Melrose Sevens: How organisers are building on 143 years of glory as latest editions comes into view

The game was invented in the Borders town in 1883 and has been played and celebrated every year since. Things have changed a lot in that time, but the spirit of the tournament remains the same and its heritage is always at the forefront of organisers’ minds.

After all, there is a great deal of responsibility that comes with honouring the competition’s history while also trying to move with the times in the modern era. “We know the heritage behind the tournament and we do feel a sense of responsibility for that,” says Sevens Ambassador Graeme Dodds.

“Buzz about the town” as Melrose gets ready for 143rd edition of historic event

Those who have attended past editions of the tournament, and certainly locals in the town, will be familiar with Dodds from his time as a player. He made over 330 appearanes for Melrose, captaining the men’s first XV for three seasons, and was part of the 2011 home side that won the Sevens.

He continued: “We are having to move with the times and we also understand there's a commercial element to it. There's no point running a tournament like this if it doesn't make the club some money.

“Our big goal this year was to really engage with the community. We've had certain incentives for discounting tickets and trying to work around local postcodes to try and have as many of the locals there as possible. Trying to engage back with them to bring something for everybody from young right up to old and at the end of the day put on a good rugby tournament that is inclusive."

Asked what he felt made the event so special, Dodds answers: "I think for me just the prestige that comes with it. I'm a local lad, I've been in Melrose basically all my life, just watching the build up for the last couple of weeks every year.

“You just get a buzz about the town and just having everybody talking about it. I remember as a player it was so special to be involved and now, when I'm not playing, just even to be down on tournament day it's got that buzz about it.

“There's so many brilliant players that have been on the Greenyards and wanted to play at the Greenyards and then come and won the tournament. So it's just extra special for me with the history that comes with it, being the home of sevens, that's never going to be taken away from us."

This year’s tournament will be a poignant one for Watsonians when a minute’s silence will be held prior to their first match following the passing of Scotland rugby legend Scott Hastings. The British & Irish Lion captained his boyhood club to victory at the 1996 edition of the tournament.

He was one of many greats to etch their name in the Melrose Sevens history books, but the advent of the professional game has seen a distinct decrease in the number of elite level players who turn up. There have been plenty exceptions over the years from the Scottish Thistles side of 2008 which featured future Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw or the Glasgow Warriors team of 2014 that included Carlin Isles and Nikola Matawalu.

Thistles are set to return this year, while Edinburgh and Newcastle Red Bulls are also entering teams. It looks set to be a thrilling race towards the Centenary Cup this year, as Dodds explains.

Scottish Thistles return, Edinburgh bringing strong squad and who’s the team to watch out for?

“I think Melrose would have been competitive this year, “ he says, “but they have lost three or four really important players to injury during the season which might just be one or two injuries too many to go on and lift the cup. It's hard to know these guest teams what they're going to bring.

“Durham Uni will be strong, they were in the tournament three years ago and they were pretty competitive, so if they come all guns blazing I wouldn't look past them either. Edinburgh, I think there's a couple of bigger names going to be coming down which would be quite nice.

“Obviously when rugby went professional that did kind of change how the sevens looked a little bit from when the likes of Scott Hastings captained Watsonians in 1996 and then the guys like Craig Chalmers, Bryan Redpath and Carl Hogg when they were playing for Scotland. It was great at that point for me as a youngster to watch that calibre of rugby but I think, because of the prestige of the tournament, everybody's tried to get as strong a team together as possible and I think the calibre of guest teams that we've had in the past have been through the roof.

“You've had your Nwaka's from Fiji, you've had your Randwick's for which David Campese was involved, you've had your French Barbarians, you've had your Stellenbosch from South Africa, that's just to name a few. These clubs are desperate to come and play at Melrose because of the prestige, because of the heritage, and that's something we really want to build on.”

It’s not just about the men’s tournament either anymore, with the event a two day affair, starting with the Melrose Sevens Hall of Fame Dinner on Friday night. The Women’s tournament and the Under 18s tournament feature alongside the Men’s 1883 Centenary Cup competition on the Saturday - a feast of rugby.

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