Hawick Rugby Football Club is an semi-pro

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

side, currently playing in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

and Border League. The club was founded in 1885 and are based at

Mansfield Park ''Mansfield Park'' is the third published novel by the English author Jane Austen, first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton (publisher), Thomas Egerton. A second edition was published in 1816 by John Murray (publishing house), John Murray, st ...

Hawick Hawick ( ; ; ) is a town in the Scottish Borders council areas of Scotland, council area and counties of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire in the east Southern Uplands of Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-south-east o ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

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 883 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 (singer), Italian singer and songwriter *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman * GALA Choruses, an association of ...

and

Melrose RFC Melrose Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club located in the town of Melrose, Scotland, Melrose in the Scottish Borders. The professional men's side competes in the as the "Southern Knights". The club plays at the Greenyards. History The cl ...

. 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 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 (rugby union), Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby ...

, 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 competi ...

.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 Border League 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 rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

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 proud record of winning the first Border League 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.

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

** 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 (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 The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,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 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 Melros ...

** 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 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 be ...

** 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 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 spring ...

** 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 Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. * Adam Robson (22) * Alan Tomes (48) * Alex Fiddes * Alex Laidlaw (1) * Alister Campbell (15) * Andrew Broatch * Anthony Little * Brian Hegarty * Cameron Murray (26) * Colin Deans (52) * Colin Telfer (17) * Darcy Graham * Dave Callam * Dave Valentine * Derek Turnbull (15) * Derrick Grant (14) * Derrick Patterson * Doug Davies * Douglas Jackson * Drew Turnbull * Eric Milligan * George Stevenson (24) * Gregor Hunter * Hugh McLeod (40) * Ivan Laing * James Gowans * Jerry Foster *

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

(52) * Jock BeattieJones, pp. 43/4 (23) * John Anderson * John Hegarty * John Houston * Lana Skeldon * Lisa Thomson * Nikki Walker (24) * Norman Pender * Oliver Grant * Robert Scott * Rob Valentine * Rob Welsh (2) * Rory Sutherland * Scott Forrest * Scott MacLeod (23) * Stuart Hogg (100) * 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 Nove ...

(52) * Walter Sutherland,(13) "Wattie Suddie" * Willie Kyle (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 ...

* Bob Burnet Forward * Willie Burnet Half-back * Alex Laing Forward

Other famous players

The famous rugby commentator Bill McLaren 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 Rugby union teams in Scotland Rugby union clubs in the Scottish Borders Rugby clubs established in 1885 1885 establishments in Scotland Hawick