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In the discussion about possible test matches before the end of the year, you forgot that it is fairly important that we do play one…in order to capture messrs Kebble, Van der Merwe and Van der Walt before the residency requirement jumps from 3 to 5 years on 1st January 2021. Ireland will be keen to get James Lowe capped, so I imagine at the very least they would be up for a “friendly”.
That’s a really good point.
I was working on an article about this for the blog at one point but kind of got distracted by life and then lockdown.
Gatlands Chiefs have a record of 0 wins – 4 losses. That record against Southern Hemisphere opposition is coming along nicely i must say.
Glad we have him as the lions coach.
I am sure he will learn from his mistakes !
Gatland was 12 years in charge of Wales, 151 tests, and 6, Six Nations Titles. As a lions coach he has won 3 ,lost 2 , drawn one. Geech won 6, lost 6. He is not going to better that. Jim Telfer won 2 lost 5. Source :Rugbypass.
If not Gatland , then who ?
Scotland Team i would like to see tried out. Thoughts ?
Rory Sutherland
Fraser Brown
Zander Fagerson
Jonny Gray
Sam Skinner
Jamie Ritchie
Hamish Watson
Blade Thomson
Ali Price
Finn Russell
Duhan Van Der Merve
Sam Johnson
Matt Scott
Sean Maitland
Stuart Hogg
Stuart Mcinally
Oli Kebble
Simon Berghan
Grant Gilchrist
Magnus Bradbury
Adam Hastings
Rory Hutchison
Darcy Graham
Matt Scott at 13 based on Toony wanting a good defender. I think Scott can offers more in attack with strike line and distrubution to the back 3, is on par in defense with Harris.
I have decided to leave out a specialist 9 on the bench. Towsend does not trust Horne enough to give him significant game time, so it’s a wasted spot. I would rather have that one odd occasion where Price gets injured and we lose the match, than have lots of games not using anyone. This gives us perfect utility for the rest of the back line.
No SH is daft as this is one position that rarely completes 80 minutes. The reason being that the SH runs further than just about any other player in the pitch and if he is fatigued and slow to the breakdown the whole attack slows up. So it is routine to replace them before the end of the match.
Looks like Laporte has confirmed the 6N has found a deal with CVC, it was announced at the French union’s AGM.
Probably a step closer to losing the 6N from free to air. Rugby pass says the combined CVC deals for 6N and Pro14 will benefit SRU about £30m a year.
Good selection EW. Combination of speed, skill, aggression and sheer bloody mindedness. Strange about Horne, but GT undoubtly has a blind spot with some players when it comes to who plays and doesn’t.
No far away from mine…….ish
No replacement SH is wrong
Blade T is struggling with concussion & has done nothing to suggest he deserves a spot in the match day squad.
Haining, H. Jones/Steyn, Crosbie, Nel, Horne in
Bradbury, Berghan, Thomson, Scott, Hutchinson out
I’d like to see a team of:
Sutherland
Brown/McInally
Fagerson
Cummings
Skinner
Crosbie
Ritchie/Watson
Haining
Price
Russell
VDM
Scott/Johnson
Jones/Harris
Graham
Hogg
Kebble, McInally/Brown, Nel, Gray, Watson/Ritchie, Horne, VDW, Steyn.
Not 100% our best side with one of Watson or Ritchie on the bench but I really want to see Crosbie in a Scotland shirt. Happy with any of the centres.
Always like to see a good line out operator in the back row and Ritchie does well there, bit like Barclay & Wilson did before. Not seen enough of Haining & Crosbie in action to know if they can also fill that role.
I assume your 23 is in anticipation of capping VDM, VDW & Kebble, otherwise it’s a bit tough on Hastings. Agree re centres, think Harris can do a good job and gets way too much criticism. Squad should get some more depth in key areas if we cap the three project players, though could still do with a few more options in the front row.
Morning Scrummo…..Not 100% our best side with one of Watson or Ritchie on the bench but I really want to see Crosbie in a Scotland shirt……agree wholeheartedly with this. I’ve watched Crosbie & I reckon he can be a really important player for Scotland, his aggressiveness and ability to “physically engage” 2 or 3 opponents (creating space for Russell & Hogg) could be very useful indeed.
Looks like Maitland has confirmed he’ll be playing second tier rugby next season with a 2 year contract at Saracens. He’s been a great player for us, but it’s hard to see him getting selected ahead of VDM and Darcy if he’s not playing at a competitive level.
I disagree. Maitland has established his credentials and proven his worth. Unless he plays poorly in a Scotland shirt it is DVDM and Graham’s job to demand inclusion ahead of him. Graham has already shown he can excel in a Scotland shirt but still has areas to improve on – VDM will get his chance but starts with a clean slate at test level. He has weaknesses in his game that may be exposed by clever opponents at test level.
FWIW whilst both players bring more eye-catching attacking ability than Maitland, he makes so few mistakes, good choices and has an all round excellent game, especially in defence and in the air. It is far from a foregone conclusion that Maitland won’t be in our starting XV throughout this season. He certainly starts with the shirt.
Maitland is a Rolls Royce, he covers the back 3 beautifully & has never let Scotland down.
However I reckon only 2 / 3 of Maitland, Graham & VDM can be in any match-day 23.
A scrum half is a must on the bench, Hastings covers FB & SO, the 3rd back should cover centre/wing.
Unlike FF I like to focus on the positives & VDM is a tremendous option to have, his physicality & try scoring is a real boost to Scotland.
So with Maitland 32 in 9 weeks………….a real quandary for GT.
He is probably just about first choice at the moment.. but we know he wont be around/good enough compared to our other options for the world cup. I would have him as a bench player from now on. We need our young wingers with 30-40 caps if possible for the world cup.
No quandry for Toony, Chris Harris is the centre and wing cover !
Aye that appears to be the case Bass Rock re Harris.
I can’t see it, he’s solid & decent enough but is he a better option than Jones, Steyn, Hutchinson or Bennett?
Furthermore Harris is no winger.
It is very positive to have so many choices.
Eli, that is the conundrum…….Maitland, Graham & VDM likely can’t be in the same 23, so the 30-40 cap thing is more difficult with the 2 out of 3 thing
…and then there’s Kinghorn. Another one that we can expect to develop further in the next few years. While he’s not a specialist winger he’s been a pretty good option for us there so far.
My idea for first choice Glasgow side for next season. Thoughts ?
Aki Seiuli
Fraser Brown
Zander Fagerson
Scott Cummings
Kiran Mcdonald
Leone Nakarawa
Ryan Wilson
Matt Fagerson
George Horne
Adam Hastings
Nikola Matawalu
Sam Johnson
Huw Jones
Kyle Steyn
Tommy Seymour
George Turner
Oli Kebble
Enrique Pieretto
Richie Gray
Rob Harley
Ali Price
Peter Horne
Ratu Tagive
Very good side and you can make a more than strong case for every single player on the bench to be a starter particularly the likes of Gray, and Gordon isn’t even in the 23!
I do think this Glasgow side is one backrow signing and one back three signing from looking very strong.
Perhaps someone like Dougie Fife would be a reasonable signing for 1 season for the back 3.
Must be in budget, covers Fullback and wing to a good club level, just to add some depth and competition, particularly FB.
Backrow there are endless options you could sign, and you would think one would be eager to join a side like Glasgow.
Surely Signing Barclay as a Player/Coach for 1 season would also be valuable to the club, he likely wont be first choice but he could offer alot and would be a fan favourite. Cheap aswell.
What happened to Stafford McDowall ? A few seasons back he was looking handy.
Rennie hates a good centre ;)
Lack of game time. Has never let Warriors down when he has played but not played well enough to force his way past the more experienced centres.
I’d expect he’ll get more game time next season. Johnson and Jones will be first choice with Steyn more likely to be playing wing (due to lack of options) and Horne acting as fly-half cover (same).
He does need a run of games to really establish himself though as he seems to have all the necessary physical attributes and skillset.
Would love him at Edinburgh now with Matt Scott gone.
Greenwood’s Lions team on Sky sports?
It’s not too bad and if Scotland had two players in the test team I might consider watching them again.
Back three of Hogg, Williams and May would be superb. But midfield of Farrell, Henshaw, Tuilangi is pretty uninspiring. Would personally prefer Russell, Farrell, Davies or something along those lines.
Sadly, I remember the days not so long ago that we thought we’d have centres stacking up to get into the Lions but it seems a pretty troubled position for Scotland ever since, with no one able to keep their career on the upward trajectory.
Back three and back row look like the strongest areas for the Lions. Lots of pretty equally matched players.
FF -my outside backs are Davies, Farrell, Russell, so we agree on that.
With Johnson, Jones, Hutchinson, Bennett, Steyn, (even Harris) we are doing no bad.
My grizzled old Royal Navy hooker mate & big rugby fellow reckons Adam Hastings is a 12…….. too
We all thought Jones would be in contention for the Lions when he first came into the Scotland team. Now he looks short of confidence and out of love with the game. I just hope we don’t break Hutchison too.
Strange, Rennie and Toony were centres , we have the best centre in recent times, a Currie Cup winner, a guy who scores dragging 2 englishmen with him, burnt out and barely recognisable. Something is not right, is it !
And what on earth happened with Dunbar??? Scott, Bennett, Jones. All wasted to greater or lesser degree.
In his later games for Warriors Dunbar looked like he was running through thick treacle. Too many injuries took their toll – he was superb before them. Bennett also not the same player post serious knee injury. I was a huge fan of both but I think repeated serious knee injuries reduced their effectiveness. Scott and Jones are more of a puzzle.