How About A Hawick Revival

I thought today would be rather an apt one on which to post this, Part Three of my series on Governance:

BACK IN THE AMATEUR ERA I recall an opinion piece in the then Glasgow Herald, almost-certainly the work of the great WM McMurtrie, extolling the virtues of the way Rugby Union was then organised in Hawick. Apologies to the likes of John “Pundy” Thorburn & Co if I have got this wrong, but, at a time when The Green Machine was rolling over the rest of Scotland, this primacy was put down to The System in the town.

The most-sacred object in the toon was yon bottle green jersey. I am told it was jaggy, it itched terribly when worn, but, this was part of the aura – you had to hurt to wear it, because you were representing the spirit of all the Teries who had gone before. Nobody had a right to don this Rugby Union armour, that right had to be earned.

You might have come out of Hawick High School, but you then went to your Hawick club, be it Harlequins, PSA, Trades, Lindean or YM (apologies if I missed anyone out) where you polished-up the skills first taught you by The Master – Bill McLaren.

If you were really good, one day, the invitation would arrive, to get down to Mansfield Park to train with The Greens, and if you passed your audition – your dream came true and you got to wear that iconic jersey. In time, you might get to wear the rea and white hoops of The South, the black and white hoops of The Barbarians, the navy blue of Scotland, even the red of The British Lions, but, THE jersey was bottle green.

The individual Hawick clubs each had their own identity and club histories, but, the paramount prize was that green jeresey and keeping Hawick top of the pile in the Borders and across Scotland. I believe there was even a sort of Hawick rugby parliament, officials from the different clubs, meeting regularly to ensure they were all singing from the same hymn sheet and holding on to the Rugby Gospel Truth of Hawick first.

Few in Scottish Rugby in 2025 have been around for as long as my old football team mate Jock Craig; The Auchlin Bull has long maintained: “Scottish Rugby, to be strong, needs a strong Hawick” - that is the wisdom of one, tempered by the flames of hard afternoons against the Greens.

Things may never have been as low as that thumping from Ayr this season, but, Hawick will rise again. Perhaps they need a Rugby Revival and I can think of one old-school preacher, these many years in Edinburgh, who could be invited back to galvanise the natives.

I still remember my first sight of a visiting Hawick team, at Millbrae, over 40 years ago. What struck me that day was this: while the Ayr team wandered out of the dressing room in ones and twos for their warm-up, the Hawick XV came out as one, a single 15-man entity, and got straight down to a structured warm-up. The message was: “We mean business, and we are here as one – to win.” Needless to say, they did.

The late Bill Oliver, Rector of Cumnock Academy and a self-confessed Robbie Dye who had once worn that green jersey, was bursting with pride that day, as was former Ayr winger Alan Crozier, another Hawick exile in the crowd. If Hawick can get back that pride in the shirt and devotion to rugby, it would be good for the game as a whole.

I appreciate, this week of all weeks, they have other matters on their minds, but, perhaps, up in the hut, they might like to ponder the point I am making here.

Why cannot that old Hawick system be re-instated in the toon itself, and replicated elsewhere? I know the likes of Glasgow Hawks are trying it, getting tie-ins with lesser Glasgow clubs to twin register players and make it easier for upward and downward movement.

But, getting such agreements to work goes against our long-established club culture. Hawks was originally set-up as a means of getting the best Glasgow players playing our of one club, but, that concept was to a degree ruined by the backwoodsmen at the two core clubs, GHK and Accies, who thought their original clubs were too-big to be District clubs and had to be got back to the National Leagues.

Credit to them for managing this, but, at a cost to Hawks, who continue to be a level above them. I still feel, with fewer National Leagues and stronger grass-roots District Leagues, Rugby Union in Glasgow would be stronger – and the same might be said elsewhere.

When the SRU brought-in National Leagues, based on merit, it was in some ways a good thing. But, might the lure of being: “A National League Club” caused one or two of the Hawick clubs, happy for generations to send the odd player up to The Greens, to lose their head a wee bit, putting perhaps misplaced single club loyalty above all else, to the detriment of Rugby in Hawick?

In Part Two I mentioned the feeder system in Baseball, that would work in Rugby Union in Scotland. It used to work in Hawick. Yes, our club culture is deeply ingrained in our game, but, maybe there was something in the notion of “Fewer but Stronger” - fewer National League clubs, but stronger in being better-financed and managed, raising the level of our club game, but, backed-up by smaller clubs giving the poorer players and outlet, while unearthing the occasional gem, to be sent up the food chain to be polished.

Back in the pre-Covid days, when Fewer but Stronger was first dreamt-up, I seem to remember it was part of Agenda For Change, another Murrayfield initiative which withered on the vine. One of the notions within AFC was various levels of club status – starting with Bronze, then rising to Silver and finally Gold, status depending on which of certain criteria the clubs met. From memory, at the time, Ayr was the only top-flight club anywhere near Gold standard and even they were remiss in a couple of departments.

Not surprisingly, that idea was killed off by the Aye Been divisions and their cohorts and quickly died a death. Maybe it's time for a second look. This blog still believes, as happens in football, certain standards must be introduced for clubs, and if you don't meet the necessary criteria for advancement to a higher league or level, then you don't get promoted until you do.

Maybe, if club status and promotion was down in-part to having the right structure and facilities, more clubs would work harder, to set themselves up properly for the challenges of higher leagues. I sense, some clubs' officials first thought is: “How much cash can we screw out of Murrayfield” - these guys clearly never heard the wise words of John F Kennedy, who memorably cautioned in his inauguration address: “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”.