Twelve hours after playing Ayr Hawks were back on the pitch at Melrose


Melrose Sevens: Scots can't shine in sun

Published Date: 11 April 2010
By Iain Morrison
at the Greenyards
THE weather gods were beaming down on the Greenyards yesterday afternoon, bathing the birthplace of the short game in warm spring sunshine and with that blessing, few venues can match the old ground as a sevens arena.
Only the poor players, and perhaps the odd referee, were praying for clouds to offer some shade from the heat of the afternoon sun on a day when University of Johannesburg beat fellow South Africans Hamilton 35-26 in the final.

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out in force, pilgrims come to worship at the holy of holies although exactly what they were worshipping was open to debate, and unlike Lourdes, the Melrose Sevens is more likely to cause than cure a headache. Some of the faithful show up for the sport, for sure, but a whole host were at least as interested in the various bars dotted about the place.

The fans don't so much enter into the spirit of the occasion as generate Melrose's atmosphere themselves; three parts carnival to one part sporting drama, it's a heady mix. One group of diehards ignored the heat to don penguin suits, there was a bunch of bananas and some Santas while another group wandered around dressed as superheroes.

There were also a host of soldiers present, parading before the final with a pitch-side presentation and paratroopers landing on the pitch. The theme of yesterday's sevens was the army, although the Army of Scotland failed to do their bit, falling at the semi-final fence.

All the off-field fun can't disguise the fact that much of the sevens played in the early rounds was less than stellar. In just one example, the Ayr scrumhalf knocked on before shovelling the ball back to his flyhalf who did exactly the same and the number of missed tackles and dropped balls were off the chart.

The home sides failed to contest the final but they had their moments. Watsonians made light work of Hawick although they had the help of not one but two former Test players in Marcus di Rollo and Ally Hogg, with the latter making a return after a hip operation. The big Edinburgh breakaway even loped under the posts for an easy try against a disappointing Hawick seven.

Perhaps the "Greens" had their collective noses out of joint by having to watch their former star Rory Hutton sporting Heriot's blue and white colours. The men from Goldenacre were drawn against Cambridge University who went out at the first attempt and not for the first time. Flanker Chris Fusaro helped the Edinburgh club to a well-earned victory with two tries and Hutton put the game away by creating the third. Heriot's progressed further than any other Scottish side, going out to eventual finalists University of Johannesburg at the quarter-final stage despite leading at half time. At least they claimed local bragging rights by walloping Watsonians 29-7, with both teams taking to the field predominately white jerseys, thus confusing everyone.

If Cambridge's early exit was one upset, Kelso created another by seeing off cup and league contenders Ayr. Sadly, the Scottish teams had no real answer to the power, pace and invention of the other invitation sides, especially the South African duo that contested the final, although both of them where made to sweat on their way there.

University of Johannesburg looked impressive throughout the afternoon, although Selkirk knocked them off their stride and might have done better. Winger Lee Jones grabbed two tries, the second made by a superb mazy run from Gavin Craig. That conversion was missed but Selkirk should still have tied the match with the clock running down but Andrew Renwick spilled the ball on the line and the students held on for the win.

The other South African finalist was Hamilton, who hail from Cape Town. They have recently won the club championship in South Africa, and they looked like champions yesterday. Hamilton put 33 unanswered points on the board against Jed-Forest in the second round, although the home team almost did for them in the quarter-final.

Melrose flyer Fraser Thomson will be arguing for years to come that his try was good. At the tail-end of an exhausting tie, the winger pinned his ears back and headed towards the line for what would have been the winning score. He dived over with a couple of defenders hanging on, only for the assistant referee to insist that the ball had not been grounded. The crowd was almost too busy celebrating to notice.

The Army in Scotland negotiated their way through this tournament under the radar, putting paid to West of Scotland and then doing the same to Kelso in the quarter-finals with a quiet efficiency until the semi-final against Hamilton where they lost a man to the sin bin within seconds of the kick off. The lost a short-handed try immediately and another four over the course of the 14 minutes as Hamilton's superior conditioning paid dividends.

In the all-African final, Jo'burg student Lolo Waka scored a hat-trick of tries and his side still came up short. Gerhard Vos and Alshaun Bock both grabbed two tries apiece for Hamilton and Elric Van Vuuren struck late to make the game safe. The crowd offered generous applause to the winners but couldn't quite disguise the fact that they would prefer a local team contesting the final.

1st Round: Gala 10, 19 Stirling County; Stewarts Melville 21, 24 Boroughmuir; Hawick 31, 17 Currie; Heriot's 27, 14 Hawks; Kelso 26, 14 Edinburgh Accies; Langholm 12, 29 West of Scotland; Dundee HSFP 17, 22 Peebles; Jed-Forest 24, 19 Aberdeen.

2nd Round: Stirling County 14, 24 Selkirk; Boroughmuir 12, 29 Uni of Johannesburg; Hawick 5, 42 Watsonians; Heriot's 21, 17 Cambridge Uni; Kelso 19, 17 Ayr; West of Scotland 7, 33 Army of Scotland; Peebles 0, 45 Melrose; Jed-Forest 0, 33 Hamilton.

Quarter-finals: Selkirk 12, 19 Uni of Johannesburg; Watsonians 7, 29 Heriot's; Kelso 12, 35 Army of Scotland; Melrose 14, 17 Hamilton.

Semi-finals: Uni of Johannesburg 17, 5 Heriot's; Army of Scotland 5, 35 Hamilton.

Final: Uni of Johannesburg 26, 35 Hamilton

This article was posted on 11-Apr-2010, 06:40 by Hugh Barrow.