hearthammer Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 My son told me at the weekend that he's managed to get tickets for each of Scotland's group games for the WC in 2023. I'm cordially invited to the first 2 games in Marseille V South Africa and Nice V Asia/Pacific1. When i asked him the cost, he replied with a prompt "don't ask". I'll do the 1st fortnight and return home while he heads off to Lille then Paris to meet his mates for the remaining games V Europe 2 then Ireland. Happy days. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genuine Hibs Fan Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 16 minutes ago, Detournement said: It looks like the 6 Nations would only pay compo for five English based players and Townsend choose Hogg, Steele, Skinner, Craig and his love child Chris Harris. The most plausible reason I can think for that is Harris will be starting 13. Otherwise you surely take Maitland, Graham on the bench and Russell can slide into centre if you really need it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Connolly Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 1 hour ago, honestly united said: Cummings and Grey as first choice are fine - Bain, Bean and McDonald dont really excite so hopefully we can add one or two there. I love Harley, but he just hasn't kept up with the recent rule changes and is a bit of a liability now. Backrow is where we need more bodies. Apart from Matt Fagerson, no one else is close to Scotland quality. Darge has potential so will be interesting to see him play, and Dempsey looks quality but other than that backrow is an issue. Edit to add - I know people were happy with Weir signing, but I think he is going to be 3rd choice now, with Miotti signing and Thompson being a top prospect. Also with Cancillere signing, we have loads of wingers now. We have just signed Forbes, McKay coming in, McLean looks a nailed on Scotland start maybe even from next year, and Jones back in form / actually fit, you assume Seymour will be gone this summer, along with Nairn and probably Matawalu and who knows with Steyn. I would punt Tagive, but he will probably be back in the Scotland squad soon! Please allow me to indulge in a bit of pettiness and pedantry for a minute. There are a few folk on here who refer to Richie and Jonny "Grey" with an "e". It's Gray, with an "a". I turn into a seething mess when I see it written as "Grey". If it continues, I'm going to hunt you all down and force you to listen to the collected works of Eddie Butler on a constant loop. Thanks. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Jacobsen Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Strong words there from Mark Connelly. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Lambies Doos Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Strong words there from Mark Connelly.I see what you did there [emoji23] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajwffc Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 32 minutes ago, Allan Jacobsen said: Strong words there from Mark Connelly. Surely it is Merk Connelly/Cannolly 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Connolly Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 1 hour ago, Allan Jacobsen said: Strong words there from Mark Connelly. How dare you come back into my life just to wind me up. You're not my dad. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 It looks like the 6 Nations would only pay compo for five English based players and Townsend choose Hogg, Steele, Skinner, Craig and his love child Chris Harris. The farce that we fully expected. Funny how more people than Scots are feeling aggrieved now that it could effect Wales. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajwffc Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Looking online we have the normal calls for Italy to be replaced by Georgia no matter what. The discussions are great to read with lots of people pointing out the fact that Georgia have never beaten Italy before and the results v the rest of the Tier one sides are worse than Italys when they joined the Six Nations doesn't matter. But due to the world rankings they should ba replaced straight away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honestly united Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 7 hours ago, ajwffc said: Looking online we have the normal calls for Italy to be replaced by Georgia no matter what. The discussions are great to read with lots of people pointing out the fact that Georgia have never beaten Italy before and the results v the rest of the Tier one sides are worse than Italys when they joined the Six Nations doesn't matter. But due to the world rankings they should ba replaced straight away. Georgia have lost 1 game in 10 years in the REC is as much an issue as Italy having only won 5 games in that time in the 6 Nations. For me you should have promotion / relegation on a 2 year cycle so you have played everyone home and away, then have a play off match ie last in 6 Nations vs Top REC so if Georgia beat Italy they deserve their place in the 6 Nations. When Italy joined the 6 nations they were getting regular games against the tier 1 sides so obviously were going to get better results (and rugby was a much different game back then). Romania in the 80's had much better results than Italy in the 90's yet never got admitted. With this young Italy side, playing 2 years in the REC actually winning games would do them some good and build confidence, rather than getting hammered in hte 6 Nations, and they would still be playing Summer / Autumn Internationals against Tier 1, and it would also benefit Georgia getting 2 years of solid experience against Tier 1 sides - and would the 6 Nations be any worse now if you did swap them. If you look at the countires in the REC now Georgia, Russia, Spain and Romania all have professional top leagues (with half the players playing in France) and if there was a chance of getting into the 6 Nations I think you would see an improvement and investment in these countries which would make a drop into the REC a better proposition. I know it could impact on Scotland but having another 4-5 countries at a decent level in europe helps make rugby a better game - at the moment you only have the 20 countries that qualified for the last world cup and a few others like Brazil, HK, Kenya plus the other REC teams as playing at any sort of standard. In football you have more than that just in europe that you would say are top sides. To be fair as good as 6 Nations weekends are in Cardiff and Dublin, Im thinking Madrid, Amsterdam, Munich and Bucharest could be just as good! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Jacobsen Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 12 hours ago, Mark Connolly said: How dare you come back into my life just to wind me up. You're not my dad. Bet you're regretting saying that it's nice to have me back. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 Looks like the Lions tour will go ahead in South Africa after all. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honestly united Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 1 hour ago, peasy23 said: Looks like the Lions tour will go ahead in South Africa after all. Or they are not going to look at the UK as an alternative when it's finally postponed / cancelled next month 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Jacobsen Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 30 minutes ago, honestly united said: Or they are not going to look at the UK as an alternative when it's finally postponed / cancelled next month Makes it easier for me to hurl abuse at Gatland when he inevitably picks Halfpenny at 15 AGAIN 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Connolly Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 7 hours ago, Allan Jacobsen said: Bet you're regretting saying that it's nice to have me back. Always 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Jacobsen Posted March 23, 2021 Share Posted March 23, 2021 33 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said: Always 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusTheBull Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 On 22/03/2021 at 17:53, Genuine Hibs Fan said: The most plausible reason I can think for that is Harris will be starting 13. Otherwise you surely take Maitland, Graham on the bench and Russell can slide into centre if you really need it? I suppose it depends which way Townsend will want to approach it. Does he want our best defensive 13 (Harris) against the best attack in the tournament, or does he see the space and count-attacking opportunities France will present as they have to go for it and play a better attacking threat like Jones. I'd go for Jones personally but think Harris is bound to start. On the Lions front I see LRZ seems to be in nearly every pundit's starting XV. As good as he's been in the six nations, SA are a very different proposition physically and do you not get the feeling they would eat him alive? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genuine Hibs Fan Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 54 minutes ago, AngusTheBull said: I suppose it depends which way Townsend will want to approach it. Does he want our best defensive 13 (Harris) against the best attack in the tournament, or does he see the space and count-attacking opportunities France will present as they have to go for it and play a better attacking threat like Jones. I'd go for Jones personally but think Harris is bound to start. On the Lions front I see LRZ seems to be in nearly every pundit's starting XV. As good as he's been in the six nations, SA are a very different proposition physically and do you not get the feeling they would eat him alive? It's a big call either way at 13 and tbf I wouldn't like to be making that decision. I think with Johnson at 12 there's room and arguably an imperative for a more attacking/pacey outside centre. Vakatawa is a big threat but hasn't been at his best this 6N the odd moment aside. It depends how ambitious Townsend is as, unlikely as it maybe is, we can get second with a big win here, and worst case scenario is 4th. For me that means going out and attacking them but I imagine we'll be here on Friday evening listening to Townsend talking about learning lessons etc after a narrow loss where we've played nowhere near our best. LRZ should go and tbh with a couple of tour games he could easily force his way in. I'd imagine Williams will play in the back three either at wing or FB (Scotland fans calling Hogg a stick on have clearly forgotten that he was looking unlikely to start in 2017 even before his injury, and that was after successive player of the 6 nations awards) and while they haven't played in a long time so it's hard to say, if the Boks squad is like the WC then they aren't monsters in the back 3 so having someone like LRZ could work. Was hoping that despite how clearly excellent he was that he would flop at test level but nope, class. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 French team for Friday, 5 changes from Saturday. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 And the Scotland team. Cherry a bit unfortunate to drop out imo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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