The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[Jock42]

VDM is going backwards and tries to flick it back. BS

[Tichtheid]

I know we are getting better results so far this season, but I miss the swashbuckling days of Mike Blair's first season as coach and Kinghorn at 10.
That side would have put sixty on this shower.

But they would have conceded 40!

Aye, but it would have been glorious

[weegie01]

Yeah, I saw that. Hopefully not for the whole 6N?

Word on the street is that Graham and Paterson are both out for the 6N. Paterson would appear to be less of an issue, until I heard who was in the discussion to be called up. Stop and think about how many SQ back three players not already in the squad are still standing.

Maitland?

Retired from international rugby I think.

[Tichtheid]

For the record, I thought we got more than the rub of the green from the ref tonight.

[Jock42]

Word on the street is that Graham and Paterson are both out for the 6N. Paterson would appear to be less of an issue, until I heard who was in the discussion to be called up. Stop and think about how many SQ back three players not already in the squad are still standing.

Maitland?

Retired from international rugby I think.

They're not circling back to McConnochie are they?

[Tichtheid]

Injury to Kinghorn would be a nightmare now, but otherwise I think we are okay.

Hastings can do a job at fullback, as can Jones. The starting back three will be Duhan, Kinghorn and Steyn, Rowe and Reed for back ups on the flanks.
Hopefully Graham and Paterson will be ready in a few weeks

[Yr Alban]

Looks like Darcy might be out

Yeah, I saw that. Hopefully not for the whole 6N?

Word on the street is that Graham and Paterson are both out for the 6N. Paterson would appear to be less of an issue, until I heard who was in the discussion to be called up. Stop and think about how many SQ back three players not already in the squad are still standing.

Well, shite.

In terms of who else is left, if Maitland is now retired, then we’re looking at McConnochie at Bath, Hoyland at Old Glory in DC, Jamie Farndale with the 7s team, Dougie Fife in New Orleans, or Cole Forbes back in NZ. Rory Hughes is only 30 but I can’t find any evidence of him playing anywhere since 2020, and I just can’t see us calling Rufus McLean back in. Of that lot, I’d say McConnochie is the only realistic option, maybe Farndale at a (very big) push.

EDIT: forgot that the 7s team doesn’t actually exist any more. They made it a GB team, and it’s been dead to me ever since.

[Yr Alban]

Not long in from work, decided to watch some of the Edinburgh game before bed. Found the game on the S4C schedule, but apparently you’re not allowed to watch it back afterwards, so went onto YouTube.

I strongly encourage you to watch the highlights package on YouTube. The editing is so bad it’s actually hilarious. They missed Vellacott’s opening try entirely (though bizarrely they do show the conversion attempt). There are constant jump cuts into the middle of attacking moves, some of which result in tries. They show every penalty awarded by Sara Cox as if she were star of the show, but you can’t even see what Gilchrist got red carded for. The last minute or so is obscured by adverts for other matches in the way of the match footage, and then the programme just stops abruptly without even showing you the final score. Honestly, it’s as if it was put together by a work experience kid with ADHD who had never seen a rugby game before.

[Dogbert]

Pissing Rain and Freezing cold - Yep , another Friday night at Scotstoun

Lets face it , This wasn't the best Toulon team , but there was still a smattering of quality, and they put up a decent fight, but in the end Glasgow proved too strong

The returning duo of Dempsey and Steyn both played the full 80 minutes, and Dempsey especially was really impressive , really made the hard yards ( my MOTM)

The actual MOTM was Shuggy , who was on fire tonight , slicing through the Toulon defence , and really stuck his hand up for a Scotland starting place - although Sione also had a fine game , and they worked together really well tonight.

Horne was Horne ( in a good way ) , and his box kicking was right on the button tonight.

Matt Fagerson was probably just behind Dempsey as being the best forward. Fagerson Jnr had a brief cameo but looked really up for it - he is his best ever form at the moment ( for Glasgow anyway )

Big Shout out to the Groundstaff who got that pitch playable.

Unluckiest man of the night was Euan Ferrie , he got a second try chalked off in as many weeks , for a marginal forward pass, It will come Euan , it will come.

[Tichtheid]

Not long in from work, decided to watch some of the Edinburgh game before bed. Found the game on the S4C schedule, but apparently you’re not allowed to watch it back afterwards, so went onto YouTube.

I strongly encourage you to watch the highlights package on YouTube. The editing is so bad it’s actually hilarious. They missed Vellacott’s opening try entirely (though bizarrely they do show the conversion attempt). There are constant jump cuts into the middle of attacking moves, some of which result in tries. They show every penalty awarded by Sara Cox as if she were star of the show, but you can’t even see what Gilchrist got red carded for. The last minute or so is obscured by adverts for other matches in the way of the match footage, and then the programme just stops abruptly without even showing you the final score. Honestly, it’s as if it was put together by a work experience kid with ADHD who had never seen a rugby game before.

Yeah, I've seen that with other non-official highlights from the league games, it might be some attempt at AI editing, I don't know.

Edinburgh were never in trouble, we were 14 up after 7 minutes and it was only going one way. The final score does not in any way reflect the game, other than the fact that Edinburgh didn't do as much damage as they should have, Scarlets were as poor a side as I've seen us play, it reflects badly on us that we didn't put fifty or more on them.

[topofthemoon]

What’s the crack with bans for two yellow cards in a game ?

Just going to ask the same thing

[Slick]

Injury to Kinghorn would be a nightmare now, but otherwise I think we are okay.

Hastings can do a job at fullback, as can Jones. The starting back three will be Duhan, Kinghorn and Steyn, Rowe and Reed for back ups on the flanks.
Hopefully Graham and Paterson will be ready in a few weeks

Amazing how quickly things change. A couple of weeks ago we were looking like the only team with a fairly injury free squad and no key player’s retiring and suddenly we are looking a bit threadbare.

Didn’t see either game last night but a couple of mates saying Ritchie looked a bit off it when he came on. As said earlier, he still starts but it’s all looking a bit of a worry

[GrahamWa]

Not long in from work, decided to watch some of the Edinburgh game before bed. Found the game on the S4C schedule, but apparently you’re not allowed to watch it back afterwards, so went onto YouTube.

I strongly encourage you to watch the highlights package on YouTube. The editing is so bad it’s actually hilarious. They missed Vellacott’s opening try entirely (though bizarrely they do show the conversion attempt). There are constant jump cuts into the middle of attacking moves, some of which result in tries. They show every penalty awarded by Sara Cox as if she were star of the show, but you can’t even see what Gilchrist got red carded for. The last minute or so is obscured by adverts for other matches in the way of the match footage, and then the programme just stops abruptly without even showing you the final score. Honestly, it’s as if it was put together by a work experience kid with ADHD who had never seen a rugby game before.

jeezus a 10 min highlight package, managed around 3 minutes but had to stop as my brain thought I was having a stroke. Laugh out loud its so bad.

[Slick]

Just watched the highlights of the Glasgow game, Jones looked utter class. He’s got that smoothness back again that he has when he’s at the top of his game

[Yr Alban]

Not long in from work, decided to watch some of the Edinburgh game before bed. Found the game on the S4C schedule, but apparently you’re not allowed to watch it back afterwards, so went onto YouTube.

I strongly encourage you to watch the highlights package on YouTube. The editing is so bad it’s actually hilarious. They missed Vellacott’s opening try entirely (though bizarrely they do show the conversion attempt). There are constant jump cuts into the middle of attacking moves, some of which result in tries. They show every penalty awarded by Sara Cox as if she were star of the show, but you can’t even see what Gilchrist got red carded for. The last minute or so is obscured by adverts for other matches in the way of the match footage, and then the programme just stops abruptly without even showing you the final score. Honestly, it’s as if it was put together by a work experience kid with ADHD who had never seen a rugby game before.

jeezus a 10 min highlight package, managed around 3 minutes but had to stop as my brain thought I was having a stroke. Laugh out loud its so bad.

I know! How on earth does anyone (even an AI bot!) put together a highlights package that misses one of the tries?

[Big D]

Yeah, I saw that. Hopefully not for the whole 6N?

Word on the street is that Graham and Paterson are both out for the 6N. Paterson would appear to be less of an issue, until I heard who was in the discussion to be called up. Stop and think about how many SQ back three players not already in the squad are still standing.

Well, shite.

In terms of who else is left, if Maitland is now retired, then we’re looking at McConnochie at Bath, Hoyland at Old Glory in DC, Jamie Farndale with the 7s team, Dougie Fife in New Orleans, or Cole Forbes back in NZ. Rory Hughes is only 30 but I can’t find any evidence of him playing anywhere since 2020, and I just can’t see us calling Rufus McLean back in. Of that lot, I’d say McConnochie is the only realistic option, maybe Farndale at a (very big) push.

EDIT: forgot that the 7s team doesn’t actually exist any more. They made it a GB team, and it’s been dead to me ever since.

Jordan Edmunds got a random call up a couple of years back. Not sure what he's doing now, 7s?

[Big D]

It's a shame Darcy is out. He is pretty special when fit and on form. Probably saves Hoggs record until the Autumn/6N 2025. Fancy Graham wouldn't got a couple over the 6N to allow it to be broken in the summer.

Steyn is a fine solid replacement and won't let anyone down I just don't think he has the same game breaking potential at international level that the other two have.

[weegie01]

EDIT: forgot that the 7s team doesn’t actually exist any more. They made it a GB team, and it’s been dead to me ever since.

Jordan Edmunds got a random call up a couple of years back. Not sure what he's doing now, 7s?

Getting so close with the 7s chat, the name buzzing around is Ross McCann.

The story is that is someone is needed for the proverbial tackle bag holder role rather than a potential Scotland player, and may be brought in unofficially for this role rather than a formal call up. In which case McCann makes sense as he is local and there are no club issues.

But it does highlight the issue in the back three.

[Big D]

EDIT: forgot that the 7s team doesn’t actually exist any more. They made it a GB team, and it’s been dead to me ever since.

Jordan Edmunds got a random call up a couple of years back. Not sure what he's doing now, 7s?

Getting so close with the 7s chat, the name buzzing around is Ross McCann.

The story is that is someone is needed for the proverbial tackle bag holder role rather than a potential Scotland player, and may be brought in unofficially for this role rather than a formal call up. In which case McCann makes sense as he is local and there are no club issues.

But it does highlight the issue in the back three.

At least he's played 15s in the URC this year I suppose.

[I like neeps]

EDIT: forgot that the 7s team doesn’t actually exist any more. They made it a GB team, and it’s been dead to me ever since.

Jordan Edmunds got a random call up a couple of years back. Not sure what he's doing now, 7s?

Getting so close with the 7s chat, the name buzzing around is Ross McCann.

The story is that is someone is needed for the proverbial tackle bag holder role rather than a potential Scotland player, and may be brought in unofficially for this role rather than a formal call up. In which case McCann makes sense as he is local and there are no club issues.

But it does highlight the issue in the back three.

The issues with the back of course in no way exacerbated by Edinburgh and Glasgow both deciding a smart tactics for the last few years was stock on heavily on NSQ back three players at the cost of younger Scots.

See also: props.

[robmatic]

Jordan Edmunds got a random call up a couple of years back. Not sure what he's doing now, 7s?

Getting so close with the 7s chat, the name buzzing around is Ross McCann.

The story is that is someone is needed for the proverbial tackle bag holder role rather than a potential Scotland player, and may be brought in unofficially for this role rather than a formal call up. In which case McCann makes sense as he is local and there are no club issues.

But it does highlight the issue in the back three.

The issues with the back of course in no way exacerbated by Edinburgh and Glasgow both deciding a smart tactics for the last few years was stock on heavily on NSQ back three players at the cost of younger Scots.

See also: props.

Which young Scots back three players have missed out? I don't think there's been huge numbers coming through the U20s, and most of the ones that have made it onto Edinburgh's books have either been not up to much (Blain) or consistently injured (Henry, Sweeney).

[topofthemoon]

Jordan Edmunds got a random call up a couple of years back. Not sure what he's doing now, 7s?

Getting so close with the 7s chat, the name buzzing around is Ross McCann.

The story is that is someone is needed for the proverbial tackle bag holder role rather than a potential Scotland player, and may be brought in unofficially for this role rather than a formal call up. In which case McCann makes sense as he is local and there are no club issues.

But it does highlight the issue in the back three.

The issues with the back of course in no way exacerbated by Edinburgh and Glasgow both deciding a smart tactics for the last few years was stock on heavily on NSQ back three players at the cost of younger Scots.

See also: props.

McLean turning out to be a wee turd hasn't helped. Neither have whatever issues saw Forbes not get offered what he thought he was worth at Glasgow. There have been players who have been given the chance to step up to pro contracts but haven't taken the opportunity. Wing has never been an area where we've produced great depth - doing well to have 2 worldies and 1 class backup in place when compared to some periods in the pro era.

[Dogbert]

Got to feel sorry for Jack Mann

After all the issues with concussion , and now he breaks his leg playing for Glasgow warriors A team in a training match against Scotland U20s

Poor Guy just not catching any luck, still only 24 though , best of luck for his recovery

Franco saying he could be back for the final two months of the season

[Jock42]

I assume embra aren't getting a home KO match?

[topofthemoon]

I assume embra aren't getting a home KO match?

They need Cheetahs and Dragons to both lose
or
Benetton to lose by at least 42 points to Montpellier (no BPs)

[Jock42]

I assume embra aren't getting a home KO match?

They need Cheetahs and Dragons to both lose
or
Benetton to lose by at least 42 points to Montpellier (no BPs)

Cheers

[Yr Alban]

Getting so close with the 7s chat, the name buzzing around is Ross McCann.

The story is that is someone is needed for the proverbial tackle bag holder role rather than a potential Scotland player, and may be brought in unofficially for this role rather than a formal call up. In which case McCann makes sense as he is local and there are no club issues.

But it does highlight the issue in the back three.

The issues with the back of course in no way exacerbated by Edinburgh and Glasgow both deciding a smart tactics for the last few years was stock on heavily on NSQ back three players at the cost of younger Scots.

See also: props.

McLean turning out to be a wee turd hasn't helped. Neither have whatever issues saw Forbes not get offered what he thought he was worth at Glasgow. There have been players who have been given the chance to step up to pro contracts but haven't taken the opportunity. Wing has never been an area where we've produced great depth - doing well to have 2 worldies and 1 class backup in place when compared to some periods in the pro era.

Yeah, this. When we capped Steyn and McLean in the AIs I actually thought our back 3 future looked assured.

[Yr Alban]

Crap. London Scottish just had an absolute ding-dong battle with Coventry which went first one way then the other. Finished 38-40 to Coventry with Scottish missing a penalty with the clock red.

[Slick]

Musselburgh got gubbed by Hawick

[Yr Alban]

Oyonnax beat Cheetahs. So Edinburgh are likely to get a home draw in the last 16, which they scarcely deserve.

[robmatic]

Oyonnax beat Cheetahs. So Edinburgh are likely to get a home draw in the last 16, which they scarcely deserve.

It's just not a great format for either European competition.

[Biffer]

Oyonnax beat Cheetahs. So Edinburgh are likely to get a home draw in the last 16, which they scarcely deserve.

It's just not a great format for either European competition.

I know. The old four team group with home and away was much better. But the French no longer have space in their calendar for six games. Irony is URC and premiership now have more room for it.

[Jock42]

Darge and Russell co-capts and McCann into squad. Looks like Ritchie won't be starting.

[SaintK]

Darge and Russell co-capts and McCann into squad. Looks like Ritchie won't be starting.

Very impressed the way Russell interacts with the ref for Bath even though he's not captain
Should have a better on-field relationship with the ref without Richie yelling in his face

[Jock42]

Darge and Russell co-capts and McCann into squad. Looks like Ritchie won't be starting.

Very impressed the way Russell interacts with the ref for Bath even though he's not captain
Should have a better on-field relationship with the ref without Richie yelling in his face

Aye he capt Scotland in the summer and I think everyone was impressed with his chat to the ref. He's clearly a leader within the team anyway so there's not much added pressure or responsibility there either.

[I like neeps]

Getting so close with the 7s chat, the name buzzing around is Ross McCann.

The story is that is someone is needed for the proverbial tackle bag holder role rather than a potential Scotland player, and may be brought in unofficially for this role rather than a formal call up. In which case McCann makes sense as he is local and there are no club issues.

But it does highlight the issue in the back three.

The issues with the back of course in no way exacerbated by Edinburgh and Glasgow both deciding a smart tactics for the last few years was stock on heavily on NSQ back three players at the cost of younger Scots.

See also: props.

Which young Scots back three players have missed out? I don't think there's been huge numbers coming through the U20s, and most of the ones that have made it onto Edinburgh's books have either been not up to much (Blain) or consistently injured (Henry, Sweeney).

Henry played a lot of super6 for Knights when they were good and always did well but Edinburgh instead had Immelmann, Moyano(?), and Boffeli starting every week instead. No arguments with a world class performer. Arguments with not world class Moyano and Immelmann.

It's true about Blain. And McLean and I guess Smith is injured. But SRU are deciding on offers really it makes more sense for Forbes to at Edinburgh than someone like Goosen. Whose a good player but there needs to be quotas so there's a realistic path to gametime for fringe players.

[Blackmac]

Darge and Russell co-capts and McCann into squad. Looks like Ritchie won't be starting.

Very impressed the way Russell interacts with the ref for Bath even though he's not captain
Should have a better on-field relationship with the ref without Richie yelling in his face

Aye he capt Scotland in the summer and I think everyone was impressed with his chat to the ref. He's clearly a leader within the team anyway so there's not much added pressure or responsibility there either.

I imagine Ritchie is a leader within the team but his communication with the refs is a real issue. Finn seems to get on their right side quite naturally.

[Yr Alban]

Darge and Russell co-capts and McCann into squad. Looks like Ritchie won't be starting.

Very impressed the way Russell interacts with the ref for Bath even though he's not captain
Should have a better on-field relationship with the ref without Richie yelling in his face

Aye he capt Scotland in the summer and I think everyone was impressed with his chat to the ref. He's clearly a leader within the team anyway so there's not much added pressure or responsibility there either.

It’s been said before, but Finn’s ability to shrug off what happened before and focus on the now is probably exactly what we need in a captain. Hogg and Ritchie were unable to do this, which may have been a large part of them getting on the wrong side of refs.

Are we looking at Darge/Crosbie/Dempsey as the starting back row then? I could certainly live with that. Crosbie did brilliantly in his two starts last year (both wins) and did nothing to deserve being dropped.

[Jock42]

Very impressed the way Russell interacts with the ref for Bath even though he's not captain
Should have a better on-field relationship with the ref without Richie yelling in his face

Aye he capt Scotland in the summer and I think everyone was impressed with his chat to the ref. He's clearly a leader within the team anyway so there's not much added pressure or responsibility there either.

I imagine Ritchie is a leader within the team but his communication with the refs is a real issue. Finn seems to get on their right side quite naturally.

Aye that's my only issue with him. Must have given up 40 or 50m last 6N.

[Slick]

Darge and Russell co-capts and McCann into squad. Looks like Ritchie won't be starting.

I thought they were trying to do away with co-captains after the Irish abused it