The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[Slick]

Is the squad date a date only set by SRU? Or is that the final deadline? Can players be replaced due to injury? I suspect so.

If GT gambles, does he go with White trusting he will recover. That gives him White and a live-wire in Horne, with Price being, well no longer the Price he was. Or does he really gamble and take a live-wire like Dobie too (who can cover wing somewhat) and leave Price at home? I think Price will go. It is good to have options though !!

Players can be replaced - many squads call players up as the tournament progresses, those not travelling with the squad will, I'm sure, be told to keep themselves ready for the call

Just by chance being on holiday within a few miles of the squad

[clydecloggie]

Is the squad date a date only set by SRU? Or is that the final deadline? Can players be replaced due to injury? I suspect so.

If GT gambles, does he go with White trusting he will recover. That gives him White and a live-wire in Horne, with Price being, well no longer the Price he was. Or does he really gamble and take a live-wire like Dobie too (who can cover wing somewhat) and leave Price at home? I think Price will go. It is good to have options though !!

Players can be replaced - many squads call players up as the tournament progresses, those not travelling with the squad will, I'm sure, be told to keep themselves ready for the call

Think I heard the World Rugby deadline is 1 September, so plenty of time to chop and change if required without having to use 'RWC-approved' reasons.

Scottish squad announcement this Wednesday, yes? I would actually be tempted to play non-squad guys against Georgia - we don't want injuries at this stage and the team is ahead of the curve (maybe that's coloured by the comparison to the utter shitshow during the 2019 warmups and opening tournament game) - no need play another game to get them right for the Boks.

[Slick]

Is the squad date a date only set by SRU? Or is that the final deadline? Can players be replaced due to injury? I suspect so.

If GT gambles, does he go with White trusting he will recover. That gives him White and a live-wire in Horne, with Price being, well no longer the Price he was. Or does he really gamble and take a live-wire like Dobie too (who can cover wing somewhat) and leave Price at home? I think Price will go. It is good to have options though !!

Players can be replaced - many squads call players up as the tournament progresses, those not travelling with the squad will, I'm sure, be told to keep themselves ready for the call

Think I heard the World Rugby deadline is 1 September, so plenty of time to chop and change if required without having to use 'RWC-approved' reasons.

Scottish squad announcement this Wednesday, yes? I would actually be tempted to play non-squad guys against Georgia - we don't want injuries at this stage and the team is ahead of the curve (maybe that's coloured by the comparison to the utter shitshow during the 2019 warmups and opening tournament game) - no need play another game to get them right for the Boks.

I think Toony has said he is definitely not doing that. Just don't play Finn FFS

[clydecloggie]

Players can be replaced - many squads call players up as the tournament progresses, those not travelling with the squad will, I'm sure, be told to keep themselves ready for the call

Think I heard the World Rugby deadline is 1 September, so plenty of time to chop and change if required without having to use 'RWC-approved' reasons.

Scottish squad announcement this Wednesday, yes? I would actually be tempted to play non-squad guys against Georgia - we don't want injuries at this stage and the team is ahead of the curve (maybe that's coloured by the comparison to the utter shitshow during the 2019 warmups and opening tournament game) - no need play another game to get them right for the Boks.

I think Toony has said he is definitely not doing that. Just don't play Finn FFS

And of course it wouldn't make sense to have a World Cup warm-up with guys who are not going to the World Cup. Toonie also said he wanted to give the likely starters against SA as much time as possible together to gel in. But that's where my 'ahead of the curve' remark came from: judging by the second France game, they're ready - or at the very least, adding the final % doesn't weigh up to the injury risk of playing a full-contact Test match against a bruising, physical team like Georgia.

If it's about maximising what we can get from that game, I'd play the first-choice tight-five to get match practice on set pieces (where Georgia is historically strong), but change them at half-time to mitigate the injury risk. Perhaps White gets a go if fit to get some more minutes under his belt. Otherwise start with the 10 guys in the 33 least likely to be in the 23 against SA.

[Big D]

It's probably not surprising to see in the Offside Line comments that Kinghorn has quickly been recognised as Hogg's natural successor and is now getting similar pelters from Scottish rugby fans about his inadequate defence. Playing fullback for Scotland must be the most thankless role in world rugby.

Kinghorn's defence will be Dodson's responsibility no doubt.


There has been nothing wrong with Kinghorn's defence in these games btw.

There hasn't, he has fallen weakly off a couple of tackles but certainly nothing else that can be pinned on him.

I do think it's fair to say that defence isn't his strong point though, it does worry me a bit. Then again, he has looked so deliciously brilliant and dangerous going forward that even if was a bigger issue you'd have to just go for it.

Zero for three isn't a great look for a full back and he missed one badly on Saturday so it is an easy target. Especially when Smith pulled off a try saving tackle. He does need to make these tackles but I wouldn't be dropping him.

[Slick]

Think I heard the World Rugby deadline is 1 September, so plenty of time to chop and change if required without having to use 'RWC-approved' reasons.

Scottish squad announcement this Wednesday, yes? I would actually be tempted to play non-squad guys against Georgia - we don't want injuries at this stage and the team is ahead of the curve (maybe that's coloured by the comparison to the utter shitshow during the 2019 warmups and opening tournament game) - no need play another game to get them right for the Boks.

I think Toony has said he is definitely not doing that. Just don't play Finn FFS

And of course it wouldn't make sense to have a World Cup warm-up with guys who are not going to the World Cup. Toonie also said he wanted to give the likely starters against SA as much time as possible together to gel in. But that's where my 'ahead of the curve' remark came from: judging by the second France game, they're ready - or at the very least, adding the final % doesn't weigh up to the injury risk of playing a full-contact Test match against a bruising, physical team like Georgia.

If it's about maximising what we can get from that game, I'd play the first-choice tight-five to get match practice on set pieces (where Georgia is historically strong), but change them at half-time to mitigate the injury risk. Perhaps White gets a go if fit to get some more minutes under his belt. Otherwise start with the 10 guys in the 33 least likely to be in the 23 against SA.

100% agree

[Big D]

Think I heard the World Rugby deadline is 1 September, so plenty of time to chop and change if required without having to use 'RWC-approved' reasons.

Scottish squad announcement this Wednesday, yes? I would actually be tempted to play non-squad guys against Georgia - we don't want injuries at this stage and the team is ahead of the curve (maybe that's coloured by the comparison to the utter shitshow during the 2019 warmups and opening tournament game) - no need play another game to get them right for the Boks.

I think Toony has said he is definitely not doing that. Just don't play Finn FFS

And of course it wouldn't make sense to have a World Cup warm-up with guys who are not going to the World Cup. Toonie also said he wanted to give the likely starters against SA as much time as possible together to gel in. But that's where my 'ahead of the curve' remark came from: judging by the second France game, they're ready - or at the very least, adding the final % doesn't weigh up to the injury risk of playing a full-contact Test match against a bruising, physical team like Georgia.

If it's about maximising what we can get from that game, I'd play the first-choice tight-five to get match practice on set pieces (where Georgia is historically strong), but change them at half-time to mitigate the injury risk. Perhaps White gets a go if fit to get some more minutes under his belt. Otherwise start with the 10 guys in the 33 least likely to be in the 23 against SA.

The other guys need minutes in the legs too though so there are pros and cons.

[Tichtheid]

Kinghorn's defence will be Dodson's responsibility no doubt.


There has been nothing wrong with Kinghorn's defence in these games btw.

There hasn't, he has fallen weakly off a couple of tackles but certainly nothing else that can be pinned on him.

I do think it's fair to say that defence isn't his strong point though, it does worry me a bit. Then again, he has looked so deliciously brilliant and dangerous going forward that even if was a bigger issue you'd have to just go for it.

Zero for three isn't a great look for a full back and he missed one badly on Saturday so it is an easy target. Especially when Smith pulled off a try saving tackle. He does need to make these tackles but I wouldn't be dropping him.

He was handed off, what were the other two tackles he missed?

[Big D]

There hasn't, he has fallen weakly off a couple of tackles but certainly nothing else that can be pinned on him.

I do think it's fair to say that defence isn't his strong point though, it does worry me a bit. Then again, he has looked so deliciously brilliant and dangerous going forward that even if was a bigger issue you'd have to just go for it.

Zero for three isn't a great look for a full back and he missed one badly on Saturday so it is an easy target. Especially when Smith pulled off a try saving tackle. He does need to make these tackles but I wouldn't be dropping him.

He was handed off, what were the other two tackles he missed?

I don't remember to be honest. Espn have him as zero from three and the official stats have no tackle made in the match.

I'm not too concerned about him, I'm more worried about the idea of Steyn covering 13 from the bench as he has regularly missed tackles on the wing this year.

[clydecloggie]

Lads, have a look at the Springbokke thread. They have a YouTube clip up of the South African TV pundits analysing the France game and basically saying Scotland are easy to defend because they launch wide and then don't put anyone on the blind side. They're blaming the French for not having enough line speed, and say that the Boks' line speed will kill the Scottish plays.

It is a refreshingly nerdy discussion if you're into rugby coaching yourself.

[Slick]

Zero for three isn't a great look for a full back and he missed one badly on Saturday so it is an easy target. Especially when Smith pulled off a try saving tackle. He does need to make these tackles but I wouldn't be dropping him.

He was handed off, what were the other two tackles he missed?

I don't remember to be honest. Espn have him as zero from three and the official stats have no tackle made in the match.

I'm not too concerned about him, I'm more worried about the idea of Steyn covering 13 from the bench as he has regularly missed tackles on the wing this year.

I expect one of them was for the Ntamak try, but that was not his fault, he was covering for Duhan wandering about in no man’s land and it wasn’t his tackle. I do remember him falling pretty weakly of another couple but I can’t pinpoint the exact times

[Slick]

Lads, have a look at the Springbokke thread. They have a YouTube clip up of the South African TV pundits analysing the France game and basically saying Scotland are easy to defend because they launch wide and then don't put anyone on the blind side. They're blaming the French for not having enough line speed, and say that the Boks' line speed will kill the Scottish plays.

It is a refreshingly nerdy discussion if you're into rugby coaching yourself.

Good, they are worried. Didn’t we score 2 out wide against their line speed last time we played?

[Tichtheid]

He was handed off, what were the other two tackles he missed?

I don't remember to be honest. Espn have him as zero from three and the official stats have no tackle made in the match.

I'm not too concerned about him, I'm more worried about the idea of Steyn covering 13 from the bench as he has regularly missed tackles on the wing this year.

I expect one of them was for the Ntamak try, but that was not his fault, he was covering for Duhan wandering about in no man’s land and it wasn’t his tackle. I do remember him falling pretty weakly of another couple but I can’t pinpoint the exact times

I wrote this on the Weedgie board

For the first French try Price had been binned, Dupont and Fickou commit pretty much all of our defenders because of their running lines, leaving Kinghorn to defend two players outside him and Ntmack running inside with only Steyn getting close to Ntmack

For the second Dupont commits Steyn in the tackle and sets Penaud off running right between Gray and Kinghorn, Kinghorn has Aldritt outside him and effectively has half a defender in Gray helping him - this is no slight on Gray, a six foot ten lock is not going to defend against Peneaud the way an outside centre would.

Both were outstanding attacking moves, rather than poor defending - the first was helped by the fact our scrum half was in the bin, but Dupont and Fickou opened up a huge amount of space for Ntmack because of their running lines and because of the exactly right pass being chosen by Dupont.

Toonie mentioned the other week that rugby is improving because attacks are getting the better of defences - this was always supposed to happen, initially we all went all Rugby League with our defences as it was the easiest way to move into professional rugby but we didn't take their attacking game into ours, we are doing that now and it is making the sport much faster and a much better spectacle.

Someone should really tell England and Wales, though.

[Big D]

He was handed off, what were the other two tackles he missed?

I don't remember to be honest. Espn have him as zero from three and the official stats have no tackle made in the match.

I'm not too concerned about him, I'm more worried about the idea of Steyn covering 13 from the bench as he has regularly missed tackles on the wing this year.

I expect one of them was for the Ntamak try, but that was not his fault, he was covering for Duhan wandering about in no man’s land and it wasn’t his tackle. I do remember him falling pretty weakly of another couple but I can’t pinpoint the exact times

Yeah I'm not too concerned, but just saying I can see why he's the easy target. Especially when TOL described his performance as "rock solid in defence".

[Big D]

Lads, have a look at the Springbokke thread. They have a YouTube clip up of the South African TV pundits analysing the France game and basically saying Scotland are easy to defend because they launch wide and then don't put anyone on the blind side. They're blaming the French for not having enough line speed, and say that the Boks' line speed will kill the Scottish plays.

It is a refreshingly nerdy discussion if you're into rugby coaching yourself.

Good, they are worried. Didn’t we score 2 out wide against their line speed last time we played?

One off a "kick pass" too iirc.

I'd be disappointed if we have not been holding some things back got the RWC tbh.

[KingBlairhorn]

Lads, have a look at the Springbokke thread. They have a YouTube clip up of the South African TV pundits analysing the France game and basically saying Scotland are easy to defend because they launch wide and then don't put anyone on the blind side. They're blaming the French for not having enough line speed, and say that the Boks' line speed will kill the Scottish plays.

It is a refreshingly nerdy discussion if you're into rugby coaching yourself.

Good, they are worried. Didn’t we score 2 out wide against their line speed last time we played?

Committing your whole defensive strategy to linespeed against probably the most inventive kicker in world rugby is bold. Expect to see plenty of Finn chips over the top if that is their strategy. Personally I would be going with an attritional ruck strategy if I was them. Slow down our attacking speed and tie as many of our forwards into the rucks as possible before using their bigger backs to isolate and turn over ours. I would do that because that is exactly how Ireland beat us convincingly every single year.

Tuipolotu is also excellent with the boot so I would say there are decent odds on him poking one through for a Jones try.

[Slick]

For the second Dupont commits Steyn in the tackle and sets Penaud off running right between Gray and Kinghorn, Kinghorn has Aldritt outside him and effectively has half a defender in Gray helping him - this is no slight on Gray, a six foot ten lock is not going to defend against Peneaud the way an outside centre would.

That wouldn't count as a missed tackle, he did what he should do and trusted his inside cover.

[Slick]

Lads, have a look at the Springbokke thread. They have a YouTube clip up of the South African TV pundits analysing the France game and basically saying Scotland are easy to defend because they launch wide and then don't put anyone on the blind side. They're blaming the French for not having enough line speed, and say that the Boks' line speed will kill the Scottish plays.

It is a refreshingly nerdy discussion if you're into rugby coaching yourself.

Just watched it. To be honest I thought it was absolutely rubbish, particularly from the black guy on the panel. Showing one clip to show we never attack the blind side when we score quite a few from there, including later in the game.

SA, whatever a few say, definitely don't rate us and think they are going to smash us. Which is fair enough.

[Simian]

Last couple of seasons the Scotland back three tackle defence often looks very iffy. Tandy seems to like them to bite in very readily and defend quite narrow, which can often lave them looking exposed (we do similar at Glasgow too). While I wouldn’t argue defence is the strongest string in any of their bows (edit: personally, I actually think Steyn is a great defender), I think the system makes them look weaker than it is. It all seems geared towards ensuring that thirteen channel is shored up at the expense of leaving the last defender an awful lot of space to defend.

Incidentally, in attack, I thought it looked like we tried to play some shapes on a few occasions that looked remarkably like the type of pivot plays that ST/Finn/Jones used to such great effect in the 6Ns (with Kinghorn pulling back into the ‘Finn’ role), but pushed out a lot wider. They didn’t come off (mostly because Jones kept running into the pivot ), but, they looked like they would be really lethal if they did.

[KingBlairhorn]

Last couple of seasons the Scotland back three tackle defence often looks very iffy. Tandy seems to like them to bite in very readily and defend quite narrow, which can often lave them looking exposed (we do similar at Glasgow too). While I wouldn’t argue defence is the strongest string in any of their bows (edit: personally, I actually think Steyn is a great defender), I think the system makes them look weaker than it is. It all seems geared towards ensuring that thirteen channel is shored up at the expense of leaving the last defender an awful lot of space to defend.

Incidentally, in attack, I thought it looked like we tried to play some shapes on a few occasions that looked remarkably like the type of pivot plays that ST/Finn/Jones used to such great effect in the 6Ns (with Kinghorn pulling back into the ‘Finn’ role), but pushed out a lot wider. They didn’t come off (mostly because Jones kept running into the pivot ), but, they looked like they would be really lethal if they did.

The stats suggest our defense is actually pretty good too. Although we concede territory a lot and let teams play in our 22, they do not come away with significantly more tries than against our Tier 1 peers only Ireland being notably better:

[KingBlairhorn]

Lads, have a look at the Springbokke thread. They have a YouTube clip up of the South African TV pundits analysing the France game and basically saying Scotland are easy to defend because they launch wide and then don't put anyone on the blind side. They're blaming the French for not having enough line speed, and say that the Boks' line speed will kill the Scottish plays.

It is a refreshingly nerdy discussion if you're into rugby coaching yourself.

Good, they are worried. Didn’t we score 2 out wide against their line speed last time we played?

Committing your whole defensive strategy to linespeed against probably the most inventive kicker in world rugby is bold. Expect to see plenty of Finn chips over the top if that is their strategy. Personally I would be going with an attritional ruck strategy if I was them. Slow down our attacking speed and tie as many of our forwards into the rucks as possible before using their bigger backs to isolate and turn over ours. I would do that because that is exactly how Ireland beat us convincingly every single year.

Tuipolotu is also excellent with the boot so I would say there are decent odds on him poking one through for a Jones try.

To be fair, having now actually watched the segment what they are saying is fast line speed AND very aggressive at the breakdown to slow the ball down. That combination I agree will be difficult for us if they succeed.

[Simian]

Last couple of seasons the Scotland back three tackle defence often looks very iffy. Tandy seems to like them to bite in very readily and defend quite narrow, which can often lave them looking exposed (we do similar at Glasgow too). While I wouldn’t argue defence is the strongest string in any of their bows (edit: personally, I actually think Steyn is a great defender), I think the system makes them look weaker than it is. It all seems geared towards ensuring that thirteen channel is shored up at the expense of leaving the last defender an awful lot of space to defend.

Incidentally, in attack, I thought it looked like we tried to play some shapes on a few occasions that looked remarkably like the type of pivot plays that ST/Finn/Jones used to such great effect in the 6Ns (with Kinghorn pulling back into the ‘Finn’ role), but pushed out a lot wider. They didn’t come off (mostly because Jones kept running into the pivot ), but, they looked like they would be really lethal if they did.

The stats suggest our defense is actually pretty good too. Although we concede territory a lot and let teams play in our 22, they do not come away with significantly more tries than against our Tier 1 peers only Ireland being notably better:

Yeah, don’t get me wrong. My comment wasn’t really meant as a criticism of the Tandy defensive structure (at least these days). I was more just meaning that it it’s a shape that does mean the back three end up ‘missing’ a higher proportion of tackles than I think they would in other systems and looming out of position more often (if you see what I mean).

And Tandy has tweaked it in the last year to make it more effective, which is to his credit. We defended stupidly narrow and bit in even more readily previously (imo) and got our fingers burned by it in 22 AIs (NZ and Fiji games in particular).

[clydecloggie]

The stats suggest our defense is actually pretty good too. Although we concede territory a lot and let teams play in our 22, they do not come away with significantly more tries than against our Tier 1 peers only Ireland being notably better:

Nice stats, shows us a 2nd best among Tier 1 in both attacking efficiency and red zone defence. But we do seem to concede ground a bit too easily compared to our peers judging by the number of 22 entries we give away per match.

Are we just not that good in keeping opponents behind the gain line?

[clydecloggie]

Good, they are worried. Didn’t we score 2 out wide against their line speed last time we played?

Committing your whole defensive strategy to linespeed against probably the most inventive kicker in world rugby is bold. Expect to see plenty of Finn chips over the top if that is their strategy. Personally I would be going with an attritional ruck strategy if I was them. Slow down our attacking speed and tie as many of our forwards into the rucks as possible before using their bigger backs to isolate and turn over ours. I would do that because that is exactly how Ireland beat us convincingly every single year.

Tuipolotu is also excellent with the boot so I would say there are decent odds on him poking one through for a Jones try.

To be fair, having now actually watched the segment what they are saying is fast line speed AND very aggressive at the breakdown to slow the ball down. That combination I agree will be difficult for us if they succeed.

Aye, slow ball and a rush defence in a nutshell is why we always lose to Ireland. Make a mess of the breakdown but have enough players on their feet to allow really aggressive line speed and it's job done. It's what Irish forwards do better than anyone else - especially rolling away annoyingly but not illegally (by the ref's interpretation). Means it takes only one player to slow down the ball, exactly what their defensive game plan needs.

The Huwipolotou Shape (tm Squidge) seems designed to create more time for Russell to work his magic under pressure and for Huw Jones to weave his way through committed defenders - it may be the key that finally unlocks this level of competition for us.

But we're still not beating Ireland. SA, maybe.

[Simian]

Good, they are worried. Didn’t we score 2 out wide against their line speed last time we played?

Committing your whole defensive strategy to linespeed against probably the most inventive kicker in world rugby is bold. Expect to see plenty of Finn chips over the top if that is their strategy. Personally I would be going with an attritional ruck strategy if I was them. Slow down our attacking speed and tie as many of our forwards into the rucks as possible before using their bigger backs to isolate and turn over ours. I would do that because that is exactly how Ireland beat us convincingly every single year.

Tuipolotu is also excellent with the boot so I would say there are decent odds on him poking one through for a Jones try.

To be fair, having now actually watched the segment what they are saying is fast line speed AND very aggressive at the breakdown to slow the ball down. That combination I agree will be difficult for us if they succeed.

Although any team will struggle off slow ball, I wouldn’t bet against SA ‘under resourcing’ the breakdown when we’re attacking and just swamping our pivot plays with defenders man marking specific players. The question then is whether we can rack up up enough phases in the build up to stress that type of defensive structure.

[clydecloggie]

Committing your whole defensive strategy to linespeed against probably the most inventive kicker in world rugby is bold. Expect to see plenty of Finn chips over the top if that is their strategy. Personally I would be going with an attritional ruck strategy if I was them. Slow down our attacking speed and tie as many of our forwards into the rucks as possible before using their bigger backs to isolate and turn over ours. I would do that because that is exactly how Ireland beat us convincingly every single year.

Tuipolotu is also excellent with the boot so I would say there are decent odds on him poking one through for a Jones try.

To be fair, having now actually watched the segment what they are saying is fast line speed AND very aggressive at the breakdown to slow the ball down. That combination I agree will be difficult for us if they succeed.

Although any team will struggle off slow ball, I wouldn’t bet against SA ‘under resourcing’ the breakdown when we’re attacking and just swamping our pivot plays with defenders man marking specific players. The question then is whether we can rack up up enough phases in the build up to stress that type of defensive structure.

Or call their bluff and carry hard in the narrow channels with pick & go's etc. before bringing 10 into play. Every defensive structure has an attacking solution, and vice versa. Whereas in the recent past, that was all academic as we couldn't live with SA/Ire-level physicality anyway, it looks like Scotland's attack is finding answers to everything just now. Which is pretty great,

We're still not beating Ireland.

[Simian]

To be fair, having now actually watched the segment what they are saying is fast line speed AND very aggressive at the breakdown to slow the ball down. That combination I agree will be difficult for us if they succeed.

Although any team will struggle off slow ball, I wouldn’t bet against SA ‘under resourcing’ the breakdown when we’re attacking and just swamping our pivot plays with defenders man marking specific players. The question then is whether we can rack up up enough phases in the build up to stress that type of defensive structure.

Or call their bluff and carry hard in the narrow channels with pick & go's etc. before bringing 10 into play. Every defensive structure has an attacking solution, and vice versa. Whereas in the recent past, that was all academic as we couldn't live with SA/Ire-level physicality anyway, it looks like Scotland's attack is finding answers to everything just now. Which is pretty great,

We're still not beating Ireland.

Totally agree (with all of that, actually. Is this an internet first? :))

We haven’t done that (pick and attack round the fringes of the breakdown) much under GT (tho I agree we can and maybe we will?). (Edit: weegie fan here, and we looked sooooo much better under Wilson when we did that).

I’m with you on the not beating Ireland either. I posted this earlier today on weegie board. I think SA is our final, we’ve a group of death, so I’d gamble on injuries, go full team next week, and ‘peak’ for SA. I think we can beat them, think we’re playing well, and think so much stuff is oh so close to clicking.

This type of thinking might also explain why, much to my bemusement, I’m not a rugby coach at

[Blackmac]

I would be quite happy to see the Georgia game cancelled. Think we are well enough warmed up and worried about injuries, even to fringe players.

[KingBlairhorn]

Although any team will struggle off slow ball, I wouldn’t bet against SA ‘under resourcing’ the breakdown when we’re attacking and just swamping our pivot plays with defenders man marking specific players. The question then is whether we can rack up up enough phases in the build up to stress that type of defensive structure.

Or call their bluff and carry hard in the narrow channels with pick & go's etc. before bringing 10 into play. Every defensive structure has an attacking solution, and vice versa. Whereas in the recent past, that was all academic as we couldn't live with SA/Ire-level physicality anyway, it looks like Scotland's attack is finding answers to everything just now. Which is pretty great,

We're still not beating Ireland.

Totally agree (with all of that, actually. Is this an internet first? :))

We haven’t done that (pick and attack round the fringes of the breakdown) much under GT (tho I agree we can and maybe we will?). (Edit: weegie fan here, and we looked sooooo much better under Wilson when we did that).

I’m with you on the not beating Ireland either. I posted this earlier today on weegie board. I think SA is our final, we’ve a group of death, so I’d gamble on injuries, go full team next week, and ‘peak’ for SA. I think we can beat them, think we’re playing well, and think so much stuff is oh so close to clicking.

This type of thinking might also explain why, much to my bemusement, I’m not a rugby coach at

I love that everyone agreeing basically killed the conversation; the internet in a nutshell right there

[clydecloggie]

Or call their bluff and carry hard in the narrow channels with pick & go's etc. before bringing 10 into play. Every defensive structure has an attacking solution, and vice versa. Whereas in the recent past, that was all academic as we couldn't live with SA/Ire-level physicality anyway, it looks like Scotland's attack is finding answers to everything just now. Which is pretty great,

We're still not beating Ireland.

Totally agree (with all of that, actually. Is this an internet first? :))

We haven’t done that (pick and attack round the fringes of the breakdown) much under GT (tho I agree we can and maybe we will?). (Edit: weegie fan here, and we looked sooooo much better under Wilson when we did that).

I’m with you on the not beating Ireland either. I posted this earlier today on weegie board. I think SA is our final, we’ve a group of death, so I’d gamble on injuries, go full team next week, and ‘peak’ for SA. I think we can beat them, think we’re playing well, and think so much stuff is oh so close to clicking.

This type of thinking might also explain why, much to my bemusement, I’m not a rugby coach at

I love that everyone agreeing basically killed the conversation; the internet in a nutshell right there

I genuinely thought about posting some edgy bullshit to break the deadlock but didn't have the heart.

Come to think of it, this might be the most glorious place a Scottish rugby fan could be - revelling in the wonderful rugby our national team is playing, mixing it with the best, while simultaneously having absolutely zero hope of getting out of our world cup group. It's so utterly and quintessentially Scottish - it really is life affirming. We've accidentally stumbled into nirvana and are now just nodding contentedly at each other's pearls of wisdom from our collective zen-like state.

Sigh.

When's the 1872 Cup?

[Slick]

beautiful

[Yr Alban]

Totally agree (with all of that, actually. Is this an internet first? :))

We haven’t done that (pick and attack round the fringes of the breakdown) much under GT (tho I agree we can and maybe we will?). (Edit: weegie fan here, and we looked sooooo much better under Wilson when we did that).

I’m with you on the not beating Ireland either. I posted this earlier today on weegie board. I think SA is our final, we’ve a group of death, so I’d gamble on injuries, go full team next week, and ‘peak’ for SA. I think we can beat them, think we’re playing well, and think so much stuff is oh so close to clicking.

This type of thinking might also explain why, much to my bemusement, I’m not a rugby coach at

I love that everyone agreeing basically killed the conversation; the internet in a nutshell right there

I genuinely thought about posting some edgy bullshit to break the deadlock but didn't have the heart.

Come to think of it, this might be the most glorious place a Scottish rugby fan could be - revelling in the wonderful rugby our national team is playing, mixing it with the best, while simultaneously having absolutely zero hope of getting out of our world cup group. It's so utterly and quintessentially Scottish - it really is life affirming. We've accidentally stumbled into nirvana and are now just nodding contentedly at each other's pearls of wisdom from our collective zen-like state.

Sigh.

When's the 1872 Cup?

It isn’t quite the most Scottish thing possible. Not yet. That would be if we actually beat SA, and still get eliminated due to not getting enough BPs.

[KingBlairhorn]

Come to think of it, this might be the most glorious place a Scottish rugby fan could be - revelling in the wonderful rugby our national team is playing, mixing it with the best, while simultaneously having absolutely zero hope of getting out of our world cup group. It's so utterly and quintessentially Scottish - it really is life affirming. We've accidentally stumbled into nirvana and are now just nodding contentedly at each other's pearls of wisdom from our collective zen-like state.

Wonderful!

[Yr Alban]

Have just seen that the SRU are going to award retrospective caps to 40-odd players who played in internationals that weren’t given full cap status.

One of them is Craig Redpath of Melrose (Bryan’s brother and Cam’s uncle?) who gets a cap for a game v Tonga in 1993. I’ve never met the guy and I have no personal connection, but I’ve always felt sorry for him. He warmed the bench for Gavin Hastings throughout the GS season in 1990 and beyond, in the days before replacements, and never got a single cap! Hope he feels happy today.

[SomersetJock]

I genuinely thought about posting some edgy bullshit to break the deadlock but didn't have the heart.

Come to think of it, this might be the most glorious place a Scottish rugby fan could be - revelling in the wonderful rugby our national team is playing, mixing it with the best, while simultaneously having absolutely zero hope of getting out of our world cup group. It's so utterly and quintessentially Scottish - it really is life affirming. We've accidentally stumbled into nirvana and are now just nodding contentedly at each other's pearls of wisdom from our collective zen-like state.

Sigh.

When's the 1872 Cup?

I’m giving some serious consideration on getting that post etched onto a wooden plaque and have it hanging from my office well it has tickled me so bloody much

[Big D]

Very clever.

[charltom]

Very clever.

I can't see it well enough on my phone to be sure, but is that legal?

[Big D]

Very clever.

I can't see it well enough on my phone to be sure, but is that legal?

Completely illegal but easy to con a bad ref.

[westport]

Good to see Willie Anderson getting his cap on the list

[SomersetJock]

Farrell’s card has been rescinded.

Surely this can’t be true