Rubbing shoulders with greatness...

...and if not greatness then at least major, Scottish sporting Celebrity.

Glasgow Hawks 30 : Biggar 26

While Ireland were being frightened to death by a surprisingly astute
Italy, ably Marshalled by Pez, and just prior to England putting out a
full strength team against Wales seconds in a homer, TGP and MYF were
following Scottish rugby legend Andy Irvine into Old Anniesland for this
afternoon's game.

The reason for the visit? Well, if Hawks gained a bonus point,
Watsonians lost, Hawick failed to get a bonus point, Aquarius moved in
to the second house, then the Premiership title could have been
conferred on Hawks by the SRU supremo himself.

I would have shaken his hand but didn't want to over-awe him. How often
does and SRU blazer meet a super-hero?

However, the game.

A bright winter's afternoon with a faint chill saw a depleted stand
attending to their heroes. No doubt the effect of the 6N. Amateurs!

The whistle blew, leather struck compound and we were off. Hawks serving
immediate notice of their intentions with a very determined move in to
the Biggar half. They seemed to stay there for much of the first half of
the game so it was a surprise that the eventual result was so close.
This probably owed much to the sprightliness of Biggar who determined to
play a full part in proceedings ably guided and cunningly advanced by
the subtle boot of their outside half Quintin Sanfft.

Fortunately for Hawks, diminutive full back Adamson posesses a solid
boot of his own and Hawks were rarely caught out.

This was no game of ping pong however. The forward exchanges were solid
and the backlines of both teams took their chances when presented.

Hawks, not for the first time this season, let themselves down with a
series of foolish handling errors, tossing into space, over-running for
the third or fourth pass or tossing a speculative ball behind the back
(sounds like a perversion.) Just do the basics well lads, the rest will
follow. It's vitally important when you're losing to get things right
but it's just as important when you're ahead of the pack too.

An early exchange of penalties preceded the first try, a sterling, solo
effort from Iain Monaghan. Since returning to the first team 3 weeks ago
he's justified his laudry bill admirably. It took 15 minutes but
certainly followed the run of play. The conversion gave Hawks a 10 : 3
margin.

A try from Warnock 5 minutes later, unconverted, led us to believe that
a rout might have been on the way. Another determined Ally McLay try,
goaled by Adamson just before the half hour and the view was confirmed.

Half time and the score was 22 : 13 with Hawks looking the sharper team.

The second half and drugged oranges for Hawks found Biggar eventually
pulling back to 27 : 26. It was left to a final Mike Adamson penalty to
close the scorimg at 30 : 26 with a bonus point to both teams. Two
goals, two tries and two penalties to two goals and four penalties - I
didn't mention Mark Sitch's try because we take it almost as read that
he'll be on the sheet somewhere.

So what to make of the result?

Well, Hawks got the win and the bonus point leaving them just to do the
same again next week and the Premiership title is theirs. It may not be
so easy as their next opponents, Aberdeen, away, put 6 tries down today,
admittedly over trailers Stirling County, but even so...

Murray Strang managed to avoided kicking a steady stream of ball to
Biggar's full back this week and made a few good breaks, he was a bit
lucky to get away with some of the forward passes however. Iain Monaghan
was everywhere putting in a fine performance until subbed by able
replacement Ritchie McKnight. Centres, wings and full back all gave good
service, and yet... there seems to be a lack of fluidity. Too often the
backs will run away from support, or run back in to the pack instead of
looking to put the ball in space. They'll make a wild miss-pass or toss
the ball to where they think support will be instead of where it is.

These moves all look slick and polished and no doubt they work nine
times out of ten in practice. It just seems that a little more awareness
would kill these errors and make the Hawks unbeatable. They're good
individual players but you have the feeling that the communication isn't
as settled as with the forwards.

Biggar gave good value for money and towards the end of the game
provided a real threat. Hawks looked as though they had Biggar contained
and yet they were still scoring, admittedly from penalties but they all
count. Biggar were getting in to a position to take the points from
them. Biggar were also surprisingly sprightly and I say that with a
degree of surprise. Several of their players are clearly side stepping
salads with the skill of Gerald Davies (for older readers). If I were
Gary Parker I'd be looking to instill some athleticism in his players.
He's clearly shown that he can coach results, now he needs his players
to acquire a higher level of athleticism.

So onward to next week with hope in our hearts. MYF will be looking for
a chance, for the third year running, to reward her particular heroes
with a kiss. She still has a picture of a happy Stevie Swindall on her
phone from last year. Next weekend eh lads?

Back to Jonathon Davies in the studio for an analysis of where Wales
went wrong in not claiming a sickie.

regards

The Green Phantom

This article was posted on 5-Feb-2006, 09:03 by Hugh Barrow.