RugbyRebels

Who will ref this game?

Barnes, also first up for us in Japan v Ireland

Sorry lads - afraid I’m going to this game = guaranteed loss.

ARM wrote:Sorry lads - afraid I’m going to this game = guaranteed loss.

I've never seen us lose at Murrayfield. Only away.

Look at that pack.

One uncapped player,
One player with 1 cap (an underpowered lock)
Two players with 5 caps
One player now playing semi pro rugby after a season in the English second tier

Whilst I appreciate some of these guys might not tour, do we really have this great squad with our best strength in depth for ages?

Reality is that compared to other Top 8 teams we will have a very inexperienced squad at the WC, and partly due to injury, partly due to rotation, partly due to new players emerging, we don’t have a cohesive and settled first XV

Toony is really going to have to drop some players and make sure there are no second chances to show the rest that failure has real consequences.

And the coaches?

whatisthejava wrote:Toony is really going to have to drop some players and make sure there are no second chances to show the rest that failure has real consequences.

Which ones so far? Strauss? Tools?

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Adder wrote:

whatisthejava wrote:Toony is really going to have to drop some players and make sure there are no second chances to show the rest that failure has real consequences.

Which ones so far? Strauss? Tools?

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Strauss is finished. He's been given about 2 chances too many anyway, he's just been lucky we haven't had much depth at 8. With him going back to SA I can't even see him being called up if we have a backrow injury crisis. I think Toolis will be dropped but we'll probably see him involved in future squads.

I didn't watch the game last weekend (thankfully) so not going to comment it other than to say I'm quite unworried about results at this stage. It's the equivalent of preseason in many ways, the schemes will be vanilla and the good stuff won't be rolled out until it matters, at least that's what I'm hoping. What I'm looking for is for a couple of players to put their hands up and for no injuries to our key players. I'd be wrapping up Russell, Hogg and McInally in bubble wrap and cotton wool at this point.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Darcy Graham looks like a total poof with that bleach blonde hairdo.

Less of this crap would be appreciated

Strauss only ever seemed to be good off the bench, then would win a starting spot back and underwhelm again.

I’m really warming to the idea of Fagerson in the bench spot as he can quite suitably cover any of the 3 positions and has enough energy and aggression to provide a bit of a lift.

Not that I’ve actually seen if he managed to do any of that last week.

Wilson is still the spanner in that plan though, as he’ll surely keep one of Fagerson/Bradbury/Thomson out.

https://www.theoffsideline.com/scotland ... -gunfight/


“He has lots of similarities to Ryan Wilson. Ryan has speed in his game, he has excellent line-out skills, he offers a lot in attack and has an aggressive side. Blade is a bit taller. Ryan has more experience at Test match level and I believe they will work well together this weekend.”

Speed?? Offers a lot in attack?? Can't say I've seen much of either from Wilson.

Chunks Baws wrote:https://www.theoffsideline.com/scotland ... -gunfight/


“He has lots of similarities to Ryan Wilson. Ryan has speed in his game, he has excellent line-out skills, he offers a lot in attack and has an aggressive side. Blade is a bit taller. Ryan has more experience at Test match level and I believe they will work well together this weekend.”

Speed?? Offers a lot in attack?? Can't say I've seen much of either from Wilson.

If we could predict that there will be an open and flowing game I'd say Wilson is a strong candidate to start - he runs good lines, offloads and knows how to draw a man and pass. He's made some fine contributions to scything attacks over the years. He's definitely not fast but his limitations lie elsewhere IMO. The main one being he's fairly good at most things but unspectacular at any one.

That’s fair. Though I wish we’d see the aggressive side more in contact situations rather than just the off-the-ball stuff.

I feel like he was quite an impressive ball carrier very early on but that disappeared once he started getting regular caps.

Chunks Baws wrote:https://www.theoffsideline.com/scotland ... -gunfight/


“He has lots of similarities to Ryan Wilson. Ryan has speed in his game, he has excellent line-out skills, he offers a lot in attack and has an aggressive side. Blade is a bit taller. Ryan has more experience at Test match level and I believe they will work well together this weekend.”

Speed?? Offers a lot in attack?? Can't say I've seen much of either from Wilson.

The writing in that article is horrendous.

Decent comment...

Richie Gray is in Toulouse’s starting XV at Bordeaux in the opening weekend of the Top14. It’s an evening kickoff so Townsend will be able to keep an eye on a player who should be on the plane to Japan.

How do I watch the France game?

Mikey Brown wrote:How do I watch the France game?

On a tv

Premier sports.

Mikey Brown wrote:How do I watch the France game?

https://cricfree.sc/rugby-live-stream

Thomson fighting his way into the RWC team.

Our Backline isn't firing yet.

Defence is better than last week.

That's it let the big lad hobble off when he is clearly hurt.

No shame in getting a stretcher on so he doesn't need to put weight on an injury. Especially this close to the WC.

Well I hammered them last week, so will say well done this week. A decent performance - lots to work on but France weren’t really in that second half and we managed the closing phases fairly well (apart from the penalty in their 22 which gave them 50 yards and an attacking set piece!). Glad that Gilchrist had an impact in his brief cameo but gutted about skinner if that’s a proper injury. He’s good and would be in the 15 somewhere for me.

More reflection:-

Stewart did well on his debut - the line-out we lost was the jumper’s fault. Turner under pressure.

Kinghorn did well too. Think Seymour should be fine, but it just seems wrong to lose one of Graham and Kinghorn if that’s the way we’re going.

Harris did well - great line for the try and some decent defence when he got hold of someone. There were some big gaps up the middle though - not sure what happened there and would have to watch again go see.

Another shite start.

I was making tea at each of the re-starts that were kicked to us, so can’t comment on those. I figured I’d take them off, as they’re not good for my blood pressure or vocabulary in front of a young child.

Chib looked pretty decent and Watson was a deserved MOTM. I can’t fault Ryan Wilson too much either, although he did let at least one perfectly decent line-out through his hands.

Am reading Skinner’s injury was a hamstring. Didn’t look like it, but fits in with being allowed to limp off. If it was an ankle or knee like i thought, I’d guess he wouldn’t be allowed to weight bear on the way off.

Maitland’s body language was amusing when we were butchering chances. He doesn’t get that at Saracens.

I read it was Horne who threw the intercept? Is he deserving of a spot? He just doesn’t seem to stop making these big blunders but Johnson is really the only other 12. Did Hutchinson get much of a chance?