Team vs Wales

[General Zod]

Townsend looked gutted in that interview. Suspect Russell and Hastings out for a wee while.

Anyway, well done, Scotland. Got it over the line. For all the stuff we did wrong, that is a skill in itself, and arguably the most important one. Next thing is to keep the run going!

Despite some of the comments, I thought price did well towards the end of the game. Ritchie was excellent and the team did well under the high ball.

Lots to work on tho.

[Big D]

Townsend looked gutted in that interview. Suspect Russell and Hastings out for a wee while.

Anyway, well done, Scotland. Got it over the line. For all the stuff we did wrong, that is a skill in itself, and arguably the most important one. Next thing is to keep the run going!

Despite some of the comments, I thought price did well towards the end of the game. Ritchie was excellent and the team did well under the high ball.

Lots to work on tho.

Lucky Jaco qualifies... ah he is shit.

[Mikey Brown]

Anyway, well done, Scotland. Got it over the line. For all the stuff we did wrong, that is a skill in itself, and arguably the most important one. Next thing is to keep the run going!

Despite some of the comments, I thought price did well towards the end of the game. Ritchie was excellent and the team did well under the high ball.

Lots to work on tho.

Yep.

"Townsend looked gutted in that interview. Suspect Russell and Hastings out for a wee while." I missed this. I didn't notice much when they came off, what suggests they would be serious injuries?

[General Zod]

Anyway, well done, Scotland. Got it over the line. For all the stuff we did wrong, that is a skill in itself, and arguably the most important one. Next thing is to keep the run going!

Despite some of the comments, I thought price did well towards the end of the game. Ritchie was excellent and the team did well under the high ball.

Lots to work on tho.

Yep.

"Townsend looked gutted in that interview. Suspect Russell and Hastings out for a wee while." I missed this. I didn't notice much when they came off, what suggests they would be serious injuries?

Russell’s groin went, and Townsend mentioned that Hastings’ shoulder popped out twice. Obviously no official diagnoses yet, but they sound like injuries that could take a bit of time to recover.

If anyone’s watching eng v Italy, the highlight for me has to be Clive Woodward’s gegs.

[Mikey Brown]

Ah. Shit.

10. Weir 22. Jaco

Hmm.

[Big D]

Ah. Shit.

10. Weir 22. Jaco

Hmm.

Hell no. Hogg, Horne, Horne, Kinghorn, D'Arcy, Duhan, Lang, the fucking Easter bunny, Kebble, Townsend, Hastings Snr before Jaco please.

[septic 9]

Anyway, well done, Scotland. Got it over the line. For all the stuff we did wrong, that is a skill in itself, and arguably the most important one. Next thing is to keep the run going!

Despite some of the comments, I thought price did well towards the end of the game. Ritchie was excellent and the team did well under the high ball.

Lots to work on tho.

Yep.

"Townsend looked gutted in that interview. Suspect Russell and Hastings out for a wee while." I missed this. I didn't notice much when they came off, what suggests they would be serious injuries?

didn't catch Russell one but coming off that early always a concern. Hastings popped his shoulder out twice. Be a while before he gets ack, Glasgow HC fucked as well before it starts probably

[septic 9]

Ah. Shit.

10. Weir 22. Jaco

Hmm.

Hell no. Hogg, Horne, Horne, Kinghorn, D'Arcy, Duhan, Lang, the fucking Easter bunny, Kebble, Townsend, Hastings Snr before Jaco please.

Horne Snr, Lang even Hogg before VDW

Amazing, when such criticism as we see from scots fans today is about lack of cutting edge in attack, that anyone would suggest a 10 who stands so deep, so far back he's at home even when playing away

[switchskier]

So looking at the stats you'd say that we probably should have won that by more (not that I'm complaining). Two things worth noting:

- only 6 penalties conceeded is excellent and a marked change (may be because Gilchrist wasn't playing)
- 98% rucks won is also very good. Probably padded a bit by not being that adventurous but it was what was called for.

Ritchie definitely motm. Getting to that stage now where he rarely has a bad game.

[Mikey Brown]

He's been our best player overall for a little while now. Slightly odd as I'm unsure he's really a 6 rather than a 7, but it is what it is.

Our attacking game seems to have gone backwards quite a long way. Maybe there's been some tradeoff with us actually managing to keep hold of the ball and work it through the forwards, but I still have no idea what our strategy is when we go past 10. The quality of passing and the lack of incisive running angles in the backs is a worry. Maybe it's just rust, settling in to new systems, not enough clean ball etc. but we don't appear to have many bright ideas in attack.

Thoughts on Thomson? Did he do enough for another run out?

[switchskier]

Thoughts on Thomson? Did he do enough for another run out?

I was quite pleased to get a proper look. Still doesn't look like an 8 to me. Not seeing the power or carrying, he's quite tall and lean really.

[Big D]

Ah. Shit.

10. Weir 22. Jaco

Hmm.

Hell no. Hogg, Horne, Horne, Kinghorn, D'Arcy, Duhan, Lang, the fucking Easter bunny, Kebble, Townsend, Hastings Snr before Jaco please.

Horne Snr, Lang even Hogg before VDW

Amazing, when such criticism as we see from scots fans today is about lack of cutting edge in attack, that anyone would suggest a 10 who stands so deep, so far back he's at home even when playing away

Trying to be fair, it is a racing certainty that Townsend wouldn't have him standing so deep, but I don't think VdW is up to it.

[General Zod]

Hogg wants Weir to get a shot. If you take the quotes here at face value...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54761684

[septic 9]

Hell no. Hogg, Horne, Horne, Kinghorn, D'Arcy, Duhan, Lang, the fucking Easter bunny, Kebble, Townsend, Hastings Snr before Jaco please.

Horne Snr, Lang even Hogg before VDW

Amazing, when such criticism as we see from scots fans today is about lack of cutting edge in attack, that anyone would suggest a 10 who stands so deep, so far back he's at home even when playing away

Trying to be fair, it is a racing certainty that Townsend wouldn't have him standing so deep, but I don't think VdW is up to it.

he stood flat last week for a wee while. Then went back and back. He has done the same previously. He'd be an option on a day like today if you play kick chase from 10. Only wales do that really. VDW also usually defend s well, but the rest of VDW's game is not nearly good enough

[whatisthejava]

Looking ahead to the next games we have Italy away and a France b team (if reports that the pro league are only allowing players to be released for a max 3 games are to be believed ). Think a controlling game with Weir won’t be a bad shout to bed Lang/Johnson in at 12.

Harries is a good defence 13 but don’t think he offers enough in attack

[whatisthejava]

Weird that we finished 4th. What the bed a wee bit against Ireland, Wngland was the blizzard and we stopped the French slam.

[Cameo]

Tough game in tough conditions but the best thing about that win was that it looked repeatable. If we played them again I'd be fairly confident as our pack looked like the better pack.

Real issue with the tens as there were some signs that Russell's sharp passing would give some more chances outside (and Hastings looked decent too). I think Weir has to start til they're back but maybe let's give him Johnson to offer something outside.

[Big D]

Tough game in tough conditions but the best thing about that win was that it looked repeatable. If we played them again I'd be fairly confident as our pack looked like the better pack.

Real issue with the tens as there were some signs that Russell's sharp passing would give some more chances outside (and Hastings looked decent too). I think Weir has to start til they're back but maybe let's give him Johnson to offer something outside.

We only lost 5 tries all championship. With that sort of defence we will always be in games which is great.

Tandy seems to have hit on a formula that Taylor couldn't.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Tough game in tough conditions but the best thing about that win was that it looked repeatable. If we played them again I'd be fairly confident as our pack looked like the better pack.

Real issue with the tens as there were some signs that Russell's sharp passing would give some more chances outside (and Hastings looked decent too). I think Weir has to start til they're back but maybe let's give him Johnson to offer something outside.

We only lost 5 tries all championship. With that sort of defence we will always be in games which is great.

Tandy seems to have hit on a formula that Taylor couldn't.

Agree with this. I'm very worried about the attack though - it just seems to be going round in circles match after match with no sign of improvement whatsoever. How many did we score? 7?

[Big D]

Tough game in tough conditions but the best thing about that win was that it looked repeatable. If we played them again I'd be fairly confident as our pack looked like the better pack.

Real issue with the tens as there were some signs that Russell's sharp passing would give some more chances outside (and Hastings looked decent too). I think Weir has to start til they're back but maybe let's give him Johnson to offer something outside.

We only lost 5 tries all championship. With that sort of defence we will always be in games which is great.

Tandy seems to have hit on a formula that Taylor couldn't.

Agree with this. I'm very worried about the attack though - it just seems to be going round in circles match after match with no sign of improvement whatsoever. How many did we score? 7?

Something like that, but we do need to remember that two of the games were in pretty bad conditions.

Giving the staff the benefit of the doubt, we have rebuilt (or are rebuilding) thr foundations with new coaches in the forwards and defence. They seem relatively robust and now we might see the attacking patterns develop.

[septic 9]

Something like that, but we do need to remember that two of the games were in pretty bad conditions.

Giving the staff the benefit of the doubt, we have rebuilt (or are rebuilding) thr foundations with new coaches in the forwards and defence. They seem relatively robust and now we might see the attacking patterns develop.

3 away games, one of the 2 home games in easily the worst conditions I've ever seen a test played in

Attack does need to improve, centre pairing has been solid but too dependent on 10 and 15 doing all the creative stuff, which with improvements in 12 and 13 is just about sustainable with Russell/Hastings and Hogg. With Weir afraid it isn't really, if we stick with Lang and Harris. Johnson back in at 12 would help.
Otherwise we are in danger of falling into the Edinburgh attack pit - shovel it somehow to one of the back 3 strike runners and hope for a miracle; and that's it.

[francoisfou]

Great win for your team! First in Wales for a while!

[Mikey Brown]

Something like that, but we do need to remember that two of the games were in pretty bad conditions.

Giving the staff the benefit of the doubt, we have rebuilt (or are rebuilding) thr foundations with new coaches in the forwards and defence. They seem relatively robust and now we might see the attacking patterns develop.

3 away games, one of the 2 home games in easily the worst conditions I've ever seen a test played in

Attack does need to improve, centre pairing has been solid but too dependent on 10 and 15 doing all the creative stuff, which with improvements in 12 and 13 is just about sustainable with Russell/Hastings and Hogg. With Weir afraid it isn't really, if we stick with Lang and Harris. Johnson back in at 12 would help.
Otherwise we are in danger of falling into the Edinburgh attack pit - shovel it somehow to one of the back 3 strike runners and hope for a miracle; and that's it.

‘Shovel it somehow’ is the perfect description of a lot of what we saw yesterday.

I must have watched Lang play 30 or 40 times and I’m struggling to remember literally anything that he’s done. Even when playing fly-half he has this uncanny ability to seem like he’s not actually on the pitch. Maybe I’ll torture myself with a rewatch because I’m possibly being unfair.

Solid in defence is great but you have to wonder if Tandy is essentially getting to pick the centre pairing at the expense of any gainline threat. Harris did well on a couple of occasions yesterday when given crap ball to work with, but why are we never ever getting the ball to someone who is actually moving?

It almost feels like 2006 again where we can scramble in defence, pull off the occasional rolling maul try but can’t string 3 passes together to save our lives.

I had to laugh at the one time Price went for a snipe yesterday and literally nobody reacted or went with him. I think we retained the ball though so that’s some sort of progress.

[septic 9]

‘Shovel it somehow’ is the perfect description of a lot of what we saw yesterday.

Solid in defence is great but you have to wonder if Tandy is essentially getting to pick the centre pairing at the expense of any gainline threat. Harris did well on a couple of occasions yesterday when given crap ball to work with, but why are we never ever getting the ball to someone who is actually moving?

.

and was about all you can do in that wind. Anything over a couple of metres is going to be a problem in the wind. The defences of both teams know that as well, so align accordingly. Running on to the ball at pace is best done at 3rd or 4th phase when defence is a bit stressed, then there is the balance that if you break the first tackle and go beyond the gainline, you are in danger of being isolated and turned over. In the conditions I thought we got things about right yesterday, mixed it with some tactical kicking especially late on when Price was absolutely superb.

Tandy of course gets to put a defence in place with the players selected, and he will have an input to selections. Its odd how many slammed Townsend for playing all out attack and now slam him for not doing that. There is a better balance but TBF the conditions were not there for it yesterday.

If we need to remind ourselves what happens when your defence doesn't work, we need look no further than the result of the Rennie/Taylor defence yesterday

[whatisthejava]

Positives

We won, away, in the 6N not to Italy.

I've felt for so long Scotland has needed to grind out a win against one of the other home nations for them to kick on. Scotland Wales matches have been awful for years so really no surprise there.

We are now going into two games against Italy and France and both games are winnable (if France rotate squad as expected)

That would be a 6 game in a row streak without actually playing that well in attack.

We actually look like the forwards want to keep the ball and have a plan
Gray, Cummings, Brown Sutherland, Richie and Watson are all solid and can provide a platform


Negatives
Backs have went backwards since the RWC. Really feel we need a better plan for our centres. I understand why Harris is their because he is defensively solid but his success rate on 50/50s is in the pan.

Add to that a few players in the back look unwilling to offload, we have moved from high risk to being low risk and not generating enough mismatches to actually break down a defence.

Im ok with the status quo until the end of the Autumn, win some games, win some confidence but come the next 6N we need to reintroduce some attacking flair