Edinburgh Accies 31 Gala 10; Kelso 28  Peebles 0.

Semi-finals: Boroughmuir 33 Jed-Forest 17 ; Edinburgh Accies 22 Kelso 21.

Final: Boroughmuir 5 Edinburgh Accies 29.

 

Jed-Forest 7s Final teams –

Boroughmuir: W Lockhart, M Dillon, A Boldor, M Armstrong, P Christie, C Arthur, H Leitch, B Scott, G Lockhart, L Veitch.

Edinburgh Accies: J Townshend, G Welsh, J Jones, G Barlow, M Erasmus, J Lawrie, G Muddiman, O Forrest, R Mellis, C MacDonald.

Referee: Steven Turnbull.

 

Kings of the Sevens position after seven rounds (courtesy Borders Rugby Radio) –