"Come support your club, it's a great day out.
Come support the boys who are using this as a stepping stone to bigger things. Come wearing your colours."
The message from Andrew Rose, the Boroughmuir captain, to the Edinburgh rugby fraternity is simple and impassioned.
The long history of the sport in the Borders and the nature of its tight-knit communities means that whenever the clubs down there get sniff of something special, such as today's Cup final at BT Murrayfield, they rise to the occasion in droves. So with Hawick supporters expecting to empty the town for this evening's match, Boroughmuir, their opponents will have to drum up all the backing they can.
The strange thing is that with the match being staged less than two miles from their Meggetland home - close enough that when the Edinburgh pro team needed an alternative venue last season while the Murrayfield pitch was being relaid, it was Boroughmuir's ground they borrowed - unless Rose's plea works, it could feel more like a home tie for the Borderers who will have travelled 60 miles along the winding rural roads to get there.
Within the community of the committed, there is plenty of anticipation, Rose says: "There is a lot of excitement, there are lots of people buying into the club and really getting behind the team. We have had a lot of YouTube videos wishing us well from all over the world, which is great because it shows what a community Boroughmuir is and how all the players still keep in touch with what is going on here.
"It is tough for the Edinburgh clubs who are all fighting for a small rugby community within the city. That split between the clubs is tough, but we do pretty well. It is great to be here and the boys are looking forward to it, and hopefully people can come down and watch on the day.
"It is very important we are able to finish on a high so that we look good for next season and have the confidence to go into next season. We struggled up to Christmas but then had a good run of games in the second half of the season which really showed what we can do with the players we have got. It has been great and to finish with the Cup would promote the club and give the players something to believe in next season."
The fact is that it was not until the final game of the league campaign that Boroughmuir's place in the BT Premiership was safe, though it was also a match that could mean there also a grudge element to today's encounter since Hawick were their opponents and it also knocked the Borders side out of contention for a place in the end-of-season play offs.
Not that either side could really have complained. In the league, three teams ran away from the rest, and the middle of the table was so tight that in the end only 11 points separated Stirling County, who finished a place below Boroughmuir and face a relegation play-off, from Currie grabbed that fourth title play-off spot.
For Rose personally, just taking to the Murrayfield pitch will be one ambition he can cross off his bucket list. Though born in Zimbabwe, he has settled in Edinburgh, and after losing seven of their first 10 competitive fixtures this season, just reaching the final is an achievement.
"It has been a dream of mine since I was very young," he explained. "My mother is Scottish-born, from Aberdeen, and all her family is coming down to watch. To run out at Murrayfield and lead my team is an absolute honour for me and fulfilment of a childhood dream."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article