Newly promoted Edinburgh Accies may have taken plaudits in defeat at Ayr last weekend, but skipper Dan Teague knows that it is points that count in RBS Premier One and he hopes they can get off the mark tomorrow at home to Glasgow Hawks.
Six days ago the Raeburn Place men went down 27-16 at Millbrae against the Premier Cup holders and emerged with some credit for competing for most of the 80 minutes at a ground known as something of a fortress.

Nevertheless, back-row Teague is a hard man to please and he knows that his charges will have to cut out the unforced errors if they are to notch up a win against Peter Wright's men in Stockbridge.

He said: "I heard and read some nice things about our performance at Ayr and it just showed people that we can challenge the top sides. However, at the end of the day we lost the match and failed to get a bonus point so we have to get up and running against Hawks.

"We really gifted Ayr two tries last week and we have been working hard in training to sort that out. Hawks will pose dangers as well as they are a useful side with some big forwards."

Teague has been captain at Raeburn Place for five and a half years and admits he takes a great deal of pride in the way the team bounced back to the top flight last term.

"We don't have a lot of money to throw around like a few other clubs in Premier One, so we have to go with what we have got and I think a lot of the players have grown under the coaching of Simon Cross. He places a lot on high skill levels and I think the players feel comfortable on the ball as a result," added the player who earned a club international cap against France in 2009.

Accies head coach Cross brings experienced backs Matt Coupar and Iain Berthinussen into the side for the match against a Hawks outfit that defeated Stirling County 36-22 last week.

On the bench Edinburgh scrum-half Alex Black is released with the 21-year-old set to debut for the club.

Cross said: "It was tough introduction to Premier One last week against Ayr and it doesn't get any easier with Hawks. I expect them to be well organised and dangerous on the counter attack, so an accurate kicking game is a must."

Last term Accies lost 20-5 to Hawks in a Premier Cup encounter.

"We gifted Ayr two tries last week and have worked hard to sort that out" Dan teague

This article was originally posted on 2-Sep-2011, 13:51 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 2-Sep-2011, 13:51.