South of Scotland rugby union team

The South are a select rugby union team that draws its players from the South of Scotland, mainly the Scottish Borders where there has always been a proud tradition of rugby union. Historically the South team played matches against touring teams visiting Scotland from abroad, and also competed in the Scottish inter-district championship. The team disappeared after rugby union became a professional sport in 1995 but the new Border Reivers team was based in the same geographical area as the South and wore the same colours as the old team. After a fourteen-year break The South reformed to play a Northumberland Select side on 30 December 2009.

Early years

Attendances at 'South' games often numbered well into the thousands (and a crowd of 10,000 attended the Rest of Scottish Districts versus All Blacks (New Zealand) match in 1972 at Hawick) and before the onset of professionalism, The South would often play touring national sides, such as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa before they played the national side [1]

The South also competed in the annual Scottish inter-district championship, playing against the district teams of Glasgow, Edinburgh, North-Midlands and sometimes Anglo-Scots. The district championship was played in the autumn and provided a level of representative rugby above club competition but below the full Scottish national team. The best performing players were then picked for a large Scotland squad which would form around New Year, ready for the 5 Nations Championship. Often there was a "Red vs Blues" game at Murrayfield to decide the smaller squad.

As many of the Border sides, most notably Melrose, Gala, Hawick, Selkirk and Jed Forest, produced many international players and even Lions, the South proved worthy competition for the touring sides from the Southern Hemisphere. The South twice drew with South African touring sides (1931–32 and 1969–70) and twice beat Australian touring teams (1966–67 and 1984–85).

Effect of professionalism

With the advent of professionalism after 1995, the Scottish Rugby Union realised that not even the best semi-professional Scottish club teams could compete in the new Professional Era in rugby union, which was beginning to gain great momentum in the professional leagues of the Southern Hemisphere and the Northern Hemisphere. In an attempt to stay in touch with the leading nations the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) formed four professional teams, that would compete in the Heineken Cup and later a new Celtic League. These teams were based on the 4 former District Unions in Scotland, and a team now known as The Border Reivers began playing games in Galashiels and Hawick, the team wore the traditional white and red stripes, favoured by The South for their home games.

For subsequent history of professional teams representing the South of Scotland, see The Border Reivers. However, the Border Reivers were amalgamated with Edinburgh to form the Edinburgh Reivers, who later dropped Reivers and are now known simply as Edinburgh Rugby. The Reivers were resurrected as "The Borders" in 2002, only to be disbanded in 2007.

The South team itself was revived in December 2009 for a game with Northumberland[1] which the South won 37-3[2] and in the 2011-12 season beat the Barbarians 22-15 at Hawick.[3]

Renewed hope for a professional rugby team in the Borders came when Sir Moir Lockhead, the Chairman of the SRU, declared in May 2012 that "the Irish model is what we are trying to replicate now".[4] The Irish model has 4 Provinces, much like the 4 Districts of Scotland in the early professional years, implying a return for the South/Borders and North/Caledonia.

Partial list of games played against international opposition

Year Date Opponent Venue Result Score Tour
1906 13 November  South Africa Mansfield Park, Hawick Loss 5-32 1906-07 South Africa rugby union tour
1931  South Africa The Greenyards, Melrose Draw 0-0 1931-32 South Africa rugby union tour
1935 12 October  New Zealand Mansfield Park, Hawick Loss 8-11 1935-36 New Zealand tour of Britain, Ireland & Canada
1970 17 January  South Africa Galashiels Draw 3-3 1969–70 South Africa rugby union tour
1973 17 November  Argentina Mansfield Park, Hawick Draw 16-16 1973 Argentina tour of Ireland & Scotland
1975 2 December  Australia Netherdale, Galashiels Loss 6-10 1975-76 Australia tour of Britain and Ireland[5]
1979 27 October  New Zealand Mansfield Park, Hawick Loss 3-19 1979 New Zealand tour of England, Scotland & Italy[6]
1981 22 September  Romania The Greenyards, Melrose Loss 10-18 1981 Romania rugby union tour of Scotland[7]
1982 18 September  Fiji Mansfield Park, Hawick Win 23-17 1982 Fiji tour of Great Britain and Canada[8]
1983 29 October  New Zealand Netherdale, Galashiels Loss 9-30 1983 New Zealand tour of Scotland & England[9]
1984 1 December  Australia Mansfield Park, Hawick Win 9-6 1984 Australia tour of Britain & Ireland[10]
1986 17 September  Japan The Greenyards, Melrose Win 45-12 1986 Japan rugby union tour of Great Britain[11]
1988 12 November  Australia Mansfield Park, Hawick Loss 4-29 1988 Australia tour of England, Scotland and Italy[12]
1990 6 November  Argentina Poynder Park, Kelso Loss 10-13 1990 Argentina rugby union tour of British Isles[13]
1993 10 November  New Zealand Netherdale, Galashiels Loss 5-84 1993 New Zealand rugby union tour of Britain[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alasdair Reid (29 December 2009). "South of Scotland return to showcase Border game with fixture against Northumberland". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  2. ↑ "South of Scotland fixtures". bordersrugby.net. Retrieved 2013-11-06.
  3. ↑ "2011/2012 Fixtures & results". www.barbarianfc.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-12-15.
  4. ↑ http://caledonianmercury.com/2012/05/23/replicating-the-irish-rugby-model-may-not-be-as-easy-as-it-sounds/0033678
  5. ↑ Jenkins, Vivian (1976). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1976-77. Queen Anne Press. p. 24. ISBN 0-362-00281-9.
  6. ↑ Vivian Jenkins, ed. (1980). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1980-81. London: Queen Anne Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN 0362020183.
  7. ↑ Vivian Jenkins, ed. (1982). Rothmans Rugby Yearboook 1982-83. Rothmans Publications Ltd. pp. 68–69. ISBN 0907574130.
  8. ↑ Steve Jones, ed. (1983). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1983-84. Queen Anne Press. p. 46. ISBN 0-356-09731-5.
  9. ↑ Stephen Jones, ed. (1984). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1984–85. Queen Anne Press. p. 35. ISBN 0-356-10448-6.
  10. ↑ Stephen Jones, ed. (1985). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1985-86. Queen Anne Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 0-356-10942-9.
  11. ↑ Stephen Jones, ed. (1987). Rothmans Rugby yearbook 1987-88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 31. ISBN 0356147916.
  12. ↑ Steve Jones, ed. (1989). Rothmans Rugby Yearbook 1989-90. Queen Anne Press. p. 25. ISBN 0-356-17862-5.
  13. ↑ Stephen Jones, ed. (1991). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1991-92 (20th. ed.). London: Queen anne Press. p. 66. ISBN 0356202496.
  14. ↑ Stephen Jones, ed. (1994). Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1994–95. Headline. pp. 48–55. ISBN 0-7472-7850-4.