Hawks outsmart Accies to win cup for third time
EDINBURGH ACCIES 13-24 GLASGOW HAWKS
WILLIAM PAUL AT MURRAYFIELD
GLASGOW Hawks, the youngest club in Scotland, won the Scottish Cup for the third time by out-thinking and ultimately out-playing the country's oldest club which is soon to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

In ten short years, Hawks have learned the winning habit not only in the cup but in the Premiership, where they have been crowned champions three times. It is a habit that comes from being able to adapt and change, to play the way that suits the challenge to be faced.

The challenge on Saturday was Accies' supposedly all-powerful pack, a potent weapon that had battered and bludgeoned its way to the final, ironically the first time in their long history that Accies had gone the distance.

Hawks had learned a hard lesson against West of Scotland in the semi-final when they sneaked a win despite being effectively destroyed up front by a more aggressive pack. This translated into denying Accies the ball, playing open and wide at every opportunity, off-loading in the tackle to keep the ball alive, and keeping them guessing at all times.

There was also the low-key but constant motivating factor for Hawks that they wanted to dedicate the match to the memory of 28-year-old Craig Hodgkinson, part of the 2004 cup-winning team who tragically died from a heart attack while playing for the Royal Navy.

It all combined to work a treat because Accies are nothing if not predictable. Their idea of flair was confined to flying tighthead prop Alistair Marsh north by helicopter from his wedding in Hawick and back again on the final whistle with a runners-up medal round his neck.

Hawks Coach David Wilson said: "In terms of what had been said about the Accies pack and our performance against West in the semi-final, I think we have put that to bed today. We matched them pretty well.

"In the first half they tried to move the ball wide and then at half time they went back to Plan A, to use their forwards. We were expecting that because they are very good at it, but we have a pack that can cope. It may be a lightweight unit but you have to play to the strengths of that. As long as we can get the quick ball away from the breakdown, we will ask questions of any team. It's about the tempo, it's about us producing quick ball and opening up."

On the pitch, Hawks had to overcome the early loss of skipper Steven Duffy in the backs and prop Nick Cox from the front row. Meanwhile Accies were doing what they do best, with giant lock Ed Stuart bulldozing over from a lineout and maul for a first try that was a carbon copy of many the pack has scored in winning promotion to join Hawks in Premiership 1 next season.

That quick success of their tactics went to their heads, and Accies made the mistake of trying to be more expansive. It all went drastically wrong when, just before half time, full-back Ross Browne's risky reverse pass in an attacking run was intercepted by Hawks flanker John Fitzpatrick who galloped in from halfway.

Stuart was in the sin bin for deliberately killing the ball at this point, and significantly Hawks claimed another try before he got back on the pitch when full-back Mike Strang's quick hands gave Ally Maclay the space and time to stroll under the posts.

Accies reverted to type and ploughed their way over from another lineout and maul with captain Dan Teague at the bottom of the heap this time but Hawks had already built a big enough lead to close out the game with something to spare, fly-half Mike Adamson adding another couple of penalties just to make sure.

Hawks winger Stevie Gordon said: "Our guys had been very motivated by what had been written in the Press, all this hype about the Edinburgh Accies pack.

"We knew it was going to be hard but we were up for it and we wanted to show that our pack have held their own against the best in Premiership 1 so we knew we could hold our own and I think we showed that today."

Accies coach Ian Barnes was equally appreciative of the way Hawks had played. He said: "We were second best on the day. We gave it our best shot. When they had possession of the ball we could not get it, that was the real problem. We were chasing the game the whole time while they had the ball.

"I don't think we could have defended any better but we still gave away soft points. We didn't get the control I wanted and we couldn't establish field position. They played the game in our half and kept the ball really well, and they kept it alive. It wasn't a matter of recycling either, they played it out of the tackle. In the end, if we had won it we would have been stealing it."

Scorers. Edinburgh Accies: Tries: E Stuart, D Teague. Drop goals: G Douglas. Glasgow Hawks: Tries: J Fitzpatrick, A Maclay, Cons: M Adamson. Pens: M Adamson 4.

Edinburgh Accies: R Browne; JM Howison, L McCann, P Loudon, D Rattray; G Douglas, M Campbell; P Burns, J Edwards, A Marsh, N Pike, E Stuary, D Teague, J parker, G Campbell. Subs: S Walker, D MacLeod, E Stott, S Paterson, C Kinloch, R Bonner, L Niven.

Glasgow Hawks: M Strang; S Gordon, R Munday, S Duffy, R Kerr; M Adamson, K Sinclair; N Cox, D Malcolm, G Mories, A Dale, S Warnock, N Caddell, J Fitzpatrick, A Maclay. Subs: G Macfadyen, J Maclay, S Kidd, G Francis, R McKnight, S Smith, S Low.

Referee: P Allan (Watsonians). Attendance: 4,667.

Clubs to vote on regionalisation of cup at agm
NEXT month's Scottish Rugby Union agm will see clubs vote on a proposition to regionalise the National Cup competition.

A motion will be put forward by the SRU to hold four regional cup competitions, with the winners progressing to contest the National Cup semi-finals.

There has been rumblings from the clubs, particularly in the Borders, for the cup to be regionalised in order to allow more local derbies. Next season the cup will be sponsored by Scottish Hydro-Electric.

Eight other motions will be put forward by SRU president Andy Irvine and executive chairman Allan Munro on behalf of the Scottish Rugby Council and the Scottish Rugby Board.

These include allowing the board to set the level of international ticket sales commission payable to clubs on a game-by-game basis according to opposition and demand.

Irvine and Munro also propose raising the number of permitted replacements in club games to a maximum of seven and scrapping the limit of two non-EU players in championship matches.

This article was posted on 7-May-2007, 07:39 by Hugh Barrow.