Melrose Sevens forge link with veterans support group

THE Melrose Sevens have forged a link with Poppyscotland to increase awareness of the efforts of Scotsmen and women not on the field of play but the field of battle.

The sevens circuit will be hit hard this year by the fixture pile-up created by a lengthy winter freeze. The Borders tournaments kick off at the Greenyards on 10 April, but many clubs have rearranged league fixtures throughout next month, with three rounds of the cup also still to be played.

Stirling County have scrapped their 2010 Ondeo Sevens because too few clubs can guarantee sending sides of reasonable quality.

Talks between Premier One and Two clubs and Graham Lowe, the SRU's Director of Rugby, over a new season structure are at an advanced stage and the hope is that the attraction of sevens will be restored next season by ensuring there are no, or at least very few, clashes with league rugby.

The British Army will have a team at the 127th staging of what is now the Gibraltar Asset Management Melrose Sevens, and

Poppyscotland's Marianne Lee is delighted with the link. She said: "We need to raise funds all year round to continue to provide support to veterans and families. Whether they have suffered physically, or mentally, or are facing financial hardships, we need to ensure we have resources to support them."