Hawks 53 - 29 Gala: Forwards march Glasgow on

The fact that seven of eight tries scored by Glasgow Hawks in this comfortable but not completely convincing victory came from the forwards (with five scored by front-rowers and the other two through No.8 pick-ups) tells the story of this match.

Prop Gary Strain scored twice for Hawks

A disappointing season for Gala ended on a flat note, but they deserve credit for showing plenty of fighting spirit – especially when scoring three tries in the second half, long after the game was lost. The last of these touchdowns was a peach of a solo effort by second-row Rob Louw, who romped home from 40 yards, showing replacement wing Pete Steele a devilish dummy on the way.

Hawks were in command from the start, but conceded the first score when Gala scrum-half George Lott and full-back Graham Spiers worked the blindside to send Ross Combe over.

A Hagen Schulte penalty followed by tries by Tommy Spink and Grant Stewart put the hosts in the driving seat, but they then conceded a really soft score when Brendan McGroarty was caught napping as he shepherded a bouncing ball over his own try-line and Lott pounced for the score.

Gala returned that favour with interest added by first gifting Schulte an interception try, and then over-throwing a line-out for Stewart to scamper over for his second just before half-time.

Tighthead prop Gary Strain rumbled over twice in the second half, replacement hooker Cammy Fenton 
got one and Ross Miller finished off the scoring for the hosts.

In between all that, Spiers and Edinburgh pro Sasa Tofilau showed their eye for a gap when crossing for Gala, and Louw’s long-range effort was almost certainly the moment of the match.