Team for Scotland

[Digby]

he's a curate's egg of a coach

I confess to rather liking him bar his take on England being crap at rugby

Me too, and he has a point about us being a little light on skills and decision making- though I think he could have addressed some of this himself.

I suspect having watched his Australia and Japan sides those are exactly the areas we were both hoping he'd add something to our game. I wasn't expecting to lurch so much into the school of Jack Rowell.

[Banquo]

I confess to rather liking him bar his take on England being crap at rugby

Me too, and he has a point about us being a little light on skills and decision making- though I think he could have addressed some of this himself.

I suspect having watched his Australia and Japan sides those are exactly the areas we were both hoping he'd add something to our game. I wasn't expecting to lurch so much into the school of Jack Rowell.

..as I pointed out on appointment, he used what was best for those sides to win, and indeed in Japan's case how coachable they are.

Jack Rowell is an interesting parallel case of pragmatism- his Bath sides were very pretty on the eye, because they had a lot of very skilled (for the time) players. He then thought that wouldn't translate into the 'new' intl game, and over compensated a tad. But ultimately at the top of the game, its about winning, and coaches will do what they think best to do that generally based on talent available (and then adapting); Dwyer was a bit of an exception, as he took the route of, if you do what I say in line with my philosophy on rugby really well, then winning will be the outcome mostly--- but that only worked with some very talented players, who in fairness he sought out, and in some cases actually developed from other sports; he famously said any fool can coach to win a game by kicking (and indeed proved it when challenged).

[jngf]

Could Eddy do something really sneakily ingenious say actually field Alex Dombrandt on condition he agreed to keep the tight fitting Tom Curry face(saving) mask on throughout the 80 mins of the game?

[Banquo]

Could Eddy do something really sneakily ingenious say actually field Alex Dombrandt on condition he agreed to keep the tight fitting Tom Curry face(saving) mask on throughout the 80 mins of the game?

dark

[Mikey Brown]

I can't wait to see just how demented your posts are going to be come this time on Saturday.

[p/d]

I can't wait to see just how demented your posts are going to be come this time on Saturday.

Tough on Banquo.

[Banquo]

I can't wait to see just how demented your posts are going to be come this time on Saturday.

Tough on Banquo.

but fair

[francoisfou]

Maybe it'd be better for all of us if Scotland thrashed England to help dear ol' Eddie see the light!
But can I force myself to cheer for the Sweaties?

[Mikey Brown]

I certainly can.

[Banquo]

Maybe it'd be better for all of us if Scotland thrashed England to help dear ol' Eddie see the light!
But can I force myself to cheer for the Sweaties?

No- I could never want the oppos to win (well maybe once or twice under Robinson). You are more likely to get 'sustainable positive' change if you are winning imo

[Oakboy]

For all the debate about criticising Jones, I really wish I was confident about beating Scotland. We should, comfortably, but . . . .

I'd not be surprised by any score between about 32-10 and 12-22.

Having said that, I reckon I will safely be able to predict the result after the first 15 minutes. Will we turn up fully motivated or not?

[Digby]

32 points sounds like a lot in the howling wind and rain

[Oakboy]

32 points sounds like a lot in the howling wind and rain

Come on, we have one of the best place kickers in world rugby . . . . . . . And, as a world-class centre, he must be due a try or three.

[p/d]

I can't wait to see just how demented your posts are going to be come this time on Saturday.

Tough on Banquo.

but fair

‘tis so

[francoisfou]

Maybe it'd be better for all of us if Scotland thrashed England to help dear ol' Eddie see the light!
But can I force myself to cheer for the Sweaties?

No- I could never want the oppos to win (well maybe once or twice under Robinson). You are more likely to get 'sustainable positive' change if you are winning imo

No, there's no way I could cheer for the Sweaties, but if the unconceivable happens and they do win,and then if Eddie persists in putting us through the same misery for the remaining games, we could all chip in to buy the Aussie fecker a one way ticket for as far away as possible from England, cos the missus is getting rather concerned listening to me screaming wtf at the telly when England screw up.

[Digby]

32 points sounds like a lot in the howling wind and rain

Come on, we have one of the best place kickers in world rugby . . . . . . . And, as a world-class centre, he must be due a try or three.

I'm not going to blame a kicker for missing 7 out of 7 in gusts that could hit 60mph

[normanski]

Has Eddie done enough gobbing off to wind up and motivate the Scots or can we expect more tomorrow.

As a neutral I’m saddened by the words he uses sometimes. I know he does it because he believes it takes pressure off his team but he sounds more like a rabid football supporter than a leading(?) rugby coach.

[francoisfou]

Has Eddie done enough gobbing off to wind up and motivate the Scots or can we expect more tomorrow.

As a neutral I’m saddened by the words he uses sometimes. I know he does it because he believes it takes pressure off his team but he sounds more like a rabid football supporter than a leading(?) rugby coach.

You ain't heard nothin' yet, Norm! Just wait 'til the week building up to the match against your boys!

[Banquo]

Maybe it'd be better for all of us if Scotland thrashed England to help dear ol' Eddie see the light!
But can I force myself to cheer for the Sweaties?

No- I could never want the oppos to win (well maybe once or twice under Robinson). You are more likely to get 'sustainable positive' change if you are winning imo

No, there's no way I could cheer for the Sweaties, but if the unconceivable happens and they do win,and then if Eddie persists in putting us through the same misery for the remaining games, we could all chip in to buy the Aussie fecker a one way ticket for as far away as possible from England, cos the missus is getting rather concerned listening to me screaming wtf at the telly when England screw up.

Not inconceivable for Scotland to win on a dreech day at home, tbh. Its been known, in fact its de rigeur

[Spiffy]

That is not a bad Scotland team. They pushed Ireland hard last week and might well have nicked it.
Surprisingly good in the set piece.
Hogg is always a potential match winner and will be up to atone for his missed try howler.
Price and Horne zippy SHs.
The Scots have a good back row, with the smallish but livewire Watson punching well above his weight. The BR battle could be key to the outcome. England were well outplayed in this dept by their French counterparts, and it was not just about controlling the ball at 8.
Scottish centres good in attack but less so in defence. England should be running hard at them but Faz is not the man to do it and the England loose forwards are not big carriers either.
Could be a tight game. Scots might just do it with home advantage

[Mr Mwenda]

Maybe it'd be better for all of us if Scotland thrashed England to help dear ol' Eddie see the light!
But can I force myself to cheer for the Sweaties?

Gordon Bennett, they've held the calcutta cup for two flippin' years now, such aberrations need to be eliminated with extreme prejudice!

[Banquo]

That is not a bad Scotland team. They pushed Ireland hard last week and might well have nicked it.
Surprisingly good in the set piece.
Hogg is always a potential match winner and will be up to atone for his missed try howler.
Price and Horne zippy SHs.
The Scots have a good back row, with the smallish but livewire Watson punching well above his weight. The BR battle could be key to the outcome. England were well outplayed in this dept by their French counterparts, and it was not just about controlling the ball at 8.
Scottish centres good in attack but less so in defence. England should be running hard at them but Faz is not the man to do it and the England loose forwards are not big carriers either.
Could be a tight game. Scots might just do it with home advantage

Don't be ridiculous. We are England. We have left the EU. We should win every game. Arrogant Celts.

[fivepointer]

The Ice Man at 12 will steer us home. Rely on it.

[Oakboy]

The Ice Man at 12 will steer us home. Rely on it.

Assuming he catches the fricking ball occasionally.

[Timbo]

That is not a bad Scotland team. They pushed Ireland hard last week and might well have nicked it.
Surprisingly good in the set piece.
Hogg is always a potential match winner and will be up to atone for his missed try howler.
Price and Horne zippy SHs.
The Scots have a good back row, with the smallish but livewire Watson punching well above his weight. The BR battle could be key to the outcome. England were well outplayed in this dept by their French counterparts, and it was not just about controlling the ball at 8.
Scottish centres good in attack but less so in defence. England should be running hard at them but Faz is not the man to do it and the England loose forwards are not big carriers either.
Could be a tight game. Scots might just do it with home advantage

On the other hand, even Ireland beat them.