THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS



IF THE club season continues as it began last week, the editor is going to be asked by readers to impose a limit on the number of times I am allowed to write about Selkirk. He may even be keen to do so himself. Nevertheless, given that Saturday saw Selkirk's first match in the top division since the 1993-4 season, I may be forgiven for writing about it.
We approached the game against Currie with some trepidation. It's a big step-up from the Second Division to the First, and John Rutherford had said, reasonably enough, a couple of weeks ago, that a club like Selkirk probably belongs naturally, given

our limited resources, in the second rank. Moreover, even in the pre-professional days of the Eighties when we regularly fielded three or four internationalists – John himself, Gordon Hunter, Iain Paxton and Ivan Tukalo – our highest position in Division I was fifth in 1986-7. Of course the Eighties were a golden age of Scottish club rugby, and rival clubs like Hawick, Gala, West of Scotland and Heriot's were all very strong then.

Currie, fourth in the league last season, champions the one before, offered a stiff challenge to a promoted side, even in a home match. Both sides were missing a few injured players, which is usual enough, and for the first 40 minutes Currie were very much on top. Their forward play was impressive. They re-cycled the ball after the tackle very efficiently, and were also adept at winning possession when a Selkirk player was tackled. There was some very neat inter-passing and admirable support play, and their backs looked fast and skilful. Though young Lee Jones scored a good try for us, Currie scored two, and their New Zealand full-back, Johnnie Smith, kicked the penalties conceded under pressure. At half-time Currie led 21-8. Things looked grim and we were talking of damage limitation. Far from making a happy return to the top division, there was some danger of a crushing defeat. "Looks like being a long hard season," we muttered.

Perhaps it may yet be that, but the second half saw an extraordinary transformation. This young Selkirk team has lots of spirit, and, equally importantly, in their progress through the Youth Club and the Second Division, and as a result of their successes in Sevens the past couple of years, the players have developed that most valuable of attributes: the habit of winning. They know each other and trust each other, and, from the beginning of the second half, they went on the attack. The first try came from harrying the Currie midfield and forcing mistakes. Then Fraser Harkness, from full-back, scored a try to remember. Taking the ball at speed just inside the Currie half, he cut a swathe through a clutch of defenders, and then outpaced three or four others to score in the corner. For the last three years he has been Selkirk's outstanding back, but one had wondered how he would fare in the top division. That try provided the answer, stilling any unworthy doubts. He's in many respects an old-fashioned player, not averse to a cigarette and a glass of beer, and not perhaps the most dedicated trainer, but he is a cult figure at Philiphaugh, rather as the great Mick Linton was in the Seventies. It will be interesting to see him play Melrose next week, partly because he has, not entirely politely, rebuffed a couple of attempts by Craig Chalmers to lure him to The Greenyards.

With his score we sensed that the game could be won – damage limitation be blowed. The pace became even faster. The Selkirk lock , Rory Aglen, made one tackle, the memory of which he will treasure for years, knocking his victim yards backwards and the ball out of his hands. Then young Gavin Craig, the Selkirk fly-half made an incisive break where there seemed to be no space at all, and a couple of passes later, Michael McVie was in by the posts. Gavin is the son of Mick Craig, splendid flanker of the Rutherford years, but Mick never ran as Gavin does in the manner of a product of the Welsh fly-half factory or indeed John Rutherford himself.

And that was more or less it, though Currie still had a chance to regain the lead from a penalty. It was missed, and Michael McVie who had previously failed to convert his own try with a horribly miscued kick, settled the matter with a penalty himself. Final score 28-24, the second half being won 20-3. An extraordinary game.

There will be harder ones to come – away to Glasgow Hawks today will be no picnic, despite Hawks' defeat at the hands of the other promoted club, West of Scotland last week – and over the years Selkirk have rarely had a good record away from home Moreover, we may struggle when the grounds get heavier and conditions don't favour the handling game. But nobody is now likely to underestimate the difficulty of winning at Philiphaugh, and this is something which it is important to have established.

This article was posted on 6-Sep-2008, 07:42 by Hugh Barrow.