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Wikipedia / Hawick RFC

Hawick Rugby Football Club is an semi-pro rugby union side, currently playing in the Scottish Premiership and Border League. The club was founded in 1885 and are based at Mansfield Park at Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

Splinter from Hawick and Wilton RFC

The premier club of Hawick was Hawick and Wilton RFC. 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 [1883]; Gala [April 1884] and Selkirk Cricket Club [May 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 and Melrose RFC.

In 1888 Hawick Football Club moved to its present home, Mansfield Park, at the other end of the town. The early seasons brought keenly contested games against Edinburgh Academicals, Gala, and Watsonians, and in 1896 Hawick won their first Scottish Unofficial Championship.

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 Border League title fifteen times, and earning fame as sevens specialists.

In the 1950s, all 15 of Hawick RFC were approached by rugby league scouts from Yorkshire.

In this period, Hugh McLeod, George Stevenson, Adam Robson, and Derrick Grant alone won 100 international caps 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 club won the first Border League in 1901–02 and the first Scottish championship in 1973–74, and were also the first winners of the Scottish Cup in 1995–96. In season 2002–03, the Greens completed the treble, winning the 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.

Hawick Force

The club run a 2nd XV called Hawick Force, who play in the new Border Junior League.

Forwards Coaches: Matthew Landels,

Backs Coach:

Team Manager: Kenny "Shovie" Colville

Honours

Scottish Unofficial Championship

  • 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

Scottish Premiership

  • Champions (13): 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2022–2023

Scottish League Championship, second tier

  • Runners-Up (1): 2012–13

Scottish Cup

  • Champions (4): 1995–96, 2001–02, 2022-23, 2023-24

  • Runners-Up (1): 2014–15

Langholm Sevens

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • Champions (1): 1926

Kelso Sevens

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

Earlston Sevens

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

Selkirk Sevens

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

Walkerburn Sevens

  • Champions (3): 1998, 2000, 2007

Hawick Linden Sevens

  • 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.

1888 British Isles tourists

Three Hawick players took part in the 1888 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia

Other famous players

The famous rugby commentator Bill McLaren also played for Hawick.

See also

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; )