ANDREW Ker hailed the Peebles Sevens as one of the best on the circuit after his Watsonians side lifted the title for the second year in succession, and then called on other clubs across Scotland to follow their example.
This was the 80th year of sevens at Peebles, but in the past decade they have risen to stand among the top clubs both in XVs and sevens and are now an established member of the popular 'Kings of the Sevens' circuit.
In terms of crowd, where yest
erday they attracted over 2,000 spectators, quality of rugby and off-field entertainment Peebles are arguably now only second to Melrose.
And Ker insisted that the shorter game still fulfilled a valuable role. "It was a long time ago when I played sevens and the game has changed," he said, "but 15-a-side rugby has become even tighter than ever, with fewer chances for players to show skills, so sevens is perhaps even more necessary to the Scottish game now.
"I would love to see the league championship and the cup finish earlier – what was the point of us playing Dundee this weekend? – and then sevens across Scotland to take over in April and May.
"Yes, there is money on offer down here and we need every penny we can get to keep the club competitive, but we take the sevens circuit seriously at Watsonians because the players are desperate to play sevens at the end of the season.
"They are desperate for the chance to run and pass, to take people on, to sidestep, dummy and kick-and-catch – all the things that they struggle to find the opportunity for in 15s now. They absolutely love this and so Darren Burns and myself are happy to come in and help coach sevens."
Ker's son Michael had finished off a valiant Peebles in the final with three tries and six conversions which earned him the 'Player of the Tournament' award for the second year in succession. He just pipped team-mate Andrew Skeen on a split-vote, and Ker senior added that he would like to see talents like Skeen given the chance to show their skills on the international stage.
"I understand why the SRU want to use the academy to expose young professionals to a high level of rugby, but there is no doubt in my mind that there are better sevens players in Scotland who do not get the chance because they are not involved with the academy.
"This was one of the most competitive tournaments I've seen in some time, and the standard was very high. It would be good if the sevens selectors had a look and maybe gave some of these guys the chance to step up and represent their country. They may be club players, but guys like Andrew also possess tremendous natural sevens skills and flair."
Yesterday's tournament was well contested from the first ties, in which Watsonians knocked out highly-fancied Hawick and Selkirk staged a dramatic fightback to pip Gala, but it came alive at the semi-final stage with 'Sonians overcoming a spirited Biggar side and the hosts proving too strong in the set-piece for a talented young Kelso team.
Two tries from Craig Hunter, a home contender for 'Player of the Tournament', and one from Kiwi Dan Baughtwood responded to scores from Skeen, Dougie Hunter and Ker and cut the deficit to 19-17 just after half-time, but Skeen, Ker (2) and Ali Rowe then turned possession and slick inter-play into a try-scoring finish that the tiring home side could not match.
Watsonians sent a weaker team to the Langholm Centenary Sevens on Saturday because they had a league match with Dundee HSFP on the same day, and Newcastle Falcons claimed another success at Milntown, beating Jed-Forest in the final. But Ker's team have now thrust themselves into the race for the Kings of the Sevens pot – the total prize money is £5,000 – although Selkirk are still out in front with just the Earlston and Jed-Forest tournaments remaining.
Stirling County is one club that has taken up the challenge set by Ker, and on Saturday favourite son Kenny Logan managed to go one better than in last year's inaugural City of Stirling Sevens by player-coaching his RBS All Stars to victory. They saw off big-name guest sides Munster in the semi-final and then Edinburgh in the final, with Scotland sevens internationalists Scott Forrest and Mike Adamson among the stars on show.
The full article contains 769 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
