The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[Jock42]

Young should have backed himself there.

[KingBlairhorn]

Young should have backed himself there.

Should have been 3-21. A bit of a sliding doors moment as they are now chucking it away.

[Jock42]

Young should have backed himself there.

Should have been 3-21. A bit of a sliding doors moment as they are now chucking it away.

Just as well Venter knows how to score.

[I like neeps]

The only reason Jaco van der Walt got a cap was to expand the player pool before the rules changed.

[weegie01]

Unless there is a miracle, this is one Edinburgh lost rather than Ospreys won. Ospreys have been dogged, but Young should have scored, and as for the charge down, words fail me.

[KingBlairhorn]

Absolutely threw that away. Terrible game management.

[Jock42]

No composure in that last 10 to 15.

Would have chucked Savala on too.

[Slick]

Only saw bits, mainly the bits where Jaco was demonstrating why Edinburgh are trying a few folk at 10.

[mos_eisely_]

Baffling that Savala remained on the bench. Criminal by Jaco to get the conversion charged down and also a kick a few minutes later which cost us 10-15m of territory.

Cheap penalties from Mesu (although still don't understand why folk thought it should be yellow) and also Muncaster.

Two poor kicks to touch from Boffelli, so at least we know he's human. But overall there was a lack of intensity from us in the second half.

Yes the red wasn't great but it was ours to lose

[clydecloggie]

Nevertheless the URC table looks pretty good if you’re Scottish. Has it ever happened before that Edinburgh and Glasgow are in the top spots together?

[Monk]

Also, very good to hear strong words in captaincy from Brown. There was a head clash that caused Kebble to leave the field, possibly with concussion.

Despite the Connacht player hitting the contact area completely upright the ref saw nothing wrong. It was definitely completely accidental, but Brown said something along the lines “I don’t care if it was accidental, that’s not how the framework works”. He was absolutely right and the ref should know that. Accidental or not, it was a head on head clash with minimal mitigation. If you don’t want it to happen, tackle low. In previous years/games the Scottish player would meekly accept the decision and say nothing.

just a weird decision by Nic Berry given the current protocols. Then again I guess he has being having wetdreams about headbutting a saffa over the last year.

[I like neeps]

Didn't see Redpath Vs Quins but I saw he went 80 minutes. Tuipolotu motm, Hutchinson with a good try and good reports and Johnson not released so in the driving seat. Great dilemma for Townsend. I think Tuipolotu is a better option as a carrying 12 than Johnson I must say.

[weegie01]

Nevertheless the URC table looks pretty good if you’re Scottish. Has it ever happened before that Edinburgh and Glasgow are in the top spots together?

Doubt it.

But it is a marathon not a sprint and Edinburgh have a run of hard matches coming up, mostly away.

[westport]

Didn't see Redpath Vs Quins but I saw he went 80 minutes. Tuipolotu motm, Hutchinson with a good try and good reports and Johnson not released so in the driving seat. Great dilemma for Townsend. I think Tuipolotu is a better option as a carrying 12 than Johnson I must say.

Redpath was not too bad, he had a couple of good breaks.

[Slick]

Didn't see Redpath Vs Quins but I saw he went 80 minutes. Tuipolotu motm, Hutchinson with a good try and good reports and Johnson not released so in the driving seat. Great dilemma for Townsend. I think Tuipolotu is a better option as a carrying 12 than Johnson I must say.

Tuipolotu has got better as the season has gone on, but he’s not in the same class as Sam Johnson imo

[I like neeps]

Didn't see Redpath Vs Quins but I saw he went 80 minutes. Tuipolotu motm, Hutchinson with a good try and good reports and Johnson not released so in the driving seat. Great dilemma for Townsend. I think Tuipolotu is a better option as a carrying 12 than Johnson I must say.

Tuipolotu has got better as the season has gone on, but he’s not in the same class as Sam Johnson imo

I agree I like Johnson a lot. I just wonder if Tuipolotu challenges defenses more. Scotland lack ball carriers and he is a good ball carrier.

[Slick]

Didn't see Redpath Vs Quins but I saw he went 80 minutes. Tuipolotu motm, Hutchinson with a good try and good reports and Johnson not released so in the driving seat. Great dilemma for Townsend. I think Tuipolotu is a better option as a carrying 12 than Johnson I must say.

Tuipolotu has got better as the season has gone on, but he’s not in the same class as Sam Johnson imo

I agree I like Johnson a lot. I just wonder if Tuipolotu challenges defenses more. Scotland lack ball carriers and he is a good ball carrier.

The amount he has come on it wouldn’t surprise me if he eventually does do that, and we could di with that in our armoury, but my feeling is he would get exposed at the moment

On another point, I switched over quickly earlier and saw a Scottish born winger score for Sale. Apparently played for England U20’s. Who he?

[Yr Alban]

Still pissed off with Embra for ruining what was a near-perfect sporting weekend for me. Hearts won, Hibs lost, Ran2ers let in an injury time equaliser, Glasgow won away. Only Celtic’s last minute winner was spoiling things. But Embra managed to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Again.

[KingBlairhorn]

Tuipolotu has got better as the season has gone on, but he’s not in the same class as Sam Johnson imo

I agree I like Johnson a lot. I just wonder if Tuipolotu challenges defenses more. Scotland lack ball carriers and he is a good ball carrier.

The amount he has come on it wouldn’t surprise me if he eventually does do that, and we could di with that in our armoury, but my feeling is he would get exposed at the moment

On another point, I switched over quickly earlier and saw a Scottish born winger score for Sale. Apparently played for England U20’s. Who he?

Roebuck? Very much in the Fraser Dingwall stable (both born in Inverness, neither shown much interest in Scotland). I would file him for now alongside Bevan Rodd, qualified but wants to be English which is obviously his prerogative. There is always the chance for a switch though until such time as they commit one way or another.

[Yr Alban]

I agree I like Johnson a lot. I just wonder if Tuipolotu challenges defenses more. Scotland lack ball carriers and he is a good ball carrier.

The amount he has come on it wouldn’t surprise me if he eventually does do that, and we could di with that in our armoury, but my feeling is he would get exposed at the moment

On another point, I switched over quickly earlier and saw a Scottish born winger score for Sale. Apparently played for England U20’s. Who he?

Roebuck? Very much in the Fraser Dingwall stable (both born in Inverness, neither shown much interest in Scotland). I would file him for now alongside Bevan Rodd, qualified but wants to be English which is obviously his prerogative. There is always the chance for a switch though until such time as they commit one way or another.

Dingwall was born in Cambridge, to be fair.

It’s a bit frustrating that we get so much shit for picking players who weren’t born in Scotland, when there is a growing list of players who were who seem to want to play for other countries. That’s the reality of modern rugby, and entirely fair enough, but we get disproportionate grief over it.

It’s very important for young players in England to preserve their EQP status, of course, so you never really know what their true feelings are until they declare one way or the other. It was telling that Redpath declared for us shortly after getting a full fat pro contract.

In other news: Bayliss is out of the England game with concussion. Duhan and Kyle Rowe are with the squad and Maitland back with Sarries. Bhatti has withdrawn and been replaced by Allan Dell, which is inexplicable. Firstly, I didn’t think Dell was anywhere near the squad these days, and secondly, WTF has Kebble said to Toony to end up as 5th choice?

[I like neeps]

We are quite bad for it though. 50% ish of our squad were born outside Scotland. It's hard to believe any other T1 has that level. And sure in that 50% you have guys like Ashman and Watson who were always Scottish growing up but I'll suggest they're the minority.

And sure there's a lot of factors but it doesn't speak to a very strong domestic game (which we all know to be the case anyway).

[clydecloggie]

In other news: Bayliss is out of the England game with concussion. Duhan and Kyle Rowe are with the squad and Maitland back with Sarries. Bhatti has withdrawn and been replaced by Allan Dell, which is inexplicable. Firstly, I didn’t think Dell was anywhere near the squad these days, and secondly, WTF has Kebble said to Toony to end up as 5th choice?

Didn't Kebble fail an HIA in the Connacht game?

[Yr Alban]

In other news: Bayliss is out of the England game with concussion. Duhan and Kyle Rowe are with the squad and Maitland back with Sarries. Bhatti has withdrawn and been replaced by Allan Dell, which is inexplicable. Firstly, I didn’t think Dell was anywhere near the squad these days, and secondly, WTF has Kebble said to Toony to end up as 5th choice?

Didn't Kebble fail an HIA in the Connacht game?

Apparently so. Hadn’t picked that up, but someone on FB told me

[Yr Alban]

We are quite bad for it though. 50% ish of our squad were born outside Scotland. It's hard to believe any other T1 has that level. And sure in that 50% you have guys like Ashman and Watson who were always Scottish growing up but I'll suggest they're the minority.

And sure there's a lot of factors but it doesn't speak to a very strong domestic game (which we all know to be the case anyway).

I know. And it’s partly because we don’t have a strong domestic game, yes. But I also think it doesn’t help that rugby in Scotland is a very middle-class game everywhere but the Borders (whose population is small).

Highly educated people are more likely, in Scotland anyway, to be exposed to and/or play rugby at a young age. But highly educated people are also more likely to move around for work, and in the UK the brain drain is relentlessly southward and towards London. I think this contributes significantly to the number of players we have who qualify by parentage. Ireland, as a separate country, doesn’t have the same issue (plus rugby is the only professional sports), and in Wales the game isn’t a middle class preserve.

[clydecloggie]

In other news: Bayliss is out of the England game with concussion. Duhan and Kyle Rowe are with the squad and Maitland back with Sarries. Bhatti has withdrawn and been replaced by Allan Dell, which is inexplicable. Firstly, I didn’t think Dell was anywhere near the squad these days, and secondly, WTF has Kebble said to Toony to end up as 5th choice?

Didn't Kebble fail an HIA in the Connacht game?

Apparently so. Hadn’t picked that up, but someone on FB told me

Ah, the Ivermectin route.

[I like neeps]

We are quite bad for it though. 50% ish of our squad were born outside Scotland. It's hard to believe any other T1 has that level. And sure in that 50% you have guys like Ashman and Watson who were always Scottish growing up but I'll suggest they're the minority.

And sure there's a lot of factors but it doesn't speak to a very strong domestic game (which we all know to be the case anyway).

I know. And it’s partly because we don’t have a strong domestic game, yes. But I also think it doesn’t help that rugby in Scotland is a very middle-class game everywhere but the Borders (whose population is small).

Highly educated people are more likely, in Scotland anyway, to be exposed to and/or play rugby at a young age. But highly educated people are also more likely to move around for work, and in the UK the brain drain is relentlessly southward and towards London. I think this contributes significantly to the number of players we have who qualify by parentage. Ireland, as a separate country, doesn’t have the same issue (plus rugby is the only professional sports), and in Wales the game isn’t a middle class preserve.

No sure. It is what it is unfortunately. And whilst expanding the player base is great we're in the very bad position of being just a bit less reliant on English rugby pathways than our own.

[Big D]

We are quite bad for it though. 50% ish of our squad were born outside Scotland. It's hard to believe any other T1 has that level. And sure in that 50% you have guys like Ashman and Watson who were always Scottish growing up but I'll suggest they're the minority.

And sure there's a lot of factors but it doesn't speak to a very strong domestic game (which we all know to be the case anyway).

I know. And it’s partly because we don’t have a strong domestic game, yes. But I also think it doesn’t help that rugby in Scotland is a very middle-class game everywhere but the Borders (whose population is small).

Highly educated people are more likely, in Scotland anyway, to be exposed to and/or play rugby at a young age. But highly educated people are also more likely to move around for work, and in the UK the brain drain is relentlessly southward and towards London. I think this contributes significantly to the number of players we have who qualify by parentage. Ireland, as a separate country, doesn’t have the same issue (plus rugby is the only professional sports), and in Wales the game isn’t a middle class preserve.

We will always play the best available players though (as we should) so it will always be an "issue" to those who want to make it such.

Same as people leaving the borders for the Edinburgh clubs has been partly down to the unis then jobs.

[Yr Alban]

So, who else has The Fear?

We could challenge for this title, and arguably on paper we should (never mind the odds being offered), but equally we could end up facing off with Italy for the spoon.

I keep hoping that we’ll have a season where our current crop of players just click. Have a horrible suspicion perhaps it was last year and we didn’t capitalise. However, we’ve traditionally done well in the aftermath of a Lions tour where we had good representation, so fingers crossed.

[Slick]

I think it’s going to be a good year.

I’m feeling confident about England, think we will beat Wales and Italy. France could be a cracking game and there is no reason we can’t win that.

Just can’t see us beating Ireland in Dublin in a million years at the moment.

[Yr Alban]

I think it’s going to be a good year.

I’m feeling confident about England, think we will beat Wales and Italy. France could be a cracking game and there is no reason we can’t win that.

Just can’t see us beating Ireland in Dublin in a million years at the moment.

Maybe Ireland will have a player sent off. OK, two players.

[robmatic]

So, who else has The Fear?

We could challenge for this title, and arguably on paper we should (never mind the odds being offered), but equally we could end up facing off with Italy for the spoon.

I keep hoping that we’ll have a season where our current crop of players just click. Have a horrible suspicion perhaps it was last year and we didn’t capitalise. However, we’ve traditionally done well in the aftermath of a Lions tour where we had good representation, so fingers crossed.

Realistically a lot of the games could just go either way and there might not be a lot of difference points-wise between winning and coming 5th. However, even in the crushing disappointment scenario, I can still see this team scoring tries and playing some decent rugby.

[Jock42]

I think it’s going to be a good year.

I'm filled with some trepidation that they're going to make arses of themselves after all the hype. This is the complete reverse to my norm so it must be a GS year.

[Slick]

I think it’s going to be a good year.

I'm filled with some trepidation that they're going to make arses of themselves after all the hype. This is the complete reverse to my norm so it must be a GS year.

I’m determined not to use the old tropes until after the first game

[Tichtheid]

This just came up, I remember this so well

40 years ago, fuckin forty years ago!

[I like neeps]

So, who else has The Fear?

We could challenge for this title, and arguably on paper we should (never mind the odds being offered), but equally we could end up facing off with Italy for the spoon.

I keep hoping that we’ll have a season where our current crop of players just click. Have a horrible suspicion perhaps it was last year and we didn’t capitalise. However, we’ve traditionally done well in the aftermath of a Lions tour where we had good representation, so fingers crossed.

Realistically a lot of the games could just go either way and there might not be a lot of difference points-wise between winning and coming 5th. However, even in the crushing disappointment scenario, I can still see this team scoring tries and playing some decent rugby.

Didn't play well in autumn and did quite well. So I'm hopeful if we raise the level for the six nations we'll be very good.

I think this year, next year and the year after are Finn and Hogg's peak years. If we're going to challenge it has to be with them as tip of the spear.

[Biffer]

So, who else has The Fear?

We could challenge for this title, and arguably on paper we should (never mind the odds being offered), but equally we could end up facing off with Italy for the spoon.

I keep hoping that we’ll have a season where our current crop of players just click. Have a horrible suspicion perhaps it was last year and we didn’t capitalise. However, we’ve traditionally done well in the aftermath of a Lions tour where we had good representation, so fingers crossed.

Realistically a lot of the games could just go either way and there might not be a lot of difference points-wise between winning and coming 5th. However, even in the crushing disappointment scenario, I can still see this team scoring tries and playing some decent rugby.

Didn't play well in autumn and did quite well. So I'm hopeful if we raise the level for the six nations we'll be very good.

I think this year, next year and the year after are Finn and Hogg's peak years. If we're going to challenge it has to be with them as tip of the spear.

Yes, and then again no. BOD was the headline once in a generation talent that spearheaded Irelands journey to become a top level side winning championships and beating the All Blacks. Ireland won the six nations twice with him in the team, second time he was 35. It's not unreasonable to say they've been more successful since he retired. It's the drive these players give across the whole structure that's the real change and I think / hope we'll see that in Scotland too. Players who are more accustomed to competing with and winning against the big sides are more common now than they were when Hogg came into the side and the entire team was used to losing.

[Big D]

I think we'll come 3rd.

[Tichtheid]

We have England at home, Wales away, France at home, Italy away, Ireland away.

England seem to be in transition, this is a huge game, if we win we are off at the races. Wales are missing a few, though this is the 6N and Wales have done very well in this tournament. I don't see them as being as strong as they have been.
France have Ireland that same weekend, so they could be coming to Edinburgh off a home defeat which would shake them. We will need a big game from the pack and to keep Dupont going backwards. It's not impossible that we go to Italy with three wins under our belt.
Italy are a side packed with youth and inexperience, they are away to France and home to England before we go there. I can see them staring down the barrel when we get to Rome.

By the time we are off to Dublin Ireland could be on a momentous roll or they could be licking their wounds, they play in Paris and London this year, the final round at Lansdowne, sorry, the Aviva could be a grand slam decider.

It could also be a last ditch attempt for us to avoid a whitewash,

I have the annual mood swings of hope/fear, though I genuinely think we are stronger and have more depth this year.
(as I do every year)

[dkm57]

I'm managing my expectations, I do think we're as strong as we've ever been but bitter experience says we could be going into the final facing champagne or a sh!t sandwich. This far out I just don't know probably somewhere in between.

[Biffer]

I'm managing my expectations, I do think we're as strong as we've ever been but bitter experience says we could be going into the final facing champagne or a sh!t sandwich. This far out I just don't know probably somewhere in between.

That's where I am as well.