The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[vball]

With the Super6 teams and their players needing to be re-integrated back into the club game, Scottish Rugby have issued a working document into how this will be done. Lots of options ranging from putting all S6 teams into Premiership to even having some Nat 3.
Will need to sit down in a darkened room and read it through. Could end up with lots of mismatches. Could of course end up with lots of S6 players changing clubs.

[Yr Alban]

Huw Jones is apparently off to Montpellier in the summer.

No he’s no! Just signed an extension!

[Big D]

Huw Jones is apparently off to Montpellier in the summer.

No he’s no! Just signed an extension!

Not like The Offside Line to be wrong...

[Slick]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

[Tichtheid]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

Yeah, the daily for Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells ran an article/whingefest on the subject yesterday

[Slick]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

Yeah, the daily for Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells ran an article/whingefest on the subject yesterday

The Irish, as usual, are the most ridiculous. Their 1st XV would have the same number of overseas born players as ours, but that's, apparently, is not the point.

[Tichtheid]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

Yeah, the daily for Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells ran an article/whingefest on the subject yesterday

The Irish, as usual, are the most ridiculous. Their 1st XV would have the same number of overseas born players as ours, but that's, apparently, is not the point.

In a related occurrence, I see Louis Lynagh is in the Italy squad - I missed that at the time, now I hear he is leaving Quins for Benetton at the end of the season. He was born in Treviso.
His brother Tom was also born in Italy but he is playing for the Queensland Reds

[Tichtheid]

Edinburgh Rugby team to face Ospreys at Hive Stadium in the BKT United Rugby Championship
Friday 1 March (kick-off 7.35pm) – live on Viaplay

15. Emiliano Boffelli (36)
14. Harry Paterson (9)
13. Mark Bennett (99)
12. Matt Currie (30)
11. Chris Dean (143)
10. Ben Healy (13)
9. Ben Vellacott (51) CAPTAIN

1. Boan Venter (57)
2. Dave Cherry (83)
3. WP Nel (198)
4. Sam Skinner (16)
5. Glen Young (36)
6. Tom Dodd (7)
7. Hamish Watson (150)
8. Viliame Mata (128)

Replacements
16. Patrick Harrison (13)
17. Luan de Bruin (22)
18. Javan Sebastian (9)
19. Marshall Sykes (54)
20. Ben Muncaster (28)
21. Ali Price (9)
22. James Lang (48)
23. Wes Goosen (22)

Unavailable: Luke Crosbie (shoulder), Darcy Graham (groin), Robin Hislop (knee), Mikey Jones (hamstring), Scott Steele (hip).
International selection: Ewan Ashman, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Duhan van der Merwe.


Good to see Muncaster and Goosen back. That looks like a decent selection but we said that a fortnight ago when they were to play Zebre.

[Yr Alban]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

Yeah, the daily for Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells ran an article/whingefest on the subject yesterday

The Irish, as usual, are the most ridiculous. Their 1st XV would have the same number of overseas born players as ours, but that's, apparently, is not the point.

This is what is so frustrating. The rules are the same for everyone and most other countries have taken full advantage, but it’s only us who get constant criticism.

It now seems very unlikely that Fin Smith will ever play for us (more’s the pity) but I did think a while back that if he did, he should be listed as Finlay Smith in all squads, just to make a point (as Italy did with Tommaso Allan).

[KingBlairhorn]

Yeah, the daily for Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells ran an article/whingefest on the subject yesterday

The Irish, as usual, are the most ridiculous. Their 1st XV would have the same number of overseas born players as ours, but that's, apparently, is not the point.

This is what is so frustrating. The rules are the same for everyone and most other countries have taken full advantage, but it’s only us who get constant criticism.

It now seems very unlikely that Fin Smith will ever play for us (more’s the pity) but I did think a while back that if he did, he should be listed as Finlay Smith in all squads, just to make a point (as Italy did with Tommaso Allan).

I think it is quite probable (I have no interest in checking) we have the most therefore this is the logic for attacking us specifically. My view though is it makes no difference - it doesn't matter if you have 1, 10 or 100 such players in your system, you either do or you don't; as soon as you do you are no longer in a position to criticise others for utilising the strategy. It is hypocritical in the extreme.

[SaintK]

Hogg acting the twat again!!! Won't post the link as it's The Mirror and is full of pop-ups

Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg was arrested outside his ex-wife's home last weekend.
Hogg was arrested on suspicion of causing fear and alarm by acting in a threatening or abusive manner just hours after mingling with celebrities Murrayfield as Scotland beat England 30-21 in the Six Nations. The 31-year-old shared images of himself alongside the likes of Line of Duty actor Martin Compston and Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace with the caption: "What a day. What a result.
However, the Sun are reporting that Hogg was then arrested later that same day at his former family home. The report states that Hogg was taken to Hawick police station after officers responded to a call at the address.
He has since been released, but is expected to appear in court at a later date after a report was submitted to prosecutors.

[inactionman]

I noticed his injury travails have been commented on here, but Graham confirmed as out for season

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/68444223

Real shame, just a lovely player to watch.

[Jockaline]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

Yip, we shouldn't allow the trolls to get to us, we do not have to defending our right to play who we want under the rules. Rather we should be celebrating our team no longer being dismissed as second tier, and the fact that chat about relegation from the six nation going very quiet.

[LenCohen]

Hogg acting the twat again!!! Won't post the link as it's The Mirror and is full of pop-ups

Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg was arrested outside his ex-wife's home last weekend.
Hogg was arrested on suspicion of causing fear and alarm by acting in a threatening or abusive manner just hours after mingling with celebrities Murrayfield as Scotland beat England 30-21 in the Six Nations. The 31-year-old shared images of himself alongside the likes of Line of Duty actor Martin Compston and Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace with the caption: "What a day. What a result.
However, the Sun are reporting that Hogg was then arrested later that same day at his former family home. The report states that Hogg was taken to Hawick police station after officers responded to a call at the address.
He has since been released, but is expected to appear in court at a later date after a report was submitted to prosecutors.

Scurrilous scuttlebutt

[SaintK]

Hogg acting the twat again!!! Won't post the link as it's The Mirror and is full of pop-ups

Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg was arrested outside his ex-wife's home last weekend.
Hogg was arrested on suspicion of causing fear and alarm by acting in a threatening or abusive manner just hours after mingling with celebrities Murrayfield as Scotland beat England 30-21 in the Six Nations. The 31-year-old shared images of himself alongside the likes of Line of Duty actor Martin Compston and Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace with the caption: "What a day. What a result.
However, the Sun are reporting that Hogg was then arrested later that same day at his former family home. The report states that Hogg was taken to Hawick police station after officers responded to a call at the address.
He has since been released, but is expected to appear in court at a later date after a report was submitted to prosecutors.

Scurrilous scuttlebutt

Really?
Take your pick
https://www.google.com/search?q=Stua ... &oe=#ip=1

[Slick]

Hogg acting the twat again!!! Won't post the link as it's The Mirror and is full of pop-ups

Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg was arrested outside his ex-wife's home last weekend.
Hogg was arrested on suspicion of causing fear and alarm by acting in a threatening or abusive manner just hours after mingling with celebrities Murrayfield as Scotland beat England 30-21 in the Six Nations. The 31-year-old shared images of himself alongside the likes of Line of Duty actor Martin Compston and Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace with the caption: "What a day. What a result.
However, the Sun are reporting that Hogg was then arrested later that same day at his former family home. The report states that Hogg was taken to Hawick police station after officers responded to a call at the address.
He has since been released, but is expected to appear in court at a later date after a report was submitted to prosecutors.

He definitely seems to be on a bit of a spiral. Not many can trash a legacy quite so quickly.

[Dogbert]

After all the nonsense of International Rugby where the main concern seems to be where people were born , we can now get back to the serious business

Glasgow (2nd) against Benneton (4th)

Considering that practically the full Glasgow first team is either on International duty or injured - that's a pretty decent team
Good to see some of the youngsters in the pack getting more game time.

RT10 also getting more time ( he was really good against the Dragons ), I suspect if Sione is out fro some time , we will see more of the RT10/ Jordan - 10/12 axis , and Sebo now back from injury, which is just as well considering Rowe was not released

Dobie now resigned on a 4 year deal switching from wing to his normal scrum half role.

A win this weekend would really cement Glasgow's position

1 Nathan McBeth (32)
2 Johnny Matthews (62)
3 Lucio Sordoni (25)
4 Max Williamson (8)
5 Alex Samuel (13)
6 Euan Ferrie (12)
7 Thomas Gordon (71)
8 Henco Venter (10)

9 Jamie Dobie (56)
10 Ross Thompson (45)
11 Facundo Cordero (1)
12 Tom Jordan (38)
13 Stafford McDowall (C) (70)
14 Sebastian Cancelliere (31)
15 Josh McKay (39)

Replacements

16 Gregor Hiddleston (2)
17 Allan Dell (7)
18 Oli Kebble (96)
19 Sintu Manjezi (17)
20 Ally Miller (24)
21 Angus Fraser (10)
22 Ben Afshar (7)
23 Duncan Weir (143)

Unavailable for selection: Fraser Brown (knee), Gregor Brown (knee), Richie Gray (bicep), Jack Mann (ankle), JP du Preez (knee), Ollie Smith (knee), Sione Tuipulotu (knee), Sione Vailanu (knee), Murphy Walker (knee).

International duty: Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, George Horne, Huw Jones, Kyle Rowe, George Turner.-, Kyle Steyn

[Blackmac]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

Yip, we shouldn't allow the trolls to get to us, we do not have to defending our right to play who we want under the rules. Rather we should be celebrating our team no longer being dismissed as second tier, and the fact that chat about relegation from the six nation going very quiet.

It's quite funny when you think back through the England caps for the last 10 o so years. The number of imports is endless. Off the top of my head,
Hartley
Botha
Shields
T'eo
Flutey
Hape
Harrison
Barritt
Fourie
Waldrom
Hughes
Joe Cocker the Singer.
Rockuduguni
Billy V
Mako V
Tuilagi

There are probably more if you dig as deep as they do to claim the likes of Watson and Redpath are imports.

The problem seems to be we are better poachers than them.

[SomersetJock]

Great to watch the Edinburgh match on the TV box rather than tablet or phone tonight

Patterson definitely needs to head over to Glasgow for his development !

Far too many top quality back 3 players at Edinburgh

[S/Lt_Phillips]

Scotland backs Darcy Graham and Sione Tuipulotu could miss the rest of season through injury - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/68444223

Graham & Tuipulotu out for the rest of the 6 nations

[C T]

Hogg acting the twat again!!! Won't post the link as it's The Mirror and is full of pop-ups

Former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg was arrested outside his ex-wife's home last weekend.
Hogg was arrested on suspicion of causing fear and alarm by acting in a threatening or abusive manner just hours after mingling with celebrities Murrayfield as Scotland beat England 30-21 in the Six Nations. The 31-year-old shared images of himself alongside the likes of Line of Duty actor Martin Compston and Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace with the caption: "What a day. What a result.
However, the Sun are reporting that Hogg was then arrested later that same day at his former family home. The report states that Hogg was taken to Hawick police station after officers responded to a call at the address.
He has since been released, but is expected to appear in court at a later date after a report was submitted to prosecutors.

He definitely seems to be on a bit of a spiral. Not many can trash a legacy quite so quickly.

I've gone from trying to defend him unjustly just because he's Hoggy, to thinking "You horrible, horrible twat". I'm sat here now thinking something quite sad is going on here, a spiral like you say.

[dkm57]

Paterson is a bit of a revelation

[Blackmac]

Hogg acting the twat again!!! Won't post the link as it's The Mirror and is full of pop-ups

He definitely seems to be on a bit of a spiral. Not many can trash a legacy quite so quickly.

I've gone from trying to defend him unjustly just because he's Hoggy, to thinking "You horrible, horrible twat". I'm sat here now thinking something quite sad is going on here, a spiral like you say.

By all accounts Hogg was lucky not to be arrested over the festive period after turning up pissed at his wife's. There was also an incident at Hawick Rugby Club where he had to be taken away to stop a few of the locals from giving him a kicking.

[KingBlairhorn]

Paterson is a bit of a revelation

He seems to have found some real attacking verve amongst a pretty toothless Edinburgh attack.

Altogether a bit shite tonight from Edinburgh but nonetheless a good result.

[clydecloggie]

Paterson is a bit of a revelation

That's about the only positive from tonight. And the 4 points, granted. Just a very low-quality game of rugby.

[Big D]

Paterson is a bit of a revelation

He seems to have found some real attacking verve amongst a pretty toothless Edinburgh attack.

Altogether a bit shite tonight from Edinburgh but nonetheless a good result.

Edinburgh have jumped the gun by extending Everitt so early.

The lack of bonus points (joint league worst?) Is going to come back and bite.

[Jock42]

Paterson is a bit of a revelation

He seems to have found some real attacking verve amongst a pretty toothless Edinburgh attack.

Altogether a bit shite tonight from Edinburgh but nonetheless a good result.

Edinburgh have jumped the gun by extending Everitt so early.

The lack of bonus points (joint league worst?) Is going to come back and bite.

They've won a few games they'd have lost last season, including tonight.

[Tichtheid]

He seems to have found some real attacking verve amongst a pretty toothless Edinburgh attack.

Altogether a bit shite tonight from Edinburgh but nonetheless a good result.

Edinburgh have jumped the gun by extending Everitt so early.

The lack of bonus points (joint league worst?) Is going to come back and bite.

They've won a few games they'd have lost last season, including tonight.

8 wins so far, compared to 6 over the whole of last season.

[clydecloggie]

He seems to have found some real attacking verve amongst a pretty toothless Edinburgh attack.

Altogether a bit shite tonight from Edinburgh but nonetheless a good result.

Edinburgh have jumped the gun by extending Everitt so early.

The lack of bonus points (joint league worst?) Is going to come back and bite.

They've won a few games they'd have lost last season, including tonight.

Pretty likely to make the play-offs and qualify for the Champions Cup, so that's progress. But the chronic frailty and disinterest is still there.

[Tichtheid]

Edinburgh have jumped the gun by extending Everitt so early.

The lack of bonus points (joint league worst?) Is going to come back and bite.

They've won a few games they'd have lost last season, including tonight.

Pretty likely to make the play-offs and qualify for the Champions Cup, so that's progress. But the chronic frailty and disinterest is still there.

I don't see any disinterest in the Edinburgh team now.

[Jock42]

Edinburgh have jumped the gun by extending Everitt so early.

The lack of bonus points (joint league worst?) Is going to come back and bite.

They've won a few games they'd have lost last season, including tonight.

Pretty likely to make the play-offs and qualify for the Champions Cup, so that's progress. But the chronic frailty and disinterest is still there.

I disagree that the frailty and disinterest are chronic. If that were the case they'd not be winning tight matches this season.

[clydecloggie]

Maybe it's sopmething else then. But with the squad they have, they should be a much better team.

[KingBlairhorn]

Building a team from losers to winners always goes the same way.
1. Stop the rot.
2. Find defensive stability, be hard to beat.
3. Win games comfortably with attacking panache.

Arguably Edinburgh have too often suffered from false dawns by trying to jump from 0 to 3 without ever achieving 1 and 2. I am willing to give Everitt the benefit of the doubt if he keeps them putting in defensively sound (relatively speaking) winning performances.

[Yr Alban]

The crying that is still going on about eligibility is incredible. We are obviously doing something right.

Yip, we shouldn't allow the trolls to get to us, we do not have to defending our right to play who we want under the rules. Rather we should be celebrating our team no longer being dismissed as second tier, and the fact that chat about relegation from the six nation going very quiet.

It's quite funny when you think back through the England caps for the last 10 o so years. The number of imports is endless. Off the top of my head,
Hartley
Botha
Shields
T'eo
Flutey
Hape
Harrison
Barritt
Fourie
Waldrom
Hughes
Joe Cocker the Singer.
Rockuduguni
Billy V
Mako V
Tuilagi

There are probably more if you dig as deep as they do to claim the likes of Watson and Redpath are imports.

The problem seems to be we are better poachers than them.

You and I clearly did the same thing. I was looking at list of England caps and marvelling at how many imports there were. Somehow overseas-born players representing England doesn’t seem to generate much interest. Possibly because most of them got a handful of caps and were replaced, whereas our much smaller player pool means that good players are kept in and around the squad for much longer.

There’s also the players who were born overseas but nobody cares, like Arundell (Cyprus) and Marcus Smith (the Philippines). In Scotland’s case these players are counted as ‘foreign born’ - Kyle Rowe and Cam Redpath, for example - because the narrative is that all of our players have to be poached.

[Tichtheid]

As I was saying over the road, there have been times this season where we've cut the opposition open and made line breaks and lots of territory gains with ball in hand, we just haven't been clinical at the end of the breaks.

Healy looked very good up to that point, putting runners into space as well as being good with the boot.

I assume Price will be away next year, I'd prefer him to stay, but we have a decent backline in any event. It's a shame Redpath didn't come to Edinburgh, I feel we could do with an international class 12 to really kick us on.

[Biffer]

A significant part of Edinburgh’s cutting edge was unexpectedly taken away shortly after the start of the season, when Kinghorn left. Difficult to compensate for that on the fly. With that and Graham being injured, it’s understandable why they’re not scoring as many as we’d like.

[weegie01]

Paterson is a bit of a revelation

He says that playing for Scotland, and realising he could hack it at that level has given him a huge boost.

[weegie01]

With the Super6 teams and their players needing to be re-integrated back into the club game, Scottish Rugby have issued a working document into how this will be done. Lots of options ranging from putting all S6 teams into Premiership to even having some Nat 3.
Will need to sit down in a darkened room and read it through. Could end up with lots of mismatches. Could of course end up with lots of S6 players changing clubs.

We were chatting to a couple of Ospreys players after the match, and even they were astonished Super 6 is going. Mainly because one (Cam Jones) had played Super 6.

Over the last while I've spoken to a few Super 6 players and a few more last night. All are dumbfounded. According to them, everyone associated with Super 6 thinks this is madness, and no one can see an alternative that will work. One of the comments made was that people making this decision do not understand just how big the gap between the Premiership and Super 6 clubs is now. In their opinion current Super 6 teams are a mismatch for Prem teams, until that is the Super 6 teams decline to a similar level.

A couple of guys in their mid 20s are now talking of retiring. They just don't see the point in going on. They may not have made the pros but they see Super 6 as an achievement and going down a level, which is what everyone thinks will happen, will lose that sense of accomplishment. So they think they'll just concentrate on their careers now. A lot of Super 6 players will change clubs as it is no longer worth their while playing for clubs that are inconvenient for them.

I have rarely been as depressed about the future of Scottish rugby as I am now.

[SaintK]

There’s also the players who were born overseas but nobody cares, like Arundell (Cyprus) and Marcus Smith (the Philippines). In Scotland’s case these players are counted as ‘foreign born’ - Kyle Rowe and Cam Redpath, for example - because the narrative is that all of our players have to be poached.

Every top tier rfugby playing country does it, you guys take this all too personally.
You can add Undrerhill (born in USA) and Launchbury (born in Hong Kong) to your list
Oh and in the previous list of England poaches above, at least 4 of them have English mothers. There were also some absolute shite poachees amongst them as well.

[Margin__Walker]

Other than likely being counted on those lists that Tier 2 rugby guy puts together that pick up anyone foreign born, I really can't remember anyone calling someone like Rowe a poach.

Redpath was only notable because he went from an England training squad to an injury layoff to a Scotland training squad. Again, not seen anyone really complaining about his eligibility.