The magic of the Cup! It’s great to be playing again for the trophy which Hawick memorably were the first to win. Who can ever forget that May afternoon in 1996?
“In ‘eighty-four and ‘ninety
For the Grand Slams A was there,
And A thought A’d never better
Yon electric atmosphere,
But fer aheid o thaim wull be,
When a look back on life’s joys,
The day A went ti Murrayfield
Wi twae thoosand Robbie Dyes
And they were a’ Hawick men,
Every yin o thum Hawick men,
The first ever Cup winnin side
Oo’ll aye reca their names wi pride,
For they were a’ Hawick men
When the cream came ti the top,
The team that went ti Murrayfield
And won the Scottish Cup”.
It’s great to welcome today President Gordon Leitch and many other good friends from Riverside Park. Hawick have had a tremendous season securing a home play-off semi-final and Jed no doubt approach this game as underdogs but we will under-estimate them at our peril for they will come with the spirit encapsulated in the words of a song sung lustily at every Callants Festival,
“Then here’s to Border hill and wood
And plain and bank and brae,
To Border lads who boldly stood
And kept our foes at bay;
Whae aye were foremost in the fight
Where’er their foemen gethert,
And showed the flower o’ Scotland’s might
The brave, brave lads o’ Jethart”.
It’s great that our side is still virtually “a’ Hawick men” and that our opponents likewise are nearly “a’ Jed men” so we are in for a rip-roaring Border derby where League form will count for nothing.
Our 150th anniversary season is fast approaching. To whet your appetite for our ”Voices of Hawick Rugby“ book a wee extract from a grand contribution from my good friend Ex-Jethart Callant Donald Miller which exemplifies the values of our game.
“It was the first ever Boxing Day game Jed and Hawick played and I was making my debut against the Scottish Champions….. As the game entered the last 5 minutes I had two chances to win the game with difficult but kickable penalties….. nerves got to me and I missed both with the game finishing 12-12. I have never felt as down as I did in our changing room as there were guys that had never beaten Hawick in their career and I had just cost them that opportunity. I didn’t want to go into the bar after the game to face the Jed supporters that I had let down, but it was the done thing then to buy your opposite number a beer. I hadn’t been in the bar long when from nowhere appeared Colin Telfer with two beers in his hands. He knew exactly how I felt and spent the next hour cheering me up, pointing out the things I had done well and highlighting things I needed to work on to become a better player. I had never met Colin before and it blew me away that a Scottish internationalist took the time to seek out and spend an hour cheering up a young lad he didn’t even know before the game. Cheer me up he did leaving me with admiration and gratitude for the man that he was. He helped shape not only my career as a rugby player but me as a person and I will be eternally grateful for that”.
May today’s Cup tie be played in this similar true spirit of our game.
Join us afterwards in the clubrooms to watch Scotland take on the Auld Enemy at Twickenham when as ever we dare to dream……!
Ian W Landles
President
Hawick RFC.
