Londoners end 30-year wait for glory

FORMER England Under-20 star Charlie Walker would have been the toast of Melrose last night if there was any drink left in the town after a raucous, sunsoaked afternoon at The Greenyards. The winger was named player-of-the-tournament as chief orchestrator of a Harlequins side which, for the first time since 1987, grabbed glory at the world’s oldest Sevens tournament.

The Londoners overcame host side Melrose in a suitably tense and turbulent final, which hung in the balance until a late try by Walker finally secured a 31-19 victory for the guest side.

Walker had also opened his team’s account in the final but that was soon cancelled out by a try from Bruce Colvine and a conversion by Craig Jackson.

There was a bit of luck for Harlequins when a desperate clearance kick by Calum Waters was charged down but rebounded right back into the same player’s hands, by which point the pitch had opened up for an unchallenged romp home. But Melrose got the rub of the green as well when referee Cammy Rudkin awarded a penalty try and sent Sam Asplano-Robinson to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Austin Lockington as he made a burst for glory; and the Hawick whistler then ruled Walker was held up over the line in the act of scoring by a sensational last-gasp tackle from Scotland Under-19 cap Patrick Anderson just before the break.

Jonas Mikalcius and Dino Lamb both dotted down, while Melrose captain Bruce Colvine was sinbinned for a late hit, as Harlequins stretched into a 24-12 lead. But then replacement scrum-half Murdo McAndrew scampered over to give Melrose a lifeline. That score came after another sensational cover tackle from the host side, this time from Tython Adams – who had been drafted into the squad mid tournament as an injury replacement for Iain Moodie.

The match was in the balance, but Melrose couldn’t reclaim the kick-off, and when they did get a chance at glory with a scrum from a Harlequins forward pass, they were too drained of energy to punish their opponents.

Lockington was a star performer for Melrose in the semi-final, scoring two breakaway tries (covering 100 metres in total) either side of half time against a Co-Optimists guest side (made up of Irish provincial academy players) to drag his team back into a tie which had been in danger of turning into a one-sided romp.

Sam Pecqueur also managed to stretch over to secure a 21-19 victory and book that final showdown against a Harlequins side who had already blasted their way past GHA, Edinburgh Accies and Watsonians with a deadly combination of pace, power and ferocious intensity at the breakdown.

There was disappointment for Melrose that they had come up just short, but also a justified sense of pride at the effort they had put in. They will look to harness the positive energy from this experience during the next three weeks when they go in search of a BT Premiership, BT Cup and Border League treble. The first step in that quest is back at The Greenyards on Saturday, when Ayr will provide the opposition in the play-off Grand Final. “I’m gutted that we didn’t get over the line. We knew we’d have a chance, but it didn’t quite happen. In relation to the effort, I’m really proud. I think we got better as the tournament went on. I think we just about matched them in every department, it was just tight margins in the end,” said Melrose coach Robert Chrystie.