British & Irish Cup draft tests Greig Laidlaw’s allegiance

GREIG Laidlaw is the latest in a line of Borderers to have his traditional allegiances tested, with the Edinburgh skipper allocated to Melrose for the British and Irish Cup.

Laidlaw follows in the footsteps of Gregor Townsend, a product of Gala, and Selkirk’s Lee Jones in moving to the Greenyards, at least notionally, as part of the new draft that ensures the four clubs flying the Scottish flag in the cross-border tournament can draw on the experience and talents of professional players with both Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as the Scotland sevens squad. That will only be when they are not required by their “parent” sides so, in all likelihood, Jedburgh lad Laidlaw will never be asked to pull on the black and yellow of what were once his fierce rivals.

The latest allocations are on top of the earlier draft which paired pros with the top ten Premiership clubs. Players will remain with their initial draft clubs on the first weekend of B&I Cup action as there is also a round of Premiership games and will return to those clubs on non-B&I Cup weekends.

Melrose coach Craig Chalmers welcomed the draft, stating: “We have never had many pros come to us but it is beneficial both to the club and to the player when they do.”

British & Irish Cup draft

Gala – James King, Stuart McInally, Tom Brown, Mark Robertson, Allan Jacobsen, Nick De Luca, Ross Ford, Andrew Turnbull, Russell Weir, Michael Fedo, Geoff Cross, W P Nel, Isak Van der Westhuizen, Ross Rennie, Dimitri Basalaia, Richie Rees, John Houston, Ben Cairns, Tim Visser, Michael Penn, Greig Tonks and Ben Atiga.

Melrose: Alun Walker, Roddy Grant, Lee Jones, Sean Cox, Netani Talei, John Yapp, Scott Riddell, Alex Black, Harry Leonard, Sep Visser, Michael Maltman, Struan Dewar, Lewis Niven, Andrew Titterrell, Steven Lawrie, Perry Parker, Steven Turnbull, David Denton, Chris Leck, Greig Laidlaw and Matthew Scott.

Stirling County: Grant Gilchrist, Tim Swinson, Byron McGuigan, Mike Cusack, Troy Nathan, Alex Dunbar, Tom Ryder, Al Kellock, Robert Harley, Dougie Hall, Colin Shaw, Jon Welsh, Gordon Reid, Ofa Fainga’anuku, Ed Kalman, Pat MacArthur, James Eddie, Chris Cusiter, Nikola Matawalu, Tommy Seymour and Peter Murchie.

Dundee HSFP: Peter Horne, Taylor Paris, Ryan Wilson, Sean Lamont, Rory Lamont, Graeme Morrison, Chris Fusaro, Henry Pyrgos, John Barclay, Colin Gregor, Ryan Grant, James Fleming, Moray Low, Finlay Gillies, Angus MacDonald, Josh Strauss, Ruaridh Jackson, Duncan Weir, Scott Wight, DTH Van Der Merwe and Stuart Hogg.