NPR

I think considering both of what you would call "natural" sevens - Watson & Darge are both injured , Scotland are extremely fortunate on having Ritchie / Crosbie / Fagerson & Dempsey , all fit & and all in form.

I suspect that we will see Ritchie at 6 , Crosbie at 7 , and Dempsey at 8 - Fagersons ability to cover both 6 & 8 probably has him on the bench, but this is a 23 player team these days - so to have him on the bench and coming on with no loss of performance , is a great place to be.

The back row is the least of our issues

I think Fagerson's work rate is off the scale, and Toonie rightly goes for that.

I reckon Fagerson will start, alongside Dempsey and Ritchie, with Crosbie on the pine.

Dogbert wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:53 pm I think considering both of what you would call "natural" sevens - Watson & Darge are both injured , Scotland are extremely fortunate on having Ritchie / Crosbie / Fagerson & Dempsey , all fit & and all in form.

I suspect that we will see Ritchie at 6 , Crosbie at 7 , and Dempsey at 8 - Fagersons ability to cover both 6 & 8 probably has him on the bench, but this is a 23 player team these days - so to have him on the bench and coming on with no loss of performance , is a great place to be.

The back row is the least of our issues

Agree with all of this, I think any combination will do a very good job - I honestly think we are going to be all over England at the breakdown and generally in the forwards

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:56 pm I think Fagerson's work rate is off the scale, and Toonie rightly goes for that.

I reckon Fagerson will start, alongside Dempsey and Ritchie, with Crosbie on the pine.

Agree, I think Fagerson has been asked to step up over the last 18 months and has delivered big time

Slick wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:58 pm

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:56 pm I think Fagerson's work rate is off the scale, and Toonie rightly goes for that.

I reckon Fagerson will start, alongside Dempsey and Ritchie, with Crosbie on the pine.

Agree, I think Fagerson has been asked to step up over the last 18 months and has delivered big time

Fagerson is by far the best option for Scotland in that shirt. I think now he is one of a few that are now in a similar place to what Jonny Gray was a few years back - definitely Scotland's best in the position but yet to really prove he is in the discussion as one of the best in the position in the 6N. I think his brother, Schoeman and arguably Ritchie are in a similar position.

Big D wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:26 am

Slick wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:58 pm

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 9:56 pm I think Fagerson's work rate is off the scale, and Toonie rightly goes for that.

I reckon Fagerson will start, alongside Dempsey and Ritchie, with Crosbie on the pine.

Agree, I think Fagerson has been asked to step up over the last 18 months and has delivered big time

Fagerson is by far the best option for Scotland in that shirt. I think now he is one of a few that are now in a similar place to what Jonny Gray was a few years back - definitely Scotland's best in the position but yet to really prove he is in the discussion as one of the best in the position in the 6N. I think his brother, Schoeman and arguably Ritchie are in a similar position.

Makes a change us Scots debating the various strengths of our players rather than their weaknesses and still struggling to agree who is best. I think we have real strength in depth in the back row and we haven't even put Darge and Watson into the frame due to inuries. Throw in Haining, Boyle, Christie et al into the mix and we seem to be doing ok.

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:40 am

Makes a change us Scots debating the various strengths of our players rather than their weaknesses

my dog, doesn't it just? It's most welcome too.

Yeah my pick was going on the assumption that Mish still wasn't ready, if he plays tomorrow and plays well, that gives Toonie the good kind of headache.


I do worry about Darge's injuries, I hope he's not Ross Rennie all over again.

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:48 am

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:40 am

Makes a change us Scots debating the various strengths of our players rather than their weaknesses

my dog, doesn't it just? It's most welcome too.

Yeah my pick was going on the assumption that Mish still wasn't ready, if he plays tomorrow and plays well, that gives Toonie the good kind of headache.


I do worry about Darge's injuries, I hope he's not Ross Rennie all over again.

He has to have a phenomenal game for me as Crosbie has been outperforming him this season. That said, the Thistle pods idea of starting Watson with Crosbie and Dempsey on the bench in a 6/2 split is interesting.

Jock42 wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 9:05 am

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:48 am

dpedin wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 8:40 am

Makes a change us Scots debating the various strengths of our players rather than their weaknesses

my dog, doesn't it just? It's most welcome too.

Yeah my pick was going on the assumption that Mish still wasn't ready, if he plays tomorrow and plays well, that gives Toonie the good kind of headache.


I do worry about Darge's injuries, I hope he's not Ross Rennie all over again.

He has to have a phenomenal game for me as Crosbie has been outperforming him this season. That said, the Thistle pods idea of starting Watson with Crosbie and Dempsey on the bench in a 6/2 split is interesting.

I don't really like 6/2 splits, you have to have a scrum half so essentially you only have one back replacement.

Glasgow Team for Dragons ( who have been a bit of a bogey team for the Warriors on the past)

Stronger than expected


1 Jamie Bhatti (80)
2 Fraser Brown (133)
3 Simon Berghan (23)
4 Lewis Bean (29)
5 JP du Preez (13)
6 Thomas Gordon (59)
7 Sione Vailanu (9)
8 Jack Dempsey (31)

9 Ali Price (121)
10 Duncan Weir (130)
11 Cole Forbes (30)
12 Sam Johnson (97)
13 Stafford McDowall (C) (47)
14 Sebastian Cancelliere (21)
15 Josh McKay (23)

Replacements

16 Johnny Matthews (38)
17 Nathan McBeth (14)
18 Lucio Sordoni (9)
19 Alex Samuel (4)
20 Euan Ferrie (6)
21 Cameron Neild (4)
22 Jamie Dobie (42)
23 Tom Jordan (13)

Unavailable for selection: Scott Cummings (foot), Rory Darge (ankle), Zander Fagerson (hamstring), Oli Kebble (shoulder), Sintu Manjezi (knee), Jack Mann (head), Domingo Miotti (back), Enrique Pieretto (chest), Ross Thompson (ankle), Murphy Walker (neck), Ryan Wilson (knee).

Price not starting next week then?

Edinburgh (v Sharks at the DAM Health Stadium, Saturday 5.15pm): H Immelman; W Goosen, M Bennett, J Lang, J Blain; C Savala, B Vellacott; B Venter, A McBurney, M McCallum, M Sykes, G Young, N Haining, H Watson, V Mata. Substitutes: D Cherry, L de Bruin, L Atalifo, J Hodgson, B Muncaster, C Shiel, J van der Walt, C Hutchison

Biffer wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 1:17 pm Edinburgh (v Sharks at the DAM Health Stadium, Saturday 5.15pm): H Immelman; W Goosen, M Bennett, J Lang, J Blain; C Savala, B Vellacott; B Venter, A McBurney, M McCallum, M Sykes, G Young, N Haining, H Watson, V Mata. Substitutes: D Cherry, L de Bruin, L Atalifo, J Hodgson, B Muncaster, C Shiel, J van der Walt, C Hutchison

I'd have liked to have seen Duhan get a run before the Calcutta Cup.

Muzza starting and de Bruin on the loosehead bench spot are the main talking points for me on the selection.

The Sharks team was described as "strong" on the league thread, so we'll have to reach last week's levels of concentration and commitment to get a win

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 1:21 pm

Biffer wrote: ↑Fri Jan 27, 2023 1:17 pm Edinburgh (v Sharks at the DAM Health Stadium, Saturday 5.15pm): H Immelman; W Goosen, M Bennett, J Lang, J Blain; C Savala, B Vellacott; B Venter, A McBurney, M McCallum, M Sykes, G Young, N Haining, H Watson, V Mata. Substitutes: D Cherry, L de Bruin, L Atalifo, J Hodgson, B Muncaster, C Shiel, J van der Walt, C Hutchison

I'd have liked to have seen Duhan get a run before the Calcutta Cup.

Muzza starting and de Bruin on the loosehead bench spot are the main talking points for me on the selection.

The Sharks team was described as "strong" on the league thread, so we'll have to reach last week's levels of concentration and commitment to get a win

I'm hoping Muzza goes well, a couple of URC matches and he could be on the Scotland bench.

Anyone watching the Glasgow game. It's like Murphy has decided to make a tight game off it and whistle Glasgow off the park in the last 20. Baffling decision after baffling decision. Even the commentators are scratching their heads.

Blackmac wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:31 pm Anyone watching the Glasgow game. It's like Murphy has decided to make a tight game off it and whistle Glasgow off the park in the last 20. Baffling decision after baffling decision. Even the commentators are scratching their heads.

I'm sort of watching

Dobie just scored a nice try

he's checking it again ffs

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:44 pm he's checking it again ffs

My feed went down with 10 to go but some very contrary calls in the 15 minutes before then.

Watched the last few minutes

This new SRU ticketing app is a bit much. Just took a screenshot of my tickets to send to a mate as he asked where I was sitting and got a warning that if I do that again they might cancel them!

A solid , if uninspring 6 /10 for Glasgow , First half fine - 2nd half less so.

Shipping 4 tries to the Dragons is pretty poor (and Dragons are a poor side these days ), put in that performance against a better team , and we would be lucky to walk away with a win.

McDowall the pick of the backs , and old man Brown probably the best of the forwards.

Its a work in progress , looking forward to getting some of the long term injured palying again , looks like Fagerson , Cummings and Darge are not too far away , and Thompson is back running.

Still a five pointer away from Home - onwards and upwards

I'm a bit confused what happened in that Glasgow attack there... Haining was walking he must be injured? He can't be that slow!

Edinburgh need to take the points more often. Their attack doesn't work without Kinghorn at 10. Savala isn't really good enough.

I like neeps wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 5:31 pm I'm a bit confused what happened in that Glasgow attack there... Haining was walking he must be injured? He can't be that slow!

Edinburgh need to take the points more often. Their attack doesn't work without Kinghorn at 10. Savala isn't really good enough.

Think that’s quite harsh

What a pass by Venter! Great few minutes for Immelmann there too.

Venters hands in this half

It's physically impossible that the ref could see that ball getting grounded.

Jesus, Edinburgh are their own worst enemies. The amount of handling and passing errors was ridiculous and other than when the game broke down they looked absolutely clueless as to how to break down the Sharks defence.

Blackmac wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:12 pm Jesus, Edinburgh are their own worst enemies. The amount of handling and passing errors was ridiculous and other than when the game broke down they looked absolutely clueless as to how to break down the Sharks defence.

The Sharks defence was very good to be fair, and the ref was letting them away with murder

Slick wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:14 pm

Blackmac wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 7:12 pm Jesus, Edinburgh are their own worst enemies. The amount of handling and passing errors was ridiculous and other than when the game broke down they looked absolutely clueless as to how to break down the Sharks defence.

The Sharks defence was very good to be fair, and the ref was letting them away with murder

Lots of instances of players taking the ball static and then trying offloads which didn't come off. As you say the Sharks defence was superb but you would expect us to do more than look clueless.

If you want to see an odd refereeing display you should watch the Glasgow game. So many just plain wrong and some just baffling. At one point Wilson was questioning his own knowledge of the game and have a chuckle.

So, Diddy Cup for Edinburgh next season.

Unless of course we win the Champions Cup. So hope is still alive.

What is annoying about the Edinburgh side (at least one of the many things) is poor basic skills. Had Blain had th eball in two hands he may have got it off to Savala, in one hand he had no chance. They just do not execute under pressure.

weegie01 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:50 pm So, Diddy Cup for Edinburgh next season.

Unless of course we win the Champions Cup. So hope is still alive.

Still in with a shot of top eight, let’s not write it off yet.

I haven’t seen the game yet, but it’s been obvious all season that the drop off from the first team is huge.

We’ve got a pretty tough run in to the end of the campaign too

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:40 pm I haven’t seen the game yet, but it’s been obvious all season that the drop off from the first team is huge.

We’ve got a pretty tough run in to the end of the campaign too

For most of that run in we have the first string players though. Only way to get the others to improve is playing and practice.

I don't think we've talked enough about de Bruin's pass for the third try yet. Not bad for a prop!

Watched it when I got in last night. Went from fearing a total drubbing after the first 2 tries back to the typical frustration of late. Some really good bits of play interspersed with lack of concentration (how many times did the ball just hit a forward with little or no attempt to catch it?) and basic skills.

Biffer wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 9:04 pm

weegie01 wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 8:50 pm So, Diddy Cup for Edinburgh next season.

Unless of course we win the Champions Cup. So hope is still alive.

Still in with a shot of top eight, let’s not write it off yet.

Anything is possible, but looking at the relative run ins, I am not seeing it.

Edinburgh were capable of winning that but the handling was poor, passes not given soon enough and at least twice I saw some one joining a ruck with the ball on Edinburgh's side and booting the ball to sharks when it would have been easier to step over it. Frustratingly inept considering what they are capable of.

Slick wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:55 pm Watched the last few minutes

This new SRU ticketing app is a bit much. Just took a screenshot of my tickets to send to a mate as he asked where I was sitting and got a warning that if I do that again they might cancel them!

To be fair I would expect that is fairly standard.

Biffer wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 7:59 am

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:40 pm I haven’t seen the game yet, but it’s been obvious all season that the drop off from the first team is huge.

We’ve got a pretty tough run in to the end of the campaign too

For most of that run in we have the first string players though. Only way to get the others to improve is playing and practice.

I don't think we've talked enough about de Bruin's pass for the third try yet. Not bad for a prop!

Was that not Venter? Maybe I’m thinking of the wrong one but Venter had 3 bits of sublime handling in the 1st half

Big D wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 12:14 pm

Slick wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 4:55 pm Watched the last few minutes

This new SRU ticketing app is a bit much. Just took a screenshot of my tickets to send to a mate as he asked where I was sitting and got a warning that if I do that again they might cancel them!

To be fair I would expect that is fairly standard.

Probably. I’m sure it’s an age thing but I liked getting my printed tickets through the post, then we had to print them ourselves (and pay for it!) then a nice friendly app to keep them in and now one i HAVE to use, that shouts at me.

Slick wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 12:55 pm

Biffer wrote: ↑Sun Jan 29, 2023 7:59 am

Tichtheid wrote: ↑Sat Jan 28, 2023 10:40 pm I haven’t seen the game yet, but it’s been obvious all season that the drop off from the first team is huge.

We’ve got a pretty tough run in to the end of the campaign too

For most of that run in we have the first string players though. Only way to get the others to improve is playing and practice.

I don't think we've talked enough about de Bruin's pass for the third try yet. Not bad for a prop!

Was that not Venter? Maybe I’m thinking of the wrong one but Venter had 3 bits of sublime handling in the 1st half

Yes, that was Venter. Two great try assists from him.

I've only watched the first half of the game so far whilst toddler-wrangling, but Savala is a work in progress. He's definitely got ability but he doesn't impose himself much on the game.