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| Full name | Melrose Rugby Football Club | ||
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| Founded | 1877 | ||
| Location | Melrose, Scotland | ||
| Ground(s) | The Greenyards | ||
| President | Mike Dalgetty | ||
| Coach(es) | Craig Chalmers | ||
| League(s) | Premiership Division One | ||
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Melrose Rugby Football Club, located in the town of Melrose in the Scottish Borders, is one of the most famous and oldest rugby clubs in the world.
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History
The club was formed in 1877 and was elected to full membership of the Scottish Rugby Union in 1880.[1] The club have played at the Greenyards since the club's inception.[1]
Melrose have won the Scottish 1st Division title 6 times (1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996 and 1997).
Despite the population of Melrose hovering around 2,000 for a number of years, the team has been a consistently successful club in the upper echelons of the Scottish game.[1]
Sevens tournament
Melrose is most famous as the host of the first ever rugby sevens tournament in 1883, the abbreviated game having been invented by Ned Haig, a local butcher. The first Melrose Sevens was won by Melrose, beating local rivals Gala in the final during extra time. The Melrose Sevens, played on the second Saturday in April every year, remains the most popular Scottish Sevens tournament, regularly attracting crowds in excess of 10,000. In honour of the role of Melrose RFC in the creation of rugby sevens, the club was inducted along with Haig to the IRB Hall of Fame in 2008.[2]
Notable players
Melrose has provided 22 Scotland internationals including
- Craig Chalmers (57 caps)
- Keith Robertson (44 caps).
- Charlie Laidlaw
- Doddie Weir
- Craig Joiner
- Jock Allan
- Doug Davies
- George Dobson
Jim Telfer is another famous player who went on to become one of the most successful coaches of the Scotland national rugby union team. He was also appointed Director of Rugby of the Scottish Rugby Union.
See also
External links
References
- Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1 86200 013 3)
- ^ a b c Bath, p91
- ^ "IRB Hall of Fame Welcomes Five Inductees". International Rugby Board. 2008-11-23. http://www.irb.com/history/halloffame/newsid=2027752.html#irb+hall+fame+welcomes+five+inductees. Retrieved 2008-11-23.
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