PREMIERSHIP

Hawick served notice that they plan to be Premiership title contenders this season by securing an excellent 25-20 opening weekend win over Currie Chieftains at Mansfield Park.

Chieftains were one of the pre-season favourites for the title, while Hawick have lost over half-a-dozen leading players during lockdown, meaning this was expected to be a season of consolidation for the Borderers – but nobody showed the home side the script.

Shaun Fairbairn, Ronan Mckean and Jae Linton all claimed tries for the ‘Greens’ while Kirk Ford kicked 10 points.

“There was 15 Hawick players out there who put their body on the line,” said victorious head coach Matty Douglas.

Elsewhere, Musselburgh defeated GHA 33-13 while Marr beat Glasgow Hawks 33-7.