club scene Gala v Melrose

Better still, from a neutral perspective, the teams are first and second in the Premiership and have sparkled in what has been a terrific competition, with George Graham’s Gala troops responding to promotion by cranking up momentum on their route march to the summit of Scottish club rugby, while Craig Chalmers’ Greenyards ensemble have suffered a couple of unexpected setbacks, but remain firmly in contention to retain their domestic title.

All of which means that Netherdale can anticipate playing host to the biggest audience in the country this weekend, reigniting the period from 15 and 20 years ago when crowds at these contests used to be closer to 5000 than 500.

As a former Melrose stalwart, who successfully steered Gala to their sole Scottish Cup triumph in 1999, Gary Parker has no doubt that the Maroons will maintain their present form, though he probably is correct in his assessment that the last thing they need at the moment is a prolonged break from league action, which occurs after this weekend.

“George has got them going so well, and their confidence is so high, that you wouldn’t blame them for wishing that they could keep playing every Saturday for the next three months, and I reckon they are slight favourites, going into this match,” said Parker, who currently is involved with Premier 2 club, Biggar.

“Mind you, I have been sitting next to Chick [Chalmers] when the Melrose lads were gearing up for these kind of games, and if anybody knows how to motivate his players, it is him, because there is something incredibly professional about Melrose and Craig has been at the heart of it all.

“One great aspect of this fixture is the fact that I am convinced that Netherdale will be packed to the rafters and there will be more supporters in Galashiels than anywhere else in the country -- and I am including the Glasgow and Edinburgh pro teams in that prediction.

“My only regret is that we headed down the wrong [district] route in 1997, because I genuinely think that if the clubs had won the argument, we would be talking about live games being shown on Sky every week.

“But it didn’t happen, so we have to make the best of it, and this is an excellent opportunity for the Borders to show it can still generate a brilliant atmosphere during these derby clashes.”

His words were echoed by Richie Gray, not the blond bombshell in Andy Robinson’s pack, but the redoubtable character who skippered Gala to that memorable cup victory at Murrayfield when the likes of Chris Paterson, Nathan Hines and Steve Scott were in the ranks.

These days, Gray wears more hats than Audrey Hepburn, whether as the Head of Sport at Borders College, a BBC pundit, or the inventor of the revolutionary “Collision King” scrummaging gizmo, which has been snapped up by coaches over the globe.

Yet, despite his packed schedule, there is just one place this man will be at the weekend. “Things have changed a lot, and there isn’t the loyalty there used to be, because we don’t have an Inter-District Championship any more, so the best players tend to gravitate to one or two clubs, but whenever Gala come up against Melrose, it gets the blood pumping and I don’t think this will be any exception,” said Gray.

“George recognised that he had to bring in some players and they have made a big difference. But the good thing is he has also worked hard to encourage the local youngsters to raise their standards and he has some really good kids in his squad, so I’m hopeful Gala can keep their run going.”

It promises to be a visceral affair, replete with heated challenges, fierce ripostes, and no quarter asked or given. And it could be even tougher on the pitch.