Yes it rained. It rained hard.
Unfortunately for Scotland team pretty devoid of ideas, rugby happens in pretty much all weathers. Italy were smart enough to accumulate a 12-point lead by that point and they never looked like surrendering it, running out 18-15 winners. Scotland knocked hard on the door during the dying minutes but to be honest it would have been a brutal injustice had they managed to steal even a draw from the hosts, who looked more capable of dealing with anything Scotland threw at them – mostly lineouts.
At the moment it doesn’t feel like there are many positives from the Gregor Townsend legacy, however one of them is that on a day where the weather is as key a factor as it was last weekend, nobody thinks that suits Scotland. That was proven during a performance where Scotland recorded no line breaks aside from the Jack Dempsey try. He took his try well with a neat sidestep, and was probably one of the few Scotland players to come out in credit. George Horne also made an impact off the bench.
Ewan Ashman had a forgetable day at the office, with the weather focusing attention way more on the set piece than his typical merits in the loose. Replacement hooker George Turner wasn’t any better when he came off the bench briefly before being yellow carded for a dangerous hit. In fact the best line out throw of Scotland’s afternoon was stand in (and back row) Matt Fagerson.
The scrum also struggled more than it has in recent years, all of which will have given John Dalziel plenty of ammunition in training this week; I imagine the pack will have had a torrid time.
With a strong looking Scotland A team only managing a draw against an Italy XV, the relative bright spot for the weekend came from Scotland U20s – who have often struggled in recently years – putting their Italian counterparts away comfortably under new coach Fergus Pringle (video highlights here), and directed by 17 year old schoolboy standoff Jake Dalziel (yes, son of John).
On to the Calcutta Cup
Scotland last 10 games against England
England may not have the upper hand in the Calcutta Cup fixture across recent years, but they gave Wales a 48-7 pasting in their opening fixture and will be feeling far more confident about things for this visit, even with Scotland playing at home. They’re so relaxed they announced their team on Tuesday and even threw in six Scottish-qualifed players just to annoy the Daily Telegraph.
Gregor Townsend meanwhile, has once again tinkered with his selection but not in the wholesale way the performance in Rome might have warranted.
Ewan Ashman’s injury means that George Turner, starts with Dave Cherry coming on to the bench. The pack looks strong outside of the question marks at hooker with the combatitive Gregor Brown given a start in the second row alongside Scott Cummings. Jamie Ritchie rounds out the corners of a spicy looking forward unit.
The backs remain unchanged from the group that did nothing against Italy, and who will presumably be looking to show what they’re really made of in better playing conditions. Those early Italian tries did highlight defensive deficiencies from both Tom Jordan and Jamie Dobie neither of whom are traditional back three players. Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe would have been considered; by leaving them out it’s another role of the dice from Townsend who of course has no performance targets for this tournament.
The bench remains also a 5:3 split with three scrum halves in the 23, surely an extra forward might be useful to counter the dynamism England’s replacements could add? They could even have picked Bradbury or Douglas from Edinburgh to avoid this being the first Scotland side since 1998 without an Edinburgh player in the XV (thanks Kevin Millar), which it is.
This could be the worst possible fixture now in terms of assessing where Scotland really are, as they usually overperform against the Auld Enemy. A win coasting on spirit might get the tournament back on track. A loss will condemn us to the Wooden Spoon basement battle we have managed to avoid in recent years, but what will we learn?
That’s really the problem isn’t it – we never seem to learn. For this Limbo 6 Nations, we won’t learn that until the following weeks.
Scotland record with Nika Amashukeli as referee
Scotland: Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu (capt), Jamie Dobie, Finn Russell, Ben White; Nathan McBeth, George Turner, Zander Fagerson, Gregor Brown, Scott Cummings, Jamie Ritchie, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Dave Cherry, Pierre Schoeman, Elliot Millar Mills, Max Williamson, Matt Fagerson, George Horne, Adam Hastings, Darcy Graham.
England: Freddie Steward, Tom Roebuck, Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, Henry Arundell, George Ford, Alex Mitchell; Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Heyes, Ollie Chessum, Maro Itoje, Guy Pepper, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Jamie George, Bevan Rodd, Trevor Davison, Alex Coles, Henry Pollock, Tom Curry, Ben Spencer, Fin Smith.
37 responses
Team’s up.
Things I like – some tough (but good) calls in the pack. Ritchie should give us a bit of dog. Brown is a workhorse that carries hard. McBeth – no idea, I’m not knowledgeable enough about the scrum.
Things I don’t – Hooker. Not seen enough of Turner at Quins this year, but surely lineout drills can’t be as bad as last week, right? Right? I also don’t like the balance of the bench. They’re all specialists, again with three 9s in the 23, and Hastings is a wasted pick given I’d be very surprised if he gets on the field unless Finn literally can’t stand up.
Biggest concern – if we can’t get set piece parity, we can’t win. We don’t need to dominate. We very rarely dominate. We just need to get some sort of parity to give our backline a chance. Our front row bench need to have the game of their lives.
Oh, and the back three. Graham and Kinghorn should have been in, with Blair at least on the bench. I know they’re not firing at the moment, but changes had to be made after last week. Dobie and Jordan will be targeted by Ford.
Not saying you are wrong but Kinghorn is really not on form. However he is ,a tried and tested fullback. I think it is hard to leave a class operator like Jordan out for a below par Kinghorn. Just saying that is a counter argument.
But this just highlights the lack of punch in this selection : Tom Jordan is an established Stand off , so it begs the question why have 3 Scrum halfs and 3 Stand offs in the 23 !
It is arguable but there is a case for an out of form DVM playing this game ( of all games.)
This concern is componded by dropping a forward from the bench when we have so much flexability in the back line already ! We are compromisng and dont need to IMO.
England is going to be a hard grind upfront.
Duhan had to be in the 23 just to make the English think twice. I’d have put him in instead of Hastings. If Russel is not on the money move Jordan to 10 Steyn to 15 DVDM to wing – sorted.
In this week’s episode of ‘You’ve been Toonied’, the Tombolameister plumps for a 5-3 split against England, sticks with a back 3 that offered nothing last time out, has three #9s in the 23, and selects a superfluous replacement in Hastings.
I’d have preferred to see Rowe at #15, Darcy on the right and either Steyn or DVM on the left, with Jordan, Steyn or DVM on the bench.
Matt Fagerson can feel hard done by; Darge should have been the one to drop to the bench to accommodate Ritchie. Our two best options are at lock and the starting props are probably the best we have on current form. Hooker is a lottery but I’m just glad that Ashman isn’t available after last week’s amazing display of inaccuracy.
Will we win on Saturday? Nope.
Good point on Rowe. I’d momentarily forgotten about him. He went pretty well in the A game. Just feel as good as Jordan is, he’s a 10-12 and would have been a perfect bench option to free up a 6-2 split with someone like Bayliss added in.
I also can’t make my mind up on Duhan. We all know he’s off form, but he tends to come right for this fixture. Not noticeably worse in the air than Dobie.
After reading your post, I think there are several variations of the back three I’d prefer to this one.
Dobie is recognised as the best at Glasgow in the air. He didn’t do much wrong last week. I think the linesman got it wrong with the foot in touch, his heel was off the line. Any other time we’d be saying what skill. In another occasion , when he knew his timing was out he escorted the Italian player down only for the ref to decree he had taken the player out in the air – crap!. He competed well for the ball that eventually led to the try, Lynagh just had a better day at the office.
I can’t believe Turner is starting, he was awful last week. Darge is Townsend’s latest favourite to start every game despite being off form, lucky to keep his place. I thought he would have gone for a 6-2 split, Bayliss should be on the bench, he’s always played well when given a chance. Hopefully George Horne comes on earlier this week, another who is unlucky not to start.
Good to see that Townsend has learned from last week and is countering England’s 6:2 split with a 5:3 which includes a third fly half who wasn’t even used last week. I’m sure Horne will get on when it’s too late and the pack is going backwards. Stubborn as a mule.
Words fail me. I honestly have no idea what Townsend is watching
Last 20 we better be well ahead against this team Townsend must be wanting the sack?
Seriously can someone please enlighten me
Let’s hope the players can take control and overcome the monkey he has just put on their backs.
Good to see Ritchie and Brown starting. I think that combination of power and doggedness could be really helpful. BUT… Turner? That selection smacks of pure stubbornness.
Thought Graham and Horne gave us a bit of spark when they came on against Italy. Graham maybe a bit unlucky not to start over Dobie. We know the coaching team see Horne as a tempo-raising sub – so was never going to start. Hopefully he gets enough time. Not a great game in Rome, but I’m happy to see Jordan keep his place – he’s a gritty competitor.
A 5/3 split? Jesus wept. We have more than enough versatility to make 6:2 work.
Darge for any aggressive heavyweight 7 every time and we’ve got more than a few. Darge will have a hiding. Watch him sit back and Marshall everyone else.
yes a 5-3 split seems an obvious error – would think beefing up the forwards in final quarter is key.
Anyway, really not hopeful about this one even if we get team right!
Before Ashman’s howler last week, he’d done Scotland a great service in keeping Furrowed Turner out for a few games. God help us now. Cherry is the only trustable at line-outs. As Townsend will see after 60 minutes of useless.
At least Gilchrist’s finally been churned. But given all our set-pieces last week were jeely pieces, this stupid 5/3 split looks like Townsend’s last petulant stand. That and keeping this back three, incoherent last week and wandering like lost sheep, instead of feeding VDM’s need for vicious revenge. Error after selection error.
I hate to say it but I’ll take being smashed sideways on Saturday if it immediately quickens in a coach with a modern rugby brain.
Get your wiiings on, Icarus. No danger of you ever flying too near the sun.
I havent seen Richie play lately , but I have seen Josh Bayliss and he is very unlucky not to make the 23 IMO. I have to agree with Rory, right words, right sentiment. 5 three split against England feels wrong. We do not need three scrum halfs. Just put the best side on the pitch and play the match there. We are vulnerable if injurys strike and as I recall , we have been here before.
It was interesting watching Townsend’s presser. The first thing he did was claim that we’d prepared for Italy’s plays that led to their first two tries but failed to deal with it on the day. In other words throwing the players in front of a bus and not taking any responsibility as usual. The buck stops with him, particularly as it’s him who selects the 23. He was also very dismissive of the criticism by journalists and fans.
He is trying to out manouver the enemy with a cunning plan. Has no one ever explained that well known military expression “few plans can outlast first contact with the enemy” to him.
Later adapted by Mike Tyson who said something like , “everyone has a plan , till they get punched in the mouth”.
Which is just what happened last week and numerous times before .
Deja Vu.
Perhaps he’s been watching Blackadder and has been inspired by Baldrick’s cunning plans. Maybe his plan for Saturday is so cunning you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel. If we lose perhaps his new nickname should be Baldrick.
Any form of nickname may be seen as a term of endearment.
The original cunning plan was a cartoon character called Dick Dastardy and his plans were “Dastardly deeds”. We started well, no one could have forseen the stupidity of Arundel and when George Horne came on it was a Glasgow game plan to close and what a plan that is. Steyn amazing , Huw Jones , I run out of plaudits for this man, he could play for any side in the world.
However it really started with the Anthems. The Man of the match was that crowd. France had better travel well if they are going to overcome them. How about that for a Dastardly Deed !
Not exactly a watch from behind the couch match, but I am worried about our prospects on Saturday. England are a stronger side than they were at Twickenham last year and at Murrayfield the year before.
Agree with others that the 5/3 bench split is a concern. It can only really work if we’ve established parity enough up front for 50/60 minutes of the Test to be able to kick on/hold on.
Townsend is quoted on the BBC rugby website as saying that this is our most important match. I agree up to a point with what he’s said to have said. Not just because it’s a Test against the Auld Enemy, but because we have such a poor recent record against top Tier One sides that every one of our remaining 6N Tests is extremely important for us. That has to include France at home and Ireland away.
Cap tipped to Grant Gilchrist. He’s been a good soldier in the side for a few years but, as I thought in Rome last week, he’d become Johnny Gray-like in carrying for about a metre and a half before going to ground.
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Sort the scrum, line out and breakdown on Saturday (that’s easy to say, isn’t it?) and we could be in business!
Mone, Scotland!
Well done John, Great attitude given the trauma of italy. It is not all broke , but the man’s logic is hard to follow. I agree we are capable if we can get a stable scrum and line out. We need to get the basics right. It is to be a dry day in Edinburgh, if Finn can get the line going we may just show our worth.
England by >20.
Scotland’s line out to misfire until Turner gets carded for something daft.
We’ll almost contain them until the benches are emptied at which point England pull away as we should have had an extra forward on the bench.
Hastings will get on on 78 mins, do something amazing that will make us all wonder why he wasn’t on sooner. George Horne will also get on too late to affect the result despite lifting the tempo.
I’ll probably have stopped watching about 50 mins after putting my foot through the tv.
Don’t bash your TV just switch it off, it’s not worth it!
Whilst everyone argues about the back 3 being our Achilles heel this campaign what about our centres. The Huwipulotu pairing have been rated ‘best in northern hemisphere’ for 2 years plus but have delivered very little since Tui’s injury before the last 6N, not another centre on the bench, we should be looking at McDowall or Hutchinson somewhere in the 23
Agree with most comments here. Don’t understand Hastings on bench, when cover for Finn is there already. Would personally have put DVDM on bench, his track record against England is good, and would have added Mcdowell for some centre strength. 2 backs plenty, and another forward would be nice. Hope Toony has seen something we’re all missing but currently i think fans expect us to get a good shoeing today. Hope we can pull something out of the bag.
Townsend’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t realise that he is the problem. His pressers suggest that in his mind the gameplan and tactics are always spot on and that it’s the players who don’t execute them properly. I hope he makes me eat my words today but I am just not convinced the players are buying into him and his ethos. I get completely different vibes from Franco at Glasgow who seems to have created a proper team environment and togetherness.
Nucifora and Williamson also have a lot to answer for dishing out undeserved contract extensions to both GT and SE. Can’t believe I’m saying this but maybe Dodson wasn’t so bad after all despite his generous salary and bonus.
Loved that – amazing what we can do when we ger things right
Great response after last weekend. Well done to the players and coaches including under pressure GT. Russell majestic in the first half and a great shift by the forwards in general. Let’s hope it’s nice and dry in Cardiff next weekend assuming the roof is open.
Superb win. Not just passion but very smart rugby. Need that effort and intelligence to be the new norm. Got to get away from the sniping comments about this being oir World Cup final.
Wow! I didn’t see that coming. And after too many years of hope being crushed didn’t even hope for it.
Well done to the players and coaches.
Hopefully Ritchie’s injury isn’t too bad. Dobbie’s arm didn’t look great when he came off 🙈
I’m not getting excited until we back this up with a comfortable win in wales, a performance (🤞🏻 for a win) v France and a win in Dublin for a first triple crown in decades.
Also, anyone else think the ref missed loads but for a change it was in Scotland’s favour?
And Arundel’s first yellow was super harsh.
No cannot say I did James , must have missed that in among the entertaining rugby. I thought his first offence was a bit synical in the red zone. Congratulations to Hollie Davidson , great referee .
Well, he and the TMO missed two clear forward passes in the run up to England’s second try. First one to that show pony Pollock and then the scoring pass, viewed from the overhead camera.
I did say somewhat wryly earlier this week that ‘all we had to do’ was sort out the scrum, line out and breakdown to be competitive today. Line outs were excellent and the breakdown success wasn’t so much about turning the ball over as it was about slowing England ball down. Scrum still needs some work though I think some front row dark arts were on show by England today.
Anyway, a thrilling win. How good is Huw Jones? Nine maybe ten years since his first cap and he still has pace to burn.
Pre-match England trolls on BBC Have Your Say seem to have mysteriously disappeared!
Brilliant performance, well done! Boys were solid, accurate, aggresive, and confident. (And tbh seeing Italy against Ireland today, they’re not what they once were, they’re a good side. Credit to them too.) Moving on, this Championship is still there for the taking….. ! Let’s back this up!
Don’t think there’ll be as many change as Struthlo but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Kinghorn in for Jordan as having watched wales v France I think the wales game could be made for Kinghorn’s broken field running.
Darcy for Dobie.
Can’t decide if he goes Bayliss and Fagerson starting in the back row or moves Gregor brown and starts Max Williamson. Probably the former.
Not sure what he’ll do in the front row. Is Ashman fit again? I’d expect Scho to start on the bench again as McBeth deserves to start again.