Weekend Preview - 4th September 2026

Another busy weekend of rugby lies ahead for us at Kelso RFC, with 1st XV, Sharks and Harlequins sides all in action across Saturday and Sunday.

The First XV face one of the toughest away trips in Scottish rugby as they head to Hawick, while the Sharks begin their new league campaign away to Currie 3XV. The Harlequins U18s and U16s are also in national cup action as both age groups look to continue positive starts to the season.

Hawick v Kelso First XV

Date: Saturday 5 September

Kick-off: 3:00pm

Location: Mansfield Park, Hawick

Opponent: Hawick

Competition: Arnold Clark Premiership (Men's)

The First XV make the short trip across the Borders to Hawick this Saturday for what is always one of the biggest fixtures on the calendar.

History underlines just how difficult a trip it has traditionally been for Kelso, with the club reportedly recording only one away victory against Hawick in the last 100 years, during the 1986/87 season.

Kelso do, however, travel on the back of a winning start to the campaign after defeating Edinburgh Accies last weekend. There was plenty to be encouraged by, whilst also room for improvement.

Hawick will be looking for a response after suffering a heavy defeat away to Heriot's on the opening weekend, setting up what should be a fiercely contested Borders derby.

From the coaches:

“This is one of the hardest away days in Scottish rugby at any time, but given how fired up the Hawick squad will be after losing away to Heriot's last weekend, this is something our squad need to match, especially early in the game.

“We need to go toe-to-toe with their hunger to win and set our own stall out early. We were good in patches against Accies, but we left a few scores out there and we definitely have a few work-ons that we hope have been rectified at training.

“Our numbers have been strong on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so competition is thriving, and with others still to come back it could ramp up even more over the next few weeks, with what looks like our trickiest run of fixtures of the season.”

Currie 3XV v Kelso Sharks

Date: Saturday 5 September

Kick-off: 3:00pm

Location: Away - Currie RFC

Opponent: Currie 3XV

Competition: Arnold Clark Inter City Reserve League Division 2 (Men's)

The Sharks begin life in their new league this Saturday as they travel to face Currie 3XV in their opening Arnold Clark Inter City Reserve League Division 2 fixture.

There is plenty of excitement around the group heading into the new campaign, particularly after an encouraging pre-season which has seen a number of players gain senior experience and opportunities around the First XV squad.

They also arrive in good form after an excellent away victory at Selkirk last weekend and will now be looking to carry that momentum into the beginning of their league programme.

From the coaches:

“It's great to see a lot of the Quins boys who have stepped up come into the senior set-up and not look out of place.

“The boys have had a hard pre-season and most of them have had game time with the First XV. It was a great win on the road at Selkirk last week and hopefully we can now kick on, have a successful season and make our 150th year a great one.”

Kelso Harlequins U18s – Scottish Cup First Round

Date: Saturday 5 September

Kick-off: 2:00pm

Location: Croft Park, Kelso

Opponent: Portobello

Competition: U18 Scottish Cup - First Round

The Harlequins U18s turn their attention to national cup action this weekend as they begin their Scottish Cup campaign.

They go into the tie with some good momentum after a hard-fought midweek victory against a strong Peebles side. That result continued a positive start to the season and should give the squad plenty of confidence heading into another important fixture.

Victory this weekend would see the U18s progress to the next round of the National Cup and maintain their encouraging early-season form.

Kelso Harlequins U16s v Peebles U16s

Date: Sunday 6 September

Kick-off: 11:00am

Location: Croft Park, Kelso

Opponent: Peebles

Competition: U16 Scottish Cup - First Round

The Harlequins U16s are also in national cup action this weekend as they welcome Peebles to Kelso on Sunday morning.

The boys will be looking to respond positively after a narrow defeat to Jedburgh in their opening league fixture.

With a place in the next round of the Scottish Cup at stake, the U16s will be hoping to produce a strong home performance and get their cup campaign off to the best possible start.

The high school sides are also in action on Saturday morning, and there are girls representing the club on Sunday too!

A mention also must go to Jack Utterson, a product of Kelso RFC who is set to start for Edinburgh Rugby tonight against Ulster.

Best of luck to everyone representing Kelso RFC this weekend.

Come on Kelso!