SOUTH COULD RETURN ON SUPER SIX MAP

BORDERS clubs will meet in Selkirk on Wednesday to consider resurrecting the old South team as part of Scottish rugby’s new ‘Super Six’ championship.

After years of debate over how rugby here could bridge the quality gap between the improving professional game and the club competitions, the SRU announced at last month’s annual general meeting that it would create six part-funded semi-professional clubs.

They will play in a ‘Super Six’ championship, where many players within the 50-plus squads of Edinburgh and Glasgow — who are struggling to play regularly — will get game-time alongside the best of club rugby.

The SRU will publish their criteria for entry in the coming months but are aiming for a team in each of the old districts — Edinburgh, Glasgow, Caledonia and the Borders — with two more from anywhere in Scotland.

Melrose are gearing up to bid for a place among the six and the other Border clubs — Hawick, Gala, Kelso, Selkirk, Jed-Forest and Peebles — are considering a joint bid for another franchise.

Hawick RFC president John Thorburn said: ‘Individually, there are concerns about financing a franchise heavily directed by the SRU but collectively, there is a feeling that using the South brand for a semi-pro club that we can all buy into and support could strengthen Borders rugby.’