Berwick Rugby Club was first formed in the S.R.U. in 1926 and played in the South District Union. Its playing standard improved until the early 1930s and although it survived annual difficulties finding players and pitches it could not survive the outbreak of the Second World War which robbed it of both. When the Club was re-born in 1968 it had three main aims – to strive for as high a standard of rugby as possible for the Club and its individual members, to create a good physical environment for rugby and to be part of the sporting and social fabric of Berwick.
Pursuit of the first aim has taken the Club to Division 1 of the National Leagues. In 2004 it won the National Shield and in 2006 reached the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup. The highest individual honours have been the twenty-five full Scottish caps won by Craig Smith and the fifty won by Gavin Kerr now Scotland’s third most capped prop. Mark Lee has captained both Scotland and British Army VIIs and Andrew Skeen has played in Scotland’s VII and its “Club International XV”. Current Club members are plying professional careers at the highest club level in England, France and Italy. International age-group honours have been won with Scotland by Guy Learmonth and Guy Skivington-Jones and with both England and Scotland by Aaron Hall. Numerous national and regional honours have been won in Student, School and age-group rugby. The Club boasts a full international referee in Iain Ramage. In 2001 the Club was invited to join the Border League, becoming only the second English club in rugby union’s oldest league. The Club now has sides in the Border League, the cross-Border U-20 League, the Border semi-Junior league and age-group competitions from Minis to Colts on both sides of the Border. The Club has an increasingly skilled Ladies section which won promotion in 1999 and 2000 and was runner-up in the National Bowl in 2004 and now has a Young Ladies section.
Progress with facilities has marched with playing performances. Thanks to the vision and leadership of successive club committees, the support of both Rugby Unions and support from local businesses and individuals, the Club has progressed from homelessness in 1968 to its present enviable headquarters embellished by a training gym and a floodlit training pitch. The Club hosts regional events and overseas teams and its coaches encourage the game in the local schools – the best possible “thank you” for school help in the Club’s early days. The quest for player development is ceaseless and embraces both national development Squads and the Club’s own “Academy” structure.
