Carling following Melrose Sevens courtesy of Facebook

MELROSE Sevens might be fighting for attention in Scotland's rugby schedules this year as league fixtures continue well into the spring, but the likes of Will Carling, Kenny Logan and Semo Sititi are among more than 4,000 'friends' worldwide who are now following the event on Facebook.

The 127th tournament is the oldest in the world, but new traditions are being fostered by the Borders club as it strives to maintain its place as the leading one-day sevens event in Scotland. Twitter followers and Facebook friends have been registered as far afield as Russia and Tonga, Korea and Alaska and South Africa to New Zealand, and the club has put up a unique video, featuring Hawick raconteur Ian Landles and a tribute to the late Bill McLaren, on YouTube.

Paul Bush, chief operating officer at EventScotland, one of several sponsors of the tournament, believes online interaction is a tremendous new vehicle to attracting interest to a sporting event.

"Social media has become one of the most powerful tools for driving events," he said. "We have seen a huge increase in the number of events using social media to speak to their followers and to allow their fans to speak to each other.

"It's a great way of connecting people with similar interests and passions and can, when used correctly, help to promote an event globally and at very little cost.

"The Melrose Sevens is a prime example of an event which has really harnessed the power of social media to raise its profile and also the profile of sevens rugby, Melrose and the Scottish Borders to an audience around the world."

Melrose's launch of a new one-off camouflage strip for this weekend's tournament has also proven a major success with under 100 replicas remaining. The unique design, which bears a poppy, is to mark the involvement of the British Army and Poppyscotland in the 2010 tournament and a percentage of the profits will go to the charity. The British Army will be fielding a side in the event and the match ball for the final is being brought into the Greenyards by the Golden Lions Scottish Infantry Parachute Display Team, of The Royal Regiment of Scotland.

127th Melrose Sevens draw: Gala v Stirling County (winners v Selkirk); Stewart's Melville v Boroughmuir (winners v Johannesburg University); Hawick v Currie (winners v Watsonians); Heriot's v Glasgow Hawks (winners v Cambridge University); Kelso v Edinburgh Academical (winners v Ayr); Langholm v West of Scotland (winners v British Army); Dundee HSFP v Peebles (winners v Melrose); Jed-Forest v Aberdeen GSFP (winners v Hamilton).