The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[Scottish Caley Fan]

I wouldn't say no to Mikey Blair as I like his gung-ho attacking style of play but I do agree that he should be the man to replace whoever replaces Townsend next November.

I know there won't be a shortage of candidates but my number 1 choice would be Stuart Lancaster if he's not snapped up by Racing or Glasgow before then, in which case I would then want perhaps Jamie Joseph or Ronan O'Gara (yes I know he's unrealistic but I can dream surely haha).

[Slick]

I wouldn't say no to Mikey Blair as I like his gung-ho attacking style of play but I do agree that he should be the man to replace whoever replaces Townsend next November.

I know there won't be a shortage of candidates but my number 1 choice would be Stuart Lancaster if he's not snapped up by Racing or Glasgow before then, in which case I would then want perhaps Jamie Joseph or Ronan O'Gara (yes I know he's unrealistic but I can dream surely haha).

Jamie Joseph would be a very interesting proposition. It's probably an outdated notion but I always feel that Scotland needs either a Scottish or NZ coach, a coach that gets Scotland and gets Scottish rugby, which New Zealander's generally seem to.

I like Lancaster, but given it seems like his position as head coach of England was seriously undermined by him caving to pressure and not being able to stand up to other interests, it would worry me dropping him into the middle of Scottish rugby with our CEO, responsibility for pro rugby, Super 6 etc.

A leftfield option in my mind might be Rob Baxter. I know he's reluctant to leave Exeter for the England job, in some part, because of conflicts of interest he see's, but maybe Scotland is far enough removed from that.

[I like neeps]

I wouldn't say no to Mikey Blair as I like his gung-ho attacking style of play but I do agree that he should be the man to replace whoever replaces Townsend next November.

I know there won't be a shortage of candidates but my number 1 choice would be Stuart Lancaster if he's not snapped up by Racing or Glasgow before then, in which case I would then want perhaps Jamie Joseph or Ronan O'Gara (yes I know he's unrealistic but I can dream surely haha).

Jamie Joseph would be a very interesting proposition. It's probably an outdated notion but I always feel that Scotland needs either a Scottish or NZ coach, a coach that gets Scotland and gets Scottish rugby, which New Zealander's generally seem to.

I like Lancaster, but given it seems like his position as head coach of England was seriously undermined by him caving to pressure and not being able to stand up to other interests, it would worry me dropping him into the middle of Scottish rugby with our CEO, responsibility for pro rugby, Super 6 etc.

A leftfield option in my mind might be Rob Baxter. I know he's reluctant to leave Exeter for the England job, in some part, because of conflicts of interest he see's, but maybe Scotland is far enough removed from that.

Baxter is more a DoR than coach his success comes from being maybe the best squad builder in the premiership. Not sure how much that translates to a national job.

Lancaster did play for Scotland A. I think he'd get it. There's absolutely no danger he's getting snapped up by Glasgow before then. If he was interested he'd have been at Scotstoun for preseason this week.

TH is right about Blair. One good season so far but he needs a good amount of time. I think Townsend should have gone to England or France.

[Yr Alban]

Put me firmly in the ‘way too soon for Blair’ camp. In retrospect, all of us who said it was too soon for Toony, and we should have kept Cotter (probably close to all of us?) were right. ‘Losing’ Toony to a French or an English club wasn’t a risk, it would have been the best thing for his development as a coach.

[Slick]

Put me firmly in the ‘way too soon for Blair’ camp. In retrospect, all of us who said it was too soon for Toony, and we should have kept Cotter (probably close to all of us?) were right. ‘Losing’ Toony to a French or an English club wasn’t a risk, it would have been the best thing for his development as a coach.

You are right, it was a crazy notion that saying no at the time meant we would lose him forever, of course he would want to coach Scotland later.

On balance I’ve enjoyed the Toony years and would like him to now go off and coach abroad for a few years and come back for another shot in 6/7 years

[Big D]

I haven't watched all the games back yet. Are we any further forward I'm knowing how ABZ is setting up the attacking patterns rather than relying on individual players doing something?

[Biffer]

TAKE ALL OF THIS WITH A BIG PINCH OF SALT, DONT BOOK ANY TRAVEL, IM NOT LIABLE YOU DAFT FUCKERS.

URC have put a wee vid up with a fuzzy view of next years fixtures, allegedly. Edinburghs schedule appears to be, through my grainy eyes, exactly the same as last year except the Leinster game is moved to the last week of the season, and presumably with all home and away switched. So looking at all the other relevant dates, including Heineken and Scotland games, I think Edinburghs schedule will be

Scarlets A 16/9
Benetton H 23/9
Stormers A 30/9
Bulls A 7/10
Zebre H 14/10
Dragons A 21/10
(Sco v Aus 29/10)
(Sco v Fij 5/11)
(Sco v NZ 13/11)
(Sco v Arg 19/11)
Benetton A 1/12
Saracens A 9/12
Castres H 16/12
Glasgow H 23/12
Glasgow A 30/12
Cardiff A 6/1
Castres A 13/1
Saracens H 20/1
Ospreys H 27/1
(Eng v Sco 4/2)
(Sco v Wales 11/2)
Munster H 18/2
(Fra v Sco 26/2)
Connacht A 4/3
(Sco v Ire 12/3)
(Sco v Ita 19/3)
Sharks H 25/3
HEC R16 31/3
HEC QFs 7/4
Lions H 14/4
Zebre A 21/4
HEC SF 28/4
Ulster A 5/5
Leinster H 12/5
HEC Final 20/5
URC QFs 27/5
URC SFs 3/6
URC Final 10/6

All of those dates are Fridays, obviously could be any point that weekend.

There may be a rest week after the six nations in which case all URC weekend move back one spot and the final is on the 16th June, that’d be the same weekend as the Premiership I think.

[GrahamWa]

TAKE ALL OF THIS WITH A BIG PINCH OF SALT, DONT BOOK ANY TRAVEL, IM NOT LIABLE YOU DAFT FUCKERS.

URC have put a wee vid up with a fuzzy view of next years fixtures, allegedly. Edinburghs schedule appears to be, through my grainy eyes, exactly the same as last year except the Leinster game is moved to the last week of the season, and presumably with all home and away switched. So looking at all the other relevant dates, including Heineken and Scotland games, I think Edinburghs schedule will be

Scarlets A 16/9
Benetton H 23/9
Stormers A 30/9
Bulls A 7/10
Zebre H 14/10
Dragons A 21/10
(Sco v Aus 29/10)
(Sco v Fij 5/11)
(Sco v NZ 13/11)
(Sco v Arg 19/11)
Benetton A 1/12
Saracens A 9/12
Castres H 16/12
Glasgow H 23/12
Glasgow A 30/12
Cardiff A 6/1
Castres A 13/1
Saracens H 20/1
Ospreys H 27/1
(Eng v Sco 4/2)
(Sco v Wales 11/2)
Munster H 18/2
(Fra v Sco 26/2)
Connacht A 4/3
(Sco v Ire 12/3)
(Sco v Ita 19/3)
Sharks H 25/3
HEC R16 31/3
HEC QFs 7/4
Lions H 14/4
Zebre A 21/4
HEC SF 28/4
Ulster A 5/5
Leinster H 12/5
HEC Final 20/5
URC QFs 27/5
URC SFs 3/6
URC Final 10/6

All of those dates are Fridays, obviously could be any point that weekend.

There may be a rest week after the six nations in which case all URC weekend move back one spot and the final is on the 16th June, that’d be the same weekend as the Premiership I think.

I think that is the graphic from last season.

[Slick]

You fucking what? I’ve just booked my flights

[Biffer]

TAKE ALL OF THIS WITH A BIG PINCH OF SALT, DONT BOOK ANY TRAVEL, IM NOT LIABLE YOU DAFT FUCKERS.

URC have put a wee vid up with a fuzzy view of next years fixtures, allegedly. Edinburghs schedule appears to be, through my grainy eyes, exactly the same as last year except the Leinster game is moved to the last week of the season, and presumably with all home and away switched. So looking at all the other relevant dates, including Heineken and Scotland games, I think Edinburghs schedule will be

Scarlets A 16/9
Benetton H 23/9
Stormers A 30/9
Bulls A 7/10
Zebre H 14/10
Dragons A 21/10
(Sco v Aus 29/10)
(Sco v Fij 5/11)
(Sco v NZ 13/11)
(Sco v Arg 19/11)
Benetton A 1/12
Saracens A 9/12
Castres H 16/12
Glasgow H 23/12
Glasgow A 30/12
Cardiff A 6/1
Castres A 13/1
Saracens H 20/1
Ospreys H 27/1
(Eng v Sco 4/2)
(Sco v Wales 11/2)
Munster H 18/2
(Fra v Sco 26/2)
Connacht A 4/3
(Sco v Ire 12/3)
(Sco v Ita 19/3)
Sharks H 25/3
HEC R16 31/3
HEC QFs 7/4
Lions H 14/4
Zebre A 21/4
HEC SF 28/4
Ulster A 5/5
Leinster H 12/5
HEC Final 20/5
URC QFs 27/5
URC SFs 3/6
URC Final 10/6

All of those dates are Fridays, obviously could be any point that weekend.

There may be a rest week after the six nations in which case all URC weekend move back one spot and the final is on the 16th June, that’d be the same weekend as the Premiership I think.

I think that is the graphic from last season.

Except Edinburgh Leinster game is shifted to the end of the season.

[GrahamWa]

TAKE ALL OF THIS WITH A BIG PINCH OF SALT, DONT BOOK ANY TRAVEL, IM NOT LIABLE YOU DAFT FUCKERS.

URC have put a wee vid up with a fuzzy view of next years fixtures, allegedly. Edinburghs schedule appears to be, through my grainy eyes, exactly the same as last year except the Leinster game is moved to the last week of the season, and presumably with all home and away switched. So looking at all the other relevant dates, including Heineken and Scotland games, I think Edinburghs schedule will be

Scarlets A 16/9
Benetton H 23/9
Stormers A 30/9
Bulls A 7/10
Zebre H 14/10
Dragons A 21/10
(Sco v Aus 29/10)
(Sco v Fij 5/11)
(Sco v NZ 13/11)
(Sco v Arg 19/11)
Benetton A 1/12
Saracens A 9/12
Castres H 16/12
Glasgow H 23/12
Glasgow A 30/12
Cardiff A 6/1
Castres A 13/1
Saracens H 20/1
Ospreys H 27/1
(Eng v Sco 4/2)
(Sco v Wales 11/2)
Munster H 18/2
(Fra v Sco 26/2)
Connacht A 4/3
(Sco v Ire 12/3)
(Sco v Ita 19/3)
Sharks H 25/3
HEC R16 31/3
HEC QFs 7/4
Lions H 14/4
Zebre A 21/4
HEC SF 28/4
Ulster A 5/5
Leinster H 12/5
HEC Final 20/5
URC QFs 27/5
URC SFs 3/6
URC Final 10/6

All of those dates are Fridays, obviously could be any point that weekend.

There may be a rest week after the six nations in which case all URC weekend move back one spot and the final is on the 16th June, that’d be the same weekend as the Premiership I think.

I think that is the graphic from last season.

Except Edinburgh Leinster game is shifted to the end of the season.

That's right and Glasgow had Munster. These were changed for a season "finale", where Embra played the Weeg.

[Biffer]

I think that is the graphic from last season.

Except Edinburgh Leinster game is shifted to the end of the season.

That's right and Glasgow had Munster. These were changed for a season "finale", where Embra played the Weeg.

The Glasgow game was canned for covid, it wasn’t some kind of swap.

[robmatic]

Except Edinburgh Leinster game is shifted to the end of the season.

That's right and Glasgow had Munster. These were changed for a season "finale", where Embra played the Weeg.

The Glasgow game was canned for covid, it wasn’t some kind of swap.

There was a swap, they brought the Leinster game forward so that the derbies could be played at the end of the season.

https://www.leinsterrugby.ie/leinster-r ... scheduled/

With Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby originally due to play Munster Rugby and Leinster Rugby in Round 18, those games will now be played on February 11 to allow the postponed Munster Rugby v Leinster Rugby (R8) and Edinburgh Rugby v Glasgow Warriors (R9) games to take place in May on the final day of the regular season.

[Tichtheid]

I was just watching an interview with Wes Goosen, it is the usual thing from a player brought into a new club, but then I watched his highlights video, and with all the caveats applied to a highlights reel, I'm getting very excited about next season (I do this every year right enough, even in the Solomons era). However our first choice match day squad will be something along the lines of

Schoeman, Cherry, Nel, Gilchrist, Skinner, Ritchie, Watson, Mata
Vellacott, Kinghorn, Goosen, Dean, Bennett, Graham, Boffelli
McInally, Venter, deBruin, Hodgson, Crosbie, Pyrgos, Lang, vdWalt

second team

Williams, McBurney, Atalifo, Sykes, Young, Muncaster, Boyle, Haining,
Sheil, Savala, Hoyland, Hutchinson, Currie, Owsley, Immelman.
Harrison, Auterac/Courtney, Gamble, Phillips, Kunavula, Blain, then we are into the academy lads, of whom I know nothing in the backs, except Jacob Henry is with Scotland 7s, iirc.

I heard that Harri Morris has moved into hooker from flanker, and we've seen Rudi Brown and Jamie Campbell already in Edinburgh colours.
My choices are open to debate obviously, and there are many in that second team who step right into the first choice and we lose practically nothing, even from the bench guys there, the likes of Kunavula and Phillips are good players right now, HArrison is going to be very good

[robmatic]

I was just watching an interview with Wes Goosen, it is the usual thing from a player brought into a new club, but then I watched his highlights video, and with all the caveats applied to a highlights reel, I'm getting very excited about next season (I do this every year right enough, even in the Solomons era).

He does look a decent player but to temper your enthusiasm slightly, he's replacing Moyano who I thought was very good for us so perhaps might not be the biggest of impacts.

I think Skinner is the signing that adds most to the team, he's a bit different to the other locks and has excellent experience.

[Tichtheid]

I was just watching an interview with Wes Goosen, it is the usual thing from a player brought into a new club, but then I watched his highlights video, and with all the caveats applied to a highlights reel, I'm getting very excited about next season (I do this every year right enough, even in the Solomons era).

He does look a decent player but to temper your enthusiasm slightly, he's replacing Moyano who I thought was very good for us so perhaps might not be the biggest of impacts.

I think Skinner is the signing that adds most to the team, he's a bit different to the other locks and has excellent experience.

I take your point, but I actually thought Hoyland overtook Moyano, nothing to do with Moyano, just that Damo was excellent when he came back from injury, he further proved his point against Chile. For me Hoyland is one of the players who steps in and we lose nothing.
For the record, imo, the back five of my second team pack are all very good and in that same bracket as Hoyland re stepping up, if we lose anything from the first team picks, it's not that much.

I really like Sheil, he still has a few work-ons, but his pass has a real zip and he still has time to live up to the potential. For me he personified the criticisms of Cockers - players who went into their shell due to the humiliation sessions on Monday mornings if you made a mistake.

Currie is going to be good

edit Also, Kinghorn will be starting his second season at fly half with three more internationals under his belt, that experience will hopefully serve him well.

[I like neeps]

Kinghorn should be better with the gametime but the challenge will be slightly different as with a year of game tape on him defence coaches will be working on plans and traps for him at 10. The same for Mike Blair's wider attacking game. It'll be interesting to see if they'll both kick on or this is a tricky second album.

[Tichtheid]

Kinghorn should be better with the gametime but the challenge will be slightly different as with a year of game tape on him defence coaches will be working on plans and traps for him at 10. The same for Mike Blair's wider attacking game. It'll be interesting to see if they'll both kick on or this is a tricky second album.

As per usual its all about the pack. Given him quick front-foot ball and get him running at a retreating defence and he'll destroy them.

As Mike Tyson said, everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face.

The tighter matches will be difficult, but I think he has the game to unlock good defences, where he is lacking is the game management, making far more decisions in every match, and that will become even more familiar to him as he plays more rugby at ten. He has a good attacking kicking game, he has to develop a tactical one too.

[robmatic]

Kinghorn should be better with the gametime but the challenge will be slightly different as with a year of game tape on him defence coaches will be working on plans and traps for him at 10. The same for Mike Blair's wider attacking game. It'll be interesting to see if they'll both kick on or this is a tricky second album.

You're right, it will be interesting to see how it goes. I think part of the issue with Kinghorn and his lack of control is that the team is being told to run it and have a go, which is great but we maybe don't need to be running it from our own 22 all the time. He's got the capability to leather it pretty effectively and I'm sure he would do it more often if that's what the coaches were asking.

[I like neeps]

Kinghorn should be better with the gametime but the challenge will be slightly different as with a year of game tape on him defence coaches will be working on plans and traps for him at 10. The same for Mike Blair's wider attacking game. It'll be interesting to see if they'll both kick on or this is a tricky second album.

As per usual its all about the pack. Given him quick front-foot ball and get him running at a retreating defence and he'll destroy them.

As Mike Tyson said, everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face.

The tighter matches will be difficult, but I think he has the game to unlock good defences, where he is lacking is the game management, making far more decisions in every match, and that will become even more familiar to him as he plays more rugby at ten. He has a good attacking kicking game, he has to develop a tactical one too.

The tighter matches is where he should be judged. He destroyed the bad teams last year but mostly looked unconvincing Vs good teams. If he starts to dominate the Irish and South African teams that'll be great. And there's the challenge as Edinburgh's pack faces an uphill battle Vs those guys. Should pretty easily see off the others.

[Tichtheid]

Kinghorn should be better with the gametime but the challenge will be slightly different as with a year of game tape on him defence coaches will be working on plans and traps for him at 10. The same for Mike Blair's wider attacking game. It'll be interesting to see if they'll both kick on or this is a tricky second album.

As per usual its all about the pack. Given him quick front-foot ball and get him running at a retreating defence and he'll destroy them.

As Mike Tyson said, everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face.

The tighter matches will be difficult, but I think he has the game to unlock good defences, where he is lacking is the game management, making far more decisions in every match, and that will become even more familiar to him as he plays more rugby at ten. He has a good attacking kicking game, he has to develop a tactical one too.

The tighter matches is where he should be judged. He destroyed the bad teams last year but mostly looked unconvincing Vs good teams. If he starts to dominate the Irish and South African teams that'll be great. And there's the challenge as Edinburgh's pack faces an uphill battle Vs those guys. Should pretty easily see off the others.

To be perfectly honest I can't think of one fly half who excels behind a pack that is getting beaten up.

Even when they are just below parity up front it's very difficult. You can have a fly half that will biff the ball into space and turn a defence when you are up against it. They might kick well and get you moving up the touch line, but you are then playing on an opposition throw.
Sexton and Biggar (for whom I have great respect as players) hoist the pill into the afternoon sky and rely on a good chase, that is certainly part of today's rugby but I think/hope we are moving away from that, it's just not enough.

[I like neeps]

As per usual its all about the pack. Given him quick front-foot ball and get him running at a retreating defence and he'll destroy them.

As Mike Tyson said, everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face.

The tighter matches will be difficult, but I think he has the game to unlock good defences, where he is lacking is the game management, making far more decisions in every match, and that will become even more familiar to him as he plays more rugby at ten. He has a good attacking kicking game, he has to develop a tactical one too.

The tighter matches is where he should be judged. He destroyed the bad teams last year but mostly looked unconvincing Vs good teams. If he starts to dominate the Irish and South African teams that'll be great. And there's the challenge as Edinburgh's pack faces an uphill battle Vs those guys. Should pretty easily see off the others.

To be perfectly honest I can't think of one fly half who excels behind a pack that is getting beaten up.

Even when they are just below parity up front it's very difficult. You can have a fly half that will biff the ball into space and turn a defence when you are up against it. They might kick well and get you moving up the touch line, but you are then playing on an opposition throw.
Sexton and Biggar (for whom I have great respect as players) hoist the pill into the afternoon sky and rely on a good chase, that is certainly part of today's rugby but I think/hope we are moving away from that, it's just not enough.

I agree to a point but then you can't judge a 10 if their performance is basically 'well the pack lost the battle what's he to do'.

If Edinburgh's pack achieves parity or close to parity then the onus is on Kinghorn. If they get blown off the ball and are hopeless then it's a different story. But if the pack are probably a shade under the pump having a 10 like Sexton or Biggar recognise that and have the big beats being turned around watching kick tennis is the modern strategy in rugby.

[Tichtheid]

There is narrative being built around Kinghorn, and I've read this on the Glasgow forum a few times, the one about him being decent against weak opposition but not so against stronger teams.

I don't think that stands up to scrutiny, he was good in the games against the South African sides, there was an early mistake in the playoff game against the Stormers which cost a try, but otherwise he played well enough.
His try against the Lions being disallowed was a momentum shifter iirc.

Against Munster away our pack got beaten up - The Offside Line , "Munster v Edinburgh: pack power prevails over patchy visitors"

Against Ulster, "Edinburgh’s lack of composure in the strike zone, their lack of physicality at key moments, and their propensity to invite pressure on themselves with poor discipline and crackpot decision-making, must have had Blair pulling his hair out. But they didn’t allow themselves to fall out of the game, and came back strong during the last half hour to get within a couple of inches – on two or three occasions – of scoring the try which would have snatched the win."

I'm not going to go through every game.

He is still prone to gaffs, but that is not the same thing as being a flat track bully, and the gaffs aren't usually due to pressure, which you'd think would be the case against the better sides, it's flinging simple passes on to the floor, then he'll burst open a defence with a long hard flat pass to a player in space, or do the basketball pass to put someone in or whatever.

[I like neeps]

It doesn't stand up to scrutiny if you explain away all his mistakes and poor performances as the packs fault Vs the good teams or disallowed tries or whatever right enough.

He had a very poor game Vs Munster. If you read the match report rather than just the headline you will remember his his pass that "went badly astray" (he chucked it miles behind anyone and Immelman made a try saver) and when he chucked Munster a try with a stupid misspass that hit a Munster player.

There's no shame in being a flat track bully. It's a step up on Van Der Walt. But it's essential for Edinburgh to kick on that he can dominate the best teams in the league.

[Tichtheid]

I said he is still prone to gaffs, but it’s simply not true to say he can’t do the job against the better sides.

It’s a simple statement of fact that the vast majority of rugby games are won when your pack isn’t getting a doing and it’s much harder when they are

Kinghorn plays the rugby I want to watch

[robmatic]

Kinghorn has only had one season at 10, he just hasn't had that many games against the better teams as a fly half. Don't think he's even played there against Leinster or Bulls yet. I think it's reasonable for him to need some time to step up to that kind of level of performance and there's definitely scope for him to improve with more big games under his belt.

[dpedin]

I said he is still prone to gaffs, but it’s simply not true to say he can’t do the job against the better sides.

It’s a simple statement of fact that the vast majority of rugby games are won when your pack isn’t getting a doing and it’s much harder when they are

Kinghorn plays the rugby I want to watch

Agreed - most ERC teams would be delighted to have him at 10 in their team. He is a gifted player and a physical freak but needs a bit of time to settle at 10, I expect we will see him kick on again this season. He is still young enough and if you look at the likes of Sexton playing top class rugby at 10 at the age of 37 then barring injury we might see Kinghorn at 10 for Embra and Scotland for the next 8 - 10 years. I just wish folk would get off his case and let the guy get used to playing in his new position.

[robmatic]

Mark Palmer in the Times is suggesting that Franco Smith is being lined up as new Glasgow coach.

Weegie fans will be disappointed it's not Scott Robertson etc. but seems a reasonable appointment at this stage in the World Cup cycle with not many coaches available. Arguably hasn't achieved much as a coach yet but has always had fairly challenging appointments and IIRC he did try to get Italy playing attractive rugby.

[OomStruisbaai]

[Tichtheid]

Huw Jones vid

Good player, he struggled to get a starting spot for Glasgow during his last stint there, likewise at Quins, but he was playing well this last season from what I saw.

At his best he is a hell of an attacking threat at 13, I think he'd be behind Mark Bennett and Chris Harris for that jersey at the moment.

At fullback Hogg is still the guy in charge of the jersey.

I'd love to see Jones back at his best and in the Scotland squad, he was named for the Argentina tour so he is still in the frame, but injury stopped him from staking a claim.

[Tichtheid]

...however, this does give the opportunity to watch this again, it's not just the try itself, it's the spidercam viewpoint which is so great here

Ahh, Finn,

[Biffer]

One of the things I love about that try is the way Jones absolutely does Mike Brown up like a kipper.

[Big D]

Huw Jones vid

Good player, he struggled to get a starting spot for Glasgow during his last stint there, likewise at Quins, but he was playing well this last season from what I saw.

At his best he is a hell of an attacking threat at 13, I think he'd be behind Mark Bennett and Chris Harris for that jersey at the moment.

At fullback Hogg is still the guy in charge of the jersey.

I'd love to see Jones back at his best and in the Scotland squad, he was named for the Argentina tour so he is still in the frame, but injury stopped him from staking a claim.

Behind them for the 13 shirt but potentially ahead of whichever one doesn't start for the 23 shirt.

[robmatic]

Good interview. Still surprises me that he was never picked up at school, as a pro player he looks like someone who has really obvious natural ability.

It will be interesting to see how he goes second time around at Glasgow. He's obviously really motivated by the World Cup and I think the year at Harlequins seems to have done him good in terms of being viewed as a genuine option at fullback as well as 13.

[Slick]

Could honestly just watch that pass from Finn for hours.

In that 18 month - 2 year period he was world class and would walk into any team in the world, just brilliant. I can vividly remember telling all my mates down south to watch for this guy after he was first picked for Scotland and getting lots of "wows" back. After the last year or so I think we have to find room for him on the bench, but he's so much a confidence player that I can quite easily see him pushing for the starting 13 jersey by the 6N if things go well.

[OomStruisbaai]

Good interview. Still surprises me that he was never picked up at school, as a pro player he looks like someone who has really obvious natural ability.

It will be interesting to see how he goes second time around at Glasgow. He's obviously really motivated by the World Cup and I think the year at Harlequins seems to have done him good in terms of being viewed as a genuine option at fullback as well as 13.

The current Stormers coach Dobson, brought him through UCT. I am sure if he stayed, he'd be a Bok.

[Jock42]

Scotland did better than I expected but still got a bit of a hiding from Fiji.

[charltom]

Commentator saying that lots of people are excited about how well Scotland (men) will do in the 7s.

He's also calling Tonga "Samoa", so I'll take it with a pinch of salt...

[Jock42]

Good first 7 minutes from the men. Holding the ball well and Sofolerin in for a hat trick

[Slick]

Good first 7 minutes from the men. Holding the ball well and Sofolerin in for a hat trick

They look pretty good to be fair to them.