2023 Six Nations

[S/Lt_Phillips]

Have you ever heard Scots/Welsh/Irish commentators?

I may have occasionally listened to those paragons of jingoism Bill McLaren and Andrew Cotter, yes, why?

The failure to name Andy Nicol is notable and sickening

Who will replace Butler as the Welsh commentator?

(Don't wish to speak ill of the recently departed, but I never enjoyed listening to him. It was either gloat or moan, depending on how Wales were doing at that particular phase of the match. To be fair, he got better later in his career as a commentator.)

[JM2K6]

Possibly, yes. Great sporting nation, England, and some of their legendary players turn out to be more than half-decent human beings; Brian Moore and Will Carling, to name a few - who were possibly the 2nd and 3rd most-hated Englanders in Scotland around their time (nothing comes close to Thatcher, of course). But when England do well, braying is never far away so I much prefer for them to lose - early on, preferably.

It's different for women's teams, for some reason. The Lionesses winning the Euros was great and I hoped they'd win the final; and I found myself surprisingly neutral about the women's RWC final too - great game, happy for either side to win it.

But men's - cricket, football, rugby, hockey, I'm always happy to see England on the wrong side of a result.

Perhaps deep down I just want them in the same pit of despair Scotland is usually in. For company.

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

Having to watch England with English commentators fawning over them is probably a big reason for the antipathy in the other home nations. Generally you're only a minute or two into a football game before they start talking about 1966.

It's fair to say that some people regard any positive commentary on England or English players to be "fawning", but see no problem with Irish/Welsh/Scottish commentators doing the same with their own team. There seems to be an incredible misunderstanding of the fact that most modern broadcasters want commentators to be hugely positive about the "product", regardless of the sport or the nationalities involved. It's one reason why BCM is out of a job.

[Raggs]

Give me Benjamin Kayser and David Flatman, then someone who can actually give good insight into the kicking game as well, and I'd be happy for most matches. Everyone can gush over a pretty backs move, but those first two bring the forwards game to life as well, and someone to actually show just how technical and interesting the kicking game is, would be a dream come true.

People go on about the laws putting people off, and I think that's bollocks, it's the shitty commentary, the game will always be more complex than most others, that's just the fact of it. But when the commentary team are moaning and bitching why would anyone new think it's actually good?

[Tichtheid]

Give me Benjamin Kayser and David Flatman, then someone who can actually give good insight into the kicking game as well, and I'd be happy for most matches. Everyone can gush over a pretty backs move, but those first two bring the forwards game to life as well, and someone to actually show just how technical and interesting the kicking game is, would be a dream come true.

People go on about the laws putting people off, and I think that's bollocks, it's the shitty commentary, the game will always be more complex than most others, that's just the fact of it. But when the commentary team are moaning and bitching why would anyone new think it's actually good?

Kayser yes, Flatman no.

After starting off really well, he's become a cheerleader for his teams, his "insight" is often at odds with is happening on-screen right in front of everyone's eyes

[SaintK]

Have you ever heard Scots/Welsh/Irish commentators?

I may have occasionally listened to those paragons of jingoism Bill McLaren and Andrew Cotter, yes, why?

The failure to name Andy Nicol is notable and sickening

Quite, with John Barclay not far behind.
Oh and Jonathan Davies says hello!

[inactionman]

Oh dear. How sad.

Possibly, yes. Great sporting nation, England, and some of their legendary players turn out to be more than half-decent human beings; Brian Moore and Will Carling, to name a few - who were possibly the 2nd and 3rd most-hated Englanders in Scotland around their time (nothing comes close to Thatcher, of course). But when England do well, braying is never far away so I much prefer for them to lose - early on, preferably.

It's different for women's teams, for some reason. The Lionesses winning the Euros was great and I hoped they'd win the final; and I found myself surprisingly neutral about the women's RWC final too - great game, happy for either side to win it.

But men's - cricket, football, rugby, hockey, I'm always happy to see England on the wrong side of a result.

Perhaps deep down I just want them in the same pit of despair Scotland is usually in. For company.

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

I do at least two of those things.

[SaintK]

Possibly, yes. Great sporting nation, England, and some of their legendary players turn out to be more than half-decent human beings; Brian Moore and Will Carling, to name a few - who were possibly the 2nd and 3rd most-hated Englanders in Scotland around their time (nothing comes close to Thatcher, of course). But when England do well, braying is never far away so I much prefer for them to lose - early on, preferably.

It's different for women's teams, for some reason. The Lionesses winning the Euros was great and I hoped they'd win the final; and I found myself surprisingly neutral about the women's RWC final too - great game, happy for either side to win it.

But men's - cricket, football, rugby, hockey, I'm always happy to see England on the wrong side of a result.

Perhaps deep down I just want them in the same pit of despair Scotland is usually in. For company.

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

I do at least two of those things.

Christ! I hope it's not the red trousers and braying
Can forgive a Barbour jacket and who wouldn't want to own a Range Rover!

[inactionman]

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

I do at least two of those things.

Christ! I hope it's not the red trousers and braying
Can forgive a Barbour jacket and who wouldn't want to own a Range Rover!

I have never, in my life, worn anything red on my legs outside of sports participation.

[sockwithaticket]

Possibly, yes. Great sporting nation, England, and some of their legendary players turn out to be more than half-decent human beings; Brian Moore and Will Carling, to name a few - who were possibly the 2nd and 3rd most-hated Englanders in Scotland around their time (nothing comes close to Thatcher, of course). But when England do well, braying is never far away so I much prefer for them to lose - early on, preferably.

It's different for women's teams, for some reason. The Lionesses winning the Euros was great and I hoped they'd win the final; and I found myself surprisingly neutral about the women's RWC final too - great game, happy for either side to win it.

But men's - cricket, football, rugby, hockey, I'm always happy to see England on the wrong side of a result.

Perhaps deep down I just want them in the same pit of despair Scotland is usually in. For company.

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

I do at least two of those things.

Well, you are a Bath fan after all...

I think the worst I could be accused of is perhaps an occasional bray.

[Paddington Bear]

Barbour jackets are great, haters can hate all they want

[inactionman]

Barbour jackets are great, haters can hate all they want

It's the only item of clothing I've had that I've worn pretty much weekly for a decade.

It's started to let a bit of water through in heavy rain so its about to go in for a rewaxing - can't do that with many other jackets.

They should push the green angle a bit more.

(It'll be about now that I find out that their thornproof wax contains asbestos and the ground up bones of a siberian tiger)

[JM2K6]

Give me Benjamin Kayser and David Flatman, then someone who can actually give good insight into the kicking game as well, and I'd be happy for most matches. Everyone can gush over a pretty backs move, but those first two bring the forwards game to life as well, and someone to actually show just how technical and interesting the kicking game is, would be a dream come true.

People go on about the laws putting people off, and I think that's bollocks, it's the shitty commentary, the game will always be more complex than most others, that's just the fact of it. But when the commentary team are moaning and bitching why would anyone new think it's actually good?

Kayser yes, Flatman no.

After starting off really well, he's become a cheerleader for his teams, his "insight" is often at odds with is happening on-screen right in front of everyone's eyes

True, and it's aggravating. But Raggs' point is valid, he's still one of the few people actually pointing out the detail of the grunt work being done rather than stating the obvious or concentrating just on the fancy shit. So on balance I'd rather listen to him than many other commentators.

Kayser has the same positivity towards everyone and also struggles to remain objective as a result, but not to the same extent.

[average joe]

Boer Saffers for some reason hate the English. It's in our blood coming for ages. There must be a very good reason.

Myself changed. I like the English now. Maybe it's a Saint doing this to me.

I

My grandad hated the English. Use to tell us that they brought kakkiebos and bosluise into the country. Most of the resentment came from what his parents had to endure in the Anglo-Boer war. He was also forced to fight for the verry same people that his father fought against.

On that note, as a kid I always wondered why the toppie was so grumpy. As I got a bit older, I realised that he lived through two world wars and the depression years. The shit he must have seen.

[PornDog]

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

Having to watch England with English commentators fawning over them is probably a big reason for the antipathy in the other home nations. Generally you're only a minute or two into a football game before they start talking about 1966.

It's fair to say that some people regard any positive commentary on England or English players to be "fawning", but see no problem with Irish/Welsh/Scottish commentators doing the same with their own team. There seems to be an incredible misunderstanding of the fact that most modern broadcasters want commentators to be hugely positive about the "product", regardless of the sport or the nationalities involved. It's one reason why BCM is out of a job.

Don't think anyone will rave about Irish commentators - Hugh Cahill and Ryle Nugent are fucking awful (and add Jackman and Quinny as terrible "colour" men), and while I completely understand everyone else's dislike of him, I actually quite enjoy laughing at Robsons special brand of utter cringe.

[Slick]

Give me Benjamin Kayser and David Flatman, then someone who can actually give good insight into the kicking game as well, and I'd be happy for most matches. Everyone can gush over a pretty backs move, but those first two bring the forwards game to life as well, and someone to actually show just how technical and interesting the kicking game is, would be a dream come true.

People go on about the laws putting people off, and I think that's bollocks, it's the shitty commentary, the game will always be more complex than most others, that's just the fact of it. But when the commentary team are moaning and bitching why would anyone new think it's actually good?

Kayser yes, Flatman no.

After starting off really well, he's become a cheerleader for his teams, his "insight" is often at odds with is happening on-screen right in front of everyone's eyes

True, and it's aggravating. But Raggs' point is valid, he's still one of the few people actually pointing out the detail of the grunt work being done rather than stating the obvious or concentrating just on the fancy shit. So on balance I'd rather listen to him than many other commentators.

Kayser has the same positivity towards everyone and also struggles to remain objective as a result, but not to the same extent.

I've always liked Flats. I do think he is changing slightly into trying to become more of a media personality which can be a bit grating though.

[GogLais]

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

I do at least two of those things.

who wouldn't want to own a Range Rover!

I’d much rather have a Golf R.

[GogLais]

I can usually ignore any commentator bias, it doesn’t affect what happens on the pitch. What does grab my whatsits is the childish giggling “Ooh, we’ve no idea what happens in the scrum”. Bloody well find someone that does then:

[Dogbert]

I do at least two of those things.

who wouldn't want to own a Range Rover!

I’d much rather have a Golf R.

Lots of people who own one,

Actually you never really own one - you just put a down payment on one and set up a direct debit to your local garage

[laurent]

Likely starting bunch of frog eaters for the Pasta munchers

[Marylandolorian]

Barbour jackets are great, haters can hate all they want

I got a Ted Baker few years ago and love it .

[Marylandolorian]

Give me Benjamin Kayser and David Flatman, then someone who can actually give good insight into the kicking game as well, and I'd be happy for most matches. Everyone can gush over a pretty backs move, but those first two bring the forwards game to life as well, and someone to actually show just how technical and interesting the kicking game is, would be a dream come true.

People go on about the laws putting people off, and I think that's bollocks, it's the shitty commentary, the game will always be more complex than most others, that's just the fact of it. But when the commentary team are moaning and bitching why would anyone new think it's actually good?

Kayser yes, Flatman no.

After starting off really well, he's become a cheerleader for his teams, his "insight" is often at odds with is happening on-screen right in front of everyone's eyes

Benjamin Kayser is a good commentator, no bias, very technical, same with Dimitri Yachvili.

[Tichtheid]

who wouldn't want to own a Range Rover!

I’d much rather have a Golf R.

Lots of people who own one,

Actually you never really own one - you just put a down payment on one and set up a direct debit to your local garage

I had a diesel Series 3 Land Rover 109 pickup. That was very reliable, a real workhorse of a van.

[Paddington Bear]

Kayser is very rare for these games in not being a household name and not being from the Home Nations so actually has to work at what he's doing. And comparatively it shows, Sir Clive just sits there smirking, Jiffy has given up any pretence to commentating over cheerleading, BCM's whining/talking lawbook act was exceptionally tedious, Darcy and Nicol are just plain embarrassing themselves, Flats goes for the Archbishop of Banterbury act etc.

[Tichtheid]

If I ever bump into John Barclay my first question will be whether he regrets not lamping Guscott on live television.

That would have been worth the licence fee.


(I would have written "not lamping Guscott when he was being a dick", but, well...)

[Ovals]

Possibly, yes. Great sporting nation, England, and some of their legendary players turn out to be more than half-decent human beings; Brian Moore and Will Carling, to name a few - who were possibly the 2nd and 3rd most-hated Englanders in Scotland around their time (nothing comes close to Thatcher, of course). But when England do well, braying is never far away so I much prefer for them to lose - early on, preferably.

It's different for women's teams, for some reason. The Lionesses winning the Euros was great and I hoped they'd win the final; and I found myself surprisingly neutral about the women's RWC final too - great game, happy for either side to win it.

But men's - cricket, football, rugby, hockey, I'm always happy to see England on the wrong side of a result.

Perhaps deep down I just want them in the same pit of despair Scotland is usually in. For company.

Well, thank goodness two English rugby players who you hated at least turned out to be "half decent human beings". Hopefully one or two others will come along eventually.
And yeah, we all wear Barbour jackets and red needlecord trousers and drive Range Rovers and bray!
Surprised you even bother watching any sport when England are involved to be honest

Having to watch England with English commentators fawning over them is probably a big reason for the antipathy in the other home nations. Generally you're only a minute or two into a football game before they start talking about 1966.

As in this thread, it's not usually the English that bring up 66 !

[SaintK]

If I ever bump into John Barclay my first question will be whether he regrets not lamping Guscott on live television.

That would have been worth the licence fee.


(I would have written "not lamping Guscott when he was being a dick", but, well...)

I've never understood why the BBC continue employing Guscott? He's such a dickhead.
His column in The Rugby Player is effin awful as well

[Dogbert]

I’d much rather have a Golf R.

Lots of people who own one,

Actually you never really own one - you just put a down payment on one and set up a direct debit to your local garage

I had a diesel Series 3 Land Rover 109 pickup. That was very reliable, a real workhorse of a van.

Hmm , I have an 84 TDI 200 with a Disco rear axles - so discs brakes all round I have also had a 76 Series 3 with Fairey overdrive
Both workhorses . neither designed for 21st Century roads / traffic though

I once drove the Series 3 from Yorkshire to Tain in one go , in November - The heater ( snigger ) packed up on the Forth Road Bridge, so arrived both Frozen and deaf

These are more tractor than car , and are light years away from todays Range Rovers

[inactionman]

If I ever bump into John Barclay my first question will be whether he regrets not lamping Guscott on live television.

That would have been worth the licence fee.


(I would have written "not lamping Guscott when he was being a dick", but, well...)

I've never understood why the BBC continue employing Guscott? He's such a dickhead.
His column in The Rugby Player is effin awful as well

I had a few acquaintances who knew or met him from my time in Bath

One met him during the opening of a nightclub Guscott had an interest in - said he was an arrogant sod, but it was his club and so it was tolerated.

One was on the fringes of the Bath team at the time Guscott was playing - said he was an arrogant sod, but that he had the rugby goods to back it up and it was tolerated.

He's not a very good commentator - he really is joyless, if nothing else - so not quite sure why it is being tolerated.

[inactionman]

Lots of people who own one,

Actually you never really own one - you just put a down payment on one and set up a direct debit to your local garage

I had a diesel Series 3 Land Rover 109 pickup. That was very reliable, a real workhorse of a van.

Hmm , I have an 84 TDI 200 with a Disco rear axles - so discs brakes all round I have also had a 76 Series 3 with Fairey overdrive
Both workhorses . neither designed for 21st Century roads / traffic though

I once drove the Series 3 from Yorkshire to Tain in one go , in November - The heater ( snigger ) packed up on the Forth Road Bridge, so arrived both Frozen and deaf

These are more tractor than car , and are light years away from todays Range Rovers

I'm still pining for one, despite stories like that!

I reckon I'd need a garage or a lockup if I bought one, we've go a decent sized drive but it sounds lime it'd be in pieces most of the time and don't want bits nicked.

My current car is a Disco Sport, pretty much the most basic of the Land Rovers (no low ratio box, shallowest wade depth) which might be why it's been less hassle than most of my saloons. Still very much appreciated in snow and down muddy tracks.

[SaintK]

If I ever bump into John Barclay my first question will be whether he regrets not lamping Guscott on live television.

That would have been worth the licence fee.


(I would have written "not lamping Guscott when he was being a dick", but, well...)

I've never understood why the BBC continue employing Guscott? He's such a dickhead.
His column in The Rugby Player is effin awful as well

I had a few acquaintances who knew or met him from my time in Bath

One met him during the opening of a nightclub Guscott had an interest in - said he was an arrogant sod, but it was his club and so it was tolerated.

One was on the fringes of the Bath team at the time Guscott was playing - said he was an arrogant sod, but that he had the rugby goods to back it up and it was tolerated.

He's not a very good commentator - he really is joyless, if nothing else - so not quite sure why it is being tolerated.

I heard some similar stories from back in the day
You can almost hear him. "Don't you know who I am"

[Jim Lahey]

Who has the co-commentator gig for Ireland on BBC?

-Rory Best, dour.
-Trimble, not great.
-Tommy Bowe, please no.
-D'arcy, meh, OK
-Horgan, I quite like.
-Ferris, no thanks.
-DOC, no thanks
-Quinny, no thanks

If it were up to me, it'd be the most entertaining man in sports entertainment, Zeebs. His great fashion sense in his choice of jackets made up for the bollocks he was spouting during the AIs.

[OomStruisbaai]

Welsh side for Ireland 952 caps in their starting line up. 12 Spreys in the matchday squad

15. Leigh Halfpenny (Scarlets – 97 caps)
14. Josh Adams (Cardiff Rugby – 43 caps)
13. George North (Ospreys – 109 caps)
12. Joe Hawkins (Ospreys – 1 cap)
11. Rio Dyer (Dragons – 3 caps)
10. Dan Biggar (Toulon – 103 caps)
9. Tomos Williams (Cardiff Rugby – 40 caps)
1. Gareth Thomas (Ospreys – 17 caps)
2. Ken Owens (Scarlets – 86 caps) captain
3. Tomas Francis (Ospreys – 67 caps)
4. Adam Beard (Ospreys – 41 caps)
5. Alun Wyn Jones (Ospreys – 155 caps)
6. Jac Morgan (Ospreys – 6 caps)
7. Justin Tipuric (Ospreys – 89 caps)
8. Taulupe Faletau (Cardiff Rugby – 95 caps)

Replacements

16. Scott Baldwin (Ospreys – 34 caps)
17. Rhys Carre (Cardiff Rugby – 17 caps)
18. Dillon Lewis (Cardiff Rugby – 45 caps)
19. Dafydd Jenkins (Exeter Chiefs – 1 cap)
20. Tommy Reffell (Leicester Tigers – 4 caps)
21. Rhys Webb (Ospreys – 36 caps)
22. Owen Williams (Ospreys – 3 caps)
23. Alex Cuthbert (Ospreys – 55 caps)

I am missing the Dragons nr 2, Bradley Roberts.

[Slick]

I've never understood why the BBC continue employing Guscott? He's such a dickhead.
His column in The Rugby Player is effin awful as well

I had a few acquaintances who knew or met him from my time in Bath

One met him during the opening of a nightclub Guscott had an interest in - said he was an arrogant sod, but it was his club and so it was tolerated.

One was on the fringes of the Bath team at the time Guscott was playing - said he was an arrogant sod, but that he had the rugby goods to back it up and it was tolerated.

He's not a very good commentator - he really is joyless, if nothing else - so not quite sure why it is being tolerated.

I heard some similar stories from back in the day
You can almost hear him. "Don't you know who I am"

One of my lasting memories of the ‘93 Lions tour was chatting to Brian Moore at a bar and Guscott walking between us and pushing me out the way and turning his back. Moore grabbed him by the collar and removed him saying “you don’t always have to be a dick Gerry”

[Uncle fester]

Yes at 4
For some reason Clive couldn’t be arsed to put their full names in

Ovals did a much better team post on the previous page. Even managed to spell alun right.

Its Alun with a capital A.

His first name is Alun Wyn. Jones is his surname, not Wyn Jones.

[weegie01]

Quite, with John Barclay not far behind.
Oh and Jonathan Davies says hello!

John Barclay may swing from one extreme to the other, but at least when the team is watching is doing something he thinks is wrong he will call it, explain why it is wrong and what he thinks they should be doing.

[weegie01]

Lots of people who own one,

Actually you never really own one - you just put a down payment on one and set up a direct debit to your local garage

The thing about them, and other LR products, is that there is nothing else like them.

I had decided to abandon LR after the engine of my last Disco destroyed itself at 115k miles. There was no way I was buying another Disco and tested everything else. Then I needed a tow vehicle so hired a pick up, and was upgraded to a the then new Disco. I ordered one next day. It was just so far ahead of everything else.

One of our neighbours was fed up with the reliability of his RR so bought a G Wagen. £130k later it has spent as much time in the garage as his RR ever did, and he freely admits it is not as good as his old RR, let alone the new ones.

For people who live in the country and actually need and use proper off roaders, there is just nothing close to as good. Up here in Highland Perthshire it is either AWD pick ups for proper farming, or LR.

[weegie01]

My current car is a Disco Sport, pretty much the most basic of the Land Rovers (no low ratio box, shallowest wade depth) which might be why it's been less hassle than most of my saloons. Still very much appreciated in snow and down muddy tracks.

As the 'Beast from the East' blew in my wife was in Aberdeen with one of her business partners. At the time my wife drove first generation Evoque, basically the Disco Sport with a shortened chassis. Said partner was a single Mum and her chid was ill. My wife is a farmer's daughter and not daunted by stuff that most people would not attempt (her partner was also a farmer's daughter). With the police telling everyone to stay off the roads, the pair set off south for Edinburgh prepared to turn back if things got out of hand. I monitored the roads as far as I could via traffic cameras.

She stuck it on snow setting and got through, while all sorts of other vehicles were getting stuck, ending up ditches etc. Her partner had a Mercedes AWD which she was confident would have had no chance of getting through so she went out and traded it in for a Disco Sport.

[Tichtheid]

Who has the co-commentator gig for Ireland on BBC?

-Rory Best, dour.
-Trimble, not great.
-Tommy Bowe, please no.
-D'arcy, meh, OK
-Horgan, I quite like.
-Ferris, no thanks.
-DOC, no thanks
-Quinny, no thanks

If it were up to me, it'd be the most entertaining man in sports entertainment, Zeebs. His great fashion sense in his choice of jackets made up for the bollocks he was spouting during the AIs.

I used to like Keith Wood, though his time has gone. On a similar theme, Jerry Flannery was funny in his written articles, I think he might be good value and he'd be able to offer good insight into the front row and line outs.

There aren't that many ex-players from any country who offer good insight. ROG is very good but he's also a bit earnest

[westport]

Scotland team to face England in the Guinness Six Nations opener on Saturday, 4 February at Twickenham, kick-off 4.45pm, live on STV and ITV
15. Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) 96 caps

14. Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors) 5 caps
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 31 caps
12. Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 11 caps
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 23 caps

10. Finn Russell (Racing 92) 65 caps
9. Ben White (London Irish) 9 caps

1. Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 16 caps
2. George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 30 caps
3. WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 50 caps
4. Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 69 caps
5. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – Vice Captain – 59 caps
6. Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) – Captain – 36 caps
7. Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps
8. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps

Replacements

16. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) 57 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 25 caps
18. Simon Berghan (Glasgow Warriors) 31 caps
19. Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) 72 caps
20. Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 4 caps
21. George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) 18 caps
22. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 38 caps
23. Chris Harris (Gloucester Rugby) 39 caps

[Paddington Bear]

United Colours of Benneton backline, amusing