South of Scotland22 - 15 Barbarians: Healthy appetite for more as South earn memorable win over Baa-Baas

THE CROWD streamed in through the green Mansfield Park gates and supporters left cars abandoned on pavements and hillocks around the Borders town of Hawick to walk to the match, eager to join a terrific warm atmosphere inside the ground which pointed to this being a rugby occasion different to any other.

South of Scotland22 - 15 Barbarians

Referee: A McMenemy (SRU)

Attendance: 2,100

But, in fact, the old and the new came together deliciously for rugby supporters in this part of the world as one of the Borders’ most talented players of recent times, Fraser Harkness, injected the brilliance necessary to turn a hard-working South performance into a victory.

The game was staged as a fundraiser for the Bill McLaren Foundation, and will have earned a hefty five-figure total for the charity that is ensuring the great commentator’s legacy lives on, but there was so much to enjoy about this occasion that began in glorious sunshine.

Harkness admitted: “It was a huge occasion for all the South players, and the fans that have come along, and the fact that we’ve got over 2,000 at four o’clock on a Tuesday just shows the passion that there still is for good-quality rugby in the Borders.

“The boys want this [the South team] and we want to find a way to bring the team back more regularly. We all found ways with our work to be available for this game – no-one was going to pass up the opportunity because it was the South, it was the Barbarians we were playing and most of all because it was for the Bill McLaren Foundation.

“It was important for me that we won at Mansfield Park for Bill [McLaren] and the South. I’ve only experienced an atmosphere like that here when I’ve played for the Scotland club international side, so we’ve got to have more of these occasions.”

The South captain was Jim Thompson, the Edinburgh and Scotland A full-back, and grandson of the late McLaren. He was the Baa-Baas outstanding performer.Thompson said: “It was disappointing not to win it, but this was a great experience. I’ve always wanted to represent the Barbarians, but also raising money for the Foundation in memory of my papa was a real honour.”

The Barbarians coach Lynn Howells, the former Wales coach who had been a popular figure at Edinburgh, had moulded a handful of talented Scots, notably Thompson, his Edinburgh teammates Sep Visser and John Houston, himself a Teri, with some World Cup performers such as USA Eagles captain Tim Usasz, Georgians Goderdzi Shvelidze and David Kucharava, and Romania lock Cristian Petre, and players with varying levels of international experience from around the British Isles. Munster and Ireland scrum-half Tomas O’Leary was bizarrely withdrawn before kick-off, apparently on the say-so of the Irish RFU, leaving him to watch the game from the stand. Craig Chalmers’ South squad was a mix of leading performers this season at the six top Borders clubs – ten from Melrose, four Gala players, three each from Jed-Forest and Hawick, and one each from Selkirk and Peebles.

Unsurprisingly, both sides took a while to find their feet so the effort and ferocity of the defensive performance was not quite matched by accuracy in attack. The Baa-Baas did take the lead, however, opting for the controversial move, for a team in the famed black-and-white hoops, of kicking for goal, and Welshman Cerith Rees slotting the first points.

The South were particularly well led by John Dalziel – until forced off injured – Euan Dodds and Harkness, while Thompson, Ulster hooker Niall Annett, Romania lock Cristian Petre and Visser spearheaded the Baa-Baas efforts, and the famed tourists scored the first try after 21 minutes when Ulsterman Mike McComish barrelled over after a forwards drive.

The South responded with a Lee Millar penalty from 40 metres out, but the Barbarians began to find their feet and a flowing attack was rewarded with a well-taken second try in the right-hand corner with 29 minutes played as Petre gave the scoring pass to winger Leigh Hinton, to hand the Barbarians a 15-3 lead with just over five minutes of the first half remaining.

Then Harkness’ influence on the game began to rear, the winger releasing Thomson and impressive centre Joe Helps, twice, in great attacks before, finally, with a minute of the first half remaining, witnessing a finish when his chip ahead was gathered by Thomson and the full-back raced in for a more promising 15-8 half-time scoreline.

Harkness gripped the second half by taking a quick tap-penalty and handing off several defenders to set up Thomson for his second try, Millar’s conversion levelling the scores at 15-15 with 16 minutes gone, and after two more Harkness incisions it was Jed-Forest wing Gregor Young who wrapped up the win with a terrific sprint to score with 16 minutes to go.

Some might wonder about the value of this kind of fixture, but the comparison with only a few days before, when the great Border rivals of Hawick and Gala met on the same ground, and attracted around 300 people, is further evidence of the desire that remains for rugby that reaches down to Scottish rugby’s roots. One sensed a proud Teri smiling down on Mansfield.

Scorers: Barbarians: Tries – McComish, Hinton; Pens – Rees; Cons – Rees. South of Scotland: Tries – Thomson 2, Young; Pens – Miller; Cons – Millar, Skeen

South of Scotland: F Thomson (Melrose); G Young (Jed-Forest), J Murray, J Helps (both Melrose), F Harkness (Selkirk); L Millar (Gala), S McCormick (Melrose); Robert Ferguson (Jed-Forest), Richard Ferguson (Melrose), B McNeil (Hawick) capt, G Dodds, J Dalziel (both Melrose), E Dods (Gala), D Gillespie (Jed-Forest), R Miller (Melrose). Subs: G Elder for Dalziel, S Linton for Robert Ferguson, both 22mins, Gary Graham for Dods 30mins, E Dods for Dodds, N Warnock for Helps, George Graham for McCormick 46mins, L Gibson (Hawick) for Richard Ferguson, Robert Ferguson for McNeil, both 56, A Skeen for Millar 57, G Dodds for Miller 64, McNeil for Dodds 65.

Barbarians: J Thompson (Edinburgh) capt; L Hinton (Rugby Lions), D Kacharava (Nice and Georgia), J Houston (Edinburgh), S Visser (Edinburgh and Holland); C Rees (Llandovery), T Usasz (Nottingham and USA); J O’Connell (Leinster), N Annett (Ulster), G Shvelidze (Montpellier and Georgia), E Evans (Neath), C Petre (St Etienne and Romania). Subs: B Evans for O’Connell 25mins, G Wilson (Heriot’s) for Usasz 42, J Davies (Aberavon) for Rees 49, R James for Houston, O’Connell for Shvelidze, both 59, F Gillies (Glasgow) for Annet, C Davies for McComish both 72.