Today's Herald reports

In 1998, his beloved Glasgow Hawks trounced Toulouse in a cracking contest at Anniesland and were watched by the likes of Sir John Hall and Rob Andrew from Newcastle Falcons. Now, fast forward 14 years, and Hawks have just been knocked out of the RBS West Cup by Whitecraigs and are scrapping for their survival in the midst of a Premier 1 dog-fight.

These are nervous times for the Hawks, whose former soaring progress to Premiership and Scottish Cup success has been hindered by injury, and by losing precocious stars to the professional ranks or the Scotland Sevens squad, to the stage where they must tackle a gruelling schedule of matches against Edinburgh opposition in the guise of Stew-Mel FP, Heriots, Edinburgh Accies and Watsonians, in addition to a potentially treacherous trip to Jed-Forest, with nothing guaranteed in the relegation stakes. Yet, it was a measure of how Simmers has managed to steer clear of the insularity which has plagued the Caledonian milieu in recent years that he told Herald Sport he still believed that moves towards establishing a 10-team Premier format were ill-considered.

"We should be creating a semi-professional structure with eight clubs because, although the pro teams are making the right vibes, the next tier is equally important, and the quality of the clubs in Scotland is averaging out, which really has to be addressed," said Simmers, the Hawks' honorary president, who has always been one of the most visionary figures in his homeland. "I know that some people have talked about certain clubs having hidden agendas and the like, but that is just nonsense. This is about improving overall standards and making sure the best of our emerging talent gets the chance to perform in a better competition. Ten clubs is too many, but the SRU should be driving this forward, because I believe they recognise there needs to be a higher intensity of games for the best players.

"We also have to look at the mindset of the coaches of the two pro sides. On Saturday, for instance, we had George Hunter warming up for us, when he was suddenly called away to Firhill to sit on the bench. Basically, I'd like to see a situation where all of their squad members who are not involved in [RaboDirect or Heineken Cup] matches are playing for clubs every weekend, because, at the moment, you have some guys who are going through seasons spending more time on a bench than actually playing rugby. I don't see how that helps them become better players."

Simmers provided a number of reasons behind the Hawks' recent travails. There have been injuries to several key men, while other squad members have been otherwise engaged on the Sevens beat [the two words go together in Scotland's case], or involved with their country's Club Select. So, too, whereas any grassroots organisation would be proud to have the services of a Ruaridh Jackson or Duncan Weir, these individuals are not hanging around in the amateur ranks, nor should anybody blame them for chasing paid contracts. But it adds up to a scenario, where Glasgow may not have a single representative in next season's elite division. Which, however you look at it, cannot be healthy in what is the country's main population base.

"It's important that we stay up, and we're not in too bad a position at the moment, because nobody is really pulling away from the rest and we still think we are in with a shout," said Simmers, who would be more comfortable about the future if Hawks hadn't lost narrowly to Hawick last weekend. "Of course, we are not in an ideal place, and it is going to be tough to get out of this, but there is plenty of spirit among the boys."

None the less, the Glaswegians must treat the looming itinerary as a series of cup finals and the fact they have lost their last three fixtures – to Falkirk, Hawick and Whitecraigs (albeit the latter was on try count) – indicates how they have slipped from the heady days of a decade ago. They have to rediscover that mystique again – and quickly.

This article was posted on 28-Feb-2012, 07:55 by Hugh Barrow.