Sevens Heaven: Melrose maestro Keith Robertson won't forget Campese magic

Published on Thursday 9 April 2009 23:07

THERE are many contenders for the most entertaining player in Scotland's rugby sevens history, but high among them is Keith Robertson, a favourite son of its Melrose birthplace.

In a career that transcended generations, Robertson wore jerseys 11 to 14 for Scotland and won 44 caps. He scored eight tries and three drop-goals in Test matches, including the crucial score against Australia in 1982 to seal Scotland's first Test win in the southern hemisphere, and one against Ireland during the 1984 Grand Slam success.

The Melrose wing made his debut against New Zealand in a 1978 back-line featuring Andy Irvine, Jim Renwick and Ian McGeechan, and finished in 1989 alongside Scott and Gavin Hastings, Sean Lineen, Craig Chalmers and Gary Armstrong. And yet, many will argue that Robertson was best viewed in a sevens tournament, where his skills and daring to beat players lifted crowds to their tip-toes.

He will be at the Greenyards tomorrow, on stewarding duties, but still vividly recalls the days of scorching the turf in opposition to David Campese, the Wallaby legend, England skipper Will Carling and French great Serge Blanco.

"I was very lucky to enjoy the rugby career I had," says Robertson, "and sevens was a stage I loved to play on. I was always a lightweight player from day one, and if I hadn't been able and excited at attacking people the way I did I'd have struggled to make an impact in the game.

"That was always something that was in me, to have a go, and it didn't worry me if it didn't come off; I'd just have another go next time. I loved the space of sevens, but I hated the pain. If you could take the pain away it would be a great sport, but it is one thing that separates a real quality sevens player from a simply skilful player – if you're not willing to put yourself through pain then you will never be a great sevens player.

"My first senior tournament with Melrose was in 1974, at Hawick, and we won, and then in my first Melrose Sevens we beat Gala in the final to win that too. People live in hope around here that you might one day win Melrose Sevens, so to do it in my first tournament, at 21, was pretty special."

He reflects on a number of tournaments and battles, both at Melrose and around the Borders, and in Hong Kong, where he once reached the final with a star-studded Scottish Border Club. But, one particular tie retains a special place in Robertson's mind.

It was 1990, Campese's Randwick were in Melrose and intent on displaying the dazzling quality of Australian running and handling skills. The team included Mark Ella, stunned by Robertson and Scotland in Brisbane eight years earlier, as well as Michael Cheika, the current Leinster coach. Melrose duly defeated Will Carling's Harlequins en route to the semi-final meeting with the Aussies.

"That tournament will never be forgotten," Robertson stated. "Personally, it was special because I'd retired from international rugby in 1989 and wanted one last season with Melrose, so it was all coming to an end for me. They say sevens is a young man's game, but I honestly believe I was playing better sevens at 34 than at 25.

"You know the game so much by then and can pass that on to people round about you. There were times I'd say to Craig (Chalmers] 'this is what they're doing defensively, so let's do this or that,' insights you only gain from experience.

"In that 1990 tournament, I felt that Lloyd Walker, the Randwick stand-off, was a bit slow, and I said to Chick (Chalmers] 'work a dummy loop and you will hold Campo and I will get outside Walker on the halfway line.' That's exactly what happened, and I scored in between the posts.

"But, I went from that to a mistake that ultimately cost us the tie. They had a penalty in the last play of the game, and I made a decision to go up and shut someone off, but they got the ball away before I got to them, and while Campo's goose-step made Chick miss in front of him, I was the one in the wrong because if I hadn't committed myself we'd have closed them off.

"Randwick went on to beat Kelso comfortably in the final. but I know, and all the Melrose players that day knew they had played their best rugby in a Melrose Sevens and so it was a great tournament to go out on."

These days, there is no Campo, no Robertson or current internationals in action. Rugby's great split of 1995 has taken the elite from the domestic sevens arena. Melrose have also courted controversy in some quarters by inviting superior teams from abroad or down south that have, at times, given the tournament a lop-sided look. Boroughmuir were the last Scottish club to triumph, in 2002, with Sale, Stellenbosch and the Shimlas of South Africa, Newcastle and the Scottish Thistles claiming the title since.

Robertson acknowledged: "There is no point in inviting a team that just brushes everyone aside, and there has been the odd mistake where that has happened, but what pleases me most is that despite the changes in the game nationally and globally Melrose Sevens remains a big part of Scottish rugby's social calendar."

KEITH ROBERTSON'S SCOTTISH VII

LIKE Andrew Ker yesterday in The Scotsman, you can change your mind regularly, but here is a side of guys that I played with or against, and relating to the club game of my era.

Iwan Tukalo – Blinding pace, lethal sidestep and very strong. I hated playing against him. The best Scottish sevens winger in my era

Jim Renwick – The most under-rated Scottish back ever, full-stop. A great thinker with sublime skills

John Rutherford – Under-rated; deceptively quick, strong in defence and a good reader of the game

Bob Hogarth – Scotland's best sevens scrum-half due to strength, work-rate and skills

Eric Paxton – First name on the team-sheet because work-rate, determination and skill was second-to-none for a sevens forward

Colin Deans – Just shades it from Garry Callander. A great ball-winner he could also score tries like a back

John Jeffrey – Another player with loads of pace, and a huge part of the success the Kelso seven enjoyed