Scotland Autumn Series thread

[Mikey Brown]

Yeah all these problems feed in to each-other, when the discipline is shit and people are taking the ball standing still it really doesn’t matter that much who you’ve got in your backrow.

Managing the breakdown is obviously a skill in itself, but it’s also where you’ll see many other areas of the game get shown up. Fiji could smash it straight forward because they have enormous, powerful carriers who can run very fast and offload the ball when faced with a passive defence. Only 2 or 3 forwards were really doing much to halt that momentum before it started.

We need to be so much smarter with the ball in order to get the soft shoulders and recycle quickly. Basically every complaint I have about the unconvincing attack, the timing, depth, aggression, accuracy, deception, it’s all lacking and has been for a long while now. That all amounts to an uphill battle at the breakdown and increased pressure on our discipline.

Something needs to change because the team itself is about as good as we can select.

[stevedog1980]

Something has changed...................

[BaldiePete]

… and he’s back.

[Mikey Brown]

Something has changed...................

Well it's good to see him back, though sadly at Hastings's expense, but that's not the sort of change I meant. He might fix all of those other things just by being there but it seems very unlikely. We'll still probably have Gilchrist stood at first receiver for most of the match.

Anyone know if Skinner is fit?

[BaldiePete]

Skinner was replaced by Hodgson in the squad so I’d assume he’s out for the whole series.

As for Russell being back, it’s obviously good but he’s still expected to play in AB Zondagh’s attacking plan (whatever the hell that actually is). It’s noticeable that our attack has been shit since Zondagh replaced Mike Blair as attack coach.

[Cameo]

We need to be so much smarter with the ball in order to get the soft shoulders and recycle quickly. Basically every complaint I have about the unconvincing attack, the timing, depth, aggression, accuracy, deception, it’s all lacking and has been for a long while now. That all amounts to an uphill battle at the breakdown and increased pressure on our discipline.

I'm not sure you don't have it the wrong way round though. The breakdown and the attack are poor. What I'm beginning to think is that the breakdown is the primary issue that is a major cause of the poor attack.*

Apart from Fagerson, not many of our forwards really shift opposition players out of rucks. We seem focus on safety first retaining ball by flopping on it rather than driving past it and getting quick ball.

All really hard to tell from afar obviously. I just think there are a lot of teams at the moment who switch between looking dangerous and completely impotent and it can't all be attack coaches. I think defences are getting very good if they have a second or two to realign

* Obviously Chris Harris plays a part too

[Cameo]

Anyone know if Finn has had his kid? Maybe that was a bigger factor than let on. All very strange comms.

[Mikey Brown]

We need to be so much smarter with the ball in order to get the soft shoulders and recycle quickly. Basically every complaint I have about the unconvincing attack, the timing, depth, aggression, accuracy, deception, it’s all lacking and has been for a long while now. That all amounts to an uphill battle at the breakdown and increased pressure on our discipline.

I'm not sure you don't have it the wrong way round though. The breakdown and the attack are poor. What I'm beginning to think is that the breakdown is the primary issue that is a major cause of the poor attack.*

Apart from Fagerson, not many of our forwards really shift opposition players out of rucks. We seem focus on safety first retaining ball by flopping on it rather than driving past it and getting quick ball.

All really hard to tell from afar obviously. I just think there are a lot of teams at the moment who switch between looking dangerous and completely impotent and it can't all be attack coaches. I think defences are getting very good if they have a second or two to realign

* Obviously Chris Harris plays a part too

Well sure, it's not just one or the other, but our slow, predictable attack doesn't help us create much forward momentum, which would make the breakdown so much easier. Players are so often trying to enter the breakdown from a standstill or it's behind the gain-line. The rare line-breaks often seem to leave our forward support trailing behind. Just poor in a lot of ways.

I agree lots of sides end up looking this way when they can't get on the front foot. There's a lot of ways defences are able to slow or disrupt the breakdown and I'm not sure there's a quick or easy fix. We can definitely improve a lot there, my point was just that getting accurate, aggressive clean-outs is almost impossible if players are getting dominated in the tackle and pushed back.

Sadly Harris is one of the more useful guys in this area, as much as he hampers the attack when he has the ball.

[stevedog1980]

Just a question but do you think any of the timidity at ruck time comes from a fear of red cards? When Glen Young went to clear out last week and was given a yellow, it could easily have been a red despite the fact I don't think he did anything wrong. Having seen the obvious example of the ZF red card against Wales a while back, do you think this could be being coached? I'd far rather we play with more ferocity in the ruck area but like others, I'm surprised at how shy we can be at clearing out

[septic 9]

Just a question but do you think any of the timidity at ruck time comes from a fear of red cards? When Glen Young went to clear out last week and was given a yellow, it could easily have been a red despite the fact I don't think he did anything wrong. Having seen the obvious example of the ZF red card against Wales a while back, do you think this could be being coached? I'd far rather we play with more ferocity in the ruck area but like others, I'm surprised at how shy we can be at clearing out

I don't think any of our forwards are shy of hitting a ruck. Against Fiji it looked more lethargy and lazy focus

Its possible the players have been told to think twice before entering a ruck - ie don't commit unless you can definitely affect it, get in the defensive line - I think this is a much more likely explanation - but they took it too far

[stevedog1980]

I don't think any of our forwards are shy of hitting a ruck. Against Fiji it looked more lethargy and lazy focus

Its possible the players have been told to think twice before entering a ruck - ie don't commit unless you can definitely affect it, get in the defensive line - I think this is a much more likely explanation - but they took it too far

I agree that's more likely. I'm disappointed with our gain-line defence as well though, if we were sacrificing turnover ball for defensive solidity at least you'd see some sort of pay off. We seem to be poor at both right now

[General Zod]

When are the teams named?

I have 2 x £85 tickets I need to shift, so hopefully Finn can be the box office draw I need!

[Big D]

Scotland's best ref by a country mile is reffing the womans world cup final. Well done to Hollie Davidson.

[septic 9]

When are the teams named?

tomorrow pm

[Mikey Brown]

Redpath on the bench for Bath…

[General Zod]

Redpath on the bench for Bath…

Anyone betting on Russell 10/ Kinghorn 12?

[Mikey Brown]

I mean giving him a shot at centre against NZ would be mad, but I think I'd rather see that than Tuipulotu at 12 again. I wouldn't even care which way round Russell/Kinghorn were to be honest.

I just can't believe he wants to keep changing things and not get Redpath as many minutes to settle in as possible. He is one of only a few players* we have that can actually read a defence and has the skillset/temperament to take the right option. It's insane if Townsend can't see this.

Russell only just brought back in, Bennet dropped and Hogg not exactly sparkling at the moment.

[septic 9]

Redpath on the bench for Bath…

Anyone betting on Russell 10/ Kinghorn 12?

no way

If one of them plays 12 it would be Russell. He has actually played there (for Glasgow) Kinghorn has never played centre, and the thought of him defending there scares me shitless. I fear he would be carted off concussed PDQ

[septic 9]

When are the teams named?

tomorrow pm

or maybe tomorrow

[General Zod]

When are the teams named?

tomorrow pm

or maybe tomorrow

I was in an online meeting at work from 1-2 with the SRU website and Twitter feed open, continually refreshing it and looking more and more frustrated!

[Mikey Brown]

I still don’t understand why it’s so difficult to decide/announce when they’re doing it.

[Cameo]

Redpath on the bench for Bath…

That seems so strange. We've all been waiting (and believed Townsend's been waiting) for him to be fit and get a run. He wasn't great against Fiji but 10/12/13 is the main spot where I want to see some combinations develop over time.

[switchskier]

Redpath on the bench for Bath…

That seems so strange. We've all been waiting (and believed Townsend's been waiting) for him to be fit and get a run. He wasn't great against Fiji but 10/12/13 is the main spot where I want to see some combinations develop over time.

Ok, what am I not seeing in Tuipulotu? Toonie evidently likes him, and there's some obvious power there, but what am I missing?

[septic 9]

tomorrow pm

or maybe tomorrow

I was in an online meeting at work from 1-2 with the SRU website and Twitter feed open, continually refreshing it and looking more and more frustrated!

my bad. Sorry

[septic 9]

Ok, what am I not seeing in Tuipulotu? Toonie evidently likes him, and there's some obvious power there, but what am I missing?

if we assume he plays 12, then Townsend wants that power to truck it up and give some go forward for the next phase

My problem is I think Tuiplolotu is a very average 12 but a very good 13.

We actually have a few decent options at 13 - Bennett, Tuipolotu, Steyn, Jones (when fit). And Chris Harris blocking them all