RugbyRebels

Now the squad is selected and we've all had a good moan (feel free to carry on), I thought I'd create a thread on how we approach it from here.

I'd say Friday is to give anyone game time who is lacking or feels they need more time to feel sharp as well as some combinations that haven't played together (though don't think we can risk Finn with the centres). At the moment I would be working towards a team for Ireland looking something like this:

Mel
McInally
Dell
Gray
Gilchrist
Wilson (not sure on this one - could be any of him Barclay or Ritchie)
Watson
Thompson
Laidlaw (I would play Price but don't see it happening)
Russell
Maitland
Johnson
Taylor
Graham
Hogg

Fagerson (or Bergman - maybe Friday should be a bit of a shootout)
Brown
Reid
Cummings
Barclay
Horne (think he is our best bench option and would like to see him get a start)
Horne
Kinghorn

When’s the team named?

I think McInally will be in the stands - brown to start if fit and Turner to come on.

Hastings starts and Horne replaces.
Hogg starts and Kinghorn replaces with Seymour and Graham on the wing.

Taylor starts and is given at least 20 minutes overlap with Johnson - not sure Townsend wants to disclose his hand too much here, although they both need time together.

No idea on the rest of the pack, although Fagerson could probably do with a long run-out.

However, despite the above, I’ve read rumours that some of the non-squad players will play!

Bradbury and Stewart expected to play on Friday. Brown and centres as a combo need game time.

I think our 23 for Ireland will be:
Dell
McInally
Nel
Gray
Gilchrist
Wilson
Watson
Thompson
Laidlaw
Russell
Maitland
Johnson
Harris
Graham
Hogg


Brown
Fagerson
Reid
Cummings
Barclay
Price
Hastings
Taylor

My main concerns are around the centres. As partnerships at the highest level it is very green and Harris and Taylor are pretty untested at 13.

Big D wrote:I think our 23 for Ireland will be:
Dell
McInally
Nel
Gray
Gilchrist
Wilson
Watson
Thompson
Laidlaw
Russell
Maitland
Johnson
Harris
Graham
Hogg


Brown
Fagerson
Reid
Cummings
Barclay
Price
Hastings
Taylor

My main concerns are around the centres. As partnerships at the highest level it is very green and Harris and Taylor are pretty untested at 13.

It'll be interesting to see what Toony does for the Georgia game. On the one hand, the probable first-choices need game-time together because the Ireland game is huge; on the other hand, Brown, Horne the Younger, and Thompson at least simply need game-time to blow cobwebs away. On yet another hand, I'd be tempted to have Finn, Watson and Hogg in cotton wool.

And as an aside, having lived through the wilderness years of di Rollo, and Webster and Lamont at 13, it's gutting that, with all the good centres we've had coming through in the last 5 or 6 years, we've never had the chance to see a settled partnership there.

General Zod wrote:When’s the team named?

I think McInally will be in the stands - brown to start if fit and Turner to come on.

Hastings starts and Horne replaces.
Hogg starts and Kinghorn replaces with Seymour and Graham on the wing.

Taylor starts and is given at least 20 minutes overlap with Johnson - not sure Townsend wants to disclose his hand too much here, although they both need time together.

No idea on the rest of the pack, although Fagerson could probably do with a long run-out.

However, despite the above, I’ve read rumours that some of the non-squad players will play!

Haha. I think we must be a long way from other teams figuring out our plays and combinations given we seemingly haven’t got a clue ourselves.

Taylor needs to be playing 13 (where I think he is best anyway) so whoever is starting there needs some time alongside Johnson.

Rest McInally, Watson, Russell if possible.

Anyone else concerned that Kinghorn is actually our best winger but won’t play there?

No Russell, McInally or Hogg. Bradbury and Stewart riding pine but not on the plane.

Perfect.

Thats the team I would have picked for Friday.

Rest all the critical players (McInally, Nel, Watson, Russell, Hogg)
Let injury returnees get some game time (Gray, Thomson, Seymour)
Let the Johnson, Taylor combo get at least one game under their belt.
Let Price, Hastings get more game time together.
See if the chocolate teapot at Number 3 can survive against a good scrum.

Yep. Correct calls, really hope Gray, Thomson and Seymour are okay, as you say.

I really want Bradbury to come on and have a stormer but I'm not sure that would actually make me feel better about the squad.

Fattest pair of props we've had in a while.

Mikey Brown wrote:
Fattest pair of props we've had in a while.

I actually thought Reid looked in better nick than I’ve seen him for a while. Fagerson, well, it’s about peaking at the right time! Will benefit from the run-out. He was indeed chocolate teapot standard in Nice, but so were a few others and tomorrow’s another day.

Am already in optimism mode!

Yes, seems like you've recovered remarkably quickly.

I'd like to think the Georgians have spotted Fagerson as a player they can easily get a rise out of and it will be good for him to face that alongside serious pressure in the scrum.

Wilson as skipper should be a laugh too.

Imagine being a group of functional human beings and naming the squad all of the games so you'd get a chance to look at all the injured players your selection group insisted on including.

Bizarre that Bradbury is involved. Give him back to Edinburgh imo.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Imagine being a group of functional human beings and naming the squad all of the games so you'd get a chance to look at all the injured players your selection group insisted on including.

Bizarre that Bradbury is involved. Give him back to Edinburgh imo.

You'll have to help me out with that fckin word salad.

ARM wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Imagine being a group of functional human beings and naming the squad all of the games so you'd get a chance to look at all the injured players your selection group insisted on including.

Bizarre that Bradbury is involved. Give him back to Edinburgh imo.

You'll have to help me out with that fckin word salad.

Aye that's bad. I'm not sure what happened there - I'm jet lagged and wrote it between meetings.

I think the point i'm trying to make is they included injured players and didn't give them every chance to put their hand up by announcing the squad after the 4th game.

Bradbury is fit to play this but none of the others. It would have made sense to name the team on the weekend or on Monday after having had a look at him.

It's bad management by the coaching team.

I think they had to give the squad to World Rugby this week

Cameo wrote:I think they had to give the squad to World Rugby this week

It's 8th September. It's just poor management.

Yep. Must be gutting for Bradbury doing a shitload of work to prepare for this, even if he was injured, then my getting a chance to stake his claim. Now being asked to make up the numbers in a meaningless game.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

Cameo wrote:I think they had to give the squad to World Rugby this week

It's 8th September. It's just poor management.

Fair enough. Don't understand it then

Cameo wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

Cameo wrote:I think they had to give the squad to World Rugby this week

It's 8th September. It's just poor management.

Fair enough. Don't understand it then

Injuries aren't certain things with fixed timetables. Perhaps they expected him to be ready for the Tbilisi match and took him along to give him every opportunity but in the end it just wasn't quite enough time. I'm sure the chance to position himself as next in line if there is an injury or Thompsons concussion doesn't clear up is reason enough, nevermind the chance to run out at murryfield in the dark blue.

Georgian team.

http://m.rugby.ge/news-view/?newsid=746 ... _two_match

No Gorgodze.

The nice folk at the SRU have given me a ticket + hospitality for the game on Friday as an apology for the cock-up last week.

Nice. Presidents suite?

Big D wrote:Nice. Presidents suite?

Yep. with post game party as well... I will be shamelessly trying to get the Scotland Cap I recently acquired autographed by as many of the squad as possible.

sharvey44 wrote:

Big D wrote:Nice. Presidents suite?

Yep. with post game party as well... I will be shamelessly trying to get the Scotland Cap I recently acquired autographed by as many of the squad as possible.

That is a handsome apology! Well done the SRU for doing a good job.

Puja

sharvey44 wrote:

Big D wrote:Nice. Presidents suite?

Yep. with post game party as well... I will be shamelessly trying to get the Scotland Cap I recently acquired autographed by as many of the squad as possible.

Enjoy, it is a great experience. I was lucky enough to be in there for the NZ game 2 years ago. Shamelessly managed to make sure I got to have a photo and a blether with big Doddie, Finn, SBW, Read, Jonny Gray and a few others.

Even McGuigan doing his initiation as a debutant of getting up and singing in front of everyone.

Fair play to the SRU for that.