'Acted promptly': Scottish Cup redrawn as Borders club withdraw en masse
Only 14 of the original teams remain in nation’s premier knockout competition
The Scottish Cup has had to be redrawn after a further four teams withdrew. All are from the Borders.
Hawick, the inaugural winners, Gala, Selkirk and Jed-Forest are the latest clubs to pull out, and join Kelso and Gordonians who withdrew earlier in the season.
It means only 14 of the original 20 clubs remain in the country’s premier knockout tournament which was launched in 1995-96 and was won last season by GHA.
Melrose are the only remaining Borders club left in the cup, the second round of which has now been redrawn. Boroughmuir and Edinburgh Academicals have been given byes into the quarter-finals.
Protecting the sevens
The Borders clubs cite too many competing interests and a desire to protect their traditional sevens tournaments.
A statement released by the Border League on behalf of the clubs said: “The Border League clubs apologise for the difficulties these decisions will cause.
“The demands on players, coaches, committee and volunteers have grown to an unprecedented level in recent times and the clubs now believe that attempts to compete in all league and cup competitions this season has the real potential to erode the enthusiasm of these people vital to the future of club rugby, and harm players' welfare, to a point of no return.”
It added: “The Border League is also seeking to protect the integrity of the Kings of the 7s tournaments, which provide the crucial source of funding and support to sustain rugby in small towns, and is working with Scottish Rugby, the new Scottish Borders District Union (SBDU) and other partners to work together to continue to grow the game in the Borders.”
The new Scottish Cup round two fixtures are scheduled for November 15, with the exception of Ayr v Glasgow Hawks which will be played on October 31. Vicky Cox, Scottish Rugby's head of competitions, said: “We’ve acted promptly today after learning of the four teams deciding to not contest their scheduled Cup matches. As a result, today we made the decision to redraw two fixtures to enable competing clubs to have clarity and for the integrity of the Cup to continue with limited impact.”
Biggar v Marr, Currie Chieftains v Stirling County, GHA v Glasgow Academicals, Ayr v Glasgow Hawks, Musselburgh v Heriot’s, Watsonians v Melrose. Byes: Boroughmuir, Edinburgh Academical.
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