The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[Slick]

Really, really interested to see how Thompson goes. At the moment I think his ceiling is probably decent club player but I’d like him to get every chance over the next couple of seasons to prove that wrong, and he wasn’t getting that at Glasgow

[topofthemoon]

Ali Price and Ross Thompson reunited as starting half backs.

Coincidentally the last time these two started together was also against Leinster - at the end of the 2021/22 season. It did not end well...

[robmatic]

First game of the season with a mostly fit squad against Leinster at home really should be as first choice as things stand as possible.

It should be but Vellacott is on the bench. I know Gilchrist is starting but you don't make your second choice SH co-capt. Muncaster and Cherry over Bradbury and Ashman? Is Currie the best 12 and is he really behind a 13 who's played a handful of pro games?

Vellacott as CC was the surprise for me as Price is surely the better player.

Fair point about Ashman and maybe Bradbury too. First game of the season though I think we can read into Thompson over Healy.

Vellacott makes sense if you want a co-captain who is more likely to be around when the internationalists are away.

Some of the selections could be the players who have showed up better in training or in last week's game, although that might be a bit radical for an Edinburgh coach.

[dpedin]

It should be but Vellacott is on the bench. I know Gilchrist is starting but you don't make your second choice SH co-capt. Muncaster and Cherry over Bradbury and Ashman? Is Currie the best 12 and is he really behind a 13 who's played a handful of pro games?

Vellacott as CC was the surprise for me as Price is surely the better player.

Fair point about Ashman and maybe Bradbury too. First game of the season though I think we can read into Thompson over Healy.

Vellacott makes sense if you want a co-captain who is more likely to be around when the internationalists are away.

Some of the selections could be the players who have showed up better in training or in last week's game, although that might be a bit radical for an Edinburgh coach.

Although we know who is 'properly' injured, we never know about who is carrying slight knocks/strains or how pre season training has gone for individual players and if they are fully 100% ready, etc. Also coaches will be looking at the block of games and trying to manage individuals game times and look to build combinations across the park. I doubt the coaches will ever be in a position where they have everyone fully fit and firing on all cylinders to pick from so it is difficult to read too much into team selections, even for the first game of the season!

[Jock42]

It should be but Vellacott is on the bench. I know Gilchrist is starting but you don't make your second choice SH co-capt. Muncaster and Cherry over Bradbury and Ashman? Is Currie the best 12 and is he really behind a 13 who's played a handful of pro games?

Vellacott as CC was the surprise for me as Price is surely the better player.

Fair point about Ashman and maybe Bradbury too. First game of the season though I think we can read into Thompson over Healy.

Vellacott makes sense if you want a co-captain who is more likely to be around when the internationalists are away.

Some of the selections could be the players who have showed up better in training or in last week's game, although that might be a bit radical for an Edinburgh coach.

Price isn't the player he was. Too slow getting the ball away which cost embra a few times last season. I'd start Vellacott.

[Jockaline]

Last minute subscription to Premier Sport to watch the Edinburgh game tonight. Used a discount code of EPCR70 to reduce the upfront annual cost from £120 to £70. Thought I'd share in case there was others interested.

[Slick]

Anyone else having the fucking irritating, every fucking time, problem casting from their phone with fucking Premier Sports?

[Slick]

Same old so far. Edinburgh can’t do basics, Leinster diving and appealing

[Slick]

Ref already asked Leinster 4 times to stop speaking to him

[Slick]

Hook Price before this gets away, he’s very poor tonight. Why didn’t he get in and pull Ryan’s arm away there instead of waving his arms about

[KingBlairhorn]

Ref already asked Leinster 4 times to stop speaking to him

Leinster rules in full effect already. I counted 6 offsides in a row on their try line but because Edinburgh had advantage that was apparently fine? No check on Leinster forward pass but an Edinburgh flat pass for a try pulled back live rather than allowing it to go to TMO? They are probably the best club team in world rugby, they don’t need help.

[KingBlairhorn]

Hook Price before this gets away, he’s very poor tonight. Why didn’t he get in and pull Ryan’s arm away there instead of waving his arms about

I’m trying to remember, was Ali only good when he was playing with Finn?

[Slick]

Ref already asked Leinster 4 times to stop speaking to him

Leinster rules in full effect already. I counted 6 offsides in a row on their try line but because Edinburgh had advantage that was apparently fine? No check on Leinster forward pass but an Edinburgh flat pass for a try pulled back live rather than allowing it to go to TMO? They are probably the best club team in world rugby, they don’t need help.

Not sure what is going on with the reffing. They have obviously been told to just make decisions - which I’m all for, even if it means a few mistakes - but then didn’t give time to check that pass, and then the one where Thompson was judged to have taken it over the line, it was close enough to ask for a TMO then the decision made immediately on the worst and most inconclusive angle.

[Slick]

Thompson is a very decent defender

[Slick]

Duhan is going to continue being very annoying this season, his defence the whole game has been absolutely appalling

[Yr Alban]

Three unanswered tries in 10 minutes. This is why Edinburgh can’t have nice things. Keep hoping it will change, and it never does.

[Yr Alban]

Ref already asked Leinster 4 times to stop speaking to him

Leinster rules in full effect already. I counted 6 offsides in a row on their try line but because Edinburgh had advantage that was apparently fine? No check on Leinster forward pass but an Edinburgh flat pass for a try pulled back live rather than allowing it to go to TMO? They are probably the best club team in world rugby, they don’t need help.

Yeah - Celtic and Rangers* don’t need help either (well, not in Scotland) and yet that’s what they get every week.

[Jock42]

Duhan is going to continue being very annoying this season, his defence the whole game has been absolutely appalling

One more and I'll forgive him

[KingBlairhorn]

TBP is a decent result against Leinster no matter who they put out.

I think Price has been worse defensively than Duhan.

[Yr Alban]

TBP is a decent result against Leinster no matter who they put out.

I think Price has been worse defensively than Duhan.

Glasgow beat Munster in Ireland on their way to the title. Good though Leinster usually are, Edinburgh should never be satisfied with a loss to them at home.

[KingBlairhorn]

TBP is a decent result against Leinster no matter who they put out.

I think Price has been worse defensively than Duhan.

Glasgow beat Munster in Ireland on their way to the title. Good though Leinster usually are, Edinburgh should never be satisfied with a loss to them at home.

Aye, but Edinburgh aren’t Glasgow. Do I think they should aspire to be as good? Absolutely. Are they? Nowhere near.

[KingBlairhorn]

Decent final score, probably closer than the gap between the teams.

Healy a big downgrade on Thompson for me tonight.

[Slick]

Duhan is going to continue being very annoying this season, his defence the whole game has been absolutely appalling

One more and I'll forgive him

Thats kind of what I meant but wasn’t very clear. He is really rubbish in defence but you can’t drop him

[Yr Alban]

TBP is a decent result against Leinster no matter who they put out.

I think Price has been worse defensively than Duhan.

Glasgow beat Munster in Ireland on their way to the title. Good though Leinster usually are, Edinburgh should never be satisfied with a loss to them at home.

Aye, but Edinburgh aren’t Glasgow. Do I think they should aspire to be as good? Absolutely. Are they? Nowhere near.

No, of course they aren’t, but it won’t help them get better if they settle for mediocre. A loss with 2 BPs is better than nowt though.

[Slick]

Positives:

Thompson- Healy was not good at all when he replaced him

Scott - quite a few of us often wondered why he wasn’t getting a look in with Scotland. Still am. He’s a class player

Bradbury looked interesting

Who was the replacement front row with the dirty moustache? He looked suitably assassin like

[Yr Alban]

Positives:

Thompson- Healy was not good at all when he replaced him

Scott - quite a few of us often wondered why he wasn’t getting a look in with Scotland. Still am. He’s a class player

Bradbury looked interesting

Who was the replacement front row with the dirty moustache? He looked suitably assassin like

I’ve said for years that Scott was harshly dealt with by Scotland. I always thought he was classy, and never seemed to get a shot when we started to improve as a side.

[Tichtheid]

Venter was very good when he came on - he and Rae destroyed the Leinster front row.
It's great to see Muncaster back and hitting harder than most seasoned pros.
Scott and Tuipulotu look like our best paring right now, though I still have high hopes for Curry.
Ashman really needs to work on his darts as he's brilliant in all other aspects of his game.

Healy wasn't as bad as is being made out, he made a couple of howlers but also made a couple of really great contributions, Embra continue to need a really good 10.

Vellacott over Price for me

Leinster are a very difficult side to play against unless you have the power of Toulouse or La Rochelle but we need to find a way to bring our backline into the game more.
Two BPs is disappointing but not exactly unexpected - we need to raise those expectations

[Tichtheid]

Positives:

Thompson- Healy was not good at all when he replaced him

Scott - quite a few of us often wondered why he wasn’t getting a look in with Scotland. Still am. He’s a class player

Bradbury looked interesting

Who was the replacement front row with the dirty moustache? He looked suitably assassin like

I’ve said for years that Scott was harshly dealt with by Scotland. I always thought he was classy, and never seemed to get a shot when we started to improve as a side.

Scott made one defensive error against South Africa and was vilified online. It was said that Toonie dropped him in the first place because of his defence, and this one error where he stepped out early against the best centre pairing in world rugby at the time cost him his international career
The season before he went to Leicester I thought he was Scotland's best 12, his running lines were superb.

[Slick]

Venter was very good when he came on - he and Rae destroyed the Leinster front row.
It's great to see Muncaster back and hitting harder than most seasoned pros.
Scott and Tuipulotu look like our best paring right now, though I still have high hopes for Curry.
Ashman really needs to work on his darts as he's brilliant in all other aspects of his game.

Healy wasn't as bad as is being made out, he made a couple of howlers but also made a couple of really great contributions, Embra continue to need a really good 10.

Vellacott over Price for me

Leinster are a very difficult side to play against unless you have the power of Toulouse or La Rochelle but we need to find a way to bring our backline into the game more.
Two BPs is disappointing but not exactly unexpected - we need to raise those expectations

Was that Rae with the wee moustache? He looked scary and impressive.

Bit early to say that about Tuipulotu I think. NOT a criticism but I didn’t see very much of him last night and, apart from the big hit, what I did see looked very much like a guy on his debut at a level he’s not used to. There are obviously a lot of people in the wider set up that like what they see so im sure he’ll grow into it.

[SomersetJock]

Venter was very good when he came on - he and Rae destroyed the Leinster front row.
It's great to see Muncaster back and hitting harder than most seasoned pros.
Scott and Tuipulotu look like our best paring right now, though I still have high hopes for Curry.
Ashman really needs to work on his darts as he's brilliant in all other aspects of his game.

Healy wasn't as bad as is being made out, he made a couple of howlers but also made a couple of really great contributions, Embra continue to need a really good 10.

Vellacott over Price for me

Leinster are a very difficult side to play against unless you have the power of Toulouse or La Rochelle but we need to find a way to bring our backline into the game more.
Two BPs is disappointing but not exactly unexpected - we need to raise those expectations

Was that Rae with the wee moustache? He looked scary and impressive.

Bit early to say that about Tuipulotu I think. NOT a criticism but I didn’t see very much of him last night and, apart from the big hit, what I did see looked very much like a guy on his debut at a level he’s not used to. There are obviously a lot of people in the wider set up that like what they see so im sure he’ll grow into it.

I won’t lie I didn’t really rate Tuipulotu snr for most of his first season at Glasgow. Never thought he would get a second season nevermind an international caps.

Shows how little I know

[Slick]

Venter was very good when he came on - he and Rae destroyed the Leinster front row.
It's great to see Muncaster back and hitting harder than most seasoned pros.
Scott and Tuipulotu look like our best paring right now, though I still have high hopes for Curry.
Ashman really needs to work on his darts as he's brilliant in all other aspects of his game.

Healy wasn't as bad as is being made out, he made a couple of howlers but also made a couple of really great contributions, Embra continue to need a really good 10.

Vellacott over Price for me

Leinster are a very difficult side to play against unless you have the power of Toulouse or La Rochelle but we need to find a way to bring our backline into the game more.
Two BPs is disappointing but not exactly unexpected - we need to raise those expectations

Was that Rae with the wee moustache? He looked scary and impressive.

Bit early to say that about Tuipulotu I think. NOT a criticism but I didn’t see very much of him last night and, apart from the big hit, what I did see looked very much like a guy on his debut at a level he’s not used to. There are obviously a lot of people in the wider set up that like what they see so im sure he’ll grow into it.

I won’t lie I didn’t really rate Tuipulotu snr for most of his first season at Glasgow. Never thought he would get a second season nevermind an international caps.

Shows how little I know

You were not alone

[GrahamWa]

Kinghorn v H*gg both at 15 on Premier Player (not on TV) starting at 13:30.

Be interesting if they pick up any chat between the two pre/post game to see if he is still "friends" with his old teammates.

[dpedin]

Edinburgh were pretty poor last night against Leinster who fielded a mixed 1st and 2nd team. Yet again we leaked soft tries, gave away stupid penalties or possession in key areas at key times during the game. I thought the pack held their own and indeed could have claimed they whad slightly the upper hand up front. We looked better balanced once Bradbury came on and Muncaster was a real menace throughout the game. However Price and Thomson failed to control the game and their kicking was generally poor. It meant our midfield had nothing to play with and our danger men in the back three were starved of any decent ball. We played a lot off of Price and it didnt really work, his box kicking was awful, his service was slow and Leinster handled us with ease. The only time we really attacked with structure, pace and ball in hand in first half we scored a try. Vellacot made a big difference when he came on but Heally unfortunately didnt and made a few mistakes when trying to chase the game.

I ended up watching the game with a strong sense of deja vu, it almost reminded me of the Solomon era of pods of forwards, two or three phases then box kicking and hoping to pressure defenses into making mistakes ... and keep repeating regardless if it works or not and then only try and attack with ball in hand if we get into their 22. Lets be honest our game plan and lack of any attacking nous isnt going to win us many games, most other teams can easily defend against this now!

[Slick]

Edinburgh were pretty poor last night against Leinster who fielded a mixed 1st and 2nd team. Yet again we leaked soft tries, gave away stupid penalties or possession in key areas at key times during the game. I thought the pack held their own and indeed could have claimed they whad slightly the upper hand up front. We looked better balanced once Bradbury came on and Muncaster was a real menace throughout the game. However Price and Thomson failed to control the game and their kicking was generally poor. It meant our midfield had nothing to play with and our danger men in the back three were starved of any decent ball. We played a lot off of Price and it didnt really work, his box kicking was awful, his service was slow and Leinster handled us with ease. The only time we really attacked with structure, pace and ball in hand in first half we scored a try. Vellacot made a big difference when he came on but Heally unfortunately didnt and made a few mistakes when trying to chase the game.

I ended up watching the game with a strong sense of deja vu, it almost reminded me of the Solomon era of pods of forwards, two or three phases then box kicking and hoping to pressure defenses into making mistakes ... and keep repeating regardless if it works or not and then only try and attack with ball in hand if we get into their 22. Lets be honest our game plan and lack of any attacking nous isnt going to win us many games, most other teams can easily defend against this now!

Good post. Although I slightly disagree about Thompson, thought he did the best he could with what he was getting

[Slick]

Kinghorn v H*gg both at 15 on Premier Player (not on TV) starting at 13:30.

Be interesting if they pick up any chat between the two pre/post game to see if he is still "friends" with his old teammates.

Hogg needs his try bonus with another kid on the way

[Slick]

Kinghorns pass is the best in world rugby, thing of beauty

[Slick]

Glasgow on it!

[Slick]

This is a ridiculous game

[Slick]

Why didn’t they check that? Looked a very clear drop over the line

[Slick]

Ridiculous game