RugbyRebels

GT will rightly stick with most of the same team. Obviously changes in the 2nd row and back row but that will probably be it.

Sub props didn't let anyone down. Can both be happy with their debuts.

An on-form Ritchie is usually good for winning a couple of turnovers at the breakdown. He’s not on form and did nothing to merit keeping his place. If Darge is fit, he should come in, if not Christie should get a chance.

I think Tuipolotu ended up on the flank because when Crosbie had to go off Dempsey had already been brought on for Ritchie and there were no more forward replacements so Crosbie was replaced by Redpath who went into the centre and Tuipolotu went on the flank. If we had said it was for an HIA Ritchie could have come back on but given Crosbie effectively had his arm in a sling that was wasn’t likely to be allowed.

They can’t keep playing a hooker who can’t throw in regardless of how great he is in the loose. Ashman is a liability and has been all season for Edinburgh. He must have photos of the SRU chiefs doing something naughty. Johnny Mathews should be on the bench.

2nd half was, as has been mentioned, one of the worst halves of rugby Scotland have played in a long time.

Thought Rowe performed pretty well, sub props did well too. Credit to White though as he had a great game. Shoey, Crosbie, M Fags, White, Sione, VDM, Steyn and Rowe all had good games. Turner set piece good, discipline poor, TTRI was having a good game, Cummings did ok, Ritchie average, Russell usual mixed bag of fantastic and massively frustrating. Jones was ok but not his usual.

Subs, props great, Ashman poor, Skinner, poor discipline, didn’t see enough of Dempsey or Redpath. Horne was ok. Healy warmed pine well.

BaldiePete wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2024 9:57 pm I think Tuipolotu ended up on the flank because when Crosbie had to go off Dempsey had already been brought on for Ritchie and there were no more forward replacements so Crosbie was replaced by Redpath who went into the centre and Tuipolotu went on the flank. If we had said it was for an HIA Ritchie could have come back on but given Crosbie effectively had his arm in a sling that was wasn’t likely to be allowed.

How woderfully, typically Scottish. A 6:2 bench and guaranteed we get an injury in the backs. We go 5:3 and still end up with a centre
playing on the flank with the game crumbling around us

According to ESPN;
Skinner gave away 4 pens
Steyn missed 5/9 tackles
M.Fagerson carried for 3 yards from 7 carries.
Ritchie 0 turnovers.

Some gnarly stats in there.

Turner with 3 dominant hits shows his worth around the park.

Gray has a bicep injury. Could be nasty.

Big D wrote: ↑Sat Feb 03, 2024 10:45 pm According to ESPN;
Skinner gave away 4 pens
Steyn missed 5/9 tackles
M.Fagerson carried for 3 yards from 7 carries.
Ritchie 0 turnovers.

Some gnarly stats in there.

Turner with 3 dominant hits shows his worth around the park.

Gray has a bicep injury. Could be nasty.

Interesting and largely fits with what I thought I saw.

Some positives:

- restarts - seemed a lot better. Crosbie took a couple of decent ones and carried well and then White's clearances were good.

- kicking game - contestables werent that great (or chase wasnt) but when playing for territory both Russell and White were great.

- getting Russell moving - I always think he is at his best when he is looking to have a run. At the world cup it seemed like we gave it to him stamding still and wanted him just to distribute. Both VDM's tries came from him making breaks and the other one came from him switching sides.

Edit: Last ten mins too I suppose. At 27-26 with ten mins to go we were probably favourites to lose that. Shame we didn't get the fourth try but we didn't let them close again.

A positive that I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned was the grown up attitude to penalties. So often in the past we’ve repeatedly kicked to touch, this time round it was great to see us actually building a score

What in the fuck was that? I only just managed to watch it.

stevedog1980 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 10:19 pm A positive that I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned was the grown up attitude to penalties. So often in the past we’ve repeatedly kicked to touch, this time round it was great to see us actually building a score

Thst made me laugh (not at you but at how everyone has such different views on things). I saw that and thought "are we letting them off a bit lightly by just getting three and relieving the pressure?". I also wondered whether we would regret it in terms of bonus points.

Cameo wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 9:37 am

stevedog1980 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 04, 2024 10:19 pm A positive that I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned was the grown up attitude to penalties. So often in the past we’ve repeatedly kicked to touch, this time round it was great to see us actually building a score

Thst made me laugh (not at you but at how everyone has such different views on things). I saw that and thought "are we letting them off a bit lightly by just getting three and relieving the pressure?". I also wondered whether we would regret it in terms of bonus points.

I think it is horses for courses. Against a side like Wales who are inexperienced, building pressure is a good way to go as we were likely to get opportunities to score tries later, but against bigger sides where there are fewer opportunities to score tries then kicking to the corner is probably better.

Well new game week. There seems to be some positive noises about Crosbie being available later in the Championship with Gray pretty much confirmed as out.

I'd go with:
Schoeman
Turner
Fagerson
Cummings
Gilchrist
Fagerson
Christie
Dempsey

White
Finn
Duhan
Huwipulotu
Steyn
Rowe - If he plays well next week then he'd be my Graham replacement when King Blairhorn is back.

Matthews
Millar-Mills
Hepburn
Young
Ritchie/Bayliss
Horne
Healy
Redpath

I can't believe we're looking at Glen Young as a serious option for the 23. That was a pretty terrible appearance from Skinner though. What a shame Henderson can't stay fit.

Crosbie I found a bit hard to judge as always. Part of me thinks he gets very little return for his efforts, but part thinks the physical work he does actually contributes quite a lot over the course of a game. Our strange approach to the breakdown makes it kind of hard to judge anyone though.

I was pleasantly surprised by Rowe too.

Mikey Brown wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 11:05 am I can't believe we're looking at Glen Young as a serious option for the 23. That was a pretty terrible appearance from Skinner though. What a shame Henderson can't stay fit.

Crosbie I found a bit hard to judge as always. Part of me thinks he gets very little return for his efforts, but part thinks the physical work he does actually contributes quite a lot over the course of a game. Our strange approach to the breakdown makes it kind of hard to judge anyone though.

I was pleasantly surprised by Rowe too.

Gray x2, Henderson and CHH all injured. Skinner tackled well but for me good tackling is a prerequisite and minimum expectations. Four penalties just isn't on, even if one was harsh. I am fed up with brain dead penalties.

Crosbie plays his role well which is to stop people in the tackle. He hits hard and gets through a mountain of work. It was a mistake taking him off for Ashman during the sin binning, it should have been Ritchie.

Big D wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 11:31 am

Mikey Brown wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2024 11:05 am I can't believe we're looking at Glen Young as a serious option for the 23. That was a pretty terrible appearance from Skinner though. What a shame Henderson can't stay fit.

Crosbie I found a bit hard to judge as always. Part of me thinks he gets very little return for his efforts, but part thinks the physical work he does actually contributes quite a lot over the course of a game. Our strange approach to the breakdown makes it kind of hard to judge anyone though.

I was pleasantly surprised by Rowe too.

Gray x2, Henderson and CHH all injured. Skinner tackled well but for me good tackling is a prerequisite and minimum expectations. Four penalties just isn't on, even if one was harsh. I am fed up with brain dead penalties.

Crosbie plays his role well which is to stop people in the tackle. He hits hard and gets through a mountain of work. It was a mistake taking him off for Ashman during the sin binning, it should have been Ritchie.

I know what you mean about judging Crosbie. Someone a while ago on the English Message Board used to do 'ruck marks' looking at how many rucks each player hit and their effectiveness. I'd love to see similar for our players. I think we would all agree getting quick clean ball is a huge part of winning games of rugby but we spend all our time talking about other things. I just don't have a clear list in my head of who the best ruckers are in Scotland, but I wonder if Crosbie might be one of them. He has that mix of power, workrate and unselfishness.

He was also very good on kick receipt. If he was fit, I'd definitely give him another go this week.

Cameo wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 9:20 am
I know what you mean about judging Crosbie. Someone a while ago on the English Message Board used to do 'ruck marks' looking at how many rucks each player hit and their effectiveness. I'd love to see similar for our players. I think we would all agree getting quick clean ball is a huge part of winning games of rugby but we spend all our time talking about other things. I just don't have a clear list in my head of who the best ruckers are in Scotland, but I wonder if Crosbie might be one of them. He has that mix of power, workrate and unselfishness.

He was also very good on kick receipt. If he was fit, I'd definitely give him another go this week.

Crosbie playing as he did should eb a shoe in if fit - he ticks several boxes the alternatives do not

As to best ruckers, the two Fagerson brothers as as good as it gets for rucks hit and effectiveness

https://scottishrugby.org/scotland-squa ... -february/

Luke Crosbie is out of the Guinness Six Nations with a shoulder injury and Richie Gray is ruled out for the duration of the championship with a bicep injury.

WP Nel and Darcy Graham are recovering well from their injuries and they will resume training with Edinburgh this week.

Glasgow Warriors Max Williamson and Alex Samuel are training with the squad this week, along with Jamie Dobie and Euan Ferrie.

That's a big shame for both of them.

I'm horribly out of the loop and seen barely any URC this last year. Who is Max Williamson? Presumably a backrower? Samuel is meant to be a promising lock prospect, but very early days for him, right?

Ferrie looks handy in the little I've seen. I guess Hamish Watson really is done as an international in GT's eyes.

Mikey Brown wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 11:12 am That's a big shame for both of them.

I'm horribly out of the loop and seen barely any URC this last year. Who is Max Williamson? Presumably a backrower? Samuel is meant to be a promising lock prospect, but very early days for him, right?

Ferrie looks handy in the little I've seen. I guess Hamish Watson really is done as an international in GT's eyes.

Williamson is a 6ft 7inch lock.

Ferrie is a lock/blindside.

Seems Crosbie is seen as a 6 for this 6N, so Watson wasn't needed yet.

Mikey Brown wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 11:12 am That's a big shame for both of them.

I'm horribly out of the loop and seen barely any URC this last year. Who is Max Williamson? Presumably a backrower? Samuel is meant to be a promising lock prospect, but very early days for him, right?

Ferrie looks handy in the little I've seen. I guess Hamish Watson really is done as an international in GT's eyes.

Williamson is the smaller of 2 promising young Glasgow locks. The other, Samuel, is Richie Gray then a wee bit tall. Someof us have very high hopes for both, personally especially Williamson.
As BigD says, Ferries is a blindside (altho IIRC he was a 4/6 at age grade, exclusively a 6 for his few Glasgow appearances). I doubt any of the 3 are in serious consideration for the 23, but are there to gain experience and to provide meaningful opposition in training ie sort of mimic the opposition. Mish isn't going to give that as France have no equivalent - Ferrie as a 6'4" 17st back row much closer.

Mish either wins the starting 7 shirt on merit or he is out of the squad - I've said this for years. Currently he does not get near winning that shirt

Fair enough.

It's great to get some experience in to some of the young guys but our lack of depth in the pack is really worrying with Darge, TTRI, Crosbie out, the chasm between starting/bench props, Watson/Sutherland's drop-off and Henderson/Jonny with long term injuries too. I guess Nel back in training is something, but even that statement is a bit ridiculous.

I feel like a lot hinges on Darge being fully fit, though I'm not sure when he last played or how rusty he might be. I'd love Christie to get a run but doesn't look likely. Like Ritchie I'd consider him more of a 6, but maybe as a pair it balances out if Fagerson isn't being moved to the flank.

Midi Olympique say that this’ll be the likely starting XV on Saturday. I’d really been hoping that Lucu would be axed for the more promising Le Garrec, but it appears that Galthié hasn’t the balls to make such a bold selection. Danty and Fickou were made to look pedestrian against Ireland, but they appear to have been retained too. 15. Ramos ; 14. Penaud, 13. Danty, 12. Fickou, 11. Bielle-Biarrey ; 10. Jalibert, 9. Lucu ; 7. Ollivon, 8. Alldritt (cap.), 6. Cros ; 5. Gabrillagues, 4. Woki ; 3. Atonio, 2. Mauvaka, 1. Baille

I think I'd pick:

1. Schoeman
2. Turner
3. Fagerson
4. Gilchrist (I really want to move on but dont think we can just yet).
5. Cummings
6. Christie
7. Darge
8. Fagerson
9. White
10. Russell
11. VDM
12. Tuipolotu
13. Jones (thought he was noticeably good in defence v Wales)
14. Steyn (though can't wait for Graham to be back and, if Kinghorn is back first, wouldnt be averse to putting Rowe on the wing)
15. Kinghorn.

Not sure on the backrow selection. Fagerson wasnt very good on the weekend but I've got faith in him and, as much as everyone is worried about size v France, I think you need energy and dog. Their offloading game in the forwards really exposes players who arent all action. Wouldnt be surprised to see Dempsey start instead of Christie but, while I've not seen much of Christie, I'd quite like some new energy.

Offside Line has some calls for Young or Skinner at 6 on the basis that we need as much size as possible:
1. We havent actually struggled that much with France's size. Given how good they are, we have an okay recent record.
2. The only thing worse than having two average second rows is shoehorning in a third ahead of good backrow options.

I don’t think Kinghorn is going to be fit for the France match. If that’s right, keep Rowe at full back. I think Dempsey might start, hopefully at the expense of Ritchie whose form doesn’t merit him keeping his place.

BaldiePete wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2024 7:37 pm I don’t think Kinghorn is going to be fit for the France match. If that’s right, keep Rowe at full back. I think Dempsey might start, hopefully at the expense of Ritchie whose form doesn’t merit him keeping his place.

Sorry, meant Rowe.

I was okay with Ritchie playing last week and wouldn't mind him playing this week, but something I think we need a change ideally.

Only changes are Darge & Gilko for Crosbie & Gray with Christie on the bench.