Glasgow 22-19 Leinster

DUNCAN WEIR GOOD, DEFENCE AT SET PIECE BAD. BBC ALBA ME NO UNDERSTAND. GOOD TITLE SEQUENCE, BUT CHEAP FONT MAKE HULK MAD.

Cardiff 34-23 Edinburgh

OFFLOAD GOOD, EVERYTHING ELSE MAKE HULK ANGRY. EXCEPT TIM VISSER. GROVE TACKLE GOOD NOT GET BALL. DAN PARKS BREAKING LINE AND STEPPING MAKE HULK CHEER. BBC WALES ME UNDERSTAND A LITTLE. BUT NOT WHY THEY CALL HIM TOM VISSER.

Now go and read our very own hulking beast’s rundown of the Premier 1 action last weekend.

Congrats to the BBC for doing this – might get some decent numbers tuning in!

Argentina squad:

Forwards: Patricio Albacete (Toulouse), Marcos Ayerza (Leicester), Alejandro Campos (Montauban), Manuel Carizza (Biarritz), Agustin Creevy (San Luis), Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (Toulon), Genaro Fessia (Cordoba Athletic), Juan Figallo (Montpellier), Mariano Galarza (Universitario de La Plata), Mario Ledesma (Clermont), Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Stade Francais), Rodrigo Roncero (Stade Francais), Martin Scelzo (Clermont).

Backs: Horacio Agulla (Brive), Lucas Borges (Albi), Felipe Contepomi (Toulon), Santiago Fernandez (Hindu), Agustin Figuerola (CASI), Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino (Leicester), Alfredo Lalanne (London Irish), Ignacio Mieres (Stade Francais), Martin Rodriguez (Atletico del Rosario), Gonzalo Tiesi (Harlequins).

Full team news later in the week.

Don’t forget it is live on the telly, Saturday 12th June. This should potentially be a great audience pull for the Beeb north of the border given that it lines up against coverage of England vs USA in the round ball game, but sadly more people will probably want to watch ITV1 – and shout at their TVs about how they don’t care about 1966 and stop being so biased whilst drinking Tennents and wearing their ABE shirts etc – than watch BBC2 Scotland (free from jingoistic adverts) and support their countrymen (and Dan Parks) doing something positive.

Trust me, you’ll still get a chance to shout at the TV.

Both matches, which kick-off at 1945 BST, will be shown live on BBC Two Scotland, with radio commentary and website streaming also available. (BBC Sport Article)

This will mean that with the other summer tours being shown on Sky (who never seemed inclined to cover Scotland), Scotland will be the only home nation with free-to-air coverage of their matches (although S4C may have some sort of arrangement for Wales).

This is great news for Scottish rugby fans and BBC Scotland is to be applauded for this move.

The Scottish Women’s team overcame their French counterparts 10-8 at Lasswade on Saturday giving them the perfect start to their 6N campaign. I cannot testify to knowing too much about women’s rugby, but as a result against regular opponents this looks pretty good and show that a minority, in an already minor sport, can still thrive.

Something I can testify to (allegedly) knowing about is the fortunes of the Scottish Club International side. The team fought hard to win 13-9 in an intense, if not end to end globetrotter-style, match.  Much like the Women’s match conditions didn’t favour an exciting, mercurial contest but the endeavour was there. Even 2000 folk braved the dreich Border’s weather to watch. Also, the crowd still got treated to a physical display and some hard running from the likes of Kelly and Weston as well as some great defence from Clapperton and co. What this did show was that Amateur rugby here is improving all the time and more than compares with the French opposition (although comparing myself to my opposite man on Friday night was more like comparing myself to my own father- he looked like he was in his 40’s!).

The under-20s drew 8-all with their French foils. While not the perfect score, it was better than losing! Also, the performances of highly rated youngsters like Maltman and McInally shows the potential we have here. We also have yet another Blair at 10, and lord knows we’re all hoping he proves to be a genius! Rory was at the game, so he will be better placed to tell you if they are likely to win against Wales down there, but the future may seem bright in some areas of that team.

And then there was Sunday. I, for one, am weary of over analysing, but when the shortcomings are that obvious it is rude not to point them out. We all know what they are. 1) The backline are standing so deep during second phase it is surprising they can even see Chris Cusiter. 2) While Johnnie Beattie played outstandingly well in the loose yesterday, it was verging on the cruel the longer he left the ball in the back of the scrum. 3) If a team stands in attack in two banks, most standing in a flat line and some standing in a small group deeper and wider, then we become bamboozled.  Twice Bastreaud was in the second group ready to receive passes direct from the flatter group and he scored. Once Clerc, brilliantly tap tackled by Kelly Brown and held up by Evans, broke from a similar situation. 4) Next time (i.e. against Wales) please give the ball to someone quick enough to make an inside break when facing a blitz defence.  5) Jonathan Davies is more annoying than a postal gold advert.

The good thing is, though, that it was still only 9 points we lost by. Look after the ball without forcing the play and we might be alright…maybe?!

So what did you make of the day? What would you do if you were Robbo? And what is going to unlock an equally depressed Welsh team?!

I have been informed that the Scotland A match vs Ireland A will be on the Telly for some via red button or BBC online, click here for more info (thanks to Andrew, may your button never be red).

But if you can get along to any of the games I would urge you to go along and show support for Scottish rugby at all levels.

Now go and watch this, and tell me you aren’t ready for the Six Nations.

Scottish club rugby needs a new way to generate excitement. But how do you make it more sexy?! The mainstream ideal tends to be cutting the league down to a more competitive 10 team league. In fact, if The Scotsman is to be believed, the powers that be at Hawks have produced a paper calling for the league to be reformatted to include 8 teams only. This, however, looks unlikely. One; because it is improbable that all the Prem 1 powers will agree on this but also because, two; it is doubtful that Lowe would propose such a grand change so soon into his tenure that could instantly alienate up to 6 clubs as 4 are relegated and 2 denied promotion.

It is obvious that change is needed in some degree. The truth is, however, that cutting the amount of teams alone would not guarantee that the premier club rugby competition in this country is more exciting. More competitive? Definitely. More entertaining? I, for one, am not convinced.

Excitement is what generates more interest. More interest generates more coverage. More coverage generates bigger attendances and more sponsorship. In short, ladies and gentlemen, excitement brings the bucks. So Prem 1 needs to foster the pluralist notion of entertainment and rivalry within a league, preferably shortened to 10 teams. Some remit, Mr. Lowe! You’d have an easier job convincing card-happy Hines that collecting yellows in the 6N is not a good thing.

Would a play-off between the top 4 teams at the end of the season create more buzz? Would a play-off at the bottom of the league create more buzz? How do we get the BBC or STV to show more of our ‘amateur’ games? Craig Chalmers has been saying for months that play-offs (at the top half of the table at least) would not only initiate interest but give local broadcasters a better package to work with. This would definitely seem more marketable.

As well as this theory, Lowe is said to be considering an SPL-style split at a certain point in the season where the top-half teams fight for the title while the bottom-half teams scrap for survival. This would engender a ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality, but seems to lack the market appeal of a shorter play-off product. Either way the mission is clear. Get more punters; thrill more punters; take cash off more punters. As a punter, I’m just hoping the league retains some of its classic rivalries while offering a fair opportunity for teams to earn a league title. And some unexpected high scoring results wouldn’t go amiss, either, thank you Mr. Director!

Richie Gray is also sitting out training after being so omnipresent vs Biarritz that Jerome Thion had to punch him in the face to make him stop, breaking his nose in the process. A citing is on the way… from the Scotsman

Edinburgh MSP Sarah Boyack has hammered BBC Scotland over its unwillingness to cover Scottish rugby. Quite right too: now that Heather the Weather has gone Reporting Scotland is pish, unless there is rugby in the sports bit – and even then it’s only five seconds less pish. Who cares who Kilmarnock have just signed? Apart from Kilmarnockians, obviously. Write to your MSP/MP and tell them to get on the case, that you are a single issue voter, that issue is rugby and if they don’t sort it out they are fired in May… from the Scotsman.

I’ve also got a preview piece up on scrum.com 6 Nations fanzone. The drums in the jungle tell me Al may be working on the SRBlog version shortly…