Glasgow Hawks, Scottish rugby’s club champions for the past two seasons, open their defence of the BT Premier One title at Melrose tomorrow. But they will not be side-tracked into thinking too much on winning the championship for the third successive season, according to David Wilson, Hawks’ new coach.



“We’re not going to get hung up on the hump of three in a row,” he commented this afternoon. “We’re going to concentrate on our week-by-week performances. Today I’m just thinking about the game against Melrose.”



He was speaking at Hawks’ home ground, Old Anniesland, at the launch of the BT Premiership season. He was joined by one of Hawks’ regular centres, Steven Duffy, as well as their new prop, Nick Cox, previously with Coventry.



Wilson, who has returned to Hawks for a second term as coach, added that he was looking forward to the championship. “We’ve a lot of expectation,” Wilson commented. “It’s a new challenge for the team, a new challenge for a new coach.”



And he had a few words of warning for the 11 other Premier One clubs: “If our squad stays healthy, if we keep clear of injuries, we’ll give any team in the league a run for their money.”



Hawks’ visit to The Greenyards tomorrow tops the bill on the opening day of the Premiership. Other Premier One matches are Aberdeen GSFP v Watsonians, Ayr v Biggar, Boroughmuir v Curie, Stewart’s Melville FP v Heriot’s, and Stirling County v Hawick.

This article was posted on 26-Aug-2005, 18:39 by Hugh Barrow.