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I'd say on paper it's a better draw for Glasgow.  Sarries are the English Champs so they're the worst we could have pulled from Tier 1.  Lyon and Cardiff both had respectable seasons (Cardiff won the Euro Challenge Cup) but we've got Cardiff's ex-head coach in the Scotland set-up with his knowledge of them.  Also, Cardiff's a tricky venue but a place where we can and have won in the past. 

I'm jealous of the Edinburgh fans who get a wee day trip doon the A1 (along with a cheaper season ticket) to a Newcastle side who had a good season but who aren't what I'd call formidable.  However, they also get the French domestic finalists and a Toulon side who are capable of MUCH more than what they've shown in the last season or so. 

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On 6/4/2018 at 16:17, honestly united said:

details of the seeding and how the draw works here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018–19_European_Rugby_Champions_Cup

We will be 2nd Tier, and Embra 3rd

Teams in Tier 1, 2 & 3 must be from a different league (ie one English, one french and one Pro14) so we can only get Cardiff or Ulster from our league.

Worst draw would be Sarries, Toulouse and Toulon, best would be Exeter, Lyon and Cardiff.

 

I stated earlier that Lyon and Cardiff would be the best choice for 3rd and 4th seed, and if we dont beat them home and away we dont deserve to make the QF's, should come down to bp's or maybe snatching something in the home game vs Sarries to go through. Its a bit cliche but with the change in qualification there are no easy teams in the champions cup anymore, anyone finishing top half of any of the 3 leagues are going to be a quality side - we just need to ensure we are at out best for each game.

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10 minutes ago, honestly united said:

I stated earlier that Lyon and Cardiff would be the best choice for 3rd and 4th seed, and if we dont beat them home and away we dont deserve to make the QF's, should come down to bp's or maybe snatching something in the home game vs Sarries to go through. Its a bit cliche but with the change in qualification there are no easy teams in the champions cup anymore, anyone finishing top half of any of the 3 leagues are going to be a quality side - we just need to ensure we are at out best for each game.

Good shout.  I'd say that if we see ourselves as a serious European team with future ambitions then we really need to win the home games, but that's what you should be aiming to do in every game you play at home, Europe or domestically and our Euro home form has been a lot better in recent years in fairness. 

We need to win at least one of the Lyon/Cardiff away games I'd think.  My bet for an away win would be Lyon.  Cardiff has been a tougher venue in more recent seasons so if we are to be beaten we must aim to take a BP up the road.  Sarries aren't the team they were despite winning the league but still rare to win in north London so a losing BP wouldn't be a disaster. 

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That team's fair enough to me. I'd rather have Pete Horne at 13 but he's still at centre where he's most effective as opposed to 10.

Swinno's back into his normal 2nd row slot after playing 6 vs the USA. Fraser Brown was a concrete back row until he was changed into a hooker.

Edited by come on shire
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Fraser Brown has good breakdown skills but he's far too heavy to be playing 7 at the moment. You need a 7 who gets to the breakdown early under the new laws and Brown will not be able to do that.

Swinson (31 y.o) ahead of Toolis is baffling. Hastings was barely allowed to be first receiver against the USA yet he starts at 10 again?  Grigg ahead of Bennett is also madness, the guy is a Pro 14 level player and nothing more, a couple of 20m breaks every game mean nothing compared to what you lose physically by including a guy his size. He also cannot pass the ball.

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Teflon Toony's really going balls in on this experiment idea.  You have to respect that, but lordy, that team is arguably weaker than the team that messed up against the USA.  Big worries at flanker and centre.  Pete Horne and Nick Grigg are essentially the same player.

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I was suprised he let Fagerson leave given that Hamilton was out injured leaving us with only 3 back row players, I guess leaving Ritchie on the bench and starting Brown was probably the only option left.

Im hoping Lang gets a run at 10 at some point, also suprissed Bennett didn't get a start

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8 minutes ago, Savage Henry said:

.  You have to respect that, but lordy, that team is arguably weaker than the team that messed up against the USA. 

The front row is far stronger and we are well shot of Byron McGuigan who is another guy who is never a test player.

The backrow is much better as well. Whether they will  be able to compete with Argentina at the breakdown is a different matter.

 

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1 minute ago, Detournement said:

The front row is far stronger and we are well shot of Byron McGuigan who is another guy who is never a test player.

The backrow is much better as well. Whether they will  be able to compete with Argentina at the breakdown is a different matter.

 

It's been a while since I've watched Argentina, but I'm assuming they are still a pack-heavy team with wee bitty backs?  I'd be terrified of having those centres playing against the likes of Fiji, or France.

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2 minutes ago, Detournement said:

Why not start Ritchie?

my point was slightly tongue in cheek as having 2 hookers on the bench would like quite odd. It is usually better though if you are having someone playing out of position, to have them on from the start to play there way into the role, rather than having to come on as a sub and trying to hit the ground running near the end of the game. Pretty much get the errors out the way early rather than in the last 20 minutes

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1 minute ago, honestly united said:

my point was slightly tongue in cheek as having 2 hookers on the bench would like quite odd. It is usually better though if you are having someone playing out of position, to have them on from the start to play there way into the role, rather than having to come on as a sub and trying to hit the ground running near the end of the game. Pretty much get the errors out the way early rather than in the last 20 minutes

I would always choose to have the specialist play the majority of the minutes and the emergency cover only come on in an emergency.

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1 hour ago, Detournement said:

I would always choose to have the specialist play the majority of the minutes and the emergency cover only come on in an emergency.

I would tend to agree with you, I was more offering the rationale that will have been used. To be fair I wouldn't have left Fagerson return home early, and given he was one of the better players against the US, would have had him on the bench (as he can play along hte backrow) and played Ritchie, Bradbury and Denton.

Tooney though maybe just wanted to give Brown some more game time as only played about a half vs Canada, and about a half vs USA

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Been a while since I visited this thread. 

With Scotland I see this totally and completely as a test of whether the players will get any more caps, and as it stands there may well be some disappointed people. There has been positives and negatives with this. I have been impressed with King horn mainly. Jury still out on Hastings and George Horne. Despite his tries, Byron Mcguigan needs to improve the other areas of his game (28 years old so I doubt it) as I felt he was a problem in the USA game. His kicking was awful if I remember. 

 

What's the latest gossip on the future of the Pro 14? Read a few pages back about SA sending more teams however nothing heard since. 

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State of Origin game 2 in Sydney on Sunday. Only the 4th time a game has been played on a Sunday. Previous 3 were all in 2001. No game has ever been played on a Thursday or Saturday. Just cannot see Queensland winning this. NSW by 12 or more points.

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