Hawick Rugby Football Club is an semi-pro

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

side, currently playing in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

and

Border League The Border League, is the oldest established rugby union league in the World, having been formed in 1901. Currently known as the Booker Border League, after its sponsors, teams from all over the Scottish Borders as well as Berwick RFC from Nor ...

. The club was founded in 1885 and are based at

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray, still within Austen's lifetime. The novel did not receive any public reviews unt ...

Hawick Hawick ( ; sco, Haaick; gd, Hamhaig) is a town in the Scottish Borders council area and historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east of Selkirk. It is one of ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

Splinter from Hawick and Wilton RFC

The premier club of Hawick was

Hawick and Wilton RFC Hawick and Wilton RFC was a nineteenth-century Hawick-based rugby union club. It is historically important both as the progenitor of Hawick RFC; and as the instator of the Hawick and Wilton Sevens tournament - which was the fourth oldest rugby un ...

. This was formed by the Hawick and Wilton Cricket Club members as a sport to play in the winter. It ran the Hawick and Wilton Sevens; the fourth oldest rugby sevens tournament in the world (behind Melrose

883 __NOTOC__ Year 883 ( DCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Viking raiders ravage Flanders, and sack the abbey at Saint- ...

Gala pril 1884and Selkirk Cricket Club ay 1884. For the members of Hawick and Wilton RFC however cricket came first and this led to the splinter club of Hawick RFC forming in 1885. Hawick and Wilton RFC continued on after Hawick RFC formed as rivals; and for a time both the Hawick and Wilton Sevens and the later Hawick Sevens co-existed. Hawick and Wilton RFC eventually folded in 1890 as its members decided to purely focus on cricket.

Establishment of the club

1885 saw some rugby players of Hawick and Wilton RFC found a new club to instead solely concentrate on rugby: the Hawick Football Club, moving to new premises at the Volunteer Park, just beyond the cricket pitch. New colours were adopted, dark green jerseys and stockings with white shorts, and in 1886 Hawick was admitted to membership of the Scottish Football (later Rugby) Union, only the 19th club to be admitted, the only earlier Border clubs being

Gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush *''Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman *GALA Choruses, an association of LGBT choral groups *''Gala'', a 1986 album by Th ...

and

Melrose RFC Melrose may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Melrose, Scottish Borders, a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland ** Melrose Abbey, ruined monastery ** Melrose RFC, rugby club Australia * Melrose, Queensland, a locality in the South Burnett Re ...

. In 1888 Hawick Football Club moved to its present home,

, at the other end of the town. The early seasons brought keenly contested games against

Edinburgh Academicals The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Pl ...

, and

Watsonians Watsonian Football Club is a rugby union club based in Edinburgh and part of the Scottish Rugby Union. The club is connected with George Watson's College as a club for former pupils, and changed its policy in the 1980s to be a fully open club, ...

, and in 1896 Hawick won their first

Scottish Unofficial Championship The Scottish Unofficial Championship was the top league of Scotland's best amateur rugby union clubs. The Championship was 'unofficial' as the Scottish Rugby Union held that the sport should remain amateur and at the time did not sanction competit ...

.Bath, 1997, p. 89

1945 to 1972 – Scottish domination

Between 1945 and 1972, Hawick club firmly established among the leaders of Scottish rugby, winning the unofficial championship eight times, taking the

title fifteen times, and earning fame as sevens specialists. In the 1950s, all 15 of Hawick RFC were approached by

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

scouts from Yorkshire. In this period, Hugh McLeod, George Stevenson, Adam Robson, and

Derrick Grant Derrick Grant (born 19 April 1938) is a former international rugby union player. Grant was capped fourteen times as a flanker for between 1965 and 1968. He scored one try for Scotland.Griffiths, page 2:30-2:31 He was selected for the 1966 ...

alone won 100

international caps In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

between them, while fifteen other Greens played for their country.

1972 onwards

The official Scottish championship began in season 1973–74 and since that time Hawick has won the championship on twelve occasions. The proud record of winning the first

in 1901–02 and the first Scottish championship in 1973–74 was added to in 1995–96 when the club were also first winners of the Scottish Cup. Indeed, in season 2002–03, the Greens completed the treble, winning Scottish League championship, Scottish Cup and Border League championship. In 2009, the club was relegated to the second tier for the first time in their history. Hawick regained their place in the Premiership at the end of the 2012–13 season with a 39–38 playoff victory over

Dundee HSFP Dundee HSFP is a former rugby union team that played their home games at the Mayfield Playing Fields, Dundee, Scotland. The club disbanded in 2021. The team was founded in 1880 by former pupils of the High School of Dundee. The men's side play ...

Hawick Force

The club run a 2nd XV called Hawick Force, who play in the top Scottish Reserve League. Forwards Coaches: Matthew Landels, Michael Robertson Backs Coach: Wiaan Griebenow Team Manager: Kenny "Shovie" Colville

Honours

** Champions (10 + 4 shared): 1895–96, 1899-1900 (with Edinburgh Academicals and Edinburgh University), 1908-09 (with Watsonians), 1926–27, 1932-33 (with Dunfermline), 1948–49, 1954–55, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1963–64, 1964-65 (with West of Scotland), 1965–66, 1967–68, 1971–72 *

** Champions (12): 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 2000–01, 2001–02 * Scottish League Championship, second tier ** ''Runners-Up (1): 2012–13'' *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Langholm Sevens Langholm Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Langholm RFC, in Langholm, Scotland. The Langholm Sevens was the last of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1908. Held around the end of every April, the tournament is part o ...

** Champions (29): 1909, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1922, 1923, 1927, 1932, 1946, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1991, 2000, 2004, 2009, 2012, 2015 *

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melrose ...

** Champions (28): 1887, 1892, 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1900, 1901,1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1919, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1929, 1933, 1946, 1953, 1955, 1966, 1967 *

Hawick Sevens Hawick Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Hawick RFC, in Hawick, Scotland. The Hawick Sevens tournament started in 1886 and is the third extant oldest Sevens tournament in the world; behind Melrose Sevens (1883) and Gala Sevens (188 ...

** Champions (49): 1886, 1887, 1888, 1892, 1894, 1895, 1898, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1921, 1924, 1927, 1930, 1932, 1933, 1948, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1957,1961, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1998, 2000, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 ** Hawick hold the record for most consecutive victories (6): 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 *

Gala Sevens Gala Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Gala RFC, in Galashiels, Scotland. The Gala Sevens was the second of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated in 1884, just behind the Melrose Sevens in 1883. Held around the start of eve ...

** Champions (42): 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1956, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1978, 1979, 1986, 1992, 2007 ** Hawick hold the record for most consecutive victories (6): 1893, 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898 *

Jed-Forest Sevens Jed-Forest Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Jed-Forest RFC, in Jedburgh, Scotland. The Jed-Forest Sevens was the fourth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1894, after the Melrose Sevens (1883), Gala Sevens (1884) ...

** Champions (28): 1894, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1912, 1919, 1923, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1949, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1981, 1988, 1991, 2009 *

Peebles Sevens Peebles Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Peebles RFC, in Peebles, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Peebles Sevens began i ...

** Champions (1): 1926 *

Kelso Sevens Kelso Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Kelso RFC, in Kelso, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Kelso Sevens began in 1920. ...

** Champions (15): 1923, 1925, 1929, 1935, 1945, 1951, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968 *

Earlston Sevens Earlston Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Earlston RFC, in Earlston, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Earlston Sevens beg ...

** Champions (12): 1925, 1926, 1946, 1948, 1956, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970 *

Selkirk Sevens Selkirk Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Selkirk RFC, in Selkirk, Scotland. This was one of a group of Sevens tournaments instated after the First World War extending the original Borders Spring Circuit. The Selkirk Sevens began ...

** Champions (15): 1919, 1924, 1927, 1930, 1933, 1939, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1959, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1981, 1986 *

Walkerburn Sevens Walkerburn Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Walkerburn RFC, in Walkerburn, Scotland. The Walkerburn Sevens was the sixth of the Border Sevens tournaments to be instated, in 1911, after the bigger events of the Border Sevens sprin ...

** Champions (3): 1998, 2000, 2007 *

Hawick Linden Sevens Hawick Linden Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Hawick Linden RFC, in Hawick, Scotland. The first Hawick Linden Sevens tournament was held in 2012. History The first tournament was staged on 14 April 2012. This was the same day a ...

** Champions (1): 2019 (won by Hawick Force) * Hawick and Wilton Sevens ** Champions (3): 1886, 1887, 1888

Notable players

Hawick RFC have already seen 58 players represent

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. * Adam Robson (22) *

Alan Tomes Alan Tomes (born 6 November 1951) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career Born in Hawick, Tomes moved to Gateshead when he was 8 years old. He played rugby for Gateshead Fell. His grandfather, ...

(48) *

Alex Fiddes Alexander Erskine Fiddes (2 January 1914 – 1998) was a Scottish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1930s and 1940s, and coached rugby league in the 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for ...

Alex Laidlaw Alexander Smith Laidlaw (13 August 1877 – 12 September 1933) was a Scottish dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer. Background Alex Laidlaw was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, he was the landlord of The Pros ...

(1) * Alister Campbell (15) *

Andrew Broatch Andrew "Drew" Broatch (birth unknown) is a Scottish former rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played invitational level rugby union (RU) for Barbarian F.C., and at club level Hawick YM RF ...

* Anthony Little *

Brian Hegarty Charles Brian Hegarty (born in Hawick, Scotland) is a Scottish former rugby union footballer of the 1970s.Bath, p. 140 He was capped four times in 1978 for . He also played for Hawick RFC Hawick Rugby Football Club is an semi-pro rugby union ...

* Cameron Murray (26) *

Colin Deans Colin Thomas Deans (born 3 May 1955) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. Rugby Union career Amateur career He was born in Hawick in the Scottish borders. He played for Hawick Trades and then Hawick.Bath, p133 His nickname w ...

(52) *

Colin Telfer Colin McLeod Telfer (born 26 February 1947, in Hawick)player profile
at scrum.com. Retrieved 15 F ...

(17) *

Darcy Graham Darcy Graham (born 21 June 1997) is a Scottish professional rugby union player who currently plays for Edinburgh Rugby and Scotland national team as a winger and fullback. Rugby union career Amateur career Graham played for Hawick Rugby ...

Dave Callam Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

Dave Valentine David Donald Valentine (12 September 1926 – 14 August 1976) was a Scottish representative rugby union and Rugby League World Cup, World Cup winning rugby league footballer, a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code rugby internatio ...

* Derek Turnbull (15) *

(14) * Derrick Patterson * Doug Davies * Douglas Jackson *

Drew Turnbull Andrew Turnbull ( – 20 June 2012) was a Scottish rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Hawick RFC, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Gr ...

* Eric Milligan * George Stevenson (24) *

Gregor Hunter Gregor Hunter (born 26 September 1991) is a Scotland Club XV international player. In 2012 he was awarded the Macphail Scholarship and spent four months playing club rugby in New Zealand. Hunter joined Edinburgh as an elite development player ...

* Hugh McLeod (40) * Ivan Laing * Jerry Foster *

Jim Renwick Jim Renwick (born 12 February 1952) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Centre.Bath, p154 Rugby Union career Amateur career He played for Hawick Harlequins and then moved to play for Hawick. Provincial care ...

(52) * Jock BeattieJones, pp. 43/4 (23) * John Hegarty * John Houston * Lana Skeldon *

Lisa Thomson Lisa Thomson (born 7 September 1997) is a Scottish rugby union player, who captained for Scotland Women in 2018–19. She plays for Scotland and was vice-captain for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. Club career Thomson rose up thro ...

Nikki Walker Nikki Walker (born 5 March 1982) is a Scottish rugby union player coach for Hawick RFC, who is retired from international competition having won 24 caps for Scotland. He has played on the wing for teams in Scotland, Wales and England, winning th ...

(24) *

Norman Pender Norman Ewart Ker Pender (1 February 1948 – 24 August 2021) was a Scotland international rugby union player. After rugby, he became a Liberal Democrat councillor. He was found guilty of sexual assault in 2014. He died from a suspected heart a ...

* Oliver Grant * Robert Scott *

Rob Valentine Robert Henry Francis Valentine (born 15 June 1950) is an Australian politician. He was the Lord Mayor of the City of Hobart local government area, in the State of Tasmania, Australia, from 1999 to 2011. In 2012, he was elected to the Tasmania ...

* Rob Welsh (2) * Rory Sutherland *

Scott Forrest Scott William Forrest (born 6 August 1984) is a Scottish retired rugby union player who competed in rugby sevens at 2010 Commonwealth Games, serving as captain of the national team at the event. He is the head coach of the Scotland Women 7 ...

* Scott MacLeod (23) *

Stuart Hogg Stuart Hogg (born 24 June 1992) is a Scottish rugby union player who plays for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership and used to captain the Scottish national team. His playing positions are fullback and fly-half. Hogg has twice been nam ...

* Thomas Wright * Tom Scott * Tom Scott *

Tony Stanger Anthony George Stanger (born 14 May 1968) is a Scottish former international rugby union player. With 24 international tries, he was Scotland's joint record try scorer, along with Ian Smith, until that record was broken by Stuart Hogg in Novembe ...

(52) * Walter Sutherland,(13) "Wattie Suddie" *

Willie Kyle William Elliot Kyle, (13 July 1881, Hawick, Scotland – )player profile
at scrum.com. Retrieved ...

(21) * Willie Welsh (21)

1888 British Isles tourists

Three Hawick players took part in the

1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia The 1888 British Isles tour to New Zealand and Australia was a tour by a British rugby union team, known at the time as the "English Footballers", throughout New Zealand and Australia. Although a private venture not organised by any official b ...

* Bob Burnet

Forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Willie Burnet Willie Burnet (1862–1944), was a Scottish rugby union footballer of the 1880s, who played in Scotland for Hawick, and was selected to play at a representative level for the British Isles on the 1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Austr ...

Half-back * Alex Laing

Other famous players

The famous rugby commentator

Bill McLaren William Pollock McLaren (16 October 1923 – 19 January 2010) was a Scottish rugby union commentator, teacher, journalist and one time rugby player. Known as 'the voice of rugby', he retired from commentating in 2002. Renowned throughout th ...

also played for Hawick.

References

Bibliography

* * Bath, Richard (ed.) ''The Scotland Rugby Miscellany'' (Vision Sports Publishing Ltd, 2007 ) * Godwin, Terry ''Complete Who's Who of International Rugby'' (Cassell, 1987, ) * Jones, J.R. ''Encyclopedia of Rugby Union Football'' (Robert Hale, London, 1976 ) * Massie, Allan ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'' (Polygon, Edinburgh; )

External links

Hawick RFC Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawick Rfc Scottish rugby union teams Rugby union clubs in the Scottish Borders Rugby clubs established in 1873 1873 establishments in Scotland Hawick