GLASGOW HAWKS are in danger of getting cut loose at the foot of the Premiership table after Hawick came good in the second half and took them to the cleaners. What made it strange was that until then there had not been a lot to choose between the teams, but it turned around in the space of a couple of minutes, and then there was only one winner.
For Hawick, it may have been patchy, particularly in the opening 50 minutes, but they have a pattern that means big forwards punching holes and backs running through the gaps. Once they got that right, they pulled clear.
“In patches, it was certainly what we were looking for,” said Graham Hogg, the head coach, afterwards. “Performance-wise, especially in that the second half, we started to impose our game more on them and play the blueprint we are looking to play.
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“There have been patches in every single game but we certainly saw more of it in that performance. Coming off the back of a really poor performance last week, it was all about getting a result, so I’m delighted to come away with five points in the manner that we did.
“The boys put in a lot of time and effort. Scotty MacLeod [forwards coach] does a lot of work with the pack and the boys really took it to them up front. The front-row, Fraser Renwick, Nikki Little, Shawn Muir, were outstanding again, and then we had young boys like Hughie Donaldson in behind and making a massive difference.
“And then there’s Andrew Mitchell. He’s been pretty down on his performances this season. That was the real Andrew Mitchell back in that game there today.”
The game had been billed as a basement battle and the opening exchanges showed one reason why. Passes missed their targets and openings fell by the wayside as a result.
Once the teams settled, however, it was Hawks who were first out of the blocks as Euan Muirhead claimed an early contender for the solo try of the season when he collected a kick just outside his own 22, jinked round the approaching defenders, raced down the touchline, and had the strength to ride the despairing cover tackle to make the line.
Hawks were looking dangerous with skipper Ryan Flett escaping own on the right wing but unable to find support, but Hawick held firm – until they didn’t. There had been plenty of trademark aggression in their defence until suddenly they slipped off two tackles and Craig Nolan, the flanker, simply barged through to score, with fly-half David McCartney adding the extras.
When Hawick were able to hold onto the ball and recycle it through their big forwards, they were asking all sorts of questions and they soon set up camp in the home 22, most of the pack having a go before lock Tom Huggan barged over.
Muirhead was unfortunate not to set up a third try but again his team-mates dropped the ball. Hawks then made a mess of a line-out five metres out to squander another chance and it soon came back to bite them.
Mitchell, the influential centre, burst clear from his own half into the Hawks’ 22 and when Flett threw himself at an attempted interception he was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on. Hawick tapped and drove for the line, with Little getting over and full-back Harry Wear converting to level the scores.
That certainly lifted Hawick, who were starting to find gaps all over the field ,and soon Hawks were down to 13 men, with Nolan joining his captain in the bin for hands in a ruck under his posts.
How the visitors didn’t take advantage is a bit of a mystery, but somehow the home line stayed intact during that time with two men short despite several clean breaks from Hawick.
The home side were back up to 14 before the Greens eventually made their pressure pay, with Ronan McKean slipping through tackles near the touchline and the support flooding up behind him to send No 8 Jae Linton over to claim the score that gave the visitors the half-time lead.
Hawks went on the attack early in the second half and, though their maul was held short of the line, they flung the ball out to forwards coming round the corner and replacement prop Kyle Shannahan crashed over.
Suddenly, though, Hawks were struggling. A series of penalties took Hawick into their 22, where the tried-and-trusted tactic of simply handing possession to the big forwards worked again, with Muir, the loose-head, the one to go over this time.
Good was soon better as scrum-half Liam Douglas spotted space on the left and his big cut-out pass gave McKean space to cross for the fifth try.
That gave Hawick the cushion they needed as they pressed for a sixth try against stubborn Hawks resistance, while the home side made a mess of just about every chance they had to escape and put pressure on the visitors. Even when they got to the Green line, the maul collapsed and they were turned over – it was that sort of game for them.
As though to underline the point, Hawks somehow managed to butcher an attempt to pass down the line. Hawick collected the loose ball and sent Mitchell racing down the touchline on the other side of the field to score. Then roughly the same sequence played out in the final action of the game, this time McKean crossing. The Green win was no more than they deserved.
It all left home coach Phil Smith perplexed as to how his players had underperformed so badly.
“It was horrible … it was it was genuinely weird,” he said. “We drew level at 19-all, and then I really don’t know what happened. It’s hard to put a finger on one thing, but it’s clearly not good enough. Whatever it was, whatever we were displaying out there was just appalling to watch.
“Our forwards were sort of coping in between the 22s, but Hawick were very strong when they got further up the field. After the second minute, I can’t remember a moment when we had any kind of level of possession or quality of possession to allow us to do anything or give the backs an opportunity to play.
“At the end they were just trying to get a fourth try – I don’t see panic in those mistakes, I just see rubbish rugby.”
Which is a brutal assessment of where they are, but the fact is that four games into the season and already it is crisis time at the Hawks club.

Teams –
Glasgow Hawks: E Muirhead; R Flett©, H Provan, J Pinkerton, J Couper; D McCartney, G Johnstone; D Cruickshank, D Casserly, J Campbell, A Orr, M Crumlish, C Nolan, Y Shaheen, S Hastings. Subs used: T McTeir, K Shannahan, A Young, A Syme, O Godwin, G Cruickshanks, M Waugh.
Hawick: H Wear; J Vevers, R Stanger, A Mitchell, R McKean; C Riddell, L Bouglas; S Muir, F Renwick©, N Little, H Donaldson, T Huggan, C Sutherland, S Graham, J Linton. Subs used: J Brown, R Huntley, J Henry, M Swailes, N Vevers, G Welsh, Z Glanville.
Referee: David Young

Scorers –
Glasgow Hawks: Tries: Muirhead, Nolan, Shannahan; Cons: McCartney 2.
Hawick: Tries: Huggan, Little, Linton, Muir, McKean 2, Mitchell; Cons: Wear 4.
Scoring sequence (Glasgow Hawks first): 5-0; 10-0; 12-0; 12-5; 12-10; 12-12; 12-17; 12-19 (h-t) 17-19; 19-19; 19-24; 19-29; 19-31; 19-36; 19-38; 19-43.

Yellow cards –
Glasgow Hawks: Flett (18 mins)