Official Wales v Scotland thread

[ASMO]

Wales.JPG (24.07 KiB) Viewed 2019 times

[Tichtheid]

Scotland team prediction;

Schoeman, Turner, Z. Fagerson, Cummings, Gray, Ritchie, Darge, Dempsey
White, Russell, van der Merwe, Tuipulotu, Jones, Steyn, Kinghorn
Ashman, Bhatti, Nel, Young, Crosbie, Redpath, Healy, Price

A lot of that is injury-dependent. Darge is doubtful, Steyn is only just back, as is Sam Skinner. I think the main areas of competition are in the back row, though Dempsey is a shoe-in, and for the wing spot in Darcy Graham's absence. Steyn proved himself a more than able deputy but given that he is just coming back from injury he could be under pressure from Kyle Rowe or possibly Aaron Reed, about whom I know nothing except who he plays for
Scrum half could also be down to who is fit, White took a knock at the weekend, George Horne has been playing well, but Toonie seems to like him off the bench rather than starting, so he could be selected ahead of the very experienced Price for that role.

[Begbie]

Like I said on the 6N thread, I think we'll shit the bed, like we always do in Cardiff.

[clydecloggie]

Like I said on the 6N thread, I think we'll shit the bed, like we always do in Cardiff.

That's my worry too. Although compared to two years back, this Welsh side is even worse by some distance and I'm not sure they have it in them to take advantage of a soft Scottish mindset.

[C T]

Like I said on the 6N thread, I think we'll shit the bed, like we always do in Cardiff.

That's my worry too. Although compared to two years back, this Welsh side is even worse by some distance and I'm not sure they have it in them to take advantage of a soft Scottish mindset.

I'm pretty confident we'll give them a chance to settle, concede a nice soft early try or something. We're quite nice like that.

[TB63]

Was chatting to Gyppo last week, even he's not optimistic about this season for us...


We're doomed!.

[ASMO]

Honestly i would not be so doom and gloom, Gatland has a track record of overdelivering with limited resources, they are young and pretty fearless, if he tells them just to go out and enjoy it and learn, they might surprise a few teams

[Begbie]

Like I said on the 6N thread, I think we'll shit the bed, like we always do in Cardiff.

That's my worry too. Although compared to two years back, this Welsh side is even worse by some distance and I'm not sure they have it in them to take advantage of a soft Scottish mindset.

I'm pretty confident we'll give them a chance to settle, concede a nice soft early try or something. We're quite nice like that.

Or an early red card.

[SomersetJock]

A very frustrating narrow win for Wales is my prediction.

Couple of early injuries to backs with a 6/2 bench split leading to Horne playing on the wing and Andy Christie playing at centre for over an hour.

Then a couple of yellows for moments of utter stupidity will cripple us.

If it can go wrong it will !

I’m determined to have none of that hope stuff as I head down to Cardiff this year !

[C T]

That's my worry too. Although compared to two years back, this Welsh side is even worse by some distance and I'm not sure they have it in them to take advantage of a soft Scottish mindset.

I'm pretty confident we'll give them a chance to settle, concede a nice soft early try or something. We're quite nice like that.

Or an early red card.

Just going to see what the odds are on a red to Zander.

[fishfoodie]

I'm pretty confident we'll give them a chance to settle, concede a nice soft early try or something. We're quite nice like that.

Or an early red card.

Just going to see what the odds are on a red to Zander.

Would be annoyingly on brand.

I think that’s why we gave POM the job, being Captain confers a certain degree of immunity, as Faz jr showed

[sefton]

Cock on the block, Wales for the wooden spoon this year.

[C69]

Cock on the block, Wales for the wooden spoon this year.

Seems fair

[ASMO]

Cock on the block, Wales for the wooden spoon this year.

Edgy

[Yr Alban]

A very frustrating narrow win for Wales is my prediction.

Couple of early injuries to backs with a 6/2 bench split leading to Horne playing on the wing and Andy Christie playing at centre for over an hour.

Then a couple of yellows for moments of utter stupidity will cripple us.

If it can go wrong it will !

I’m determined to have none of that hope stuff as I head down to Cardiff this year !

I have a leaden feeling in my stomach about this one. All the objective evidence points to a decent win for Scotland, but that simply doesn’t happen for us in Cardiff. So I anticipate another absolute disaster. I pray I’m wrong, but history suggests I won’t be.

[Uncle fester]

Honestly i would not be so doom and gloom, Gatland has a track record of overdelivering with limited resources, they are young and pretty fearless, if he tells them just to go out and enjoy it and learn, they might surprise a few teams

This.
World cup was threading water. It's now he can stamp his mark.

[fishfoodie]

Honestly i would not be so doom and gloom, Gatland has a track record of overdelivering with limited resources, they are young and pretty fearless, if he tells them just to go out and enjoy it and learn, they might surprise a few teams

This.
World cup was threading water. It's now he can stamp his mark.

It's asking a lot of Gatland on his own. He has no Edwards this time on the field whipping the defence into shape, & it's hard to see the quality of player in the backs that he had in his last stint.

[dkm57]

This fixture does my head in, so many times we should have gone to Cardiff and come away with a comfortable win, only for 1. Wales to play above themselves or 2. some very dodgy reffing or 3. we lose the hied.

While being cautiously optimistic this time I won't be surprised to be bitterly let down.

[fishfoodie]

This fixture does my head in, so many times we should have gone to Cardiff and come away with a comfortable win, only for 1. Wales to play above themselves or 2. some very dodgy reffing or 3. we lose the hied.

While being cautiously optimistic this time I won't be surprised to be bitterly let down.

You guys are too whipped.

If you don't win by at least a couple of scores, Toonie should be looking for a new gig. He has had years with this team, & the clubs positions says they're streets ahead of the Welsh sides. If he can't put together a side that can beat this Welsh side he shouldn't be a Tier 1 Manager; FULL STOP !

[Slick]

This fixture does my head in, so many times we should have gone to Cardiff and come away with a comfortable win, only for 1. Wales to play above themselves or 2. some very dodgy reffing or 3. we lose the hied.

While being cautiously optimistic this time I won't be surprised to be bitterly let down.

You guys are too whipped.

If you don't win by at least a couple of scores, Toonie should be looking for a new gig. He has had years with this team, & the clubs positions says they're streets ahead of the Welsh sides. If he can't put together a side that can beat this Welsh side he shouldn't be a Tier 1 Manager; FULL STOP !

As much as I like Toony and have backed him every time, I can't argue with that.

[Jock42]

This fixture does my head in, so many times we should have gone to Cardiff and come away with a comfortable win, only for 1. Wales to play above themselves or 2. some very dodgy reffing or 3. we lose the hied.

While being cautiously optimistic this time I won't be surprised to be bitterly let down.

You guys are too whipped.

If you don't win by at least a couple of scores, Toonie should be looking for a new gig. He has had years with this team, & the clubs positions says they're streets ahead of the Welsh sides. If he can't put together a side that can beat this Welsh side he shouldn't be a Tier 1 Manager; FULL STOP !

I'd have sacked him a couple of times by now.

[Begbie]

This fixture does my head in, so many times we should have gone to Cardiff and come away with a comfortable win, only for 1. Wales to play above themselves or 2. some very dodgy reffing or 3. we lose the hied.

While being cautiously optimistic this time I won't be surprised to be bitterly let down.

You guys are too whipped.

If you don't win by at least a couple of scores, Toonie should be looking for a new gig. He has had years with this team, & the clubs positions says they're streets ahead of the Welsh sides. If he can't put together a side that can beat this Welsh side he shouldn't be a Tier 1 Manager; FULL STOP !

I don't think many of us would disagree with this.

[Tichtheid]

I think as fans we, well I, get too emotionally invested in sport. It's too important, some get tattoos of their team, some wear their team's shirt around all the time, some have nods to their team at their funeral. We are desperate for our team to win, and that is magnified when the team we are playing has thumbed its nose at us in some way, from a coach who has arrogantly dismissed us, or fans who love nothing more than telling us our team is shite, it becomes more important.

The thought of looking at the teams dispassionately and saying, "Well Scotland is obviously the favourite for this game" gets defenestrated when it comes to our side in the Six Nations. People who decry organised religion and superstition openly talk about mockers and all kind of things we know are absolute bollocks.

On paper Scotland should win in Cardiff and quite convincingly too. The Welsh regions are absolute pish at the moment. The likes of Biggar, AWJ and even Zammit, who can't defend but is a real threat in attack, they are all gone. Their fly half has a handful of caps, their one backrow player who could hold his own, possibly, against the likes of Warburton and Tips is injured.

This is not hubris, Scotland should win.

And yet... we've all been too many times before. Scotland are soft in the head and easily rattled off their game, that is a greater weakness and more damaging than anything to do with players or tactics. That mental toughness more than any one thing, imo, is what drove Ireland to the top spot in the world rankings, even if they fell at the World Cup hurdle. I'd love to see us develop more of that at both club and international level.

[SaintK]

I think as fans we, well I, get too emotionally invested in sport. It's too important, some get tattoos of their team, some wear their team's shirt around all the time, some have nods to their team at their funeral. We are desperate for our team to win, and that is magnified when the team we are playing has thumbed its nose at us in some way, from a coach who has arrogantly dismissed us, or fans who love nothing more than telling us our team is shite, it becomes more important.

The thought of looking at the teams dispassionately and saying, "Well Scotland is obviously the favourite for this game" gets defenestrated when it comes to our side in the Six Nations. People who decry organised religion and superstition openly talk about mockers and all kind of things we know are absolute bollocks.

On paper Scotland should win in Cardiff and quite convincingly too. The Welsh regions are absolute pish at the moment. The likes of Biggar, AWJ and even Zammit, who can't defend but is a real threat in attack, they are all gone. Their fly half has a handful of caps, their one backrow player who could hold his own, possibly, against the likes of Warburton and Tips is injured.

This is not hubris, Scotland should win.

And yet... we've all been too many times before. Scotland are soft in the head and easily rattled off their game, that is a greater weakness and more damaging than anything to do with players or tactics. That mental toughness more than any one thing, imo, is what drove Ireland to the top spot in the world rankings, even if they fell at the World Cup hurdle. I'd love to see us develop more of that at both club and international level.

Scotland by 9 it is then

[Tichtheid]

I think as fans we, well I, get too emotionally invested in sport. It's too important, some get tattoos of their team, some wear their team's shirt around all the time, some have nods to their team at their funeral. We are desperate for our team to win, and that is magnified when the team we are playing has thumbed its nose at us in some way, from a coach who has arrogantly dismissed us, or fans who love nothing more than telling us our team is shite, it becomes more important.

The thought of looking at the teams dispassionately and saying, "Well Scotland is obviously the favourite for this game" gets defenestrated when it comes to our side in the Six Nations. People who decry organised religion and superstition openly talk about mockers and all kind of things we know are absolute bollocks.

On paper Scotland should win in Cardiff and quite convincingly too. The Welsh regions are absolute pish at the moment. The likes of Biggar, AWJ and even Zammit, who can't defend but is a real threat in attack, they are all gone. Their fly half has a handful of caps, their one backrow player who could hold his own, possibly, against the likes of Warburton and Tips is injured.

This is not hubris, Scotland should win.

And yet... we've all been too many times before. Scotland are soft in the head and easily rattled off their game, that is a greater weakness and more damaging than anything to do with players or tactics. That mental toughness more than any one thing, imo, is what drove Ireland to the top spot in the world rankings, even if they fell at the World Cup hurdle. I'd love to see us develop more of that at both club and international level.

Scotland by 9 it is then

It should be more, going through the probable teams and looking at how the players are performing at club level, it should be double that at least.

However, if Wales turn up and knock form out the window, winning a really good test match, all Scots can do is say, "Fair enough, well played"

What is more likely is what others have described, Scotland do something stupid like get a player sent off, our lineout turns to dung and we cough up more than a dozen stupid penalties - all stuff that we can control but don't

[Yr Alban]

This fixture does my head in, so many times we should have gone to Cardiff and come away with a comfortable win, only for 1. Wales to play above themselves or 2. some very dodgy reffing or 3. we lose the hied.

While being cautiously optimistic this time I won't be surprised to be bitterly let down.

You guys are too whipped.

If you don't win by at least a couple of scores, Toonie should be looking for a new gig. He has had years with this team, & the clubs positions says they're streets ahead of the Welsh sides. If he can't put together a side that can beat this Welsh side he shouldn't be a Tier 1 Manager; FULL STOP !

As much as I like Toony and have backed him every time, I can't argue with that.

No, I can’t either. Arguably he should have gone after the predictably awful RWC, where yes, we were shafted by the draw, but never looked anywhere remotely close to springing a surprise on either SA or Ireland. Yes, they are better than we are, but we expected to be well beaten and duly were. The SRU renewing his contract before the RWC happened was odd.

[Jock42]

I think as fans we, well I, get too emotionally invested in sport. It's too important, some get tattoos of their team, some wear their team's shirt around all the time, some have nods to their team at their funeral. We are desperate for our team to win, and that is magnified when the team we are playing has thumbed its nose at us in some way, from a coach who has arrogantly dismissed us, or fans who love nothing more than telling us our team is shite, it becomes more important.

The thought of looking at the teams dispassionately and saying, "Well Scotland is obviously the favourite for this game" gets defenestrated when it comes to our side in the Six Nations. People who decry organised religion and superstition openly talk about mockers and all kind of things we know are absolute bollocks.

On paper Scotland should win in Cardiff and quite convincingly too. The Welsh regions are absolute pish at the moment. The likes of Biggar, AWJ and even Zammit, who can't defend but is a real threat in attack, they are all gone. Their fly half has a handful of caps, their one backrow player who could hold his own, possibly, against the likes of Warburton and Tips is injured.

This is not hubris, Scotland should win.

And yet... we've all been too many times before. Scotland are soft in the head and easily rattled off their game, that is a greater weakness and more damaging than anything to do with players or tactics. That mental toughness more than any one thing, imo, is what drove Ireland to the top spot in the world rankings, even if they fell at the World Cup hurdle. I'd love to see us develop more of that at both club and international level.

Scotland by 29 it is then

Fixed. Get it right round this lot.

[SaintK]

I think as fans we, well I, get too emotionally invested in sport. It's too important, some get tattoos of their team, some wear their team's shirt around all the time, some have nods to their team at their funeral. We are desperate for our team to win, and that is magnified when the team we are playing has thumbed its nose at us in some way, from a coach who has arrogantly dismissed us, or fans who love nothing more than telling us our team is shite, it becomes more important.

The thought of looking at the teams dispassionately and saying, "Well Scotland is obviously the favourite for this game" gets defenestrated when it comes to our side in the Six Nations. People who decry organised religion and superstition openly talk about mockers and all kind of things we know are absolute bollocks.

On paper Scotland should win in Cardiff and quite convincingly too. The Welsh regions are absolute pish at the moment. The likes of Biggar, AWJ and even Zammit, who can't defend but is a real threat in attack, they are all gone. Their fly half has a handful of caps, their one backrow player who could hold his own, possibly, against the likes of Warburton and Tips is injured.

This is not hubris, Scotland should win.

And yet... we've all been too many times before. Scotland are soft in the head and easily rattled off their game, that is a greater weakness and more damaging than anything to do with players or tactics. That mental toughness more than any one thing, imo, is what drove Ireland to the top spot in the world rankings, even if they fell at the World Cup hurdle. I'd love to see us develop more of that at both club and international level.

Scotland by 29 it is then

Fixed. Get it right round this lot.

[Biffer]

I think as fans we, well I, get too emotionally invested in sport. It's too important, some get tattoos of their team, some wear their team's shirt around all the time, some have nods to their team at their funeral. We are desperate for our team to win, and that is magnified when the team we are playing has thumbed its nose at us in some way, from a coach who has arrogantly dismissed us, or fans who love nothing more than telling us our team is shite, it becomes more important.

The thought of looking at the teams dispassionately and saying, "Well Scotland is obviously the favourite for this game" gets defenestrated when it comes to our side in the Six Nations. People who decry organised religion and superstition openly talk about mockers and all kind of things we know are absolute bollocks.

On paper Scotland should win in Cardiff and quite convincingly too. The Welsh regions are absolute pish at the moment. The likes of Biggar, AWJ and even Zammit, who can't defend but is a real threat in attack, they are all gone. Their fly half has a handful of caps, their one backrow player who could hold his own, possibly, against the likes of Warburton and Tips is injured.

This is not hubris, Scotland should win.

And yet... we've all been too many times before. Scotland are soft in the head and easily rattled off their game, that is a greater weakness and more damaging than anything to do with players or tactics. That mental toughness more than any one thing, imo, is what drove Ireland to the top spot in the world rankings, even if they fell at the World Cup hurdle. I'd love to see us develop more of that at both club and international level.

Scotland by 29 it is then

Fixed. Get it right round this lot.

If we don't get it round them I utterly done with Townshend.

[Tichtheid]

It looks like there are no further injury worries, Nel is out for Saturday but Sebastian is in full training. White is fit, the only doubt is over Darge, where we have a good few players at the same level.

[Jock42]

It looks like there are no further injury worries, Nel is out for Saturday but Sebastian is in full training. White is fit, the only doubt is over Darge, where we have a good few players at the same level.

I'd start Horne regardless.

[clydecloggie]

It looks like there are no further injury worries, Nel is out for Saturday but Sebastian is in full training. White is fit, the only doubt is over Darge, where we have a good few players at the same level.

Fagerson, Christie, Dempsey would be a nice back row with Crosbie at 20 if Darge and Ritchie are deemed not fit enough. It would even be a nice back row if those two were fully fit.

Only reason I'm starting Christie (well, apart from his form) is that he is a more out-and-out 7 compared to Crosbie.

[Slick]

It looks like there are no further injury worries, Nel is out for Saturday but Sebastian is in full training. White is fit, the only doubt is over Darge, where we have a good few players at the same level.

Fagerson, Christie, Dempsey would be a nice back row with Crosbie at 20 if Darge and Ritchie are deemed not fit enough. It would even be a nice back row if those two were fully fit.

Only reason I'm starting Christie (well, apart from his form) is that he is a more out-and-out 7 compared to Crosbie.

I’d be pretty happy with that. I think Fagerson deserves a start somewhere, his brilliant form last year was a bit overshadowed by Dempsey playing brilliantly and Darge being the golden boy

[Slick]

It looks like there are no further injury worries, Nel is out for Saturday but Sebastian is in full training. White is fit, the only doubt is over Darge, where we have a good few players at the same level.

I'd start Horne regardless.

For this game I’d be very tempted by that. We really want to get the pace up early and rattle the young Welsh team. If we allow them in the game it could be a long afternoon

[clydecloggie]

It looks like there are no further injury worries, Nel is out for Saturday but Sebastian is in full training. White is fit, the only doubt is over Darge, where we have a good few players at the same level.

I'd start Horne regardless.

For this game I’d be very tempted by that. We really want to get the pace up early and rattle the young Welsh team. If we allow them in the game it could be a long afternoon

Who's currently 'in possession' of the shirt - Price or White? Judging by the RWC it's Price. But agreed that going for the throat early should be the plan against this Wales side, and Horne is the quickest of the lot. Could backfire if it is too frantic, and Toonie might think with the superior quality of the team that a more steady approach should work as well.

But it's Scotland in Cardiff yada yada so we'll lose regardless.

[fishfoodie]

Officials

Wales v Scotland
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZ)
ARs: James Doleman (NZ) & Angus Mabey (NZ)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (NZ)

[C69]

If Scotland blow this one then they deserve to be roasted.

[Punter15]

It looks like there are no further injury worries, Nel is out for Saturday but Sebastian is in full training. White is fit, the only doubt is over Darge, where we have a good few players at the same level.

I'd start Horne regardless.

Yep, his speed of service is exceptional and would open up Wales nicely.

[Slick]

Presumably the team is announced today?

[clydecloggie]

Presumably the team is announced today?

Should be. Mandatory 48h in advance, I think.