Date: Saturday, 31st October 2009
Kickoff time: 15:00
Against: Currie
Team: Hawks 1st XV
Location: Away
Competition: Premiership Division 1
Final score: 6 - 59 (lost)

Currie 59 Glasgow Hawks 6: Visitors’ coach tips Currie for the title Currie’s Douglas Fife avoids Hawks’ Kerr Gossman Photograph: Fotosport Lewis Stuart 0 comments Published on 31 Oct 2009 IS it too early to crown Currie as the next Premiership champions? After all, the season does not reach its half-way mark until next week, when they still have the small matter of having to beat Ayr, the current title holders, at Millbrae. After this showing, though, at least one coach was firmly convinced that the trip to the west coast is the only thing that might stand between yesterday’s opponents and this season’s crown. The only thing that looks capable of stopping Currie would be a run of injuries, particularly if they lost the running power of their back three, with Willie Moala, the Tongan sevens international, showing the benefits of having a true finisher as he added four more tries to his already impressive haul for the season. Do not run away with the idea that they are a one-man side, though. Every finisher needs a provider and Currie had 14 of them on the field at any one time. Peter Wright, the oppos-ition coach was unstinting in his admiration after watching this nine-try demolition. They are as good a Premier One team as I have seen for years “They are as good a Premier One team as I have seen for five or six years, on that performance they are miles ahead of every one else,” he enthused. “If they win next week I can’t see anybody getting near them. “They play some great rugby. If I take my Hawks hat off and put my rugby hat on, they score some great tries, they keep the ball alive, they recycle and support exceptionally well. They gave our guys a lesson that we need to take away and take on board. You can’t see a weakness.” What was particularly impressive was that even with the game won and the bonus point in the bag, which took them only 31 minutes, Currie did not seem to have any idea how to ease off. They kept churning the ball out, tackling hard and taking every chance to run the ball from all parts of the field. “They were clinical in capit-alising on every mistake we made,” added Wright. “They won every facet of the game, contact, scrum, line-out, kick and chase, everything. There are no excuses: we did not play and they are good side who played exceptionally well.” Now, the Currie coach, Ally Donaldson, can turn his attention to next week’s match at Ayr. Though he says it is far too early in the season to be talking about titles, the reality is that if they win there they will have beaten every team in the league. “It was particularly pleasing that we had to make a lot of changes from previous weeks, but the guys who came in were outstanding,” said Donaldson. “We got a few breaks, a few things went our way, but it was a really satisfying result. A lot of people have been talking about next week’s game for a while, but we have not and even after that we have a lot of tricky ties: Heriot’s, Melrose, Dundee. It’s too early to talk about titles. We have a lot of games, though the result will have an effect on where the title goes.” The fact is, though, that Donaldson himself had been talking up Hawks as a top-quality side and apart from a brief flurry in the opening minute, with fly-half Duncan Weir slotting a penalty, they were never in the game. Their eventual fate was already clear when they were driven off the ball in the first scrum. Currie were quick to demonstrate that, with the time and space to move the ball, they were not afraid to attack from all parts of the field. Moala opened the try scoring within a few minutes, grabbed his second to ensure his team got the try bonus and added two more in the second half as well as doing all the hard work for Johnny Smith, the full back, to add a try to his seven conversions. In between, an interception gave Graham White Currie’s second and Andy Adam, the captain, bashed his way over in the first half. Ross Weston, the No 8, completed a 90-yard counter-attack and also added the final try of the game with a drive from a scrum five. Currie: J Smith; W Moala, G White , A Macmahon, D Fife; A Binikos, R Snedden ; A Hamilton, A Walker, A Reekie, A Adam (C), R Wilson, S Burton, J Thomson, R Weston. Replacements used: N Scobie, M Blair, G Temple, S Forrest, I Downie. Glasgow Hawks: R Hair; K Gossman, M Adamson, G Harkness, C Gossman; D Weir, E Morrison; N Cox (C), E Milligan, G Strain, A Kirkland, M Whittleston, C Kerr, G Oommen, G Francis. Replacements used: G Mories, C Taylor, C Harvey, I Noble , S Low. Referee: D Changleng (Peebles) No team list has been added yet.

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