WE’RE into October and the popular Borders Rugby Rankings lists are raising a lot of eyebrows as different clubs are topping the lists rather than one team dominating.
Hawick’s 61-40 win against Hamilton has helped them in the current standings.
Their five points pushes them up two places to joint fourth in the league points table, while their nine-try haul elevates them to the top of the most tries list with 33 in seven games.
They hold on to their lead with the best attack, having scored 272 points so far, while they slip to second bottom in the best defence chart. Meanwhile, Gala have a three-point lead with the most league points of any of the top-ranked Borders teams with 28. Melrose and Peebles are on 25 with Hawick YM joining their neighbours on 23. To show how tight things are, Selkirk have 22.
Six points separate the top six teams, YM have the best defence of all and Gala’s Lee Millar leads the points scoring list after scoring another 19 with the boot on Saturday. He’s now on 111, with Neil Renwick closing in on him. He scored 21 on his own against Hamilton and is now on 86, while Peebles’ Greg Raeburn is third with 76.
Gala’s Euan Dods has scored six tries in the league so far – the same as Hawick’s Keith Davies.
Of the nine East League sides, Earlston is top with 24 points. They have the best defence, with St Boswells leading in the best attack category.
TOP RANKED BORDERS TEAMS
MOST LEAGUE POINTS
1 (1) Gala 28
2 (3) Melrose 25
2 (4) Peebles 25
4 (2) Hawick YM 23
4 (6) Hawick 23
6 (5) Selkirk 22
7 (7) Kelso 13
8 (8) Jed-Forest 5
MOST LEAGUE TRIES
1 (2) Hawick 33
2 (1) Peebles 30
3 (3) Gala 24
4 (3) Melrose 23
5 (6) Hawick YM 21
6 (5) Selkirk 20
7 (7) Kelso 15
8 (8) Jed-Forest 9
BEST ATTACK
1 (1) Hawick 272
2 (3) Gala 226
3 (2) Peebles 216
4 (4) Melrose 175
5 (6) Hawick YM 154
6 (5) Selkirk 151
7 (7) Kelso 148
8 (8) Jed-Forest 88
BEST DEFENCE
1 (1) Hawick YM 138
2 (2) Peebles 141
3 (3) Melrose 150
4 (4) Gala 161
4 (5) Selkirk 161
6 (7) Kelso 177
7 (6) Hawick 183
8 (8) Jed-Forest 244
TOP RANKED BORDERS PLAYERS
MOST TRIES
6
Keith Davies (Hawick)
Euan Dods (Gala)
5
Conor Blyth (Peebles)
John Coutts (Hawick)
James Hemara (Peebles)
Richard Minto (Kelso)
Craig Robertson (Gala)
4
Lee Armstrong (Hawick)
Darren Clapperton (Selkirk)
George Graham (Gala)
Warren Kearney (Peebles)
Neil Hogarth (Peebles)
Rory Hutton (Hawick)
Fraser Thomson (Melrose)
Greig Wylie (Hawick YM)
3
Martin Cruickshank (Peebles)
Angus Duckett (Selkirk)
David Gobby (Jed-Forest)
Stuart Graham (Hawick)
Ryan Hogg (Hawick YM)
Nick MacTaggart (Hawick)
Neil Renwick (Hawick)
Andrew Skeen (Melrose)
Craig Smith (Hawick)
MOST POINTS
111 Lee Millar (Gala)
86 Neil Renwick (Hawick)
76 Greg Raeburn (Peebles)
73 Murray Hastie (Kelso)
54 Lee Armstrong (Hawick)
51 Andrew Skeen (Melrose)
50 Michael McVie (Selkirk)
43 Iain Chisholm (Jed-Forest)
42 John Coutts (Hawick YM)
30 Euan Dods (Gala)
30 Keith Davies (Hawick)
EAST LEAGUE BORDERS TEAMS
MOST LEAGUE POINTS
1 (1) Earlston 24
2 (1) Hawick Linden 21
3 (4) Hawick Harlequins 20
4 (1) St Boswells 19
5 (5) Duns 13
6 (8) Langholm 8
7 (6) Gala YM 5
7 (6) Walkerburn 5
9 (8) Berwick 4
BEST ATTACK
1 (1) St Boswells 204
2 (4) Hawick Harlequins 189
3 (3) Earlston 180
4 (2) Hawick Linden 166
5 (5) Duns 128
6 (6) Berwick 110
7 (7) Langholm 91
8 (9) Walkerburn 74
9 (8) Gala YM 59
BEST DEFENCE
1 (1) Earlston 77
2 (4) Hawick Harlequins 88
3 (5) Hawick Linden 110
4 (3) Gala YM 115
5 (7) Duns 121
6 (2) St Boswells 126
7 (6) Walkerburn 163
8 (9) Langholm 182
9 (8) Berwick 219