The Scottish Thistles won the 125th anniversary Melrose Sevens at the weekend, beating Leicester Tigers in the final to send the 12,000 fans home happy.
The Thistles were billed as the Scotland Sevens development team but in reality the starting line up was almost a carbon copy of the senior national Sevens side which played in Hong Kong and Adelaide on the IRB Sevens World Series.
The Scottish side won the final 33-12, boosting confidence ahead of the European climax to the Sevens season at Twickenham and Murrayield.
"Most of the guys just got back from the tournament in Adelaide on Tuesday and really haven't done anything this week at all," said Scotland Sevens coach Stephen Gemmell.
"We knew it would probably take us a game to get into the tournament but we improved pretty much constantly from the second half of our first match against Currie and showed in the semi final and final that if you keep ball in the game of sevens it's very difficult for the opposition, regardless of who they are."
Melrose an inspiration
Gemmell spoke of how inspiring it had proved for his charges to be invited to compete in the tournament that started the abbreviated game 125 years ago.
"It was a massive honour to be invited to compete here. I hope the boys take confidence from this and hopefully that gives them a boost as we look forward to London and Edinburgh," added Gemmell.
Former Scotland captain Gavin Hastings was also at Melrose to watch the side win.
"Anyone that’s lived and played rugby in scotland will realise what it means to so many people," Hastings said of the event.
"It’s a wonderful social occasion – the great things that rubgy stands for, people coming together, seeing really exciting rugby on the field of play and everyone having a lot of fun off it.
Hastings: Wonderful milestone
"I’ve never won a Melrose Sevens medal. My brother Scott did and he’s obviously got that over me and he reminds me every now and again. It’s a wonderful event, it’s great rugby and above all if you do get a winner's medal, it’s something to be treasured.
In wishing the event a happy 125th birthday, Hastings casted his mind back to his first involvement in Melrose, before his first Scotland cap.
"I remember the Centenary, when the French team came over and they had all the superstars - Blanco was there and they absolutely cleaned up and in those days they brought on all their subs and of course you weren’t allowed subs unless your player had been injured but the French played their usual tricks and ran away with the tournament. It was great to see," he said.
"I was just a guy in my early twenties then and I remember it as though it was yesterday. Campese graced the Greenyards on many occasions, Serevi was here. 125 years is a wonderful milestone to have reached."
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