Squad for 6N

[stevedog1980]

Miller was very good on the weekend.

Is Russell out confirmed?

Btw - couldn't agree more on Poite. When I see him reffing I instantly think we are in trouble. He sees the same situation twice and comes up with completely different situations. First ten mins on Sunday I thought it was going to be a game you couldn't buy a turnover, the suddenly he flipped for a while. Did the same thing with scrums, first he's desparate for people to just get on with the game irrespective of whether they've taken it down, next minute he's penalising in a flash.

I'm not sure if it's been confirmed or not but you wouldn't expect him to play. Leaving the field after a failed HIA, especially in the current (correct) climate around head knocks I can't really see how he could return even if 100% fit for it

I know what you mean but he is equally crap for both sides. I don't feel like we are just going to get pumped on every 50/50 decision with him, but I know that his interpretation throughout the game is going to change all over the place and both teams are going to have decisions against them that at times they'd have gotten away with.

I really don't understand why he went burying himself in the ruck to find out if the ball was grounded. Teams are held up in the blink of an eye but burying himself in there gave Ireland an extra few seconds to manufacture the ball on to the ground. Play should have been stopped and gone to the TMO check for that decision. Maybe unfair but I don't think Ireland (and if it had been us on the other side, Scotland) would have been playing musical statues while he tried to get into position.

[Mikey Brown]

Are we seriously looking at a VDW/Johnson/Harris midfield next week? That would be the slowest midfield in rugby for a long, long time. Probably since Parks/Henderson/Morrison.

I’d rather play Hogg and just have him do a chip and chase every time he gets it.

[af73]

I'll see your VdV - Johson - Harris......and raise (lower) you a Lang - Taylor - Harris

I'll hear none of this attackng from the off, putting the game out of reach by 50 minutes thereby not letting the Italians feel like they're in the one game they are sure to be up for.
No, no. Got to give the Italian backline threat respect, go through the phases & be patient.

Roughly translates as 15-13 with 10 minutes to go.

You know the rest.
Random penalty / yellow card / charge down / intercept (*delete as appropriate)

[Big D]

CJ Stander has announced his retirement from rugby at the end of the season. We must have broken him. Seems an odd decision at 30 but fair play to him.

[Mikey Brown]

I'll see your VdV - Johson - Harris......and raise (lower) you a Lang - Taylor - Harris

I'll hear none of this attackng from the off, putting the game out of reach by 50 minutes thereby not letting the Italians feel like they're in the one game they are sure to be up for.
No, no. Got to give the Italian backline threat respect, go through the phases & be patient.

Roughly translates as 15-13 with 10 minutes to go.

You know the rest.
Random penalty / yellow card / charge down / intercept (*delete as appropriate)

Lang and Taylor are certainly quicker, but god knows what would come from that. Haven't seen Lang play 10 in a while to be fair.

[whatisthejava]

Is that the one where he instantly started rolling away, and was clearly held in place.

[stevedog1980]

Is that the one where he instantly started rolling away, and was clearly held in place.

Not sure which message you're responding to?

[Adder]

Is that the one where he instantly started rolling away, and was clearly held in place.

Not sure which message you're responding to?

Time to guess.

I suspect Richie's penalty. The one where Henderson came in from the side pushed Richie on the wrong side of the ruck and held him in.

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[Digby]

Is that the one where he instantly started rolling away, and was clearly held in place.

Not sure which message you're responding to?

Time to guess.

I suspect Richie's penalty. The one where Henderson came in from the side pushed Richie on the wrong side of the ruck and held him in.

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if the game wanted to penalise such acts it would, the game isn't remotely fussed by such acts. it wouldn't be the hardest thing to start a tally of unsportsmanlike behaviour and hand out sanctions up to and including bans after the fact. which might start to change behaviour within games.

whether dissent, or acts like dragging a player out of way into the way and holding them there.

the thinking tends to be you shouldn't have been there to get collared in the first place, and loitering and or passive play is there to be exposed. Toner got Haskell with just such a beauty a few years back which basically had the ref thinking Haskell had dived in from Ireland's side, and I mean from right over on Ireland's side

[Big D]

Rumours are Finn, Gray and Sutherland all out.

[Big D]

15. Sean Maitland (Saracens) - 52 caps

14. Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) - 17 caps
13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) - 29 caps
12. Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) - 16 caps
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh) - 8 caps

10. Stuart Hogg CAPTAIN (Exeter Chiefs) – 83 caps
9. Scott Steele (Harlequins) – 3 caps

1. Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh) – 14 caps
2. David Cherry (Edinburgh) 3 caps
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 36 caps
4. Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 10 caps
5. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 43 caps
6. Jamie Ritchie VICE CAPTAIN (Edinburgh) – 25 caps
7. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 39 caps
8. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 12 caps

Substitutes:
16. George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 15 caps
17. Jamie Bhatti (Bath Rugby) – 17 caps
18. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 29 caps
19. Alex Craig (Gloucester) – Uncapped
20. Nick Haining (Edinburgh) – 6 caps
21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 40 caps
22. Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh) – 1 cap
23. Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 26 caps

[Big D]

That backline is pretty exciting once it gets passed Steele.

[switchskier]

Well that's going to be interesting. I have to admit I like the confidence from Tonnie to rotate and bring in a few players. Whilst the Italians might see it as a sign of disrespect it signals to me that he expects to win and is confident.

If ball and field position are ok that backline could do some serious damage.

My quibbles are Haining and Van Der Waalt on the bench, as neither have shown the form this year. But a sensible backup plan probably isn't the worst idea in the world.

We'll either win by 30 or it'll be unbearably close I reckon.

[Mikey Brown]

Wow. Haha. Can't wait for this now.

[Cameo]

I like it. While I don't want to pin all of last weekend on Turner and Price, it's not the worst thing to be able to drop people after mistakes sometimes. Not seem much of Steele but a chance for him to show he's more than just a stopgap until Horne is fit or Dobie gets a bit more experience.

Back line looks exciting although, from what I've seen of Hogg at 10 he focuses mainly on just getting the basics right. I presume he'll be kicking too unless Steele can.

[ARM]

I like it. While I don't want to pin all of last weekend on Turner and Price, it's not the worst thing to be able to drop people after mistakes sometimes. Not seem much of Steele but a chance for him to show he's more than just a stopgap until Horne is fit or Dobie gets a bit more experience.

Back line looks exciting although, from what I've seen of Hogg at 10 he focuses mainly on just getting the basics right. I presume he'll be kicking too unless Steele can.

Fortunately Hogg is very fucking good at the basics.
Microcosm: Huw Jones try last weekend. Took a bit of finishing and the defence was suspect but if Hogg doesn’t fix the defence and time and weight the pass perfectly, that try doesn’t get scored. Going a long way back but it was Hogg that set up the Dunbar (fastest sprint by a Scotsman) try in Rome. Just basics of course and stuff the Kiwis do in their sleep. But it can make all the difference. He has consistently done that over the years but it gets overlooked by the talking heads.

[septic 9]

I like it. While I don't want to pin all of last weekend on Turner and Price, it's not the worst thing to be able to drop people after mistakes sometimes.

we've been over the "mistakes". Turner and Price were not wholly at fault. I doubt Townsend thinks the were either. Both players would be under pressure this week, we have a 6 day gap an another he same if he France game goes ahead as has been suggested, nearly all the rest have missed a game or more. I think they have been partially rested

[Big D]

Wouldn't surprise me if Price has been rested and held back to come on of and when VdW comes on.

Had a flick through the Ireland game again yesterday and kept an eye on the line outs. There were four bad throws, one of which Gray should still have held on to and a dummy thrown FK. He seems to float his throws, can't recall if he has always done it but the whole line out was poor with no dynamism which led to the crap we saw. I wonder if they have went with Cherry partly due to GG probably running the line out.

[Cameo]

I like it. While I don't want to pin all of last weekend on Turner and Price, it's not the worst thing to be able to drop people after mistakes sometimes.

we've been over the "mistakes". Turner and Price were not wholly at fault. I doubt Townsend thinks the were either. Both players would be under pressure this week, we have a 6 day gap an another he same if he France game goes ahead as has been suggested, nearly all the rest have missed a game or more. I think they have been partially rested

Yep - agreed.

[switchskier]

Italian team is up. Much as expected though surprised Trulla's been dropped. Thought he'd been good all tournament.

[Big D]

If we keep giving away penalties then we could have Carter at 10 and it wouldn't make a difference.

[switchskier]

Well this is going well so far. We need some ball now

[Donny osmond]

Hahahaha hahahaha this is going magnificently

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[Big D]

That was well done by Cherry. Wasn't an easy finish there with the bodies where they were.

[Donny osmond]

Decent response in fairness

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