The Official Scottish Rugby Thread

[Dogbert]

My only real issue - and it's pretty minor is I would have prefered Skinner over Gilchrist

Hopefully we can heep the stupid penalty count down ( Ritchie & Gilchrist - lookimg at you both ) , then this is set up for one hell of a match.

A hurting England , at home , with a full crowd , with a new coach , and a point to prove.

If Scotland pulls this one off ..... It's the hope that kills you

[Slick]

Well. Thats a statement

Told you Ben White would start, with Horne benching

Christ, hadn’t even noticed that, big statement. Certainly a team picked mainly on form and to go after them so I don’t think there can be any complaints from us supporters.

As Tichtheid said, I think Skinner is hard done by and I’d rather have him on the bench than Jonny any day of the week

[Tichtheid]

My only real issue - and it's pretty minor is I would have prefered Skinner over Gilchrist

Hopefully we can heep the stupid penalty count down ( Ritchie & Gilchrist - lookimg at you both ) , then this is set up for one hell of a match.

A hurting England , at home , with a full crowd , with a new coach , and a point to prove.

If Scotland pulls this one off ..... It's the hope that kills you

Nah, Gilcho is worth the shirt, he's been playing very well for over two years now. Big Richie has also been playing well, I'd have picked Skinner on the pine.

It will be an interesting selection for the World Cup if everyone is fit, Cummings will have a part to play, certainly.

[robmatic]

My only real issue - and it's pretty minor is I would have prefered Skinner over Gilchrist

Hopefully we can heep the stupid penalty count down ( Ritchie & Gilchrist - lookimg at you both ) , then this is set up for one hell of a match.

A hurting England , at home , with a full crowd , with a new coach , and a point to prove.

If Scotland pulls this one off ..... It's the hope that kills you

Nah, Gilcho is worth the shirt, he's been playing very well for over two years now. Big Richie has also been playing well, I'd have picked Skinner on the pine.

It will be an interesting selection for the World Cup if everyone is fit, Cummings will have a part to play, certainly.

Skinner would be an excellent bench option, especially considering Jonny hasn't even been playing that much.

I think Gilcho is underappreciated by fans but highly rated by coaches, so no surprise to see him starting. He's a big leader in the pack.

[dkm57]

Going to very interesting to see how this 23 works out. 12/13 is intriguing now we know Tuipulotu can pass, he's really come on over the last year. Would have been nice to have Darcy available. Hope the hookers can hit the jumpers consistently. Other than that not a bad looking team at all.

Glad White and Horne at 9 means the ball has a chance to get to the backs before the defenders, Price has been glacial recently.

[clydecloggie]

Going to very interesting to see how this 23 works out. 12/13 is intriguing now we know Tuipulotu can pass, he's really come on over the last year. Would have been nice to have Darcy available. Hope the hookers can hit the jumpers consistently. Other than that not a bad looking team at all.

Glad White and Horne at 9 means the ball has a chance to get to the backs before the defenders, Price has been glacial recently.

It's still a massive call to drop Ali Price. But it speaks to an expectation that Scotland will play most of the rugby, and wants to put pressure on England by being quick in the breakdown, with England booting the leather off the ball. I'm wondering what will happen if England call that bluff and start playing ball themselves.

[SomersetJock]

Hope the hookers can hit the jumpers consistently. Other than that not a bad looking team at all.

Having several very good lineout jumpers on the pitch will definitely take the pressure off the hookers. Should hopefully eradicate the wayward throws.

And hopefully put the pressure onto the England Hookers

[westport]

Another here that thinks Sam should have been picked over Jonny for the bench

[charltom]

Another here that thinks Sam should have been picked over Jonny for the bench

Me too, without a doubt.

[Big D]

In terms of the expectations for the championship, I think 4 wins would be above expectations, 2 or 3 wins about expected, 1 win below expectations and 0 a very poor return. 5 is obviously fantasy land stuff and not happening.

In terms of performance, we need to cut out stupid penalties and I would like to see something that suggests we have an approach to playing teams the more physical teams given who we have in the WC.

The world cup aside if we are to offer Townsend a new deal it would be beneficial to know he could coach a win over Gatland or Farrell led teams.

[Jock42]

I'm very surprised with that selection, only small gripe is no Skinner but I'll not complain too much. Really looking forward to this.

[clydecloggie]

In terms of the expectations for the championship, I think 4 wins would be above expectations, 2 or 3 wins about expected, 1 win below expectations and 0 a very poor return. 5 is obviously fantasy land stuff and not happening.

In terms of performance, we need to cut out stupid penalties and I would like to see something that suggests we have an approach to playing teams the more physical teams given who we have in the WC.

The world cup aside if we are to offer Townsend a new deal it would be beneficial to know he could coach a win over Gatland or Farrell led teams.

Wales and Italy are must-wins. We especially need to get the Gatland monkey off our backs. So two wins is the minimum return. Anything on top of that is a bonus - we won't have the bookies on our side for any of those three games.

[Slick]

In terms of the expectations for the championship, I think 4 wins would be above expectations, 2 or 3 wins about expected, 1 win below expectations and 0 a very poor return. 5 is obviously fantasy land stuff and not happening.

In terms of performance, we need to cut out stupid penalties and I would like to see something that suggests we have an approach to playing teams the more physical teams given who we have in the WC.

The world cup aside if we are to offer Townsend a new deal it would be beneficial to know he could coach a win over Gatland or Farrell led teams.

Wales and Italy are must-wins. We especially need to get the Gatland monkey off our backs. So two wins is the minimum return. Anything on top of that is a bonus - we won't have the bookies on our side for any of those three games.

Agree we must be beating Wales and Italy at home. If we are serious about getting out of our group at the WC, and to be honest I don’t care that much, we need to beat Ireland at home as well. I don’t rate the players England have but it’s always difficult for us down there.

So, I’ll be disappointed with less than 3 wins given where we are relative to other teams.

[KingBlairhorn]

I was excited by the possibility of Huwipulotu, and now that GT has put them both in the team I find that he's sadly gone for Siones instead. I hope the numbers on their backs don't mean much.

That's a hell of a bench.

The biggest surprise of all is that the team was released early!

Siones instead of Huwipolotou is interesting - they're both essentially 13s so Toonie going for to opposite solution to Franco Smith. In attack, those numbers shouldn't mean much. Will be interesting to see if Jones can make us forget Harris' defence though.

I don't think England will be very attack focused to be fair as it's the hardest install. Borthwick's England is going to be fix the defence and kick the leather aff it and kick chase kick chase kick chase, target the breakdown after the kick chase. Townsend will know this so maybe Jones is in there as the game breaker.

Also I think Graham has been our best attacking weapon the last year so with him out adding some threat is a good plan.

I think you are right that England will kick a lot Neeps. I am looking forward to seeing Hogg knock back kicks from the 22 with interest and Finn brining out his excellent tactical kicking game from midfield. I think Tuipolotu might also surprise England with his short kicking game, he's certainly surprised me.

[SaintK]

If Scotland can replicate the intensity that Edinburgh bought to the Saracens match then I think they can shade it particularly as England appear to have gone for mobility with their starting pack
The first 10 minutes will be very interesting

[clydecloggie]

If Scotland can replicate the intensity that Edinburgh bought to the Saracens match then I think they can shade it particularly as England appear to have gone for mobility with their starting pack
The first 10 minutes will be very interesting

Stop it. Scottish forwards bullying an England pack just doesn't happen these days. Best we can hope for is making a mess of the breakdown with our back row, which was a hallmark feature of all three wins in the last 6 years.

The one single thing I'm looking forward to most is the line out battle. Richie Gray is peerless in the air, Gilchrist is no mug either while Itoje certainly knows how to steal line out ball. Throw in two dodgy dart hookers and it could be gloriously messy.

[Slick]

Anyone to particularly look out for in the U20’s tonight?

[I like neeps]

Anyone to particularly look out for in the U20’s tonight?

Liam McConnell at 6 is very highly rated and played super6 at age 18, Rudi Brown at 7 has played for Edinburgh- an unstoppable 8 at school but struggled to find his position starting lock for the Knights, Richie Simpson at 10 was amazing for the Bulls beating out Townsend and the Aussie they signed at 10 to be starter, Corey Tait has been excellent in the super 6 for boroughmuir at hooker, Norrie at TH played a good bit last year at 18 so a lot of potential there for the SRU to waste by favouring NSQ journeymen, Kerr Yule at 12 is only 18 so picked a year early and Munn his partner in the centres has flashed in the past, I'm excited to see Caqescau the son of a Fijian army officer whose been good for the age grades and his wing partner Robinson who has started for Caldy in the English championship.

England's 7 and 8 have both played pro so should be really good.

[S/Lt_Phillips]

Anyone to particularly look out for in the U20’s tonight?

Liam McConnell at 6 is very highly rated and played super6 at age 18, Rudi Brown at 7 has played for Edinburgh- an unstoppable 8 at school but struggled to find his position starting lock for the Knights, Richie Simpson at 10 was amazing for the Bulls beating out Townsend and the Aussie they signed at 10 to be starter, Corey Tait has been excellent in the super 6 for boroughmuir at hooker, Norrie at TH played a good bit last year at 18 so a lot of potential there for the SRU to waste by favouring NSQ journeymen, Kerr Yule at 12 is only 18 so picked a year early and Munn his partner in the centres has flashed in the past, I'm excited to see Caqescau the son of a Fijian army officer whose been good for the age grades and his wing partner Robinson who has started for Caldy in the English championship.

England's 7 and 8 have both played pro so should be really good.

Is the match being shown live anywhere?

EDIT: just seen on the other fred (iPlayer)

[Jock42]

Anyone to particularly look out for in the U20’s tonight?

Liam McConnell at 6 is very highly rated and played super6 at age 18, Rudi Brown at 7 has played for Edinburgh- an unstoppable 8 at school but struggled to find his position starting lock for the Knights, Richie Simpson at 10 was amazing for the Bulls beating out Townsend and the Aussie they signed at 10 to be starter, Corey Tait has been excellent in the super 6 for boroughmuir at hooker, Norrie at TH played a good bit last year at 18 so a lot of potential there for the SRU to waste by favouring NSQ journeymen, Kerr Yule at 12 is only 18 so picked a year early and Munn his partner in the centres has flashed in the past, I'm excited to see Caqescau the son of a Fijian army officer whose been good for the age grades and his wing partner Robinson who has started for Caldy in the English championship.

England's 7 and 8 have both played pro so should be really good.

Is the match being shown live anywhere?

Iplayer

[S/Lt_Phillips]

Liam McConnell at 6 is very highly rated and played super6 at age 18, Rudi Brown at 7 has played for Edinburgh- an unstoppable 8 at school but struggled to find his position starting lock for the Knights, Richie Simpson at 10 was amazing for the Bulls beating out Townsend and the Aussie they signed at 10 to be starter, Corey Tait has been excellent in the super 6 for boroughmuir at hooker, Norrie at TH played a good bit last year at 18 so a lot of potential there for the SRU to waste by favouring NSQ journeymen, Kerr Yule at 12 is only 18 so picked a year early and Munn his partner in the centres has flashed in the past, I'm excited to see Caqescau the son of a Fijian army officer whose been good for the age grades and his wing partner Robinson who has started for Caldy in the English championship.

England's 7 and 8 have both played pro so should be really good.

Is the match being shown live anywhere?

Iplayer

Cheers!

[Slick]

Anyone to particularly look out for in the U20’s tonight?

Liam McConnell at 6 is very highly rated and played super6 at age 18, Rudi Brown at 7 has played for Edinburgh- an unstoppable 8 at school but struggled to find his position starting lock for the Knights, Richie Simpson at 10 was amazing for the Bulls beating out Townsend and the Aussie they signed at 10 to be starter, Corey Tait has been excellent in the super 6 for boroughmuir at hooker, Norrie at TH played a good bit last year at 18 so a lot of potential there for the SRU to waste by favouring NSQ journeymen, Kerr Yule at 12 is only 18 so picked a year early and Munn his partner in the centres has flashed in the past, I'm excited to see Caqescau the son of a Fijian army officer whose been good for the age grades and his wing partner Robinson who has started for Caldy in the English championship.

England's 7 and 8 have both played pro so should be really good.

Thanks for that! I saw the Fijian name and assumed it was our first off the production line

[Slick]

Anyone else getting “technical difficulties”

[Simian]

Anyone else getting “technical difficulties”

Working fine for me on iplayer

[Slick]

Anyone else getting “technical difficulties”

Working fine for me on iplayer

Wasn’t streaming off my phone but ok through the box.

That was a very Scottish 5 minutes there

[Jock42]

Just turned onto see Eng 3rd try

[Jock42]

Aaand I'm out

[Simian]

remarkable that we're only eleven points down

[Slick]

Ahh well, but great performance.

9,10 and 12 of the future out there

[Blackmac]

Turned out to be a great game but blew apart in the final few minutes. The disparity in size and physique is incredible though.

[Dogbert]

Scotland could have won that - Great Second half - Back row were very effective

[Yr Alban]

Scotland could have won that - Great Second half - Back row were very effective

Given that we frequently get thrashed at U20 level, I’ll take a narrow loss away to a side who frequently make it to JRWC finals.

[Dogbert]

Scots hooker (Tait ?) hit his jumpers all night . especially impressive since England has the 6 foot Seven Lewis chessum in their lineout.

Hope Turner can put in a similar performance tomorrow

[JM2K6]

We've kinda trashed our U20s setup in recent years so it's not the same as the titles-winning behemoth of the early/mid 2010s, but yeah. I didn't see all the game but aside from the obvious mismatch of Cunningham Chandler-South - who's been bullying internationals in the Premiership - I didn't think there was that much between the sides. Quite a few of the guys from last year I'd expect to see in the team weren't even in the squad (largely the Quins players, i.e. the ones I actually bother to pay attention to) and I have no idea if that's based on form or what.

Frankly I see U20s usually as a great watch and both sides gave it a lash, playing some really smart attacking rugby.

[fishfoodie]

We've kinda trashed our U20s setup in recent years so it's not the same as the titles-winning behemoth of the early/mid 2010s, but yeah. I didn't see all the game but aside from the obvious mismatch of Cunningham Chandler-South - who's been bullying internationals in the Premiership - I didn't think there was that much between the sides. Quite a few of the guys from last year I'd expect to see in the team weren't even in the squad (largely the Quins players, i.e. the ones I actually bother to pay attention to) and I have no idea if that's based on form or what.

Frankly I see U20s usually as a great watch and both sides gave it a lash, playing some really smart attacking rugby.

+100

Ignore the score in the Wales / Ireland game, it wasn't nearly that one sided.

I think this years comp is going to be really hard fought & with a lot of close final scores.Some of the skills are insane when you consider the ages of the players.

[Slick]

Was quite interesting to hear how many of the lads had been playing Super6. No idea how much of an impact that may have had but it can’t have done any harm I guess

[Yr Alban]

Was quite interesting to hear how many of the lads had been playing Super6. No idea how much of an impact that may have had but it can’t have done any harm I guess

TBH, this is about as soon as it would be reasonable to expect the Super 6 to show any results.

[westport]

I thoroughly enjoyed the game and we could have won it.

It makes a massive difference to a few years ago when the U20's were getting thrashed on a regular basis.

Also noted that quite a few will still also be U20 for next year and this years U20 Trophy, since we got relegated from the U20 Championship, in Kenya 15-30 July.

ETA

WORLD RUGBY U20 TROPHY 2023
15-30 July | Nyayo National Stadium, Kenya

POOL A ............... POOL B
Scotland..................... Spain
Uruguay...................... Samoa
Canada or USA.......... Kenya
Africa 2...................... Hong Kong

Pool matches
Match day 1: Saturday 15 July
Match day 2: Thursday 20 July
Match day 3: Tuesday 25 July
Final and ranking matches
Match day 4: Sunday 30 July

[Slick]

Suddenly getting a horrible sick feeling about this evening

[Dogbert]

Just keep telling yourself that it's only a game