Currie Chieftains celebrate ‘putting on a show’ after monumental effort from their 14 men denies Hawick

Currie captain Jamie Forbes celebrates winning the Scottish Premiership title after their 26-24 win over Hawick in the final at Mansfield Park. (Photo by Simon Wootton / SNS Group)

After final heartbreak in 2022 and 2023, the Malleny Park side are Scottish champions

Having suffered their fair share of heartache over the last couple of seasons no-one could begrudge Currie Chieftains their day of glory in Hawick.

In defeating the hosts 26-24 after an engrossing 80-plus minutes they were crowned Scottish champions amid jubilant scenes at Mansfield Park.

The four busloads of Currie supporters had made plenty of noise during the match and they celebrated with their players on the pitch at full-time, hoisting coach Mark Cairns on to their shoulders, and singing lustily about their team “putting on a show”.

It was a case of third time lucky for the Chieftains who lost the Premiership final at home to Marr in 2022 and to Hawick away last year. They got their tactics spot to become the first away team to win at Mansfield Park since 2019. Cairns deployed captain Jamie Forbes at stand-off in the hope of getting the team into the right areas early on and that was exactly what happened.

A try from Currie flanker Rhys Davies after three minutes seemed to stun the hosts and Forbes kept the scoreboard ticking over with a conversion and three penalties during the first 40. Hawick took a while to get going but they appeared to wrestle back the initiative in the minutes before half-time when Calum Renwick scored off the back of an unstoppable lineout drive. Shortly afterwards, Currie scrum-half Gregor Christie was sent off for a dangerous tackle on his opposite number, Gareth Welsh.

But it was the 14 men who came out the traps quickest, scoring their second try through centre Cammy Gray two minutes after the interval. Forbes’ conversion made it 23-10 and the gap proved just too big for Hawick who added tries through wing Charlie Welsh and a second from Calum Renwick. Kirk Ford, the home full-back, was flawless off the tee with three conversions and a penalty but Forbes landed a crucial fourth penalty for Currie to keep his team just out of reach.

Forbes described it as a “monumental effort”. “The boys were out on their feet, playing 40 minutes with 14 men,” said the Currie skipper. “To a man they were outstanding.

“This group has been together for the last three years and we’ve lost the last two. We lost the one at Malleny [in 2022 to Marr], we lost the one here last year. And everyone said we were the best team last year but we didn’t get over the line. I might be going out on a limb here, but I think we were the best team on Saturday and we got over the line.”

It was a tough one to take for Hawick who finished top of the Premiership after 16 wins, one defeat and a draw. But Currie, who were third, came good in the play-offs and turned the tables on Hawick who had a man sent off in last season’s final but won.

Saturday’s result denied the famous Borders club a treble after last weekend's win in the Scottish Cup final and their Border League success, and their captain, Shawn Muir, was sporting in defeat. “It was similar to us last season in that having a man sent off galvanised them so fair play to them, I thought they were outstanding and they deserved their win,” said Muir.

“We’re bitterly disappointed but on the flipside I’m massively proud of the squad this season. We’ve won the Border League and the Scottish Cup and were runners-up in the Premiership. It’s tough to take just now but we’ve won two out of three so it’s still a good season. The Scottish Cup last week was massive but we just fell short today by two points.”