THE HERALD REPORTS

SRU steal Sevens and butcher idealNEIL DRYSDALE June 02 2007

Ned Haig, the Melrose-based butcher, can scarcely have imagined, when he devised a fund-raising rugby match, involving seven players on each side, that his concept would eventually develop into a global phenomenon, all the way from The Greenyards to a grand international festival, which now attracts 300,000 supporters annually, in addition to a litany of blue-chip sponsors, across the eight stages of the IRB World Series.

At its best, the abbreviated game is a helter-skelter thrill-fest, a feast of imagination, opportunism, and electrifying pace and sinewy strength. Granted, the experience of sitting through an entire tournament and being gorged with tries gradually resembles being force-fed with warm, peppermint creams, but there again, the beauty of Sevens is that it allows its audience to dip in and out of the action.

Indeed, had this weekend's Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s been staged in Melrose, there would have been plenty of opportunities for a capacity crowd to divert their eyes away from the rugby for a meal, a pint, a stroll around the picturesque village and chance to renew acquaintances with former colleagues.

Sadly, though, it is one of the miserable ironies of the SRU's hi-jacking of this event that a sport, invented by a Borderer, and which is more popular in the south of Scotland than anywhere else in the country, could be faced with the very real possibility of a Borders boycott by many of the pursuit's true aficionados.

advertisementThat prospect was raised yesterday by Councillor David Parker, the leader of the Scottish Borders Council, one of the men who spent untold hours forging partnerships in his region, which would have ensured a successful tournament at the Greenyards, 124 years after old Neddy had his flash of inspiration.

Unfortunately, the SRU, when presented with the business plan by Parker and his fellow officials, decided the proposals offered too great a financial risk, and switched the proceedings to Murrayfield, a stadium whose suffocating sterility was horribly exposed at the World Cup Sevens festival in 1993, where stair-rod rain conspired with a morgue-like atmosphere inside a concrete building site.

Those scenes probably won't be repeated today or tomorrow, but Parker has no doubts that the tournament should have been held at Melrose and that the union's objections were spurious. "We are still enraged by their behaviour and I know from speaking to a lot of people down here that they won't be going to Murrayfield.

"I reckon that the great majority of folk who normally flock to the sevens at Melrose, Gala, Hawick, Selkirk and elsewhere, won't go anywhere near Edinburgh this weekend, which might be regrettable in one sense, but is perfectly understandable in another," said Parker yesterday.

Sevens is a helter-skelter thrill-fest, a feast of imagination, opportunism, and electrifying pace and sinewy strength.


"Essentially, we wanted to run the event on a partnership basis, but the SRU didn't want that, and then they came out with this line that they were being exposed to a financial risk, which I utterly refute.

"Gordon McKie Chief executive said we could lose half a million pounds, which was absurd, because our plan was sound, we had the necessary funding in place and I think we would have made a terrific job of hosting it, because Melrose is unique.

It is one of the biggest success stories on the Scottish sporting circuit and, from talking to other rugby bodies outwith Scotland, it's clear a significant number of them are flabbergasted as well at the move from The Greenyards to Murrayfield. So it is frustrating, very frustrating, but we simply have to hope that we can reach agreement on bringing it down here in 2008, the 125th anniversary of the Melrose event."

The local contingent having long since been eliminated, and with the normally fabulous Fijians shivering towards an early exit, the scene was set for an Ashes-style finale with favourites, Australia, David Campese, Michael Lynagh, Matt Burke and all, tackling a hastily-assembled English collective (who drove to Scotland in a minibus), including Lawrence Dallaglio, Damien Hopley, Nick Beal, Chris Sheasby and Matt Dawson, who bucked the odds to beat their traditional rivals 21-17.

Cue a noxious chorus of boos, which carried on for most of the final, and even as the victors were being awarded their trophy with Andrew Harriman, the Nigerian-born captain of the winners being subjected to particular abuse. It was the very antithesis of the sevens philosophy, and provided resounding proof that too many of the home brigade didn't just have a chip on their shoulder, but a whole bag of potatoes.

One trusts there won't be any repetition of that malaise over the next 48 hours and, given the relative weakness of the English, it is unlikely they will pose any threat to the Fijians, Samoans and New Zealanders whose gifts will grace the parade. Times might have changed from that early-spring day when Ned's confreres launched their new pastime, ensuring the Borders will be forever synonymous with Sevens, but the game hasn't altered dramatically in the interim period.

Ultimately, it should be about finesse and flair, spotting a gap, jinking and feinting past rival defences, and applying the coup de grace. And it should also be fun, fun, fun. Or at least if the SRU grasps that concept!

This article was originally posted on 2-Jun-2007, 07:37 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 2-Jun-2007, 07:38.