Hawick RFC

Hawick
Full name Hawick Rugby Football Club
Union Scottish Rugby Union
Founded 1873
Location Hawick, Scotland
Ground(s) Mansfield Park (Capacity: 5,000)
President Scotland Ross Cameron
Coach(es) Nikki Walker, Roddy Deans
Captain(s) Rory Hutton
League(s) Scottish Premiership
2015–16 7th
Team kit
2nd kit
Official website
www.hawickrfc.co.uk

Hawick Rugby Football Club is an amateur rugby union side, currently playing in the Premiership Division One and Border League. The team are based at Mansfield Park at Hawick in the Scottish Borders.

Hawick RFC are one of the most famous rugby clubs in the world. They have always contributed a huge amount to the national side with 58 Hawick players having represented Scotland.

One of Hawick's lesser known claims to fame is that they held the first floodlit match in Scotland in 1879.[1] Bizarrely, it is said that some of the players in the match attempted to tackle shadows.[1]

Early history

In October 1872, members of the Hawick and Wilton Cricket Club decided that in order to keep fit over the winter they should begin playing football. Both association and rugby union football were experimented with but the rugby format triumphed as it was considered "manlier and more congenial to the Border nature than the tamer association game". The club was formed on 8 December 1873 and played at Buccleuch Park, the home of the cricket club.[1]

However few games were played as there were not many other rugby clubs in the area, players had difficulty being released from their work, and Edinburgh sides were seldom willing to travel down to play individual club teams.

Establishment of the Club

1885 saw the rugby players reorganised themselves as 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 championship.[1]

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.[1]

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 1972–73 and since that time Hawick Rugby Football Club has maintained its prized place in Division One, winning the championship on twelve occasions. The proud record of winning the first Border League in 1901–02 and the first Scottish championship in 1972–73 was added to in 1995–96 when the club were also first winners of the SRU Tennents' Scottish Cup. Indeed, in season 2002–03, the Greens completed the treble, winning Scottish League championship, Scottish Cup and Border League championship. In 2009 Hawick were relegated to the 2nd Division for the first time in their history. Hawick regained their place in the RBS Premiership at the end of the 2012–13 season with a 39–38 playoff victory over Dundee HSFP.[2]

Famous players

Hawick RFC 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.[1]

Current squad

Current Hawick squad for the 2014–15 season.[4]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Shawn Muir Prop Scotland Scotland
Nick McLennan Prop New Zealand New Zealand
Matthew Landels Prop Scotland Scotland
Hue Scammell Hooker Scotland Scotland
Lindsay Gibson Hooker Scotland Scotland
Ross Graham Hooker Scotland Scotland
Kieran Willison Lock Scotland Scotland
Mikey McKee Lock New Zealand New Zealand
Finlay Simpson Lock Scotland Scotland
Gary Lowrie Flanker Scotland Scotland
Keith Davies Flanker Scotland Scotland
Stuart Graham Flanker Scotland Scotland
Rory Scott Flanker Scotland Scotland
Nick Mactaggart Flanker Scotland Scotland
Michael Robertson Number 8 Scotland Scotland
Bruce McNeill (vc) Number 8 Scotland Scotland
Shaun Fairbairn Number 8 Scotland Scotland
Player Position Union
Greg Cottrell Scrum-half Scotland Scotland
Sean Goodfellow Scrum-half Scotland Scotland
Rory Hutton (c) Fly-half Scotland Scotland
Matty Douglas Fly-half Scotland Scotland
Ally Weir Fly-half Scotland Scotland
John Coutts Centre Scotland Scotland
Lee Armstrong Centre Scotland Scotland
Garry Johnstone Centre Scotland Scotland
Scott Mcleod Wing Scotland Scotland
Neil McColm Wing Scotland Scotland
Nikki Walker (Player-Coach) Wing Scotland Scotland
Neil Renwick Fullback Scotland Scotland
Scott Peffers Fullback Scotland Scotland

Allocated Professionals

Professional players allocated to Hawick as an outcome of the 2014–15 Pro Player Draft.[5]

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union
Joaquín Domínguez (Edinburgh Rugby) Centre Argentina Argentina
Ollie Atkins (Edinburgh Rugby) Lock Australia Australia
Tomás Leonardi (Edinburgh Rugby) Flanker Argentina Argentina
Allan Dell (Edinburgh Rugby) Prop South Africa South Africa
Tom Heathcote (Edinburgh Rugby) Fly-half Scotland Scotland
Jack Cuthbert (Edinburgh Rugby) Fullback Scotland Scotland
Michael Tait (Edinburgh Rugby) Centre Scotland Scotland
John Andress (Edinburgh Rugby) Prop Ireland Ireland
Mike Coman (Edinburgh Rugby) Number 8 New Zealand New Zealand
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) Lock Scotland Scotland

See also

External links

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Bath, 1997, p89
  2. RBS 2012/2013 Season Playoff Game Result
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Jones, p43,4
  4. Hawick RFC Current Squad
  5. 2014-15 Pro Player Draft
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