Al’s Ill Informed Calcutta Cup Preview
Alan Kerr takes his ill informed look ahead to this weekends big Calcutta Cup match. Warning this article may contain nuts.
Author Archives: Al Kerr
The Wonderful Adventure Continues
Al was at Murrayfield to see Edinburgh Rugby beat London Irish 34-11 and top their Heineken Cup pool.
Friday Night Delights
Rugby can be a silly game sometimes. Months of training, coaching and analysis, games plans formed, key players identified, opposition weaknesses highlighted and set pieces honed. 35 seconds from kick off and that all goes out the window – you end up with 30 grown men playing British Bulldogs with the addition of a ball.
The (Very) Long and Winding Road
The corner is long. Very long. But could it be that last weekend gave Scottish rugby the first true glimpse of a better road ahead?
Big Richie Sets Sale
It has been confirmed today that Scotland and Glasgow lock Richie Gray will move south next year to take up duties with Premiership side Sale Sharks. The new poster boy of Scottish rugby has quickly risen to be a key player for both Scotland and Glasgow over the last 18 months and it is probably no surprise that he has chosen to continue his career south of the border. Hopefully Richie will be able to continue his development in the week in, week out dogfight that is the English top flight which can only benefit the national team in the long run. Whilst Glasgow will undoubtedly miss his whole-hearted, hard-hitting displays it will create an opportunity for someone else to step into his (what must be!) huge shoes – hopefully a young Scot!
Surprising though is the timing of the announcement, given the Heineken Cup and the need to be one big happy family in the coming weeks. Sale could be forgiven for their excitement though, as for them it is a major signing of one of rugby’s fast rising stars and he should slot into the squad alongside old Glasgow mucker Richie Vernon and fellow Scots Ali Dickinson and Fraser Mackenzie. Who would you cheer for in a Sale vs Gloucester match now?
Winter Is Coming
And with that, we’ve decided to take a look at the future of the Scottish Rugby Blog, and how we can use it to help grow interest and awareness of Scottish Rugby, to keep you entertained and all the other things we attempt on a regular basis.
We’ve called in the banners (sorry, reading Game of Thrones at the moment), and the full team are meeting up next weekend to have a bit of a chat before the Edinburgh vs Leinster game.
So if you have any suggestions for ways we could improve this site, what you’d like more of/less of, your thoughts on advertising/sponsorship or even just how you view the site (mobile/RSS/browser/syndicated pages), please feel free to comment below. Or if you’d like to share your thoughts privately feel free to email rory@scottishrugbyblog.co.uk with your comments or ideas.
Feedback is important to us and we are thankful for your continuing support and readership. We’ll probably post again afterwards with some of our ideas to see if anyone likes them.
As for your thoughts on how to improve Scottish rugby itself, we are always glad to see those in the comments on our posts, so keep them coming too. Don’t forget we’ve got a massive back archive of ramblings that might be of interest!
‘Scots Wae Hae’
After much blood, sweat and tears here is the Scotland RWC11 Fanzine – ‘Scots Wae Hae’. Containing a range of information this fanzine will hopefully provide the travelling Scotland fan with enough information to ensure they know what pubs to drink in, what songs to sing, where to get something to eat and what to do the the following morning when they realise they’ve lost their passport!
This is the baby of the Blogs favorite ex-pat Colin so a million thanks to him for his considerable hard work. If you meet Colin in New Zealand be sure to buy him a pint!
Download fanzine here: ‘Scots Wa Hae’
New Facebook page for travelling fans
If your intending to travel out to New Zealand for the Rugby World Cup then you need to make sure to regularly visit the new ScotlandRWC2011 Facebook page. This has just been launched and will provide invaluable information for all Scot’s travelling to the other side of the world.
It has useful information on events, travel etc and will also contain up to date information on the Scottish Embassies which are being established in Invercargill, Wellington and Auckland. The embassies will provide a safe haven of good beer, good grub and good craic for all Scotland fans.
A million thanks go to Colin in Wellington for this invaluable resource!
Going to NZ for WC’11?
Are you going to New Zealand in the next few weeks for the Rugby World Cup? No doubt you have your flights booked, the kilt cleaned, match tickets secured somewhere safe and a camper-van booked to take you from Invercargill all the way to Auckland (presuming it doesn’t fall to bit’s en route).
As a travelling foot-soldier of Scottish Rugby you’ll know fine well that just as important as the game is the craic before and after games. Part of the fun in travelling to any new city is finding new drinking dens where a spot of libation can be found. Well, the good folks at Lion Nathan have agreed to put on Scottish Embassies in Invercargill, Wellington and Auckland through their Macs and Speights pubs.
More info will appear on the blog but also make sure you go to the facebook page – ScotlandRWC2011 where much more info for Scotland fans can be found.
Also check out the Speights and Macs websites for specific info on venues:
No surprises…
The problem with World Cups is that you have to make sacrifices to attend. A trip to the other side of the world doesn’t come cheap and to fund this you have to give up on the small pleasures, such as warm up games. However the rugby god’s saw fit to reward my commitment to the cause by dishing up a couple of tickets to Saturday’s game so I could see first hand just what was being prepared for the main course in a few weeks time.
Round 5 Six Nations Review
In which we take a look at the final weekend of the Six Nations, 2011 style. More round-up and end of term type nonsense coming soon.
Round 4 Six Nations Review
Once again we sat down to discuss the latest Six Nations happenings, with no-less cheer than usual but possibly a little extra in the way of satisfaction after a heartening display from Scotland and a heart-warming performance by Italy.
Round Three Six Nations Review
Rory, Al and A.D sat down to discuss the most recent events in the 2011 Six Nations. After some cheap flirting, too much wine and a taxi ride home no-one remembers, the following is what was left on the doorstep some time later.
Round Two Six Nations Review
Like the pain of a scab being ripped off, we take a brief look back at the weekend’s action. Anything longer than brief would be overly depressing, like say, watching England hit form just in time for the World Cup.
The View from the Armchair
So. 6 Nations times rumbles round again, swept in on the back of gale force winds and predictions of glory (whatever that may actually be) from all 6 corners of the tournament. For me the tournament will be viewed from the comfort of my sofa and with only the dulcet tones of Brian Moore and Jonathan Davies to raise my blood pressure. Still, despite being ticket-less for the first time in living memory the excitement still builds as the tournament approaches.
