NPR

Adam Hastings back for Gloucester this weekend.

Only saw about 30 mins last night but enjoyed watching Ross Thompson. Looks assured and certainly has all the skills. He still tends to push things that aren't really on and things like trying to kick down the blind side are usually a sign of someone not at full confidence, but it's hardly surprising.

It does feel that this next 4 months are the biggest of his career and I hope he settles into it because he's definitely a talent - unsure if completely top end talent, but certainly going to be important for Scotland at some point.

Weegies were worth the win and looked like a team a season ahead of Embra in their development. They were able to create more and get their dangerous runners into the game and created more chances than Embra who looked like they had a 9 and 10 who hadn't played much game time together! I cant see it being much different next week and indeed the Weegies might enjoy the big open spaces of Murraayfield more.

Not for the first time, Edinburgh looked less than the sum of their parts. How a club with those names on the team sheet can fold so tamely in the second half is a bit of a head scratcher. Not that I'm complaining. Definitely not the best performance from Glasgow this season, although I thought John Barclay said it very well on commentary when Ally Miller scored his try: the skills they showed in that weather to still be able to play their expansive game was nothing short of sublime.

dpedin wrote: Sat Dec 23, 2023 10:35 am Weegies were worth the win and looked like a team a season ahead of Embra in their development. They were able to create more and get their dangerous runners into the game and created more chances than Embra who looked like they had a 9 and 10 who hadn't played much game time together! I cant see it being much different next week and indeed the Weegies might enjoy the big open spaces of Murraayfield more.

I think this is about right. Embra huffed and puffed but most of the time weren’t really going anywhere. Glasgow had a lot more penetration.

Didn’t see any of it, but hear Finn had young Skippy on a string

Slick wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 6:30 am Didn’t see any of it, but hear Finn had young Skippy on a string

Slick wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 6:30 am Didn’t see any of it, but hear Finn had young Skippy on a string

Not at all
Smith played very well

Kinghorn played well, he seems to have developed even more to his game his move to France looks to have been a good one.

SaintK wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 8:53 am

Slick wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 6:30 am Didn’t see any of it, but hear Finn had young Skippy on a string

Not at all
Smith played very well

Admittedly all from Scottish accounts

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:08 am Kinghorn played well, he seems to have developed even more to his game his move to France looks to have been a good one.

He’s been there about 3 weeks

There is no way there is anything more than the tiniest changes to his game in that timescale, if any at all.

KingBlairhorn wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:30 am

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:08 am Kinghorn played well, he seems to have developed even more to his game his move to France looks to have been a good one.

He’s been there about 3 weeks

There is no way there is anything more than the tiniest changes to his game in that timescale, if any at all.

True, but I can also imagine it’s a massive mental release for him to be over there which must help

Slick wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:24 am

SaintK wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 8:53 am

Slick wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 6:30 am Didn’t see any of it, but hear Finn had young Skippy on a string

Not at all
Smith played very well

Admittedly all from Scottish accounts

No worries
Reckon they were both7/10
Smith scored a great individual try. The passing and kicking out of hand from both was fairly even.
They made it an enjoyab;le game to watch

KingBlairhorn wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:30 am

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:08 am Kinghorn played well, he seems to have developed even more to his game his move to France looks to have been a good one.

He’s been there about 3 weeks

There is no way there is anything more than the tiniest changes to his game in that timescale, if any at all.

Agreed, I think it's combination of things.
1 he can focus on his primary role of FB. clears his headspace.
2 he's probably been given a bit more freedom to play what he sees in front of him
3. to those he's bringing in the skills and experience he developed from playing 10 at international level, some of his distribution was excellent.
all those can bring an almost instant improvement.

Stand-off stocks are looking as healthy as I can remember. Russell, Healey, Thompson, Jordan, Hastings, Kinghorn, pretty sure I've missed at least 1.

Really liking Horne and Afshar at 9.

Anyone know how Hastings went yesterday?

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:18 pm

KingBlairhorn wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:30 am

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 10:08 am Kinghorn played well, he seems to have developed even more to his game his move to France looks to have been a good one.

He’s been there about 3 weeks

There is no way there is anything more than the tiniest changes to his game in that timescale, if any at all.

Agreed, I think it's combination of things.
1 he can focus on his primary role of FB. clears his headspace.
2 he's probably been given a bit more freedom to play what he sees in front of him
3. to those he's bringing in the skills and experience he developed from playing 10 at international level, some of his distribution was excellent.
all those can bring an almost instant improvement.

Also he's playing in a Toulouse team that is stacked with talent and winning games. That probably helps.

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:34 pm Stand-off stocks are looking as healthy as I can remember. Russell, Healey, Thompson, Jordan, Hastings, Kinghorn, pretty sure I've missed at least 1.

Really liking Horne and Afshar at 9.

Not sure I totally agree with that. An injury to either of the 1st 2 and it’s looking a bit shaky at the top level. Will be interesting to see how Hastings goes

Slick wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 2:38 pm

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:34 pm Stand-off stocks are looking as healthy as I can remember. Russell, Healey, Thompson, Jordan, Hastings, Kinghorn, pretty sure I've missed at least 1.

Really liking Horne and Afshar at 9.

Not sure I totally agree with that. An injury to either of the 1st 2 and it’s looking a bit shaky at the top level. Will be interesting to see how Hastings goes

Yeah, but what would we have been like with an injury to our first two choices ten years ago?

Nice wee present with Graham signing on for three years at Edinburgh

Biffer wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 4:12 pm

Slick wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 2:38 pm

dkm57 wrote: Sun Dec 24, 2023 12:34 pm Stand-off stocks are looking as healthy as I can remember. Russell, Healey, Thompson, Jordan, Hastings, Kinghorn, pretty sure I've missed at least 1.

Really liking Horne and Afshar at 9.

Not sure I totally agree with that. An injury to either of the 1st 2 and it’s looking a bit shaky at the top level. Will be interesting to see how Hastings goes

Yeah, but what would we have been like with an injury to our first two choices ten years ago?

It was on my mind as I typed…. I think Finn, Healy and Hastings as a top 3 is very decent in world terms, but it’s quite a cliff edge after that. Not convinced Thompson or Jordan are international standard at this stage.

I think Jordan will be soon, just hope Thompson makes a full recovery from his injury lay off.

dkm57 wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 8:24 pm I think Jordan will be soon, just hope Thompson makes a full recovery from his injury lay off.

Only if Santa brought him a kicking game on Christmas. Currently it's barely URC standard, let alone International standard.

Jordan is a fine 12 , but is as much of a 10 as Kinghorn.

Slick wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 7:03 pm

Biffer wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 4:12 pm

Slick wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 2:38 pm

Not sure I totally agree with that. An injury to either of the 1st 2 and it’s looking a bit shaky at the top level. Will be interesting to see how Hastings goes

Yeah, but what would we have been like with an injury to our first two choices ten years ago?

It was on my mind as I typed…. I think Finn, Healy and Hastings as a top 3 is very decent in world terms, but it’s quite a cliff edge after that. Not convinced Thompson or Jordan are international standard at this stage.

Healey and Hasting at the same level as Russell? No way!!

SaintK wrote: Tue Dec 26, 2023 10:50 am

Slick wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 7:03 pm

Biffer wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 4:12 pm

Yeah, but what would we have been like with an injury to our first two choices ten years ago?

It was on my mind as I typed…. I think Finn, Healy and Hastings as a top 3 is very decent in world terms, but it’s quite a cliff edge after that. Not convinced Thompson or Jordan are international standard at this stage.

Healey and Hasting at the same level as Russell? No way!!

Not saying that they are all at the same level, but I’d be reasonably comfortable with any of those 3 playing. The year of Finns walkabout Hastings was brilliant

Biffer wrote: Mon Dec 25, 2023 4:17 pm Nice wee present with Graham signing on for three years at Edinburgh

Duhan also signed up until June ‘25 now

Glasgow Team out for round 2

Huw Jones still on the wing
Gordon at 6 , Matthews starting
No Cancelliere / Steyn , No Ollie Smith, Matt & Sione also not in the 23, along with Dempsey

Should be a walk in the park for Edinburgh

A win for Edinburgh is probably the best for Scottish Rugby , lose this one , and its closer to them moving out of the top 8

Edinburgh Rugby team to face Glasgow Warriors at Scottish Gas Murrayfield in the BKT United Rugby Championship
Saturday 30 December (kick-off 3pm) – live on Viaplay

15. Wes Goosen (20)

14. Darcy Graham (62)
13. Mark Bennett (96)
12. Matt Currie (26)
11. Duhan van der Merwe (82)

10. Ben Healy (9)
9. Ali Price (5)

1. Pierre Schoeman (105)
2. Ewan Ashman (9)
3. WP Nel (194)
4. Glen Young (32)
5. Grant Gilchrist CAPTAIN (195)
6. Luke Crosbie (91)
7. Jamie Ritchie (103)
8. Viliame Mata (124)

Replacements

16. Dave Cherry (79)
17. Boan Venter (54)
18. D’Arcy Rae (2)
19. Marshall Sykes (51)
20. Hamish Watson (146)
21. Ben Vellacott (47)
22. Cammy Scott (5)
23.Emiliano Boffelli (32)

Unavailable: Luan de Bruin (back), Jake Henry (knee), Jamie Hodgson (ankle), James Lang (shoulder), Ben Muncaster (foot), Harry Paterson (concussion), Javan Sebastian (knee), Scott Steele (hip), Nathan Sweeney (hamstring), Tim Swiel (concussion).

As an aside, why is the starting front row 1,2,3 loosehead, hooker, tighthead, and the replacements 16,17,18 hooker, loosehead, tighthead?

weegie01 wrote: Fri Dec 29, 2023 1:40 pm As an aside, why is the starting front row 1,2,3 loosehead, hooker, tighthead, and the replacements 16,17,18 hooker, loosehead, tighthead?

Possibly a throwback to when the sub prop would have been covering both?

As a further aside. Former U20 cap Cameron Anderson starting for Quins this weekend on the wing.

Match preview for the 1872 Cup second leg:

http://ontopofthemoon.com/2023/12/29/ne ... w-2023-24/

OBE to Rob Wainwright and MBE to Hogg in the NYHL

Edinburgh Rugby
57 minutes ago
·
We're delighted to confirm that today’s inaugural Celtic Challenge match against Glasgow Warriors has reached the capacity of the Hive Stadium Main Stand
An impressive crowd of 1,934 will attend the historic opener with gates set to open shortly
Tickets are now no longer available for this fixture at Hive Stadium.

Just switched on. Why haven't the URC used Davidson across these games? She's significantly better than Adamson as a ref.

Schoman chucking a miss pass that gets intercepted five out sums up Edinburgh's attack. Panicked and clueless.

Darge very lucky to avoid a yellow card there.

A lot of chaos and sloppiness but nice to see both teams having a go with ball in hand.

Edinburgh just not disciplined enough in their basic skills.

Bennett sold that really although others should have made the tackle.

Not a high degree of danger - eh Turner was ko'ed.