A nine-week break almost amounts to a close season so it was no surprise that Dundee HSFP looked a little rusty last week, but the cobwebs are gone for a return to Premier A league action against Glasgow Hawks at Mayfield on Saturday.

By Steve Scott, rugby correspondent
Published in the Courier : 28.01.11
Published online : 28.01.11 @ 10.00am
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Dundee's free-scoring ways continued but the Maroons — benefitting from undersoil heating at Netherdale — were sharper and able to provide a stiff contest as a warm-up for the visit of the Hawks, whose record at Dundee is astonishingly good.

From their first visit on the way to the division two title in their inaugural season in 1997-98 (a team that featured Glen Metcalfe and Tommy Hayes, among others) Hawks have won every game at Mayfield — the last two in excruciating circumstances for Dundee, with last-minute scores resulting in single-point comeback victories, 17-16 three years ago and 33-32 last year.

Hawks looked to be among the most improved teams in the top division in the first part of the season by finishing the first half just behind leaders Melrose, but they lost to Ayr on their last time out.

Dundee will be without Scotland sevens star James Fleming, who flies out to Wellington, but Danny Levison and Stuart Coleman both enjoyed a bounce game training session with the Scotland squad on Wednesday night.

The No 8 is, surprisingly, not named in the club international squad for their match against their French counterparts in Orleans in a week — Fleming isn't either, because of the sevens commitments — but prop Alan Brown is in the squad again and there are call-ups for scrum-half Andy Dymock and centre Harry Duthie.

This article was posted on 28-Jan-2011, 10:47 by Hugh Barrow.