For the first time since October 14th, Boroughmuir found themselves on the positive end of a scoreline as they opened up their Scottish Hydro Electric Super Cup campaign with a hugely entertaining win at Old Anniesland. With the Experimental Law Variations making their debut in Scottish rugby, there was a sense of anticipation before the match, and it certainly lived up to those expectations in a fast and flowing encounter which was in the balance right up until the final whistle.

The truth is that, from a Boroughmuir point of view, as has so often been the case this season, the game could have been a lot easier for the Meggetland side had they been more ruthless when in sight of the try line. Far too often, solo runners found themselves isolated and having to surrender the ball to the new law which gives anyone on their feet the right to handle in the ruck.

Going into the match, that was the law change which had perhaps been singled out as the one which would make the greatest difference, but in actual fact it was the requirement for both back lines to be five metres behind the back foot at the scrum which saw the biggest change as players revelled in the acres of space it afforded them.

With the game opening up from the laws which we are all so used to, it was expected that the Super Cup would, to a certain extent, play into the hands of a Boroughmuir side who, throughout the season have been intent on playing fast, attractive rugby. And early on that expectation seemed well placed as the capital side clearly had the upper hand on their Glaswegian opponents. After breaks up each wing – through James White and Greg Cottrell – had failed to reap any rewards in terms on points on the board, ’Muir opened up the scoring with an eighth minute penalty from fly-half Scott Hadden.

Boroughmuir’s continued dominance of the game saw them register the first try of the match in the fifteenth minute through Rory Couper, though they perhaps should have done so earlier when, after a good exchange of passes with Chris Capaldi, returning scrum half Calum Cusiter was held up short of the line. As Hawks tried to clear their lines, however, Neil Malloy snaffled the ball in contact and quick hands from Cusiter and Scott Hadden found Couper able to race in down the wing from just outside the twenty-two. Elgan O’Donnell thumped the conversion over via the inside of the post.

Hawks eventually worked their way back into the match, and indeed with such potency that at times they threatened to score at will. But they had to wait until the twenty-fifth minute to bag their first points, after twice failing with catch and drive lineouts, a simple move off the back of a scrum five metres from the Boroughmuir line saw Mike Adamson nip between two tacklers for a try which he converted.

The home side’s tails were clearly up after Adamson’s score, and they could have scored straight from the restart as they worked their way upfield through some good continuity play, only for White to tackle his man into touch five metres from the line. Seven minutes before the break though, Hawks took the lead when flanker John Fitzpatrick scored under the posts. A long clearance from Scott Hadden was fielded by home full back Rory Kerr and flying left winger Max Evans was allowed to skip across three or four defenders before finding Fitzpatrick in support on a wonderful angle and the forward romped in from thirty metres; Adamson again converted.

Any thoughts that they might take that lead into the half time interval were misplaced as again Couper showed just how much these new rules suited his style of play with his second try of the match. With Scott Hadden already having reduced the gap to a single point with a successful penalty, Couper received the ball on his left wing and danced his way to the posts, leaving five defenders in his wake as he did so and touching down to give Hadden the simplest of conversions for a six point half time lead.

Boroughmuir should have scored within minutes of the start of the second half, James White bursting towards the line after Couper had made the initial break, but when the young winger was hauled down a metre short of the line, his pass out of the tackle could only find a Hawks player. As with the first half, ’Muir were clearly the better side, and things improved for them even further when lock forward Alan Kelly was sent to cool off for ten minutes after some over enthusiastic footwork at the breakdown, and they took advantage of their numerical superiority when Freddie Lait scored in the corner. From Cusiter’s quick tap penalty in the Hawks twenty-two, Cam Ward got close to the line and was able to pop the ball out of contact to Lait who barged his way over the line, allowing Hadden to add the conversion.

From this point, Boroughmuir should never have been in trouble, but whether they failed to maintain concentration or the legs began to tire, they allowed their hosts back into the match, and there were times again when Hawks looked capable of running away with the win. Their first score of the second half came just before the hour mark, after working several phases from a lineout, a simple inside pass to Evans allowed the winger to waltz through the ’Muir defence and score just to the right of the posts, which substitute fly-half Murray Strang converted.

Hawks clearly had the upper hand as Boroughmuir looked to chase shadows, and with fifteen minutes remaining, the home side wrested the lead back in their favour. Again after Hawks had built pressure through a number of phases, they eventually found the gap, this time back row forward Greg Francis touching down on the left flank and the returning Adamson landing his third conversion of the day.

The home side may have been looking the more likely, but as the game moved into its final ten minutes, Boroughmuir showed they still had life in them with a fantastic break out of defence. Sean Hollywood, who, though admittedly did miss a few tackles, had arguably his best game in a Boroughmuir shirt, began the attack with a searing direct run up the left and found Cusiter and Couper in support. When finally Hollywood was brought to ground just ten metres out, quick ball was found and the ball spread wide with Cam Ward waiting and bullocking his way over the line, scoring his first try for Boroughmuir.

Hadden’s missed conversion looked initially like it could be costly, but the final minutes were characterised by some stunning last ditch defence from the visitors, namely James White and Elgan O’Donnell who both made tackles which stopped seemingly nailed on tries as Hawks pounded the Boroughmuir line. Eventually the ball was cleared to touch for the final time and ’Muir could celebrate having held on for an important victory.

Whilst one game is far from enough to tell if these new law variations have a long term future, it can certainly be said that the early signs were encouraging. Today’s match was one of the most entertaining I have watched in a long time, and whilst the sense of occasion was no doubt helped greatly by the vociferous Ulster fans voicing their support for Hawks as they waited for their Magners League game to kick off, there was a feeling of promise about the whole day. Not least in the fact that finally Boroughmuir have put their winless streak behind them and can now focus on squeezing out as much success as they can from what remains of the season.

Boroughmuir: Greg Cottrell; James White, Elgan O'Donnell, Andy Hadden, Rory Couper; Scott Hadden, Calum Cusiter; John Malakoty, Neil Malloy, Freddie Lait; Greig Scott, Graeme McCallum; Chris Capaldi, Ben Fisher, Sean Hollywood. Subs Used: Cameron Ward, Davie Cunningham, James Fish, Stephen Ruddick

After the match Mark Furnivall spoke with referee Rob Dickson to see what he thought of the new laws:

Mark: Rob, how did you find that to referee?

Rob: I think we were lucky with two very positive sides today, Hawks and Boroughmuir. You would expect them to play good rugby and I think that they excelled themselves. The laws probably made a difference. I think on a horrible wet day in different conditions with different sides it might be a different story.

Mark: Did you find you were having to concentrate right at the top of your game to keep up with the laws?

Rob: Yes. I think it would be fair to say I've not felt as uneasy since I refereed my first game 16 years ago. It's just very different, you can't just wash 16 years of refereeing out of your head and start again and that's what we're being asked to do. It was difficult.

Mark: And next week you've got to go back to the normal laws?

Rob: Aye well next week fortunately I'm touch judging in Switzerland for Bourgoin v Munster so I've got to get my head round the normal laws and normal touch judging for that, yes.

Mark: So what was your overall assessment then?

Rob: I think there are many positive. I think we will see a much more dynamic tackle area and for Scotland we might see a return to the fast rucking of perhaps 20 years ago. That was my impression; when players hit the contact area hard and rucked over the ball in what might be described as an old fashioned way I think we got quite good possession and I think they turned it over doing that as well so we'll see what happens.

This article was posted on 7-Jan-2007, 01:33 by Hugh Barrow.