The Borders Sevens Circuit is a series of rugby sevens tournaments held annually in the Scottish Borders. Originally the circuit consisted of 5 tournaments;

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 ...

being the last added in 1908. It is the oldest Sevens circuit in the world; the first Sevens tournament outside Scotland - bar two single Sevens matches in Chorley, England in 1888 and 1889 - was held in the Scottish expatriate city of Dunedin in New Zealand in 1889 and there was no other Sevens tournament clusters elsewhere.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 The main circuit has now grown to 11 tournaments; 10 in Scotland and 1 - the Berwick Sevens - in England. The circuit has now extended into a league known as Kings of the Sevens. Of the extended circuit only the Walkerburn Sevens is not included in this league. The Kings of the Sevens championship is run by the Border League.

History

The original Borders Sevens Circuit consisted of the

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 ...

(founded 1883),

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 ev ...

(1884),

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 (18 ...

(1886), Jed-Forest Sevens (1894) and

(1908). This was known as the Spring Circuit.

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 ...

started in 1911. It is traditionally the last tournament of the Sevens season and is instead treated as a finale. Other Sevens tournaments were added to the calendar after the First World War:- Selkirk Sevens (1919); Kelso Sevens (1920), Peebles Sevens (1923) and Earlston Sevens (1923). These were originally pre-season tournaments. The last tournament added to the Borders Sevens Circuit was the Berwick Sevens in 1983.

Schedule

Traditional Sevens schedule was changed by the

Scottish Rugby Union The Scottish Rugby Union (SRU; gd, Aonadh Rugbaidh na h-Alba) is the governing body of rugby union in Scotland. Styled as Scottish Rugby, it is the second oldest Rugby Union, having been founded in 1873. The SRU oversees the national league s ...

in order to allow more time for the regular rugby season. Controversially, due to the influence of former national coach

Jim Telfer James Telfer (born 17 March 1940) is a Scottish former rugby union coach and player. As a player, he won 21 international caps in the amateur era, also having a career as a headmaster at Hawick High School and Galashiels Academy and Forrester H ...

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 ...

did not have to change its date. As of 2011, Sevens will take place on consecutive weekends in April and May. The schedule is due to change again for season 2019–20.

Invited sides

Each of the Sevens tournaments has a history of invited sides.

- the World's most prestigious Sevens tournament - as it was the birthplace of the sport - notably has the most; attracting teams globally. The likes of the

French Barbarians The Barbarian Rugby Club, more commonly known as the French Barbarians, is a rugby union team formed in 1979 and based in France. It was founded as an amateur invitational team modeled on the Barbarian F.C. From the start of the 2017–18 season, ...

(1983);

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

(1991);

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

(1992); Manly (1995);

Hamilton RFC, Sea Point Hamilton Rugby Football Club was founded in March 1875 in Cape Town, and states that it is the oldest rugby union club in South Africa. Hamilton RFC played in the first official match at Newlands Stadium on 31 May 1890. Origins The club's ...

(2010) and Saracens (2012, 2013) have all won the event. Outwith the Melrose tournament the likes of

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seaso ...

won

in 1969; London Scottish won the Kelso Sevens in 1991;

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

won

between 2005 and 2008; the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

and Harlequins entered the

in 1976; and

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

have won the Selkirk Sevens in 1991 and 1993.

International 7s sides

International 7s sides often take part amongst the club sides. Fiji 7s beat Canada 7s in the 1991

final. Scotland 7s won the final of the Kelso Sevens in 1996 beating Kenya 7s; and Scotland 7s won the Selkirk Sevens in 1996 beating the Wales 7s side in the final. Germany 7s reached the final of the

in 2015, losing out to

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

. The Belgium 7s reached the quarter-finals of the

in 2022, losing out to the hosts.

Main circuit

The new circuit has thus been extended from the original 5 tournaments in Spring. The Borders Sevens circuit now contains 11 tournaments:- * Peebles Sevens *

* Berwick Sevens *

* Kelso Sevens * Earlston Sevens * Selkirk Sevens * Jed-Forest Sevens *

Other Sevens tournaments in the Borders

Other Sevens tournaments in the Borders are:- * Hawick Linden Sevens * South of Scotland District used to run a Sevens tournament.

Kings of the Sevens

The ten most prestigious of the main circuit tournaments make up a league competition known as the ''Kings of the Sevens''. The league began in 1994 though work is ongoing to calculate previous winners based on the format. The ten tournaments used for the Kings of the Sevens league are:- * Peebles Sevens *

* Berwick Sevens *

* Kelso Sevens * Earlston Sevens * Selkirk Sevens * Jed-Forest Sevens The

are instead known as the ''Prince of the Sevens'' and remain the season finale.

Format

Teams competing gain points depending on how far they progress in each tournament; the winner gains ten points, the runner up gets seven points, and semi-finalists receive five points. Teams that are eliminated at the quarter final stage gain three points. The Kings of the Sevens champions are thus the team that has performed the best across all ten tournaments.

Kings of the Sevens champions

References

{{Rugby in the Borders Rugby sevens competitions in Scotland Rugby union in the Scottish Borders