RugbyRebels

Fagerson still an awful scrummager I see.
Giving a BP to this French team. Nasty

All the subs bar the front rows inability to scrummage had an impact

Harsh, flattered france that.

That sucked and blowed at the same time.

Cant think I have ever seen us look so "meh", had nothing.

Kudos to Price and hastings, minor impacts. Darcy Graeham looked a different level of speed the one chance he got has to be imn for Seymour if not Maitland, both have looked sluggish all tournament.

Bollocks.

Well Scottish motm is the tmo. That was horrendous.

However to disagree with captain hyperbole, perhaps it's time to admit that the majority of Scottish players just aren't very good. We don't have a large number of supreme physical specimens that can lead to domination and without those few really high skill players (Hogg and Russell) we don't really have the horses to consistently compete.

switchskier wrote:Well Scottish motm is the tmo. That was horrendous.

However to disagree with captain hyperbole, perhaps it's time to admit that the majority of Scottish players just aren't very good. We don't have a large number of supreme physical specimens that can lead to domination and without those few really high skill players (Hogg and Russell) we don't really have the horses to consistently compete.

You really think someone like Gatland wouldn't tackle that objectively- realise there's a small pool of players with a limited skillset and think how best to utilise that?

If the playing personnel are being asked to execute an ambitious game plan that they simply do not have the skills to do then the blame doesn't lie at the players' door. I mean good fucking god man, that's what Matt f*cking Williams did.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

switchskier wrote:Well Scottish motm is the tmo. That was horrendous.

However to disagree with captain hyperbole, perhaps it's time to admit that the majority of Scottish players just aren't very good. We don't have a large number of supreme physical specimens that can lead to domination and without those few really high skill players (Hogg and Russell) we don't really have the horses to consistently compete.

You really think someone like Gatland wouldn't tackle that objectively- realise there's a small pool of players with a limited skillset and think how best to utilise that?

If the playing personnel are being asked to execute an ambitious game plan that they simply do not have the skills to do then the blame doesn't lie at the players' door. I mean good fucking god man, that's what Matt f*cking Williams did.

I think that's exactly what Townsend is trying to do. We consistently lose the physical battle, have few ball carriers and give away weight at the scrum. What else do you propose to do other than try play the traditional Scottish high pace game, that relies on a few high skilled players who just happened to be injured this week? You're expectations are unrealistic.

switchskier wrote:Well Scottish motm is the tmo. That was horrendous.

However to disagree with captain hyperbole, perhaps it's time to admit that the majority of Scottish players just aren't very good. We don't have a large number of supreme physical specimens that can lead to domination and without those few really high skill players (Hogg and Russell) we don't really have the horses to consistently compete.

And I disagree FTR. I think this is the best generation of Scottish players in living memory and that talent is being wasted. We have world class talents, numbers and depth in historically weak positions like never before.

Toony's reign, performance wise, is quite literally an inverted bell curve with a fair few more in the "holy f*ck, we were awful" category than the "borderline world-beater" class.. That isn't f*cking normal - any sport is a game of numbers and percentages and teams like Ireland & Wales play them perfectly.

That game could have been won with those 23 players. Earlier changes and some control would have made a massive difference.

Who actually got MOM? I might be able to salvage a few points for my catastrophic fantasy team...

switchskier wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

switchskier wrote:Well Scottish motm is the tmo. That was horrendous.

However to disagree with captain hyperbole, perhaps it's time to admit that the majority of Scottish players just aren't very good. We don't have a large number of supreme physical specimens that can lead to domination and without those few really high skill players (Hogg and Russell) we don't really have the horses to consistently compete.

You really think someone like Gatland wouldn't tackle that objectively- realise there's a small pool of players with a limited skillset and think how best to utilise that?

If the playing personnel are being asked to execute an ambitious game plan that they simply do not have the skills to do then the blame doesn't lie at the players' door. I mean good fucking god man, that's what Matt f*cking Williams did.

I think that's exactly what Townsend is trying to do. We consistently lose the physical battle, have few ball carriers and give away weight at the scrum. What else do you propose to do other than try play the traditional Scottish high pace game, that relies on a few high skilled players who just happened to be injured this week? You're expectations are unrealistic.

Really? Come on. He'd be playing Price, Horne, Christie, Steele... f*cking anyone ahead of Laidlaw if his grand plan was to blow opposition teams out of the water with a "high pace" Scottish game.

At least there is Edinburgh to look forward to I suppose.

Big D wrote:That game could have been won with those 23 players. Earlier changes and some control would have made a massive difference.

And this is exactly why its so frustrating. We coulda won that, like Ireland last week France were there for the taking but individual mistakes have cost us dearly. Laidlaw and to a lesser extent Horne have to take the blame for the lack of control, but the tsunami of individual errors was just shameful.

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hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

switchskier wrote:Well Scottish motm is the tmo. That was horrendous.

However to disagree with captain hyperbole, perhaps it's time to admit that the majority of Scottish players just aren't very good. We don't have a large number of supreme physical specimens that can lead to domination and without those few really high skill players (Hogg and Russell) we don't really have the horses to consistently compete.

And I disagree FTR. I think this is the best generation of Scottish players in living memory and that talent is being wasted. We have world class talents, numbers and depth in historically weak positions like never before.

Toony's reign, performance wise, is quite literally an inverted bell curve with a fair few more in the "holy f*ck, we were awful" category than the "borderline world-beater" class.. That isn't f*cking normal - any sport is a game of numbers and percentages and teams like Ireland & Wales play them perfectly.

And FTR I disagree. We have a tighthead that would have looked great 15 years ago but the game has moved on. Our loosehead wouldn't start for any other 6N team. Our locks are both good grafters but every other team has a better pure athelete. Each member of our backrow has a glaring weakness, though I do think Ritchie has the attributes to make it to the very top.

It's somewhere in the middle clearly. That was bad and the hands just werent good enough but the idea that we dont have a game plan is nonsense and the idea that we would suit Gatland's style is the same.

Our game plan does rely on our best players being fit otherwise we need the replacements to play above themselves. We saw for about 20 mins in that second half what that would have meant and it would have given us a decent chance. Some of those player's hands just arent good enough.

Laidlaw is the glaring contradiction in that (though with Russell) out we need a kicker). I would bring Horne straight in but Price will do.

My problem wasn't that there was no game plan but rather the fact there was no other plans and the length of time it took to make the major changes.

My problem wasn't that there was no game plan but rather the fact there was no other plans and the length of time it took to make the major changes.

Last comment, as the eng wales game is even more boring than ours was.

I disagree that Townsend is asking too much, rather I think he's not asking enough. Our game plan is as simple and as predictable as it gets, slow and telegraphed we look for contact near the ruck, then try our luck out wide before kicking possession away. Its piss easy for defences. Our biggest strength is in making other teams look good, when really they have to do feck all as we're so appallingly predictable. If we're going to ask questions of defences we need to do more, much much more.

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Big D wrote:My problem wasn't that there was no game plan but rather the fact there was no other plans and the length of time it took to make the major changes.

Agree with this

Scotland have some great individual players at the moment, but seem to lack cohesion, organization and leadership on the pitch. They should start to revamp the team by getting rid of Laidlaw (too slow to clear the ball at this level) and Maitland, who was terrible under the high ball and seems to have lost his pace.

Jesus fucking christ. So you lot actually get what I've been banging on about RE: Laidlaw for the last 3 years? I mean there's a billion other problems but 9 is a big one.

Aldritt who scored twice for France is half Scottish through his dad.

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A small thing, but could have implications further down the line.

In the dying embers of the game, why were we going for a try rather than drop goal? 81.15 or so on the game clock and we have a ruck 8m out under the shadow of the posts. It is a chip shot drop goal and has the same outcome as scoring a try - a losing BP. If we play Ireland in the RWC and are in a similar position we must be more pragmatic.

It was the same for Glasgow at home to Sarries (although it didn't cost them in the end).

Where was the game management? Do coaches not cover that sort of thing?

Ye really need to ditch laidlaw, he be killing ye. See what Davies and Dupont done for their teams at the weekend! Murray also playing bad for Ireland and we are not going well also, just less injuries than you