Rugby Union

[AngusTheBull]

34 minutes ago, peasy23 said:

And the Scotland team. Cherry a bit unfortunate to drop out imo.

Agreed on that. While not perfect, I think Cherry's line out throwing is a definite upgrade on Turner. Also think given how dynamic he is in the loose that Turner is a great bench option to have.

Harris can cover wing as well right? That's a pretty strong backline even without Redpath - would have gone Jones over Harris personally but can see the arguments for both.

Just worry about the second row - you'd think Le Roux would be fancying his chances up against Skinner and Gilchrist (though I admittedly don't know much about Rebbadj). Would be a good time for Skinner to bring some of his domestic form to the international stage. 

Edited March 24, 2021 by AngusTheBull

[peasy23]

Agreed on that. While not perfect, I think Cherry's line out throwing is a definite upgrade on Turner. Also think given how dynamic he is in the loose that Turner is a great bench option to have.
Harris can cover wing as well right? That's a pretty strong backline even without Redpath - would have gone Jones over Harris personally but can see the arguments for both.
Just worry about the second row - you'd think Le Roux would be fancying his chances up against Skinner and Gilchrist (though I admittedly don't know much about Rebbadj). Would be a good time for Skinner to bring some of his domestic form to the international stage. 

Just on the basis that the line-out functioned properly against Italy I would have kept Cherry in the team. We need to be doing basic set piece stuff properly. I would always have Jones in the team tbh, but with his pace he could be another good sub if France are chasing it in the second half.

[Detournement]

I can't wait to see Chris Harris nearly make a break, almost catch a pass to put him through and be unlucky with an offload. Given that he wasn't much cop defensively against Ireland and Wales I think this is a bad choice. 

If Turner melts down again it's all on GT. 

[come on shire]

The way I see it is that Harris is a more conservative defensive centre which will be useful as France will attack at home considering what's at stake too. A solid defender is important to manage Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack too. I'm hoping Huw Jones will come on for Harris when the French may tire later on. 

Johnny Gray is a loss but I'm looking forward to Sam Skinner in there. Grant Gilchrist is a penalty machine unfortunately. David Cherry is perhaps a bit unlucky not to start but I think Toony's going with what he knows. Playing Italy at home isn't the best platform to impress tbh. 

We'll need to play well to win but I won't be too surprised if our organisation goes to pot when France throw the kitchen sink at us which will mean they might run away with it. 

Then Pie and Bovril will be the best place to discuss the game. If you show negativity on the Scottish Rugby FB page then you get blocked by the mega fans and get a row for being negative... 

Edited March 24, 2021 by come on shire

[John Lambies Doos]

Unbelievable Cherry doesn't start.

[Savage Henry]

1 hour ago, John Lambies Doos said:

Unbelievable Cherry doesn't start.

Really?  He’s not very good.  He’s like that Daryl Marfo character who had three good games a while back.  Make the most of it now, because he’s nowhere in the world an international hooker.  

[Savage Henry]

1 hour ago, come on shire said:

The way I see it is that Harris is a more conservative defensive centre which will be useful as France will attack at home considering what's at stake too. A solid defender is important to manage Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack too. I'm hoping Huw Jones will come on for Harris when the French may tire later on. 

Johnny Gray is a loss but I'm looking forward to Sam Skinner in there. Grant Gilchrist is a penalty machine unfortunately. David Cherry is perhaps a bit unlucky not to start but I think Toony's going with what he knows. Playing Italy at home isn't the best platform to impress tbh. 

We'll need to play well to win but I won't be too surprised if our organisation goes to pot when France throw the kitchen sink at us which will mean they might run away with it. 

Then Pie and Bovril will be the best place to discuss the game. If you show negativity on the Scottish Rugby FB page then you get blocked by the mega fans and get a row for being negative... 

I like it best when after 7 minutes Scotland have conceded two tries and have a yellow card coming for a flagrant foul in the ruck.  Pie and Bovril at its finest.

[come on shire]

36 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

I like it best when after 7 minutes Scotland have conceded two tries and have a yellow card coming for a flagrant foul in the ruck.  Pie and Bovril at its finest.

Not to worry because they'll take learnings and lessons from it. They'll also appreciate the positives. 

[Left Back]

Other than Maitland who else do we think would have been in the squad for Friday if we weren’t restricted to 5 England based players?

[honestly united]

35 minutes ago, Left Back said:

Other than Maitland who else do we think would have been in the squad for Friday if we weren’t restricted to 5 England based players?

I think it was only Bhatti that would have been on the bench if we didn't have to stick to 5, along with Maitland - maybe Lang, but Jones has been in fine form though

[GordonS]

9 hours ago, AngusTheBull said:

Harris can cover wing as well right? That's a pretty strong backline even without Redpath - would have gone Jones over Harris personally but can see the arguments for both.

I'm much happier with Harris facing Vakatawa than Jones. Harris is excellent defensively and was a big part of us beating France last year - that was probably his best game in a Scotland shirt. We're going to be on the back foot a lot and Harris is a better choice for this game.

[Ian38018]

Does anyone happen to know if Edinburgh Rugby run supporters' travel to Pro14 away matches? 

(Not this season, obviously)

Thanks

ian

[ajwffc]

Does anyone happen to know if Edinburgh Rugby run supporters' travel to Pro14 away matches? 
(Not this season, obviously)
Thanks
ian

I think they and Glasgow have done some in the past with sportsbreak. Mainly for the European games and the games v the Italian sides.

[peasy23]

Potential game changer for the Pacific Islands as World Rugby agree to fund 2 franchises to take part in Super Rugby.

https://www.world.rugby/news/625960/world-rugby-to-support-pacific-island-super-rugby-ambitions

[ajwffc]

1 hour ago, peasy23 said:

Potential game changer for the Pacific Islands as World Rugby agree to fund 2 franchises to take part in Super Rugby.

https://www.world.rugby/news/625960/world-rugby-to-support-pacific-island-super-rugby-ambitions

i give a year or 2 and the will be skint as the money disappears into the unions pockets 

[peasy23]

i give a year or 2 and the will be skint as the money disappears into the unions pockets 

The thing that jumped out for me was that World Rugby would also provide "administrative support". I'm taking that to mean that they will be putting people in place to account for every penny.

[peasy23]

Matt Fagerson injured in training and misses tomorrow night's game, Ryan Wilson called up as a replacement.

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

Some observations about defensive titan Chris Harris from watching back conceded tries this tournament.

• He's at fault (not singularly) for the first Wales try. He's in an unenviable position with Lang and Cummings coming across to fill a big gap (both of them end up in a position to take Biggar if we goes himself btw) but he has to either try to cut off Biggar's passing lines or line up Tompkins. He does neither, gets caught flat footed and gets an ineffectual tackle in on Tompkins who gets it outside him.
• The second Welsh try he's far too hesitant and again doesn't trust his inside enough and it's far too easy for Sheedy to feed it past him
• He's absolutely gassed by Halaholo for the 4th try. He initially does pretty well but his body position is poor by the time Beard (I think) has it and he goes from a strong to weak position as a result. Thought Faletau maybe got a cheeky block in but nothing there, Harris is just rocking back on his heels.
• Out of position for the first Ireland try and (along with Hogg tbf) gets done in the air. Should arguably leave it to Hogg and react to any knock down as Earls is unlikely to take it cleanly. 

Now obviously he's going to be involved, given his role, in more defensive actions than most which skews the eye test somewhat but alongside his not all that impressive tackling stats and not being a big turnover threat or good in the air do we rate his defence too highly? He might be the best defensive centre in Scotland but does that difference justify leaving out more attacking players? Not saying one way or the other although my preference is for the latter, especially with SJ at 12

Edited March 25, 2021 by Genuine Hibs Fan

[come on shire]

6 minutes ago, peasy23 said:

Matt Fagerson injured in training and misses tomorrow night's game, Ryan Wilson called up as a replacement.

Wilson's called onto the bench. Nick Haining starts. 

[Snobot]

31 minutes ago, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

Some observations about defensive titan Chris Harris from watching back conceded tries this tournament.

• He's at fault (not singularly) for the first Wales try. He's in an unenviable position with Lang and Cummings coming across to fill a big gap but he has to either try to cut off biggars passing lines or line up Tompkins. He does neither, gets caught flat footed and gets an ineffectual tackle in on Tompkins who gets it outside him.
• The second Welsh try he's far too hesitant and again doesn't trust his inside enough and it's far too easy for Sheedy to feed it past him
• He's absolutely gassed by Halaholo for the 4th try. He initially does pretty well but his body position is poor by the time Beard (I think) has it and he goes from a strong to weak position as a result. Thought Faletau maybe got a cheeky block in but nothing there.l, he's just rocking back on his heels.
• Out of position for the first ireland try and (along with Hoggy tbf) gets done in the air. Should arguably leave it to Hoggy and react to any knock down as Earls is unlikely to take it cleanly. 

Now obviously he's going to be involved, given his role, in more defensive actions than most which skews the eye test somewhat but alongside his not all that impressive tackling stats and not being a big turnover threat or good in the air do we rate his defence too highly? He might be the best defensive centre in Scotland but does that difference justify leaving out more attacking players? Not saying one way or the other although my preference is for the latter, especially with SJ at 12

It gets right on my tits. Why don’t we let them worry about Jones?

There is a lot of debate about their relative merits but IMO we are back close to peak Jones of 16/17 - ish when he was one of the best attacking 13s on the planet, rather than the pale imitation whose form fell off a cliff when he came to Glasgow. There is no way he should be dropped. Nothing against Harris who is decent enough.