South Of Scotland To Play Again

The famous red and white rugby shirt of the South of Scotland will once again grace Border rugby grounds. The South of Scotland are to play Northumberland in a cross border challenge, home and away, with the first fixture to be played at Mansfield Park, Hawick, on Wednesday, 30 December, with a 7pm kick off. The away date has still to be finalised.All Border League clubs have discussed this initiative and all the clubs are giving it their full support, which is great news for the players and rugby supporters in the Borders.   The team will be coached by Melrose coach, Craig Chalmers and assisted by John Dalziel, while Gala’s Richie Gray will be Manager/Selector with Gary Parker also a selector.Border League President, Jim Wood, said: “When Hawick brought up this initiative to a Border League meeting in October, it was fully discussed and has moved on pretty quickly. This is great news for Border rugby and this type of fixture will give the players something to aspire to above club rugby. We look forward to a big crowd supporting this game in the Borders.”Manager, Richie Gray went on:  In sport you must have an avenue for player progression so that there is always a next level for the committed club player to aspire to. The South name, the red and white hooped jersey represents rugby culture, tradition and history of a famous rugby district, it was vital that this team was allowed to play again   Head Coach, Craig Chalmers, commented: It is an honour to be asked by the Border League to coach this side as it brings back so many great many memories for me personnally as a player, a Cross Border Challenge against a strong Northumberland side made up off quality club sides like Newcastle Falcons Academy, Tynedale, Percy Park, Northern and Morpeth is a fitting start to a new era for South rugby this will give the best club players in our region a real testNorthumberland Coach, Darren Cunningham, said: Being Head Coach of Jed Forest, as well as this Northumberland XV, I know first hand what a South of Scotland team means to this region, and the fantastic history that goes with it. We at Northumberland are very excited and honoured at being asked to take on the South in their first match in fourteen years. It makes it all the more exciting for the Northumberland players and staff to be playing the fixture at such a great venue as Hawick’s Mansfield Park.Assisting Darren in the Northumberland coaching team will be James Ponton of Percy Park RFC who will coach the forwards and ex-Scotland International wing, Jim Pollock who won a Grand Slam with Scotland in 1984 and is now coaching the 1st XV at Northern RFC will coach the backs.