Glasgow Hawks 3
Ayr 40
LEWIS STUART @Balgray
THE SHORT BREAK has done Ayr no harm at all, as they started the second half of the season in the same way they began the first: with a comfortable bonus-point win over Glasgow Hawks. Six tries were no more than they deserved despite facing some ferocious defence, but the really telling statistic was that they didn’t concede any.
It was all laid on up front, where the pack steamrollered every scrum, stole a load of the Hawks’ line-out throws and mauled their way to try after try. Hawks had no answer other than to try to play their way out of trouble and, against the kind of stifling defence Ayr bring, far too often that only got them deeper into the mire.
The challenge for Grant Anderson, the Ayr coach, is to make sure his side don’t drop their standards and that any team hoping to challenge them has to rise to their level, with little hope they will falter.
“All credit to the boys,” he said. “That’s their mindset, that’s their hard work, that’s their mentality. We don’t want to give points to any team. At the start of the season, we were leaking maybe a few – whether that was down to concentration or inaccuracy – but we’re building nicely for this next block of games.
“Those boys were delighted to be involved. Competition at training was fierce and that was reflected in the selection. They’re keen to push each other on – who wouldn’t want to be part of that?”

The problem for Phil Smith, his opposite number, is how he can make sure his players take the positives out of the match and recognise that they are not going to meet many teams in Scotland that can match Ayr, particularly up front.
“There were things we have been trying to work hard on that, against another Premiership team, will work. The key is making sure that we don’t fall below the level of that good stuff just because we’re not facing Ayr,” he said.
“The challenge is to make sure that we play at the highest level we can in every game, because that will put other teams under stress even if it doesn’t necessarily work against Ayr.
“We tried not to give them any set-piece, but it’s difficult because you’re physically challenged in all parts of the game.
“Our defence was brave and committed, but the question is: can they make their shots time after time? It’s tough because they’re bringing through one big guy after the next.
“So now it’s a case of just digging in and having to accept we’re not at that level at the moment. There will be, hopefully, easier games ahead when we have to perform.”
After all, both teams knew each other well, having played just a couple of weeks ago in the Scottish Cup, so Hawks in particular knew exactly what to expect, as was demonstrated early on.
The earlier Cup match had finished with Ayr scoring from the last play of the match, and though they didn’t quite score with the opening play of this game to keep the momentum going, it was not far off. Early pressure, a half break on the right, a recycle half-a-dozen times, and prop Seth Rae was over for the opening try of the game.
Hawks, remember, had been as good as Ayr with the ball for large parts of that previous game but suffered at the hands of the visitors’ pack and defence. And there was more of the same when the the home team got their chance in this game, recycling endlessly on the visitors’ line after a tap penalty from scrum-half Calum Reidy took them within inches.
It produced nothing on the try front, not even a realistic half-chance, despite a succession of further penalties, and eventually they settled for a Gavin Cruikshank penalty – only to be given a quick lesson in the art of converting pressure into points.
Ayr fought their way up to the home 22, earned a line-out and the sheer power of the forwards drove the maul over the line, with hooker Alex McGuire the one to get the ball down.
Another foray into Ayr territory proved fruitless for Hawks before Ayr again broke out and showed they are not just a set of forwards, as the backs manufactured space out left for centre Robbie Orr to race away and put wing Chris Hyde in for the try.
From Ayr’s point of view, things were soon even better as they drove another line-out maul, and a superb chip over the rush defence was collected by Orr for the fourth try with 10 minutes still left in the first half.
With full-back Scott Watson converting them all, Ayr were cruising, though the less said about the stalemate at the start of the second half the better, with both sides guilty of simple mistakes as the game started to drift with the result no longer in doubt.
Ayr eventually broke the deadlock in almost traditional manner, winning a scrum penalty, kicking for the corner and driving the maul over, with lock Ed Bloodworth the one to ground the ball. This time, however, the conversion sailed wide.
A further try for scrum-half Fergus Johnston eased Ayr even further ahead, despite the best efforts of the resolute home defence. It was enough to round out another routine win for the reigning champions as they march serenely on.

Teams –
Glasgow Hawks: E Muirhead; J Couper, C Waugh, P Kelly (C), J Hastings; G Cruickshank, C Reidy; T Banatvala, T McTeir, B Sweet, M Crumlish, M Oliver, Y Shaheen, A Rutherford, S Hastings. Subs: C Nolan, F Andersonj, A Orr, H Preston, L Brims, A Brydon, L Jarvie.
Ayr: S Watson; J Craig, J Shedden, R Orr, C Hyde; B Beattie, F Johnston; C Rae, A McGuire, C Henderson, E Bloodworth, R Jackson, S Rae, T Brown, B Macpherson (C). Subs: R Tanner, M Scott, R Sayce, J Drummond, A Stirrat, J Bova, R Sweeney.
Referee: Calum Lazenby

Scorers –
Glasgow Hawks: Pen: Cruikshank
Ayr: Tries: S Rae, McGuire, Hyde, Orr, Brown, Johnston. Cons: Watson, 5.
Scoring sequence (Glasgow Hawks first): 0-5; 0-7; 3-7; 3-12; 3-14; 3-19; 3-21; 3-26; 3-28 (h-t) 3-33; 3-38;3-40,
Player-of-the-Match: The sheer power of the forwards really won this game but they played as a unit and it would be unfair to single out any of them while Robbie Orr, at centre and then full-back, showed the backs were just as effective and he gets the prize.
Talking Point: The challenge for any team facing Ayr is how to stop them dominating the set-piece. Hawks simply couldn’t afford a handling mistake or to kick the ball out of play, knowing that ever time they did, they were going to have to do something pretty remarkable to get the ball back again.