Scotland’s French Complexion
The build up to the 6N seems to have dragged on like a tangerine-tinted perjury case. In this instance, though, the end result is not a given. Can Scotland win in France?
Danielli In For 2nd Test
Nick De Luca has been the unlucky victim of a backs reshuffle by Andy Robinson that sees Simon Danielli in on the wing and Max Evans shuffle in to his regular position at 13. De Luca had some luck making line breaks on the outside of the Argentinian defence last week and presumably the thinking […]
Laying down the Law, son
Argentina 16 – 24 Scotland For once in recent Scottish rugby memory we are greeted – nay, even rewarded – by a final scoreline that reflects the actual game that preceded it. Based on the way they played, Scotland should have been the only team that won this match, although time has taught us this […]
Calcutta Cup Teams
What have Alex Grove and Ben Cairns got to do to get a shot in this Six Nations? And for that matter Ben Foden? What does Graeme Morrison have to do to get dropped?
Here’s To You, Scotland
Well well well. Hopefully by now the hungovers have worn off, and the “did that really happen?” feeling has not quite worn off. And so to a little bit of post match analysis. Scotland’s defence was magnificent – on that we can hopefully all agree. But it could quite easily have been different. Australia have […]
Edinburgh beat Cardiff to finish Second
Cardiff 14 – 36 Edinburgh Edinburgh put together a solid performance in defence coupled with some excellent counter-attacking rugby to snatch a record second place finish in the Magners League with an away victory in the last match to be played at Cardiff Arms Park. A few decisions from Irish ref Simon McDowell that were […]
A Last Throw of the Dice for Frank?
That’s assuming he has a pair, of course. Or is it a set? Frank Hadden has delayed announcing his team for the Calcutta Cup pending injury updates on Thom Evans (shoulder) and captain Mike Blair (back). After a stinger against Ireland, the big After a stinger against Ireland, the big stroker Al Strokosch has been […]
Scotland Team To Face Italy
Hot (ish) off the SRU press, here is our team: Scotland: Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh), Simon Danielli (Ulster), Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Phil Godman (Edinburgh), Mike Blair (Edinburgh, capt), Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Euan Murray (Northampton Saints), Jason White (Sale Sharks), Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), Alasdair […]
Friday Night Special
Edinburgh 32 – 14 Castres Quick update on Edinburgh’s abortive Heineken Cup campaign: tonight they have claimed a decent home victory against an under-strength Castres side. Tries from Cairns, Godman, Ford and his replacement Kelly ensure a bonus point which will go nicely towards their draw seedings for next year’s competition if little else. Just […]
It’s Rob Dewey Time
It’s about that time of year when the pre-Six Nations player roundabout starts, so with that in mind I have a few snippets for you. Rob Dewey returns to Murrayfield this week (alongside former Scotland coach and silver surfer Matt Williams) with Ulster, and rumours are flying that he has begun negotiations with the SRU […]
What We Learned in the Autumn
1) We shouldn’t really bother playing New Zealand, ever again. What useful purpose does it serve? It does us little good, and it gives them pointlessly easy grand slams. Think of that, we could scupper their grand slam tours without even playing a match. 2) Scotland now have a scrum that shouldn’t get pushed around. […]
5 Reasons To Be Cheerful
1) With the mid level teams (Fiji, Samoa, Italy, Georgia) fronting up at World Cup time as the professional game grows, does it really matter who we have in our group in NZ 2011? Sure we could get a couple of stinkers, but with a young team that should be together for the next three […]
Well Of Course Not
Still, for about three minutes there it looked like we might give New Zealand a game. Having watched the match since on video, most of my initial thoughts on it remain unchanged from the beery haze of Saturday. The Good: Euan Murray was dominant in the scrum and should cement his place in the team, […]
Edinburgh Beat Wasps
Bet you never thought you’d see that headline – indeed you may not see it again this season when the Heineken Cup warms up properly. For now though, Edinburgh Rugby seem to have given the visiting Premiership champs a decent game under the new ELVs, and more importantly held out for the win in this […]
It’s All Good News for Edinburgh
Ospreys 18 – 19 Edinburgh Edinburgh sneaked victory away to the Ospreys in a last minute nail-biter (this side of the border anyway). Edinburgh were definitely worth the win, with both sides alternating between throwing it about and throwing it away. Nick De Luca was a deserved man of the match – and it looked […]