RugbyRebels

3-0 Scot. Pressure pays off but think we can feel a little hard done by to not come away with a try.

BTW in case anyone was wondering, Hardie dropped out of the squad altogether. Wilson starts at 7 and Hughes onto the bench. I know Hardie has his merits but it really is time to start moving away from him - at least until he's proved he can stay fit and uninjured for a prolonged period of time.

And while quiet so far, I think it goes without saying it's lovely to see Strauss back on the pitch.

Brilliant play from Finn! Italy clueless on the counter.

And in typical Russell style a bit of 'magic' sees us on the attack in their 22 so back on the edge of ours in 5 seconds.

Saved by Hoyland's pace BTW.

Ford looks done fitness wise and its only been 25 mins. I know the conditions are sweltering but would have thought they'd been working on adapting to this.

Gori should be in the bin for that. Cynical and deliberate.

Quality has dropped off a cliff after the first 10/15. Toolis and Barclay lively. Russel being a bit of a spaz. Can't tell much else.

I just want to see us run the ball a bit.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Gori should be in the bin for that. Cynical and deliberate.

Keep the updates coming cat man, I'm on holiday, and the interhighway speed is woeful here.

Hard lines this morning mate.

Clever kick tap from Finn and some individual magic from Price scooping up a loose ball gets us a try in the corner. We really are pretty wasteful otherwise though. Barclay and Ford look absolutely shattered.

Visser still has literally no clue how to catch a high ball in case you were wondering.

Mike Brown has mentioned it before but it's another one of those games where our centres are totally anonymous. Dunbar had a nice carry early on but nothing since. I first saw Scott just now as Price scored as he was the man in support...

It was in the corner so con is tricky, no score. 8-3 to us. 40 mins on clock, kick off is last play of the game.

Oh. Well that's me told.

EinE you will not believe this mate. We regather the restart, a few phases.. .we can play it safe and kick it dead but Russell plays a lovely chip over the top and Hoyland despite being all of 5 foot plucks it out the air taking us near the 22. We recycle, finn chips again this time it's big timbo visser rushing on.. he catches it and he's short... luckily it's slipper out there and he glides the last 2 metres to the try line and scores!!!!

13-3 with the con to come. It's a wee way out but kickable.

Glorious from Finn there. Think we have looked bright in attack when we have had a few phases. Playing nice and quick

Duncan Taylor is taking the kick at goal... it's a bit of a howitzer kick but it's good! 15-3.

I think he may have taken it as a sub was made as I can see horne on the pitch so it imagine russell is off? not sure if its a sub or hia the coverage isn't that great.

Finn still making the odd mistake but good to see a fly-half so happy to attack.

Ha, cheers boys.

Ah Mike, I do that all the time. I was literally in the middle of telling a mate of mine that I though Mike Catt was a great defender as he got run clean over my Lomu.

Twitter says Russell off, no mention of a HIA. Understandable I'd say Finn, Ford, Wilson and Barclay look absolutely knackered. Important players so hope the rest are hooked at the break. Of that bunch Ford looked done after 15 mins.

Cut to Russell's cheek. Is this his first game without any kind of head guard?

Russell back on so it was a HIA or blood i guess.

Try for Ford. He's been quite lively apart from a couple of wierd line outside. Struggled to get that down though when it was easier to score than not

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Twitter says Russell off, no mention of a HIA. Understandable I'd say Finn, Ford, Wilson and Barclay look absolutely knackered. Important players so hope the rest are hooked at the break. Of that bunch Ford looked done after 15 mins.

He's back on. Stitches in his cheek.

Try 3. Ford thumps over after an excellent driving maul from lineout.