The Captains’ Captain
Alan Dymock, somewhat bizarrely, argues that Scotland will have more than one captain on the pitch come the Calcutta Cup.
Tag Archives: Ross Ford
Less Revving With Ford As Captain
Ross Ford, so often described as softly spoken, is Scotland’s captain for the RBS 6 Nations.
He has to keep up the grunt, but does he need to deliver eloquent speeches, too?
Ford Is The First Name On The Team Sheet
Ross Ford, the 27-year-old Edinburgh Rugby hooker, was today appointed Scotland’s new captain for the opening match of the RBS 6 Nations Championship – against England at Murrayfield on Saturday week.
Edinburgh Rugby Calendar Now On Sale
After the launch party last week, and Edinburgh Rugby’s victory at the weekend, we thought you might like to see some of your favourite comeback kings with their tops off. For the third year running Edinburgh Rugby players have bared all (well almost) to raise money for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres, and for those of you who didn’t rush out after the launch to buy one already, we’ve got a sneak preview.
World Cup Squad Preview: Forwards
As Rory has chosen to focus on the backs he has left me with the slightly easier task of looking at the forwards.
The reason this is easier is because Andy Robinson has a pretty samey starting pack and, barring injury, I can’t imagine it will change too much for the first game in the World Cup. So this means the warm-up games against Ireland and Italy will help pick a bench, and the training sessions before hand are hugely important for individuals.
So who is a dead cert to go, and who “could do better”?
Team of the Tournament
This season’s Six Nations has been an unpredictable affair (should there be a Le in front of that?) with England dominating right up to the last exchange when they imploded at the Aviva Stadium. Despite this mishap, their players were generally better across the board but rather worryingly only Richie Gray could be said to be nailed on for a spot in this team with few real stand-outs on show. A.D (with a little help from Rory) gives us the team of the tournament.
Scotland’s Sunday In Numbers
When you read a national newspaper everyone is obsessed with numbers. People want a player rated out of 10, a statistical breakdown of offloads out of the tackle and the number of pints sold at a ground.
Despite being sober and despite the improved nature of our performance we have still lost 3 in a row and look set for a showdown with the Twickenham steamroller, so forgive me for wanting to hide behind statistics and numbers today.
Sifting through the scrums
In the last few months there has been a lot of press about the scrum. In more than one medium we hear the same lines: the scrum goes down too often; it is boring; there is too much match time wasted. Former internationals have had their say. Purists are pitted against fans of free-flowing rugby. Hundreds of solutions have been offered.
Yet covertly the IRB seem to have chosen their way of dealing with the ‘problem’.
Hamilton Goes To Gloucester
Moves to Stade Francais were suggested at some point, but big Jim Hamilton has opted to join the big Scottish contingent at Kingsholm. Does this mean that Ross Ford’s lineout will go all to pot again, as it seems to have grown in usefulness since for club and country since Hamilton came back from injury this season…
Pro Teams for the Weekend (Weather Permitting)
Assuming the games go ahead as the freezing weather continues (a couple of Magners games have already been called off), here are the teams to take the field in Dublin and Edinburgh respectively.
Glasgow Warriors to face Leinster: Bernardo Stortoni, DTH van der Merwe, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Thom Evans, Dan Parks, Chris Cusiter, Jon Welsh, Dougie Hall, Moray Low, Alastair Kellock (capt), Richie Gray, Kelly Brown, John Barclay, Johnnie Beattie.
Replacements: Fergus Thomson, Kevin Tkachuk, Dan Turner, James Eddie, Colin Gregor, Ruaridh Jackson, Rob Dewey.
(Probably on BBC Radio Scotland, Friday night).
Edinburgh team to face Cardiff: Chris Paterson (capt), Jim Thompson, Ben Cairns, John Houston, Tim Visser, Rory Hutton, Greig Laidlaw, Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, David Young, Jim Hamilton, Scott MacLeod, Alan MacDonald, Ross Rennie, Roddy Grant.
Replacements: Andrew Kelly, Kyle Traynor, Craig Hamilton, Scott Newlands, Ross Samson, Nick De Luca, Mark Robertson.
(Live coverage on S4c, Saturday from 6pm-ish)
Can’t say I’m not a little intrigued to see what Hutton can do, given what is a massive opportunity for him… but I wouldn’t expect miracles straight off the bat. Highlights of both games are also on STV as usual on Sunday. Given the lack of games this weekend they will presumably pad by talking about either the upcoming 6 Nations or perhaps porridge: ie the new Scott’s limited edition packets that are to feature Ross(y), Mossy and Thom. Hopefully this will help boost the sport at breakfast tables everywhere, especially during the current wintry spell. Speaking of, um, spelling, can someone tell me when they changed the spelling of porridge?
UPDATE: The Leinster vs Glasgow game has been called off due to late weather complications: more info on the BBC. Glasgow want to sue people given the cost of getting to Dublin has already been undertaken by the team after advice that the game would go ahed… Most of the weekend’s scheduled GP matches are also off, with just a few top flight rugby fixtures still hoping to go ahead including Munster, Leicester and Edinburgh.
