Currie 22 : Glasgow Hawks 27

I\'ve complained before that I get sick of all the avian jokes and puns
and I\'m sure Currie must be sick of chillie based comments as well.
Nevertheless I was tempted by an opening line of \'Nothing succeeds like
a gummy budgie\'. For no other reason than I liked it.

Malleny Park is a forbidding place to visit on a Winter\'s afternoon.
Dark and brooding, even when the lights come on, you half expect
Heathcliffe to make a guest appearance. Notwithstanding the winter\'s
gloom Hawks brightened the day by refusing to lie down on Currie\'s march
to the premiership title, providing the home side with their second loss
in two weeks.

Regular readers may well remember that Hawks gave Currie the surprise
beating of the season when they appeared at Old Anniesland at the start
of October. On that occasion Hawks ran out as surprise, easy winners
when Currie chose to play a limited, though bruising game.

This time out the damp atmosphere. low temperature, what seemed like
several months of rain, all combined to make a forward dominated battle
almost inevitable. And so it proved.

In this the Hawks managed not just to hold their own but to contribute
enough in the way of tries to match and exceed Currie and to gain a
valuable bonus point. I\'d be lying if I said that those tries were
pretty in any way but there\'s no doubt that they were still exciting
with the last score from Hawks raising the blood lust in all the away
supporters.

In putting my finger on where the game was won I\'d have to say that
Hawks have finally gelled as a team and there is much fluidity
throughout so that forwards support backs and vice versa. Yesterday the
forwards were titanic at the set piece and breakdown while the backs
brought plenty of wallop to defense. I imagine that Currie expected to
absorb the Hawks efforts and then to run riot as the game ran down.
They were disappointed. If anything Hawks\' efforts became stronger as
the game progressed through the final quarter.

They are also starting to play rugby as a simple game. When the ball is
in their own half they try to ensure that it is returned to the
opposition half as quickly and effectively as possible. They helped
their efforts in this respect by winning not just their own ball most of
the time in the lineouts but on at least three occasions took Currie\'s
ball cleanly as well.

I\'ve heard Hawks\' supporters questioning the kicking option regularly in
the stand. The fact of the matter is you keep the opposition out of
your own half and play rugby in theirs. A good kick is the best way to
remove an opposition incursion. Murray Strang invariably finds touch on
or near the opposition 22, it\'s rare that the ball is returned to their
back three.

Currie were also well matched in the scrum by a clearly fired up Hawks
pack who were willing, and able, to push the opposition off the ball.
Both sides took their chances at the rucks but this is still an area
where Hawks have to tidy up and stop surrendering easy ball from knocks
on in the backline.

One difference between the sides was the maul which, I\'m led to believe,
is a Currie strength and attack weapon. It was used against them to
excellent effect by Hawks however, particularly for their last try when
they mauled the ball fifteen or twenty metres to the Curry line
accompanied by lusty vocals from the travelling support.

The final scoring was two goals, a try and a penalty to two goals, two
tries and a penalty. It will come as no surprise that Francis and Cox
were responsible for two of the touchdowns but Kerr and newcomer Evans
were able to add one each for the backs. Two yellow cards were awarded
to Currie, though in the gloom and coming from a referee with some
unusual priorities it\'s hard to say what they were for.

From an unpromising start to the season Hawks have developed well as a
side with strength starting to appear in key positions. This can only
be good for the team as competition for places emerges and a better
chance of continuity develops against movement in the closed season.
It\'s interesting to speculate on where they would lie in the table with
twelve teams in the table instead of this season\'s ten. Currie must be
doing some of that speculation for themselves as they contemplate their
two remaining matches against Herriots and Watsonians, neither of whom
could be considered pushovers.

Back to the studio then for an incredible interview with the incredible
sports personality of the year, incredible Zara Phillips who will
acknowledge how incredible it\'s all been at the end of an incredible
year while being engaged to an incredible rugby player.

regards

The Green Phantom

This article was originally posted on 17-Dec-2006, 18:39 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 17-Dec-2006, 18:39.