Archive News

Jed reached the final of our home tournament yesterday and just failed to win the Kings of the Sevens. Jed met the outstanding Melrose in the final and gave it a really good go but Melrose prevailed 31 - 24 in an outstanding game to win the Jed trophy and the Kings of the Sevens series for the second year running.

Melrose had raced to a 14 - 0 lead but Jed were not giving up 2 Lewis Young tries got us back into the game at 14 - 12 down at half time. Jed then took the lead in front of an ecstatic huge home support when Andrew Nagle scored in the bookies corner. However Jed were missing the odd tackle and 2 Melrose tries from Calum Anderson and the lethal Fraser Thomson put Melrose back in front. Scott White was converting all of Melrose's tries, so when Ewan Scott scored under the posts and converted we were still trailing 26 - 24. With only a minute to play the next try was going to be the winner and that man Thomson pounced on a loose ball to give Melrose the glory.

Jed had earlier beaten Stewarts Melville 38 -7, Haddington 43 - 7 and Heriots 50 - 0. As usual you can see all the other scores on the sevens page.

Melrose won the Kings of the Sevens with 65 points. Jed were second with 60 and Selkirk were third on 55.

Jed slipped to second place in the kings of the 7s table as they failed to pass the second round of the Selkirk 7s. Jed are missing 3 play makers with Chris Laidlaw (shoulder reconstruction) Iain Chisholm (broken ankle) and Ewan Scott (knee ligaments) all out for the season and this has hurt us badly in the last 2 tournaments.

Jed beat Stewarts Melville 26 - 0 in the first round with Lewis (3) and Gregor Young scoring Jed's tries. We played Peebles in the second round and after a scrappy game we had to play extra time with Peebles winning 10 - 5 after 3 minutes extended time.

Selkirk won their own tournament for the fourth year running with an amazing 20 - 19 victory over Melrose in the final. Selkirk were 19 - 5 behind and had Fraser Harkness in the sin bin but an incredible 2nd half performance saw Selkirk snatch an unlikely victory and ensure that the kings of the sevens title will be decided at Riverside on Saturday.

Melrose lead the way on 55 points, Jed are 2nd on 53 and Selkirk are 3rd on 50. You can see the full results and standings on the sevens page.

The Seconds had a better day and reached the semi final of Musselburgh 7s. This was not a 2nds tournament although several senior clubs had other commitments and had to send second string 7s to the event. Jed beat Edinburgh Accies and Dunbar on their way to the semi final but were beaten 39 - 5 by the untouchables (an ex Musselburgh players select team) who went on to win the tournament, beating Musselburgh in the final.

Jed reached their 3rd final in as many weeks with an appearance in the final of Kelso 7s on Saturday. Unfortunately we came up against an in form Melrose who ran riot and routed us 57 - 7 in a 9 try demolition. Gregor Young scored Jed's try. Jed lost Iain Chisholm, who broke an ankle in the 29 - 5 semi final win over hosts Kelso and he will obviously miss the rest of the season. Jed also beat Hawick 28 - 5 and Peebles 19 -7 in the earlier rounds.

Jed seemed to suffer from Saturdays efforts at Earlston and we could not click at all. We were lucky to see off Hawick YM 24 - 19 in the first round and that was only after extra time. We faced Watsonians in the second round and were just not good enough, going down 21 - 5 to make Earlston our worst result of the series. We had reached at least the semi final stage in the seven previous tournaments. That consistency still gives Jed a 2 point lead at the top of the Kings of the Sevens table but Melrose are closing in fast after winning both tournaments this weekend.

There are only two tournaments left with Selkirk on Saturday and our own tournament on the 14th of May.

Jed followed up last Sundays superb Berwick victory with another tournament win at Langholm yesterday. Wet conditions meant that handling was not easy but Jed struggled through to the final to face surprise packages Dumfries. We were too strong for the gallant Dumfries and ran away with a 42 - 10 final victory. Jed lost James Hogg to a shoulder injury in the first round so Hawick's Greg Cottrill helped out for the rest of the tournament. Jed's Iain Chisholm was voted as man of the tournament.

Jed had beaten a Presidents team 29 - 0, Peebles 19 - 15 and Selkirk 15 - 10 on route to the final.

Despite a magnificent 26 - 19 victory against Melrose in the second round of Pebbles 7s Jed went out in the Semi Final to Edinburgh Accies by a 31 - 26 score line. Jed had drawn level at 26 - 26 and had a kick to win it but Ewan Scott could not convert. We beat Berwick 26 - 12 in the first round.

Jed now top the Kings of the 7s table by 8 points from Selkirk with Melrose a further 4 behind Selkirk.

The 2nds reached the final of the SDU 7s at Riverside on Saturday but were beaten 26 - 24 by Gala A. Jed had been 21 - 0 down at half time but made a contest out of it with 4 second half tries through Garry Ramsey, Gregor Taylor, Jamie Anderson and Shaun Paxton. Jed had earlier beaten Hawick Lindeen 12 - 10 and Earlston 29 - 7.

Jed-Forest won Berwick 7s today to regain the trophy we last held in 2006. Jed beat Selkirk 31 - 10 in the final and that takes us to the top of the Kings Of The 7s table after four out of the ten tournaments. Darren Gillespie and Lewis Young scored two tries apiece and Iain Chisholm added a try and 3 conversions to seal Jed's first tournament victory since we won our own tournament in 2007.

Jed beat Gala 36 - 19 in the first round but faced a real test in the second round with an unconvincing 19 - 12 win against the Danish Vikings (National Team). Jed were 12 - 0 behind well into the second half but 2 late Iain Chisholm tries saw Jed scrape through. We then beat Edinburgh Uni 31 - 12 in the Semi Final.

A further bonus to Jed was the fact that Melrose didn't pick up any points during the weekend and all of Jed's players seem to have escaped major injury.

Jed reached the Semi Final of Hawick 7s on Saturday and really should have beaten eventual champions Hawick who scored an injury time try through Ryan Hogg to go though 17 - 14. Jed had beaten Boroughmuir 19 - 17 and the Danish Vikings 26 - 10 in the previous rounds.

Jed managed to reach the semi finals of the prestigious Melrose 7s on Saturday but were unable to beat hosts and eventual champions Melrose who comfortably won 35 - 12.

Jed were made to fight hard to get through the first two rounds but we beat Dundee 26 - 21 in the first round with, Robert Hogg, Michael Weekley, Lewis Young & Iain Chisholm scoring tries. Jed had lost Ewan Scott mid way through the first tie but we picked up Glasgow pro Peter Horn from Dundee and he came on as a sub in our second round 22- 17 victory over Hong Kong Scottish. Darren Gillespie was in blistering form in this match and scored two tries. Gregor & Lewis Young scored Jed's other tries.

That's two semi finals from the first two Kings of the sevens series and Jed sit joint second behind runaway leaders Melrose. The draws for Hawick and Berwick this weekend are now on the sevens page.

Jed 2nds reached the Semi Final of the John Laing 7s on Tuesday night. Jed beat a presidents 7 that featured Paul Hill and Shaun Paxton 28 - 0 in the fist round. They played Kelso A in the Semi and were only knocked out after Kelso scored in extra time after the teams had drawn 14 - 14 at full time.

Jed's 7s campaign started solidly with a semi final appearance at Gala 7s today. Jed beat a good Edinburgh Accies squad 17 - 7 in the first round. We met Falkirk, who had beaten Kelso in the second round and Jed had Lewis Young to thank for never giving up and saving an almost certain try just before half time. That kept Jed only 7 - 0 down and we managed to win 14 - 12.

Jed met Melrose in the semi final and we were the only team to challenge them all day. Melrose went 12 - 0 up early on but Jed responded tenaciously to get to 12 - 10 then 19 - 17 but Melrose were just to strong and won 24 - 17.

As expected Melrose won the tournament with a comfortable 45 - 12 win against Heriots.

Jed's 15s season ended in a terribly disappointing 17 - 5 defeat to Kelso at Riverside. Jed played too individually according to Kevin Barrie and were always struggling against the hungrier Kelso players. Jed were always behind and were 17 - 0 down before Lewis Young crossed for Jed's only points of the day. Kelso's win was enough for them to avoid relegation but we did have the consolation of hanging on to top spot of Premier C.

Kevin was quick to praise Jed's season. He said "the players attitude was excellent all season".

Jed were beaten 53 - 39 at Peebles in a 15 try Border League spectacle. Jed scored 4 tries in the first 20 minutes as both teams seemed to forget how to tackle. With both teams missing several regulars it was good to see the ball being thrown about and Iain Chisholm did well in his first start at stand off. Jed tries came from Mark Burke (2), Lewis Young, Gregor Young, Chris Gillon, Robert Ferguson and Iain Chisholm, Chizz also kicked 2 conversions. Scott Laidlaw won the race to 250 competitive appearances for Jed in this game.

Jed Grammar U16s lifted the Schools U16s Bowl trophy at Murrayfield's new 4G back pitch beating Firhill 28 - 21 last Friday night.

It was an exciting game with the lead changing hands several times but Jed ran out worthy winners outscoring their Edinburgh opponents by a 4 – 2 try count.

After conceding an early penalty Gregor Law barged over from close range, this was countered by a fine effort from the Firrhill winger to claim back an 8-7 lead that was extended to 11-7 with another penalty. Some good play by Jed allowed several players to go close before the ball was eventually moved out to allow centre Craig Adamson to crash over for a 14-11 half time lead.

The second half started with Firhill scoring from a lineout drive to go 18-14 up, some mistakes were understandably creeping in as the game wore on but eventually Jed got it right and another fine burst from prop Cole Lothian saw him touch down under the posts for a 21-18 lead. A long range penalty evened the scores at 21-21 with 5 minutes to go, but Jed were not hanging on for extra time and when they created space to allow Scott Richardson to outpace the cover from 40m with a try worthy of winning any match, the large Jed travelling support went wild as Clark Skeldon added his fourth conversion of the night and they were cheering again minutes later when the final whistle blew for a well deserved victory.

Jed also beat Langholm, Berwickshire, Ross High, Carrick Academy and McLaren High en route to the final.

Jed narrowly lost the Skelly Cup, going down 15 - 13 to Hawick at Riverside today. The game started off in cracking style with Jed scoring an early try when a quick tap penalty was taken by Darren Gillespie who sent Robert Ferguson over for Jed's only try of the day. Ewan Scott converted. Hawick hit back with a converted try and the score was 7 - 7 after only five minutes. In a typical Border Derby there was lots of fire and niggle early on and Jed had 2 tries disallowed but a huge long range Ewan Scott penalty put Jed in front again. The game soon disintegrated and an unconverted Hawick try gave Hawick a narrow lead. Jed were always competitive and Ewan Scott kicked another long range penalty but Rory Hutton kicked a penalty for Hawick and that was enough for them to regain the Skelly Cup.

Jed's forwards set up a convincing 64 - 12 victory against Langholm at Riverside. Jed were in control of the set piece which guaranteed some good ball for the backs to run at Langholm. David Gobby set the ball rolling followed by a forward push over from a lineout, Donald Grieve got the touch down. Next was best try of the night from Lewis Young, he run the length of the field to out pace most of the Langholm defence. Jed's other try scorers were Gobby for his second, Ewan Scott, Darren Gillespie, Robert Ferguson, Neil Cook, David Grieve, Graeme Slorance. Ewan Scott kicked 7 conversions. Ewan Fowler started the game at scrum half at short notice and young Richard Jackson from the Thistle made his debut in the second half and both had promising games.

Jed 2nds won their second game in a row in Edinburgh with a 29 - 13 at Boroughmuir 3rds. Jed were bolstered with a few first team players and they were too strong for their city rivals. Jed scored four tries through Danny Orr (2), Andrew Nagle and Iain Chisholm. Orr kicked 3 conversions and Chisholm kicked a dropped a goal.

Jed have arranged to play Langholm on Tuesday night at Riverside. This game is rescheduled from last week.

A weakened Jed were out classed by Melrose at the Greenyards today. Ross Goodfellow failed a late fitness test, Robert Ferguson was unavailable and with Chris Laidlaw out for the season after facing an operation on his damaged shoulder, Jed were up against it before the kick off. Jed also lost Connor Hogg after only 5 minutes and then James Hogg was sin binned to compound our problems. Melrose led 27 - 0 at half time with ex Jed captain Gary Holborn amongst the scorers. Jed were never in the game and Melrose ran out 48 - 0 winners with Gary Elder, another ex Jed player amongst the second half try scorers.

Jed are back in Border League action on Thursday night when we play Langholm at Riverside. The 2nds game against Kelso was called off due to snow on Riverside.

Jed scored 16 tries today as both the firsts and seconds recorded convincing wins. The first XV scored 6 tries in a 44 - 24 victory against relegation threatened Kirkcaldy. Jed got off to the perfect start when Chris Laidlaw won the race to touch down in the corner. Chris paid a hefty price though as he landed badly on his shoulder and he was taken to hospital with a suspected dislocation. Jed were further depleted as Alex Croitoru limped off and Michael Weekley had to be helped off after a nasty head knock in the first 15 minutes. Jed were also really struggling in the scrums and gave away 2 first half penalty tries but tries from Darren Gillespie and Gregor Young gave Jed a 17 - 14 half time lead.

Jed never dominated the game but 2 Ewan Scott penalties and a converted David Gobby try gave Jed a comfortable 30 - 14 lead. Kirkcaldy scored to make a game of it but Gobby scored again and Iain Chisholm also crossed the white wash to almost certainly confine Kirkcaldy to premier 3 rugby next season. Ewan Scott kicked 4 conversions and Kirkcaldy scored a consolation try to make the final score 44 - 24.

A fairly comfortable win in the end but the injuries have come at a bad time with next weeks Border League match at Melrose looming. On the plus side Robert Ferguson and and Andrew Nagle had great games.

The 2nd XV had a comfortable 62 - 10 win against an admittedly weak Forrester 2nds. Jed scored 10 tries in total and Danny Orr kicked 6 conversions. Graeme Slorance (3), Shaun Paxton, Chris Paige, Chris Gillon, Ryan Miller, Paul Thomson, Danny Orr & Johnny Field scored Jed's tries.

Jed 2nd XV lost for the third week in a row but produced a much better performance at Peebles on Thursday night. Jed were strengthened by a couple of first team players and also gave Alexander MacKay from Jed Thistle a run out but started the game disastrously. A charged down kick gifted Peebles a 7 - 0 lead after only 1 minute and we actually went 18 - 3 behind at one point. Jed fought back superbly though and took a 22 - 18 lead into the latter stage of the game through a penalty try, tries by Donald Grieve and Tom Elliot, with Danny Orr kicking 2 conversions and a penalty. However a Peebles penalty and a gifted try from a bad Jed handling mistake gave Peebles a 26 - 22 victory.

Jed gained revenge for the terrible collapse against Hillhead/Jordanhill earlier in the season with a 23 - 10 victory in Glasgow. This now takes Jed to the top of Premier C with only 2 games left. Jed scored 3 tries through Lewis Young, Ross Goodfellow and Robert Hogg in a fine performance. Chris Laidlaw kicked 2 penalties and a conversion. Lewis Young was taken to hospital with an ankle injury but it is only a bad sprain and it should not keep him out for long.

The 2nds were humiliated in a 41 - 0 defeat against Gala A at Riverside in undoubtedly their worst performance all season.

The 33-year-old has been in province for the past three years, starting as one of the Taranaki Rugby Football Union's development officers before moving into the role of skills coach for the ITM Cup side. He is also heavily involved in the union's academy. He came to New Zealand from Scotland where he played several seasons for their national sevens side, as well as professionally for the Borders club.

"I'll be working with the players technically on their individual work-ons and mini units, as well as doing video analysis work during tournaments and at training," he said.

"It puts a bit of a workload on me but the guys like Coops [Taranaki coach Colin Cooper] and Robbo [TRFU chief executive Mark Robinson] have been really supportive about it. I'm really appreciative of them letting me take up this opportunity."

While more involved with the 15-aside, Laidlaw has never lost his enthusiasm for the abbreviated form of the game.

"I've got a real passion for sevens because it really developed me as a player," he said. "I think coaching wise, it does the same for you as a player. It puts you under pressure because you can be playing up to six games in a weekend and the short turnarounds create some high intensity."

Just how long Laidlaw continues in the role will be dependant on how he can manage the workload. He was mindful of an IRB proposal to increase the number of tournaments on their circuit from eight to 10 as the sport tries to lift its profile ahead of its introduction into the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Jed lost 33 - 15 to Glasgow Hawks at Riverside this afternoon despite scoring 2 outstanding tries. Hawks were always favorites as they are currently only 2 points behind Melrose at the top of Premier A but Jed were not intimidated by any means.

Jed started very brightly any nearly took the lead when David Gobby crossed the line under the score board but a forward pass was ruled and the try was disallowed. Hawks responded with a try wide out which Scotland 7s international Mike Adamson converted. Jed then scored the try of the day when Gregor Young broke past his winger and fed Lewis Young who handed off the full back and out sped the other cover to score in the corner. Unfortunately Ewan Scott had an off day with the boot and missed all his kicks. Hawks stretched their lead with a try under the posts but Jed kept in the game with another outstanding try. Michael Weekley finished the move off but some great phases and an inside pass set him free to make it 14 - 10 to Hawks at half time.

Jed started the second half terribly and a very sloppy 15 minutes saw Hawks race to a 33 - 10 lead. Jed did see some light at the end of the tunnel when Hawks had 2 players sin binned with 10 minutes to go. Darren Gillespie forced his way over but Hawks were just too clever and slowed the game right down to Keep Jed out.

Hawks win was enough to ensure that they top pool F and will take them into the last eight of the Premier Cup. Jed finished third with only 1 win against Dumfries and losses to Edinburgh Accies and Hawks.

Jed saw off a spirited Dumfries 25 - 7 in the Premier Cup at Riverside. It was a struggle though as Dumfries led 7 - 3 at half time, courtesy of a penalty try after David Gobby was sin binned for pushing a Dumfries player off the ball while racing for a touch down. Chris Laidlaw was having an off day with the boot and only kicked one penalty from 3 first half attempts.

The second half was much better and good defence kept the well organised Dumfries at bay. Tries from Neil Cook, Gregor Young, James Hogg and David Grieve sealed the bonus point win and Chris Laidlaw added a conversion.

Although Scott Laidlaw was red carded late on and Kevin Barrie was sent from the technical area this was a decent showing from Jed and keeps us in the right frame of mind of Saturdays huge challenge against Glasgow Hawks.

The seconds lost their big crunch match at Selkirk 29 - 7 and virtually lost all hope of winning their league. Jed trailed 22 - 0 at half time and stayed competitive throughout but Selkirk had the magic touch on the day and prevailed. Garry Ramsey scored Jed's try and Danny Orr converted.

The lads did really well and showed some guts and determination to come back from 25-13 with five minutes left in the game to take a 25 - 25 try bonus point draw at Biggar. Tries from Darren Gillespie, Connor Hogg, Ewan Scott and Lewis Young with a conversion and a penalty from Chris Laidlaw made up the points tally.

The 2nds beat Haddington 2nds 18 - 0 Jed started the game well taking an early lead with Danny Orr kicking a long range penalty. It wasn't long before they extended the lead to 8 nil through a Gregor Taylor try, Orr missed the conversion. Just before half time hooker Scott Raeburn scored Jeds second try, Orr's conversion hit the post. Haddington started the second half the stronger of the two sides and were unlucky not to score. It wasn't until the last 10 minutes Jed scored the best try of the day with Chris Gillon finishing off a well worked move. The conversion was taken quickly but missed in a desperate attempt to push for the bonus point try which Jed were unable to get.

Jed secured a double win on Saturday with both the firsts and seconds recording wins after an enforced 8 week competitive break due to the weather. Jed traditionally struggle after the Christmas holidays and the game was not much of a spectacle due to the driving wind and rain but Jed did enough to secure a 10 - 0 victory. Ross Goodfellow scored both of Jed's tries but the game was marred by a huge amount of scrums and a big penalty count against Jed. Jed also had Scott Laidlaw and Michael Weekley sin binned in the second half so the 10 - 0 win was a good result in the end and takes us to top spot in Premier C.

Jed were without Andrew Nagle on Saturday due to his call up to the Scottish U20 training squad.

The 2nd XV recorded a 37 - 0 win at Melrose. Melrose were short of players and Jamie Anderson played a big chunk of the game for them. Paul Cranston replaced him in the Melrose team to allow Jamie to return to the Jed ranks. Jed scored 6 tries through Chris Paige (2), Mark Burke, Grant Johnston, Graeme Slorance and Shaun Paxton. Ryan Miller kicked a penalty and 2 conversions.

Due to snow 4 inches still lying and a solid inch of ice below that, the Skelly cup has been called off and will now be played in March/April.

Jed are gong to Hawick on Monday for a friendy at 2pm. Weather permitting.

Due to the freezing conditions, Monday's Skelly cup has been moved to Monday the 3rd of January at 3pm.

Exclusive by Stuart Cameron

There was plenty of excitement this time last year when the South of Scotland team was resurrected after 12 years, and when over 2000 local rugby supporters turned out to witness the landmark match against Northumberland on a bitterly cold night in Galashiels, it proved beyond any doubt that the Borders had got their team back, and there was a huge appetite to see a side comprising locally based players representing the region.

Now comes the follow up fixture against Northumberland, who were beaten by the South last year. The match, on Wednesday 29th December, at Netherdale, is already being keenly anticipated and Northumberland have vowed to send a strong team made up of players from the likes of Tynedale, Newcastle Falcons and Gosforth.

All seven Borders Premier clubs are represented in the initial training squad of 38 who will meet up for the first training session on December 1st, with Melrose having 13 of their players represented. The breakdown of players from the other clubs are: Selkirk (4), Hawick (10), Peebles (5), Gala (3), Jedforest (2) and Kelso (1).

The captain will be announced soon but Craig Chalmers will once again be Head Coach assisted by Gary Parker and John Dalziel with Richie Gray the team manager.

Richie told the Southern: "We've chosen a large squad to start with because we need all the players to know how the team is going to play and be able to cover in case of injuries between now and the end of December. There's a lot of rugby being played before the South game. We will be cutting the squad down in a few weeks.

"Over the past year a lot of work has been going on behind the scenes to develop the concept and the culture of 'The South' and there are some exciting developments we will be announcing soon."

The squad:

Melrose RFC
Fraser Thomson. Callum Anderson, Jamie Murray, Scott Wight, Rob Chrystie, John Dalziel, Graeme Dodds,
Scott McCormick, Wayne Mitchell, Gary Holborn, Ross Miller, Garry Elder, Euan Ford,

Selkirk RFC
Fraser Harkness, Andrew Renwick, Mike McVie, Neil Darling

Peebles RFC
David Paton, Neil Warnock, Willie Aitken, Ryan McConnell, Adam Clark

Gala RFC
Lee Millar, Euan Dods, Lewis Roden

Hawick RFC
Rory Hutton, Bruce McNeil, Sean Linton, Craig Charters, Danny Landels, Greg Anderson, Garry Johnston,
Graham Hogg, Greg Cottrell, Matt Landels

Jed-Forest RFC
Darren Gillespie, Robert Hogg

Kelso RFC
Iain Moody

Jed-Forest produced their best performance for weeks in a 37 - 24 win at Falkirk but at some cost. Jed's vice captain Neil Cook was sent off after 30 minutes for an alleged head but. Neil is adamant it was accidental but we can only wait and see what the referee says in his report.

Jed went into half time 17 - 12 down and fell further behind straight after the second half kicked off when Falkirk scored another converted try. However, the rest of the game was all Jed's and 3 more unanswered tries sealed the bonus point win. This moves us back into 2nd in Premier C as we were the only top 3 team to win.

Gregor Young (2), Robert Hogg (2) and David Grieve scored Jed's tries. Chris Laidlaw kicked 2 conversions and 2 penalties.

For the second week running Jed traveled to Edinburgh and once again came home with our heads down. Stewarts Melville were Jed conquerors this time as we went down 56 - 24. Jed lost Ewan Scott to a suspected broken ankle early but it was later confirmed as ligament damage. We went into half time 27 - 14 down and actually fought back to 30 - 24. However Jed were missing tackles galore and Stew Mell dominated and bullied Jed into submission and ran away to a 56 - 24 win.

Stew Mell have recruited strongly during the league break and thoroughly deserved their win but Jed were very disappointing. There is still plenty to play for and defeat at Falkirk next Saturday could start to put pressure on us, so heads up boys and fight till the end of the season.

Gregor Young, Chris Laidlaw and Robert Ferguson scored tries. Chris Laidlaw also kicked a penalty and all 3 conversions.

Jed traveled to Edinburgh to play Accies for the second time in a month, it was cup duty this time but we suffered the same fate as last time going down 25 - 17. Jed's cause was not helped by the torrential rain and the late call offs by Robert Hogg ( virus ) and David Greive ( back & ribs ). Accies were 20 - 5 up at half time and once again Jed hit back at them but time was not on our side and we now face an almost impossible task to qualify for the cup 1/4 finals. Gregor Young, Lewis Young and Neil Cook scored Jed's tries and Chris Laidlaw kicked a conversion.

Jed-Forest beat Biggar 26 - 18 at Riverside to take us up to 5th in the League and just 2 points short of 4th place and a shot at Premier Division 1 after the split. However a win is always good and will help our confidence going into the second half of the season. There are 3 teams tied on 30 points at the top of our section but Jed have a superior for and against total. The bottom 8 teams will keep our points with the bottom 2 teams being relegated after the next 7 games.

Jed did not start well this week, we were giving away far to many penalties and were deservedly 8 - 0 down before Chris Laidlaw kicked 2 penalties to get Jed into the game. Biggar kicked another penalty but Jed went into half time with a 13 - 11 lead when Gary Hill chose a great line to follow up a break from Darren Gillespie who offered a great offload to send Hilly under the posts, Chris Laidlaw converted.

Robert Ferguson scored next for Jed when he barged over from close rage after sustained pressure on the Biggar line, converted by Chris. Although Biggar scored a converted try to bring them within 2 points you somehow felt Jed were always in control. Chris Laidlaw justified these thoughts with a penalty and a drop goal to seal the win.

A pretty scrappy game to be honest and although we have come a long way since last season Jed must feel very frustrated as a place in the top 4 was well within our capabilities.

The seconds had a more comfortable afternoon as they beat Forrester 2nds 76 - 7 on Woodend. Mark Burke scored 4, Greg Nagle 2, Garry Ramsey 2, Jamie Anderson, Scott Laidlaw, Scott Raeburn & Jamie McCraw all added tries. Greg Nagle kicked 5 conv & Danny Orr kicked 3

Jed's hopes of a top 4 spot were destroyed by 3 yellow cards in a 39 - 23 defeat at Aberdeen. Jed were very competitive especially in the first half where a try by David Gobby and 3 penalties and a conversion by Chris Laidlaw had seen us go into half time 17 - 16 down. This was despite losing Ewan Scott to injury after ten minutes, having Paul Hill sin Binned and Darren Gillespie losing the ball over the line with a try begging to be scored.

Jed went down to 13 men when Darren Gillespie and Neil Cook were binned and Aberdeen scored 12 points in their absence. Jed could not recover but did score another try when Chris Laidlaw crossed the line and converted with 5 minutes to go.

Mark Burke replaced Ewan Scott and did well but the game was marred by 30 penalties and 4 yellow cards despite there not being a punch thrown all day.

Jed will now aim to top the bottom 8 but we must not be complacent as we could easily be sucked into a relegation battle.

The 2nd XV had to settle for a 12 - 12 draw after Gala A came from behind to score a converted try with 5 minutes left. Jed had led from 3 penalties from Greg Nagle and 1 from Ryan Miller. Ryan had to be replaced due to a knee injury but more of more concern was losing Steven Scott with the same knee injury that has kept him out for most of this season.

Not a bad result for Jed and it was very encouraging to see 46 at training on Thursday night.

Jed game themselves a top 4 lifeline with a bonus point 34 - 15 win against Stewarts Melville at Riverside today. Jed started the game on fire with Robert Hogg and David Gobby crossing for tries within the first fives minutes but we drifted out of the game after that and Stew Mel scored 10 points to get back into it. However Ewan Scott kicked a penalty either side of half time to keep Stew Mel at bay.

Jed were now pressing the Stew Mel line and Darren Gillespie scored from a rolling maul. Jed had gifted Stew Mel an interception try in the first half but they repaid the favour and Chris Laidlaw was the right man in the right place to score Jed's 4th try and guarantee Jed's 8th bonus point this season. Ewan Scott converted all of Jed's 4 tries.

The last 20 minutes were a bit scrappy and Stew Mel scored a consolation try but it was in vain and Jed move back into 6th place in the league with an outside chance of ending in the top 4 after the next two games.

The 2nds had their second walk over of the season when Haddington declared that they could not raise a team. These games will be counted as a 28 - 0 bonus point victories for Jed.

Scott Macdonald declared himself Jed's player of the weekend after scoring 6 tries in the 2nds training game of touch.

Jed suffered another agonizingly close defeat, going down 20 -18 to Edinburgh Accies. This result leaves us in 7th place and needing a miracle to get us into the fabled top 4. Jed actually started pretty well and dominated early possession but Accies got into the game and scored 2 first half tries to take a 10 -6 lead into half time. Ewan Scott had kicked 2 penalties to keep us in the game.

Their aggressive running from the forwards, centers and wingers was causing us real problems and when we were missing tackles we normally nail every week it did not look good. We have a real fighting spirit this year though and David Grieve barged over after we had hammered their line through umpteen phases to take us within 4 points. A sloppy kick from Jed and some more terrible tackling gifted Accies their last try and we were never going to score twice in injury time. We did get a bonus point though when Darren Gillespie scored his 7th try of the season and Ewan Scott converted to make the final score 20 - 18.

The 2nds had to move personnel around due missing several key players and they were unlucky to run into the strongest Edinburgh Accies 3rds they had fielded in ages. Accies proved far to strong and Jed were on the wrong side of a 51 - 0 hiding.

Jed-Forest blew a 19 - 3 first half lead today and let Hillhead/Jordanhill steal an unlikely 32 - 29 win with the last kick of the match. Jed started as they left last week and quickly scored 3 tries, Ewan Scott scored first and Gregor Young scored a brace, both converted by Ewan Scott to take us to a 19 - 3 lead after 20 minutes. Hills responded with 2 converted tries in a minute but Ewan Scott kicked a penalty to make it 22 - 17 at half time to Jed.

Chris Laidlaw was sin binned just before half time and Jed held firm with the 14 men. Hills were a well drilled team though and Jed were not coping with the inside pass. Hills used this a lot and scored 2 more tries to take a 29 - 22 lead. Jed were able to fight back though and scored under the posts when Ross Goodfellow squeezed over from a quick tap penalty. This looked to settle the game as a draw but Jed were trying to win the game and gave away a penalty for crossing while trying to run the ball from our own half. The impressive fullback duly stepped up and kicked the penalty with the last kick of the game to seal a dramatic win.

Hillhead/Jordanhill probably deserved the win as Jed missed far to many tackles and were just not alive to the inside pass all afternoon. We will need to step up hugely next week if we are to compete with Edinburgh Accies.

The 2nd XV did not have a game as Melrose Knights could not raise a team. Jed will therefore be awarded a bonus point win and now top the league after 6 games.

Jed-Forest produced their best performance for two years against the previously unbeaten Falkirk on Saturday, to boost our chances of reaching the top four cut at the half way point of the season. Jed scored five blistering tries to record a fantastic 44 - 24 win in a performance that must have shocked most of Scottish rugby.

Jed were first on the score board from a Ewan Scott penalty but Falkirk soon drew level with a penalty of their own. However Jed's blitzing start was soon rewarded by a Scott Laidlaw try from a well worked line out drive. Alex Croitoru scored his first try in the Jed colours soon after when he darted between the posts to put us 17 - 3 in front. We swapped penalties and Falkirk closed the gap with a try but a brilliant individual try from Robert Hogg put Jed 27 - 13 in front at half time.

Falkirk kicked a couple of penalties to keep Jed on their toes but Chris Laidlaw sent Gary Hill clear from a great off load round his tackler and Hilly stepped round the full back to score under the posts. Jed had Ewan Scott sin binned and Falkirk scored in his absence but a Chris Laidlaw penalty kept the scoreboard ticking over for Jed. Jed saved the best for last though. Man of the match Darren Gillespie came busting through the centres at a great angle and fed Lewis Young who shrugged of two tacklers to give Jed our fifth try and seal a fantastic performance.

Darren Gillespie and Robert Hogg were once again outstanding for Jed. So was Ewan Scott who had a great running game from full back and had a 100% day with the boot, kicking 5 conversions and 2 penalties.

The 2nds also had a decent win, beating Boroughmuir 3rds 34 - 13. It was not as good as previous weeks and maybe complacency played a part. Tries by Mark Burke, Shaun Paxton, Ewan Fowler, Gregor Taylor, Paul Cranston & Jamie McCraw was enough to keep the unbeaten run going. Ryan Miller and Greg Nagle kicked a conversion each.

Jed-Forest RFC require a part time senior Bar Steward. The job entails all aspects of bar work and management involving daytime, evening and week-end working. A full job description can be found below. If you believe you have the necessary experience and attributes, please submit a written application To:

2. Ordering of stock ensuring the levels are adequate for the business, ensure stock rotation is carried out, dates are correct on deliveries, checking that keg /cask beers and all bottles are in good condition. Maintain adequate stock of glassware for the bar.

3. Running the cellar - maintaining temperature control, receiving /checking deliveries and stock rotation.

4. Maintain high levels of Health and Safety within the bar area, reporting any faults or maintenance requirements. Ensure correct use of cleaning materials and equipment.

5. Maintain accurate records in relation to ordering, deliveries and invoicing.

6. Organise staff rotas such that the bar is adequately but not over staffed. Maintain a record of staff hours.

7. Ensure all monies are accounted for and accurate records of account and cash transactions are maintained including the weekly banking of takings.

8. Standards make recommendations to the Clubhouse Convenor for improvements in bar standards of service and maintain and improve existing standards to ensure customer satisfaction at all times. Be responsible for changes to the standard operation procedures.

Jed won a classic border derby today, beating Kelso 22 - 18 at Poynder park to win the inaugural playing of the Kenneth Ballantyne Memorial Cup.

Jed played with the wind and went into half time 14 - 3 up, thanks to 2 Darren Gillespie tries and it could have been more if David Gobby had avoided passing forward with an easy try scoring opportunity. This was despite losing Connor Hogg, who was stretchered off with a bad looking leg injury.

Kelso had lost John Szkudro, sent to the sin bin late in the first half but that was squared up when Alexandru Croituro was binned mid way through the second half. Kelso took advantage and scored a converted try. Ewan Scott kept us in front with a penalty in front of the posts but Kelso scored an easy over lap try to take an un-likely 18 - 17 lead with 10 minutes left. Jed saved the best to last though when Gregor Young skinned the winger and tore up the stand side with Robert Hogg in hot pursuit. Gregor drew the full back and Robert waltzed in to give Jed the lead. The game was not over and Kelso threw everything at Jed and Ross Goodfellow had to be on full alert to stop Kelso scrum half Andy Tait who had taken a quick tap penalty. He was clean through but Ross Scrambled back with a great cover tackle. Tait was judged to have held on and Chris Laidlaw blasted the ball out to allow the ref to blow for full time.

A great win for Jed in a great game to put us back in the top 6 of the league, with fantastic performances from Darren Gillespie, Andrew Nagle and Robert Hogg. We will once again need to step up next week if we are to compete with Falkirk.

The 2nd XV also had a good win, beating Kelso 2nds 28 - 11 to move into second place in their league. Mark Burke scored another 2 tries this week to make it 7 tries from 4 games. Lewis Young also scored a try. Ryan Miller kicked 3 penalties and 2 conversions.

Jed suffered another local derby disappointment with a 21 - 18 defeat against Peebles at Riverside and have now gone over a year without winning a home Border derby. Jed Got off to a terrible start when some slack marking let their winger score unopposed in the corner after three minutes. Jed did take a short lived 10 - 8 lead after Ewan Scott had kicked a penalty and converted an individual try by Ross Goodfellow. Peebles continued to be the more composed team in the first half though and scored two more tries to take an 18 - 10 lead into the break.

Jed played much better in the second half and dominated possession and were rewarded with a Darren Gillespie try. However we were still throwing silly passes and making basic errors and just could not get over the try line again. Jed did have a penalty out wide deep into injury time but opted to go for the line out and for the win but Peebles stole the line out and the win.

We are definitely competitive this season and seeing teenager Connor Hogg make his first league start and playing very well looks hugely encouraging but we face our biggest Border derby rivals next week at Kelso and a win is becoming more crucial if we are to get into the top four at the end of October.

The seconds had an altogether easier time beating Peebles 92 - 12. Jed had a pretty strong team including last years player of the year Robert Ferguson, who has just returned from a summer in Canada. Jed scored 14 tries even though the game was stopped ten minutes early.

Scott Raeburn 3, Mark Burke 2, Scott MacDonald 2, Shaun Paxton 2, Garry Ramsey , Gregor Taylor , Chris Gillon , Robert Ferguson & Jamie McCraw scored Jed's tries and Ryan Miller kicked 11 conversions. Peebles points all came from kicks and the 2nds have still not conceded a try in the league this season.

Jed drew 16 - 16 with Kirkcaldy in fife today. Jed had lead 9 - 6 at half time through the boot of Ewan Scott but could not seal the win despite Gregor Young scoring a try in the second half. Both Darren Cunningham and Ross Goodfellow felt that this was a good 2 points as Kirkcaldy will give a lot of teams problems up there this year.

The 2nds also drew 15 - 15 against Selkirk 2nds despite scoring 3 tries to 0 at Riverside. The Selkirk stand off was kicking everything from 45 meters in and kicked 5 huge penalties to cancel out tries by Jamie Anderson, Gregor Taylor and Greg Nagle. Ryan Miller and Kevin Amos had an uncharacteristically bad day with the boot.

Gala stole a last minute 13 - 11 win from Jed today despite trailing for 75 minutes of the game. Jed struck early with a well taken overlap try by David Gobby after five minutes but Gala hit back with a clever lineout move to catch Jed napping up the blindside to make it 5 - 5. Jed dominated possession for most of the first half and two Ewan Scott penalties put Jed 11 - 5 in front but some slack tackling let Gala in for a try just before the break to make it 11 - 10 at half time.

Both teams had a player sin binned before half time for fighting and Jed went down to 13 when David Grieve was binned for killing the ball on our line when Gala were pushing for a try. Jed responded brilliantly and some tremendous defending held Gala at bay for a full 10 minutes of attack on our line. The second half was dominated by Gala possession but were were still holding on well until we gave away a penalty in front of the posts 35 yards out with less than a minute left. Gala's Craig Dods handled the pressure well and duly slotted the kick to ruin Jed's day.

A really devastating end result for Jed but on the plus side we have 6 points from two games and are the only team in the league to have 2 bonus points from 2 games.

The 2nd XV started their campaign in Reserve League East Div 1 with a 43 - 0 win against Murrayfield Wanderers 2nds. Mark Burke was the star of the show, scoring 3 tries in his first game of rugby in nearly 10 years. Mark played serious football after leaving School and had spells at Hibs, Hearts & Berwick Rangers before consistent injuries took their toll. Player coach, Paul Cranston scored 2 and the try scoring was completed with tries from Connor Hogg and Jamie McCraw. Ryan Miller kicked 4 conversions.

Jed-Forest will host a charity sports quiz on Wednesday 8^th September at Riverside. We are one of 10 regional heats with the winner of each heat receiving £250 and a free entry into the Grand Final in Glasgow on the 21^st of October, where the winning team will receive £2000 for the club of their choice.

Each heat will be hosted by a rugby celebrity even though it’s not just a rugby quiz. Each team should have 5 players and entry costs £50 per team. The heats start at 7.30pm.

All funds raised are for the rugby charity Hearts and Balls who help injured rugby players nation wide.

Jed's League campaign got of to a flying start this afternoon with a 34 - 25 win at G.H.A. which included a 5 try bonus point. The game was dominated by the wind and G.H.A took advantage of it to lead 20 - 7 at half time. Gregor Young had scored our try.

Jed made 4 changes right after half time and this made an immediate impact and we dominated the rest of the game scoring 4 more tries and a penalty with some really clever tactical kicking and some renewed power in the forwards. Darren Gillespie scored a hat-trick of tries and Gregor Young scored again to add to his first half try. Ewan Scott kicked 3 conversions and a penalty.

A really solid start to the season with the forwards showing a much improved effort from last week. We will need to improve again for the visit of Gala next week who gave Kelso a 44 - 10 hammering at Netherdale today. However another week will give us more time to introduce Alexandru Ovidiu (our new 22 year old Romanian prop) to our codes and systems.

Alexandru arrived late on Thursday night to officially join Jed. He was here for a few days last week and took part in the warm up friendly at Hawick but had to go home to tie up loose ends and prepare for his Scottish adventure. Alexandru made his debut today comes highly rated having played for Romania at all the junior age grades.

On a side note, James Hogg made his 100th competitive appearance for Jed today and Donald Grieve made his 150th.

The 2nds completed their pre season preparations with a friendly against Kelso and went down 19 - 10. Kelso had led 19 - 5 at half time with a wind advantage but Jed kept them out in the second half despite playing the last 10 minutes with 14 men due to a spate of injuries. Connor Hogg and Scott Blackie scored Jed Tries.

Jed's final warm up game before the League starts next weekend ended with a very disappointing 26 - 24 defeat against Musselburgh at Riverside yesterday. Jed were simply out muscled and out fought by the bigger Mussleburgh pack. Slight consolation came from the four tries we scored to Musselburgh's two, but we gave away far to many penalties and their kicker was on fire, slotting 4 penalties and 2 conversions.

We were missing some key forwards and they should be available next week and once again it was good to see young guns Andrew Nagle and Connor Hogg get good game time. Jed's tries were scored by Ewan Scott, Chris Laidlaw, Gregor Young and Paul Hill. Ewan kicked 2 conversions.

The 2nds were also in action against Musselburgh but there was some confusion as to whether the game was being played. Jed played with 13 including a winger from Musselburgh and they played with 14 men. They only played 40 minutes and Jed completely dominated, winning 57 - 12.

Ian Chisholm scored 5 tries and kicked 5 coversions, Graeme Slorance (2) Paul Thomson and Garry Ramsey scored Jed's other tries. Ryan Miller added a conversion.

Jed's pre season stepped up a notch with a friendly defeat at Hawick last night. The 46 - 5 final score was a bit flattering for Hawick as Jed had held them at only 7 - 0 for one and a half of the three 30 minute sessions. Hawick had brought their big guns (including the returning Rory Hutton and Stuart Hogg) back on for the last session and we were a bit over run after making several changes.

Scott Laidlaw scored Jed's try and it was great to see Connor Hogg and Andrew Nagle get on for a taste of first team rugby so soon after their summer move from Jed Thistle. Jed's Romanian trialist prop also got some game time and he looks a strong laddie, time will tell though.

Former Jed-Forest and Border League President, John Davidson has been elected to join the Scottish Rugby Board at this years AGM. John has risen rapidly through the ranks at the SRU after joining the Scottish Rugby Council as Premier Division 2 representative at the start of the 2008-2009 season. John has already started in his new role which will last until the end of season 2012-2013.

The Scottish Rugby Board is responsible for the ongoing management of Scottish Rugby. The Scottish Rugby Board, which also serves as the Board of SRU plc, comprises four non-executive Directors, four representatives of the Scottish Rugby Council and up to four executive Directors. The full board of Directors can be seen here.

10th Aug Borders Rugby Television Announce New Sponsor And Re-Launch Website

Borders Rugby Television goes into its third season covering local rugby by announcing a brand new sponsor for the next 12 months in Galashiels-based Fraser James Partnership Ltd, the independent financial advisers whose slogan is "Money Matters."

Managing Director Fraser Brydon has always been a big supporter of Borders Rugby including their sponsorship of Gala Rugby Club and he's delighted to be involved with BRTV which provides TV and radio coverage for rugby in the area as well as a full online web service for Borders Rugby.

Fraser said: "My company is very happy to get involved with Borders Rugby Television. It provides a fantastic service for local clubs and the only place to go to catch up with the very latest news online. We particularly like the fact that the website is constantly updated which encourages users to return time and time again, and you can be assured that when a news story breaks in the Borders it will be available at BordersRugby.net very quickly, and the hours of video footage available is a massive bonus."

Stuart Cameron of Borders Rugby TV welcomed his new sponsor. "Fraser is a larger than life character who I am thrilled to be working with. His passion for local rugby is legendary and his company's involvement will allow us to put even more back into promoting the game at local level.

"I would also like to thank our previous backers, 'The Scarf Shop, Bags, Beads & Beyond' who have been wonderful to us and local rugby over the past two years and will no doubt be involved again in the future. Border Insurance Services of Kelso and BASE Rugby are our two other key sponsors this season, and we're thrilled to have them."

Viewings of BRTV video programmes have topped 275,000 collectively proving there is a big audience for Borders Rugby both in the area and abroad too as many ex Borderers click online to catch up with news.
Part of the success of BRTV has been the co-operation with other local media including media partners Radio Borders and you can be certain that whatever happens this season it will be covered comprehensively by BRTV's service. The re-launched easier-to-use website is available now at www.BordersRugby.net with extra features including the new Borders Rugby Radio service and the upgraded news pages as well as match highlights and weekly Borders Rugby Roundup TV and Radio programmes.

Following last Thursdays AGM, Jed has announced a shake up of the Rugby section at Jed-Forest RFC.

Roy Laidlaw has stepped down from the role as Director of Rugby, in fact that role has been re named and Billy Grieve will now become Jed's Convener of Rugby. Billy is an ex Jed Captain and has just finished a prolonged stint as President of Jed Thistle. Billy will oversee a rugby committee of Alistair Campbell, Donald Miller and Glen Gibson.

Darren Cunningham will once again be head coach and Kevin Amos will once again assist with the backs training. James Henderson will start his coaching training and will assist with the forwards. Paul Cranston and Brain Law are 2nds coaches.

Ross Goodfellow will captain Jed and Neil Cook will be vice captain. Disappointingly last years captain, Gary Holborn has decided to step up a division and join Melrose. Fellow Berwick man Paul Pringle has retired after 2 stints at Jed. A great piece of news sees the return of David Grieve from a season at Selkirk.

Finally, Kevin Barrie has been appointed as Jed's new Youth Development Officer. As well as having responsibility for the U13s/U16s Kevin has been asked to bring on young coaches like Amo and Hendy.