Hawick beat league leaders Heroits 6-3 in the mud of Mansfield Park on Saturday to go through to the Scottish Cup final in a match that had it's fair share of controversy. There was a red card, and the end to the match was something seldom seen on a rugby field.
The second half was scoreless despite Heriots dominating, even when down to 14 men following a red card to flyhalf Stuart Edwards for a dangerous tackle.
With time up and trailing by 3, Heriots launched an assault on the line that lasted all of an unbelievable 10 minutes and 38 seconds, with no less than a whopping 66 phases of play.
Hawick, with former Scotland winger Nikki Walker in their ranks, defended manfully for an incredible period of play that included not only excellent discipline, but some great tackling to boot. The handling and ball retention by Heriots in such conditions was equally impressive.
With the referee in the hotseat for all of ten minutes, it came down to the 66th phase for him to make the biggest call of the match, ruling that Max Learmonth's attempt at a try was held up by Greg Cottrell, so the final whistle was blown on an extraordinary ending to a club rugby match.
"Just sheer blood and guts in that second half," said skipper Rory Hutton, who was spear tackled earlier in the match. "The boys dug deep. There were some massive hits going in with the Heriots boys running at full pelt. I imagine there will be some sore bodies tomorrow."
Hawick will take on Boroughmuir, who won at Glasgow Hawks, in the final at Murrayfield on April 18th.
All phases below, plus view a quick round up from the match, including the red card, on page two
Credits: Audio courtesy Radio Borders. Commentary by Stuart McFarlane and Dale Clancy.
Filmed by Stuart Cameron for BordersRugby.net