Hawick all set for a clash fit for the king of commentators

IT is the sort of occasion which would have had the late great Bill McLaren licking his lips in anticipation – and no doubt dusting off a few of his most vivid Border metaphors and similes in preparation.

The world famous Barbarians take on a South of Scotland XV at Mansfield Park this afternoon in a match which should provide the beleaguered people of Hawick with a welcome diversion from a domestic league season which is going horribly wrong for their still winless home-town club.

The fact that the match is in honour of Scotland’s greatest rugby commentator would perhaps have been a source of embarrassment to the famously self-effacing McLaren. However, it is surely an affront to his modesty which he would have managed to tolerate for the greater good, in light of the good work that the Bill McLaren Foundation is doing to promote the game of rugby and encourage youngsters into sport.

The Barbarians have not yet confirmed their team, but they know that their 22-man squad contains eight full internationalists, including Ireland scrum-half Tomas O’Leary. McLaren’s grandson Jim Thomson, who has been capped by Scotland A, is likely to start at full-back.

The South side has been drawn from six of the border clubs, with Premier One champions and current league leaders Melrose best represented with ten players in the 22-man squad. The team is captained by Bruce McNeil, of Hawick.

It might not be the same sort of star-studded affair as those great South matches of yesteryear – such as the game in 1984 when Andrew Slack’s 1984 Wallabies were beaten 9-6 the week before they thumped Scotland 37-12 at Murrayfield to complete the Grand Slam over the four Home Unions, or the match in 1963 when Wilson Whineray’s All Blacks were held to 8-0 in front of a crowd of 16,000 – but there is still enough glamour attached to this afternoon’s event for organisers to be hopeful of attracting a crowd in the region of 2,500.

“A lot of people have asked why we have scheduled the game for 4pm, but we wanted to attract hard-core rugby fans so we didn’t want to clash with club training on a Tuesday night. Also, the schools are on holiday down here this week, so we’re hoping that we get a lot of kids along for what should be a great event,” says John Thorburn of the Bill McLaren Foundation.

The South of Scotland district team was one of the most striking casualties of the onset of the professional era. Teams with a nominal attachment to the area did continue to play under a Borders banner up until the axing of the Reivers pro team in 2007, but they were never truly representative of the local clubs which have, over the years, been some of the most productive nurseries for rugby talent in world rugby, producing well over 150 international players. This is the second game the South has played after being resurrected at the tail end of 2009 to defeat a Northumberland Select side 37-3. It is hoped that it will be a stepping stone towards something more permanent and regular being established for the district’s best club players.

Tickets will be on sale at the ground this afternoon with a seat in grandstand costing £10 and the terracing only £5.

South of Scotland: F Thomson (Melrose); G Young (Jed-forest), J Murray (Melrose), J Helps (Melrose), F Harkness (Selkirk); L Millar (Gala), S McCormick (Melrose); R Ferguson (Jed-forest), R Ferguson (Melrose), B McNeil (Hawick), G Dodds (Melrose), J Dalziel (Melrose), E Dodds (Gala), D Gillespie (Jed-forest) R Millar (Melrose). Replacements: S Linton (Hawick), L Gibson (Hawick), G Graham (Gala), G Elder (Melrose), G Graham (Gala) A Skeene (Melrose), N Warnock (Peebles).

Barbarians squad: J Thompson (Edinburgh and Scotland A), L Hinton (Rugby Lions), S Visser (Boroughmuir), R James (Scarlets and Wales), D Kacharaa (Nice and Georgia), J Houston (Edinburgh and Scotland A), C Rees (Llandovery and Wales A), J Davies (Aberavon), T O’Leary (Munster and Ireland), T Usasz (Nottingham and USA), G Shvelidze (Montpellier and Georgia), J O’Connell (Leinster and Ireland U-21), B Evans (Jersey and Wales), N Annett (Ulster and Ireland U-21), A Radoi (Baia Mare and Romania), E Evans (Neath), C Petre (St Etienne and Romania), G Rawlings (Flyde), C Ruddock (Leinter and Ireland U-21), C Davies (Aberavon and Wales Sevens), M McComish (Ulster and Ireland U-21), R Baldwin (Wharfedale and England Counties).