Lewis Stuart poses the question in today's Herald

20 Sep 2010
GLASGOW Hawks: contenders, or pretenders?

Unbeaten after five games – including playing both teams who enjoyed a private battle for the title last season – playing with real verve, ambition and style, surely they have to be among the favourites for the Scottish Premiership crown.

And yet, there are two nagging doubts. Both last week, when they allowed Currie to salvage a draw, and this week, when Ayr scored with the last move of the game to rescue a losing bonus point, they have failed to kill off games where they were clearly the better side. Ruthless, they are not.

The other worry is that, while they have strength in depth in some positions, there are a handful of players, led by Kerr and Craig Gossman, who are irreplaceable, and should anything happen to them – ranging from injury to the professional matches that must surely be on the horizon – you wonder who will provide that vital spark.

Clubhouse rumours also suggest that Peter Jericevich, the bustling scrum-half, is attracting interest south of the border, though the first big test comes as early as next Saturday when Hawks travel to Melrose without Mike Adamson, their hugely influential fly-half, who is in the Scotland sevens squad travelling to the Commonwealth Games.

“There is a real buzz about the club at the moment and the guys are really playing for each other,” said Peter Wright, the Hawks coach.

“We were the better side. We showed more endeavour and we tried to play a bit more rugby. When we kept the ball alive for three, four, five phases we looked extremely dangerous. Our defence stepped up as well. The counter-rucking meant we turned over a lot of ball at a time when it was difficult because you are not quite sure what the referee’s interpretation was going to be.

“Now, we have to maintain this. We set high standards and have to keep them going. We are up against Melrose, Dundee, and Heriot’s in the next three games, massive matches for us and we have to go into them with the same quality we showed in the last two weeks. If we can get three victories out of those three matches, it will set us up nicely.”

What must be a concern for him, is that although Ayr offered nothing much more than dogged determination, the try count ended level at two apiece, Kerr Gossman setting his brother Craig up for the first, which was cancelled out when Damien Kelly, the Ayr captain and lock, burrowed his way to score from a lineout maul late in the first half.

The second half followed a similar pattern, Craig Gossman carving out the break that put Joffy White in for the try that should have settled the match and Hawks’ nerves, but Scott Nimmo was bundled over the line from a forward drive to rescue the bonus point and put a wholly unjustified gloss on the final score. The boots of Adamson and Ross Curle, for Ayr, provided the rest of the points.

“We probably didn’t deserve the bonus point because it was our worst performance of the season. So to get one was something,” said Kenny Murray, the Ayr coach.

“Our injuries have caught up with us. We had to make five changes to our back line this week, just through injury, and Gordon Reid (the prop) pulled out during the warm-up.

“All of these have caught up with us and we got what we deserved. As for the Hawks, it is a question of whether or not they can keep these guys. With Adamson away, it will be interesting to see how they do without him.”

You can’t help but wonder, however, that if only they can develop that important streak of ruthlessnes, they will manage just fine and ultimately silence those nagging whispers of gloom.

This article was originally posted on 20-Sep-2010, 11:00 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 20-Sep-2010, 11:03.