PEEBLES captain Donald Anderson says his side can take plenty of heart from their Melrose Sevens exploits last weekend.

The Pees crashed out to Boroughmuir in the first round, going down 29-17 at the Greenyards. Anderson rued a missed opportunity towards the end of the game, but is confident that his side are slowly building ahead of their own Sevens tournament later this month.

Speaking to the Peeblesshire News, he said: “It's always great to be part of the Melrose Sevens. We probably played in front of more people there than we would in any other situation. It can be a bit nerve wracking for some players, but we enjoy it.

“It was tough against Boroughmuir, but I thought we stuck at it really well. We even had a chance to win it at the end, but we lost the ball and let them through to score. But that's the Sevens, the margins between success and failure can be so small.

“We certainly improved a hell of a lot from our performance at Gala. For us, it is important that we continue to develop and improve. Everything is geared towards making sure we put on a good display in our own Sevens later in April, and we're moving in the right direction.”

The Pees face a Sevens double header this weekend, when they travel to Hawick on the Saturday and Berwick on the Sunday.

First up for them on Saturday at Mansfield Park is a clash against army side the Royal Scots, whilst Sunday's competition kicks off against Jed Forest.

Anderson said: “We know all about Jed Forest, but the Royal Scots might actually be the harder of the two games. There is a sense of the unknown with them, but with a draw like that, we should be looking to progress to the second round at least.”

Plans are in place to bring next season's Peebles Sevens forward to August instead of April. For this season, that will mean a short-turn around time, with just a couple of months separating the final Sevens tournament of this season (Jed Forest) and the 2016/17 schedule.

Anderson will concede that the programme might be demanding in the short-term, but he was keen to point out the potential benefits.

“Switching it to a Saturday in August hopefully means we get more people attending. The pitches are generally in a bi better condition too.

Quite a few clubs have used the Sevens as a pre season tournament in the past, to get sharpen up and help with match fitness. The skills and sharpness required stands you in good stead for the 15 a side game as well. Balls skills, passing, and looking to offload are all things any rugby players should be focussing on again and again anyway. If the early start helps us to hit the ground running next season, that can only be a good thing.”