Hawick coach Leck relishing Borders derby debut as Greens travel to Kelso

New Hawick head coach Phil Leck takes charge of his first game this afternoon as the Greens head to Kelso in the RBS Border Regional Cup.

The former Burnley head coach, who has worked with the Sale Sharks Academy, has presided over two training sessions at Mansfield Park since he took up the reins earlier in the week.

And he has been impressed by what he has seen from a bunch of players who began to rebuild confidence with a 38-16 win over Selkirk in the same event last week.

Leck said: “The guys have been really positive at training and we are all looking forward to this match. Before I came here I was well aware of the Borders rugby traditions, but it will be nice to sample my first Borders derby as a coach.

“We have a bit of time over the next couple of months to get to know each other and work closely as a group before Premier B starts up after new year, but I am only looking as far as the Kelso match at the moment.” Leck will look to the quality players in Hawick’s ranks to step up to the mark at Poynder Park with the likes of captain Bruce McNeil, Rory Hutton and Graham Hogg always at the forefront of Hawick’s good work. Prop Rory Sutherland also goes into the 3pm kick-off on a high after bagging a hat-trick of tries in the victory over Selkirk seven days ago.

Premier 2 side Kelso will have taken heart from their bonus point loss to Gala last week and have former Melrose man Kieran Cooney at prop after he moved from the Greenyards. Stand-off Mark Chester and captain Richard Minto will be key if they are to be successful. Elsewhere in the RBS Border Regional Cup today Jed, who won 28-24 at Peebles in their opener, host Selkirk, while Peebles travel to Gala. All these matches double up as Border League encounters.

In the RBS Edinburgh Regional Cup Edinburgh Accies welcome Heriot’s to Raeburn Place in Pool 1 with Stewart’s Melville hosting Biggar in Pool 3. Stewart’s Melville know that a win will be needed in the latter match to give them any chance of progressing from their group of three after last week’s loss to Watsonians. The West and Caledonia regional Cup events do not begin until early December.