THE HERALD REPORTS
Hawick 16 - 29 Glasgow Hawks

KEVIN FERRIE at Mansfield Park October 03 2005

On their last visit to Mansfield Park, the Scottish champions averaged a point per minute, forcing the nation's most famous rugby town to give serious consideration to the future.
On Saturday, it took Hawks 45 minutes to get any points on the scoreboard as the men wearing green demonstrated that their spirit has returned.
Having witnessed that 80 point thrashing in April, there was a sense of relief on leaving the ground on Saturday evening, even for someone with no personal link to the Borders town.
Yet the observations of Jim Hay, Hawick's new head coach who has done much to turn things around, offered pause for thought as he compared resources.
"You can take it whatever way you want, that's the fourth professional team in Scotland out there," he said in explaining how tough a task his side faced in trying to be the first side this season to beat Hawks.
Asked to elaborate, he was swift to say he was not talking about payment of players but of the quality of players at Hawks' disposal. The numbers moving between them and the Glasgow Warriors professional team, is no coincidence, Hay suggested, before saying how much he would like to have a similar feeder arrangement with the Border Reivers.
Ostensibly that seemed reasonable enough, but once separated from the immediate disappointment of defeat, the man who is also chief executive of the Scottish professional Players Association should maybe give this a bit more thought. It was all very different in the amateur era when we had the nonsense of leading players having to travel from the central belt to the Borders to progress their careers.
The open era has changed everything with the Borders, like Scottish rugby as a whole in international terms, badly exposed by professionalism's impact as those with superior resources get themselves organised. So it was inevitable that the leading side in this country's biggest city, an open club with aspirations towards becoming a community club – unlike the closed FP city sides of old – should begin to dominate domestic rugby.
More people live in Anniesland than Hawick, and the population of Glasgow's west end represents that of the entire Borders multiplied several times over. Within it, Glasgow University, boasting its global reputation, is a magnet for youngsters, not least from rugby-inclined schools. To expect a little town that has been in economic decay for many years to compete with that now, is increasingly like expecting Hawick Royal Albert to challenge Celtic and Rangers.
As I observed when previewing this game, Scottish rugby cannot see itself as needing a strong Hawick as might once have been true, since to do so would be backward looking, insular and restrictive, but a strong Hawick has always tended to bode well for the national side.
In future terms that is unlikely to remain so, but currently it is encouraging, when seen as a barometer of rugby strength, that the good little 'un is still showing plenty fight.
With Hawks struggling to cope with their energy and enthusiasm – qualities new Scotland coach Frank Hadden has identified as crucial in revitalising the national side – Hawick could have been more than 11-0 up at half-time.
As Hay observed, his side was playing with what was probably a 20-point wind at their backs, but for all their pressure could muster only a single try from Neil Douglas.
By contrast, once they harnessed the elements, Hawks were irresistible during an eight-minute spell when they took control through tries by Steve Gordon, Matt Smith and the stylish Stuart Low.
Where they would have caved in last season, Hawick rallied, however, scoring the only points either team managed against the wind, when Keith Hedley battered into the line and bounced in to score.
Hawks' class inevitably told, Gordon crossing again both to earn his side a bonus point and deny their opponents one. For Hawick, life was meanwhile made even more difficult as injuries – most notably to Rory Hutton their promising 18-year-old playmaker who suffered a badly twisted ankle – forced constant reshuffling of their back line.
Even then they played with no shortage of endeavour, mixed with some flair, and as a metaphor for the overall condition of Scottish rugby, this offered hope.
Tradition and culture will take us only so far as the strong continue to get stronger. The only answer is innovation through that proven combination of 99 per cent perspiration mixed with one per cent inspiration.
In Hawick, the appetite to make that sort of effort clearly remains, suggesting the town can remain, for the time being at least, a source of inspiration for the rugby nation.

This article was originally posted on 5-Oct-2005, 13:36 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 5-Oct-2005, 18:41.