Ulster Rugby v Glasgow Warriors, 13 September

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Ulster Rugby v Glasgow Warriors
 
Friday 13th September 2013, KO 19:05
Ravenhill Stadium, Belfast
 
Referee: Ian Davies (WRU, 9th competition game)
Assistant Referees: Gary Conway, Kevin Beggs (both IRFU)
Citing Commissioner: John West (IRFU)
TMO: Peter Ferguson (IRFU)

Live on BBC NI and BBC ALBA
 
A. Teams:
 
1. Ulster  
 
15 J Payne
14 D McIlwaine
13 D Cave
12 L Marshall
11 M Allen
10 P Jackson
09 I Porter
 
01. C Black
02 R Herring
03 D Fitzpatrick
04 J Muller (Captain)
05 D Tuohy
06 R Wilson
07 S Doyle
08 N Williams
 
16. N Annett
17. T Court
18. R Lutton
19. I Henderson
20. C Henry
21. P Marshall
22. J McKinney
23.  R Andrew

 
2. Glasgow  
 
15. Stuart Hogg
14. Tommy Seymour
13. Sean Lamont
12. Mark Bennett
11. DTH van der Merwe
10. Ruaridh Jackson
9. Henry Pyrgos (Captain)
 
01. Ryan Grant  
02. Pat MacArthur
03. Ed Kalman
04. Tim Swinson
05. Jonny Gray
06. Rob Harley
07. Tyrone Holmes
08. Josh Strauss
 
16. Dougie Hall
17. Gordon Reid
18. Moray Low
19. James Eddie  
20. Chris Fusaro
21. Richie Vernon
22. Chris Cusiter
23. Gabriel Ascarate
 
B. Form - head to head:
 
27 Played 27
15 Wins 11
11 Losses 15
1 Draws 1
49 Tries 43
31 Conversions 29
71 Penalties 64
2 Drop Goals 7
526 Points 486
26 Avg. Age 26
 
C. Form - last season:
 
Friday 31 August 2012, 19:05: Ravenhill
Ulster Rugby 18 - 10 Glasgow Warriors
 
Friday 22 February 2013, 19:35: Scotstoun
Glasgow Warriors 20 - 14 Ulster Rugby
 
D. Glasgow fans lexicon:
 
Time on these boards has demonstrated that Glasgow fans use an uncommonly broad selection of nicknames and slang to describe the various members of their team.
 
For those unfamiliar with this gibberish:
 
Alphabetty Spaghetti - D.T.H. van der Merwe, wing
Angel - Gabriel Ascarate, centre
Angela - Jon Welsh, prop
Barry - Byron McGuigan, wing
Big Boab - (see Ginger Tackle Monster, the)
Big Mike - (see Coo, the)
Big Naka - Leone Nakarawa, lock/loosie
Bluto - Josh Strauss, loosie/no.8
Centre, the - (see Lesser Messiah, the)
Coo, the - Michael Cusack, prop
Cooseetah - (see Cus)
Cus - Chris Cusiter, scrum half
DTH - (see Alphabetty Spaghetti)
Flippy - (see Toonie)
Fozzy - Christopher Fusaro, loosie
Furra Lineeeee - Peter Horne, centre
Ginger Tackle Monster, the - Rob Harley, loosie
Guns - Tim Swinson, lock
Henners - Henry Pyrgos, scrum half
Hoggy - Stuart Hogg, full back/wing/centre
Ickle Jon - Jonny Gray, lock
Jedi - James Eddie, loosie
Lesser Messiah, the - Richie Vernon, loosie/no.8
Mark of Nazareth - (see Messiah, the)
Meatball, the - Duncan Weir, fly half
Messiah, the/   - Mark Bennett, centre
Niko - Nikola Matawalu, scrum half
Niko's Mate - Jerry Yanuyanutawa, prop
No Maits - Sean Maitland, wing
Rhubarb - Ruaridh Jackson, fly half
Ruck Inspector, the - Alastair Kellock, lock
Schlong - Sean Lamont, centre/wing
Sherlock - Tyrone Holmes, loosie
Shrek - Gordon Reid, prop
Toonie - Gregor Peter John Townsend MBE, head coach
Wee P - Pat MacArthur, hooker
Weegie from Fiji, the - (see Niko)

And I thought we had a tough start away to Treviso and then to Leinster at the RDS...!

Ulster could well be two games without a win. Glasgow are a tough team.

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:True, Hogg and Maitland will have been holding tackle bags for the last 2 weeks, and Grant probably only had a sore arse from sitting on a bench for 80 minutes in the 2nd test!

Very much looking forward to Grant dragging Adam Jones through the mud again this season. Will there be any comment from Gatland about this? Of course not.

They both ended up in the bin last time at Scotstown.

Grant is the only loosehead I've seen give Jones any serious trouble in a very long time..

maestegmafia wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:True, Hogg and Maitland will have been holding tackle bags for the last 2 weeks, and Grant probably only had a sore arse from sitting on a bench for 80 minutes in the 2nd test!

Very much looking forward to Grant dragging Adam Jones through the mud again this season. Will there be any comment from Gatland about this? Of course not.

They both ended up in the bin last time at Scotstown.

Grant is the only loosehead I've seen give Jones any serious trouble in a very long time..

Healy got the better of him in the 6N this year, which many Wales fans attributed to Jones not being fit/returning from injury. Take from that what you will.

Didn't Debaty mullered Adam Jones this past 6N? admittedly it was on the worst "pitch" i have ever seen at internationnal level.

Notch wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Notch - I would have thought that you'd be more confident of the Dragons match being a blip?
Do you think it's true to say that Ulster will be focussing more on the Heineken this year?

And who should kick your goals if Jackson is shanking them all over the shop?

I think we should stick with Jackson for at least the next 4 games. Looking at it long term, he's 21 now and I very much believe he has the talent to be first choice for Ireland. He has the all-round game, he has that presence of being the General of the backline at a very young age, but most importantly he has the temperament of a Test match international. Set backs just don't affect him. He is never flustered; he has mental strength. I want him to be competing for an Ireland jersey by the time he's 23, 24 but he can forget about test rugby until he gets his kicking percentage up.

It's our task to win games in the short term but we also have to develop players for our national side and for our own future, so I think we have to take the view that maybe allowing Jackson to work through his place kicking problems naturally might bring short-term pain but long-term gain for Ulster and Ireland. A few defeats may be suffered in the process of developing a player who has the potential to be the 10 for province and country for a generation but I don't see how he gets better without being allowed to kick at goal. We should have lots of players practicing kicking though so we always have a back-up on the pitch. McIlwaine, Porter and Olding could all fulfill this role.

But I don't see why we'd be focusing more on the Heineken Cup, no. Pro12 is different because you have to rotate and lots of players are used but not finishing in the Top 4 is not acceptable no matter what happens in Europe.

I hear what you're saying. The issue of letting youngsters develop through gametime whilst at the same time rewarding good form and not reverting to "anyone but" syndrome at international level is probably the most argued topic amongst us hairy Scottish supporters on these boards. MA has shown a lot of faith in Jackson and that must be the most important thing of all when you're young.
 
Scotland found this with Dan Parks, when he was going through his Pantomime Villian Phase. There were a lot of young 10s who could have replaced him but the fact was that none of them were playing consistently for their Rabo/Jeff/Top14 sides so it made a convincing argument for their replacement of Parks to be practically impossible.
 
Even now, Edinburgh has two promising young SQ 10s - Gregor Hunter and Harry Leonard. Glasgow has another two in Duncan Weir and Finn Russell (three if you count Peter Horne who can do a serviceable shift at 10), to say nothing of young Tommy Allan who played a full game for Perpignan last week and looked very much the real deal and Tom Heathcote who should be getting some reasonable gametime at Bath. With the exception of Weir, none of these guys are regularly starting at 10 and it makes replacing Sir Rhubarb of Jackson at international level incredibly difficult as one could always argue that they haven't demonstrated enough form in a competitive environment this season.
 
Which is particularly bad if you, as I do, believe that Ruaridh Jackson just isn't a special enough player at international level.

I don't know why you'd think that. He's an exceptional talent. He's got everything but the goal kicking. It's the way he manages the game. Being the guy who is running the team at 21 and one of the main leadership figures in the squad is not usual.

Notch wrote:I don't know why you'd think that. He's an exceptional talent. He's got everything but the goal kicking. It's the way he manages the game. Being the guy who is running the team at 21 and one of the main leadership figures in the squad is not usual.

Different Jacksons, Notch - Rhubarb vs Paddy

Notch wrote:I don't know why you'd think that. He's an exceptional talent. He's got everything but the goal kicking. It's the way he manages the game. Being the guy who is running the team at 21 and one of the main leadership figures in the squad is not usual.

No, no - the last paragraph was a continuation of my comment about our own Rhubarb McJackson, not young Paddy.

George Carlin wrote:

Notch wrote:I don't know why you'd think that. He's an exceptional talent. He's got everything but the goal kicking. It's the way he manages the game. Being the guy who is running the team at 21 and one of the main leadership figures in the squad is not usual.

No, no - the last paragraph was a continuation of my comment about our own Rhubarb McJackson, not young Paddy.

Always worth repeating, GC

George Carlin wrote:

Notch wrote:I don't know why you'd think that. He's an exceptional talent. He's got everything but the goal kicking. It's the way he manages the game. Being the guy who is running the team at 21 and one of the main leadership figures in the squad is not usual.

No, no - the last paragraph was a continuation of my comment about our own Rhubarb McJackson, not young Paddy.

Always worth repeating, GC

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... ok.

George Carlin wrote:Scotland found this with Dan Parks, when he was going through his Pantomime Villian Phase. There were a lot of young 10s who could have replaced him but the fact was that none of them were playing consistently for their Rabo/Jeff/Top14 sides so it made a convincing argument for their replacement of Parks to be practically impossible.

Didn't stop you all trying though!!

Who was the young untried and untested fly half who you wanted to replace Parks with again?? Thought he was the real deal etc.?

Oh yes, it was Rhuriadh Jackson.

When will we ever find a world class 10 good enough to win games without front foot ball and any meaningful possession. The search goes on....

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Scotland found this with Dan Parks, when he was going through his Pantomime Villian Phase. There were a lot of young 10s who could have replaced him but the fact was that none of them were playing consistently for their Rabo/Jeff/Top14 sides so it made a convincing argument for their replacement of Parks to be practically impossible.

Didn't stop you all trying though!!

Who was the young untried and untested fly half who you wanted to replace Parks with again?? Thought he was the real deal etc.?

Oh yes, it was Rhuriadh Jackson.

The mythical and mystical FES "you" once again.
 
I'll have to check but I don't think it's unusual to want to replace one player with another whom you believe has an 'on balance of probabilities' chance of doing a better job.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Scotland found this with Dan Parks, when he was going through his Pantomime Villian Phase. There were a lot of young 10s who could have replaced him but the fact was that none of them were playing consistently for their Rabo/Jeff/Top14 sides so it made a convincing argument for their replacement of Parks to be practically impossible.

Didn't stop you all trying though!!

Who was the young untried and untested fly half who you wanted to replace Parks with again?? Thought he was the real deal etc.?

Oh yes, it was Rhuriadh Jackson.

The mythical and mystical FES "you" once again.
 
I'll have to check but I don't think it's unusual to want to replace one player with another whom you believe has an 'on balance of probabilities' chance of doing a better job.

Sorry, I didn't mean to misquote you. There was another chap on here called George Carlin a few years ago that wanted Parks dropped for Jackson despite the latter not playing club rugby. Small world.  

It's true and I agree, fans will and have always want what in their view is the optimal XV on the pitch. Nothing wrong with that. Of course were I to suggest that Alex Blair play for Scotland in the next World Cup, because in my view "on balance of probabilities" he'd do a better job than anyone else, I suspect a few posters may have something to say about that....

Wouldn't mind seeing McIlwaine have a dig at some of the longer goal shots, he has a huge boot on him and would take some pressure of Paddy while still giving him kicking time. I'd agree with Notch team wise and I'm sure MA will have lit a fire under them after last week.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Scotland found this with Dan Parks, when he was going through his Pantomime Villian Phase. There were a lot of young 10s who could have replaced him but the fact was that none of them were playing consistently for their Rabo/Jeff/Top14 sides so it made a convincing argument for their replacement of Parks to be practically impossible.

Didn't stop you all trying though!!

Who was the young untried and untested fly half who you wanted to replace Parks with again?? Thought he was the real deal etc.?

Oh yes, it was Rhuriadh Jackson.

The mythical and mystical FES "you" once again.
 
I'll have to check but I don't think it's unusual to want to replace one player with another whom you believe has an 'on balance of probabilities' chance of doing a better job.

Sorry, I didn't mean to misquote you. There was another chap on here called George Carlin a few years ago that wanted Parks dropped for Jackson despite the latter not playing club rugby. Small world.  

It's true and I agree, fans will and have always want what in their view is the optimal XV on the pitch. Nothing wrong with that. Of course were I to suggest that Alex Blair play for Scotland in the next World Cup, because in my view "on balance of probabilities" he'd do a better job than anyone else, I suspect a few posters may have something to say about that....

 Just goes to show you should accept no substitute for the real thing. 
 
You'd be absolutely within your rights to suggest that Accies' toilet brush haired, boyband-a-like genius wears the Scotland 10 shirt. Just as people would then have the right to ask you to explain yourself. There should be some sort of free online portal where rugby fans could exchange their views about that sort of thing with other like minded individuals.

Touché GC

Ulster Head Coach, Mark Anscombe, has named an extended 25-man squad for Friday night’s RaboDirect PRO12 game against Glasgow Warriors at Ravenhill (kick off 19:05).

2012/13 Players’ player of the season, Nick Williams, is available for selection having missed last week’s defeat to the Newport Gwent Dragons because he was in New Zealand for family reasons.

Ireland international back-row, Iain Henderson, is also included in the squad for the first time this season.

Michael Allen and Ricky Andrew are named in the list of 12 backs.

The game will be the first competitive match played at the new-look Ravenhill and will see Ulster take on a Glasgow side who narrowly missed out on a place in the final of last season’s RaboDirect PRO12.

Tickets for the game are still available and can be purchased via ulsterrugby.com/tickets or through Ticketmaster.

Forwards (13): Niall Annett, Tom Court, Callum Black, Ricky Lutton, Nick Williams, Declan Fitzpatrick, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Chris Henry, Roger Wilson, Iain Henderson, Sean Doyle, Rob Herring


Backs (12): Jared Payne, Luke Marshall, Paddy Jackson, David McIlwaine, James McKinney, Paul Marshall, Darren Cave, Chris Farrell, Andrew Trimble, Ian Porter, Michael Allen, Ricky Andrew.

No third lock apart from Henderson, so Iain Henderson will either start with two backrows on the bench or being covering lock from the bench himself. All the forwards will be in the matchday squad.

Still no Stuart Olding for Ulster so McKinney must be on the bench (or starting) as the only other player who has 10 experience besides PJ and similarly only two 9s. So two players to drop out must be both outside backs- I predict Chris Farrell and Ricky Andrew with Michael Allen covering wing/centre and David McIlwaine covering fullback. One of those two will cover 11.

I hope we don't see Marshall-Farrell together again. Two good young prospects who aren't yet mature in their decision making with the ball in hand. Both play on instinct and tend to take too much on themselves- not always reading the game as well as our veterans, not always taking the right option. We need the experience of a Cave or a Payne in the centres. It'll probably be Cave. I do quite like Luke Marshalls kicking ability as a 12. We lose that with Farrell and we don't gain much if we're not running good support lines off him anyway.

George Carlin wrote:You'd be absolutely within your rights to suggest that Accies' toilet brush haired, boyband-a-like genius wears the Scotland 10 shirt. Just as people would then have the right to ask you to explain yourself. There should be some sort of free online portal where rugby fans could exchange their views about that sort of thing with other like minded individuals.

Ridiculous suggestion, would never work.......

Diack gone from the panel so we will probably see

Wilson,Henry,Williams with Doyle benching or given our lack of savvy at the breakdown will we see
Doyle, Henry, Williams with Wilson benching?

I wouldn't mind trying the latter but it is more of a gamble and I expect Wilson to play 6.

Henderson in the 2nd row or as cover at least. Are Stevenson or McComb injured or are we seeing Him move in now?

If it was me. (and I do like a nice Ulster fry) I'd go Hendo Henry Williams.

With wilson and doyle on the bench.

Wilson to cover Williams for a burger break and Hendo to go forward if either of the 2nd rows break.

Ps. I knew we would see 3 Irish sides top of the Rabo

Jen!! The cheek of ya for that last comment. We just aspire to be more like Leinster- didn't mean to take after them in terms of opening day defeats, but whatever...

I hope that we don't see Wilson and Williams in the same back row- that would be a misstep. I think Henderson now looks likely at 6. I have some misgivings about this- he's never been the most astute breakdown specialist and hasn't had one minute of gametime since the Pro12 final- but if he's going to do what Diack did (stand around in wide channels offering nothing at the ruck) at least he's a better bet to make yardage if he gets the ball. Henry and Doyle together would be interesting but Henderson, Henry and Wilson is probably the best bet. An all Irish backrow but all three need to up the workrate for this to work. Henry was surprisingly anonymous last Friday, Wilson not much better.

Thats my big concern about Ulster in general under Anscombe; if you remember the doing we got at the breakdown by Saracens last year... not committing enough players to secure our own ball and not supporting the carrier well enough can lead to us getting whistled off the park as astute opponents constantly get men in and over the ball. NH refs won't protect a side that isn't securing the ball properly. We get a lot more penalties against us for holding on when we're in possession than opponents do for going off their feet. We really need a much better clear out and better support. Sure when we get quick ball we can smash teams but when you can't get the ball at all...

When we're bad, it's very often a smart pack with a committed backrow and a high penalty count that are the cause of our undoing. Dragons did exactly that to us.

Notch - the breakdown will be key. As Ryan Wilson is out for another couple of months, then two thirds of the Glasgow backrow chooses itself - Harley at 6 and Strauss at 8. 7 is slightly more difficult as my learned colleagues who were at Scotstoun were not impressed with Fozzy's performance. Bordill is a specialist openside, Holmes has spent most of his time there for Western Province and everyone's favourite lost centre Richie Vernon could also do a job there.
 
I can't see Toonie giving Fozzy the flick though - by all accounts he kept Robshaw well marshalled in the Quins pre-season game and we need to make allowances for pre-season cobwebs.

Our performance against the Blues was not great, but the biggest worry for me was the backrow. I thought they were pretty poor, individually and as a unit. Big improvements required this week.

At the moment without Strauss our backrow looks very one dimensional. Team I would like to see, assuming our Lions are still not available.

Murchie
Lamont
Bennett
Dunbar
DTH

Jackson
Cusiter

Jerry
McArthur
Low
Ryder
Swinson
Harley
Fusaro
Strauss

Hall
Reid
Welsh
Gray
Vernon
Pygros
Wight
Seymour

Agree with that team Dot, although if Ulster play 1. Court 2. Herring 3. Afoa then I would start with Dougie instead of Pat because I'd like the extra weight.
 
I am also starting to query whether our Lions should be back on the pitch now. It's not often you get a chance to take points at Ravenhill. Seems that it's decided on a man for man basis depending on how much the players have 'enjoyed' their off-season. Didn't think about that until I saw the comment from Faletau's coach suggesting that he put the pies down and get back amongst.

GC, Afoa is not in the Ulster squad

George Carlin wrote:Agree with that team Dot, although if Ulster play 1. Court 2. Herring 3. Afoa then I would start with Dougie instead of Pat because I'd like the extra weight.
 
I am also starting to query whether our Lions should be back on the pitch now. It's not often you get a chance to take points at Ravenhill. Seems that it's decided on a man for man basis depending on how much the players have 'enjoyed' their off-season. Didn't think about that until I saw the comment from Faletau's coach suggesting that he put the pies down and get back amongst.

Guys who have hardly played in best part of three months still sitting out for me is overkill on the Player Welfare side of things. I know that they needed a break after the tour, but I would have expected them to have missed the Pre-Season games and played some club rugby last week.

Think it will be Leinster game at least before we see them.

George Carlin wrote:Agree with that team Dot, although if Ulster play 1. Court 2. Herring 3. Afoa then I would start with Dougie instead of Pat because I'd like the extra weight.
 
I am also starting to query whether our Lions should be back on the pitch now. It's not often you get a chance to take points at Ravenhill. Seems that it's decided on a man for man basis depending on how much the players have 'enjoyed' their off-season. Didn't think about that until I saw the comment from Faletau's coach suggesting that he put the pies down and get back amongst.

As for the Props, we really need Welsh and Low to step up this year, both have just not been the same since they switched over. Kalman and Reid for me are just not at the level we require, decent squad players but no more.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Agree with that team Dot, although if Ulster play 1. Court 2. Herring 3. Afoa then I would start with Dougie instead of Pat because I'd like the extra weight.
 
I am also starting to query whether our Lions should be back on the pitch now. It's not often you get a chance to take points at Ravenhill. Seems that it's decided on a man for man basis depending on how much the players have 'enjoyed' their off-season. Didn't think about that until I saw the comment from Faletau's coach suggesting that he put the pies down and get back amongst.

Guys who have hardly played in best part of three months still sitting out for me is overkill on the Player Welfare side of things.   I know that they needed a break after the tour, but I would have expected them to have missed the Pre-Season games and played some club rugby last week.  

Think it will be Leinster game at least before we see them.

Totally agree, Dot

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Agree with that team Dot, although if Ulster play 1. Court 2. Herring 3. Afoa then I would start with Dougie instead of Pat because I'd like the extra weight.
 
I am also starting to query whether our Lions should be back on the pitch now. It's not often you get a chance to take points at Ravenhill. Seems that it's decided on a man for man basis depending on how much the players have 'enjoyed' their off-season. Didn't think about that until I saw the comment from Faletau's coach suggesting that he put the pies down and get back amongst.

As for the Props, we really need Welsh and Low to step up this year, both have just not been the same since they switched over. Kalman and Reid for me are just not at the level we require, decent squad players but no more.

What is going on with those two? Have they swapped back again?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:GC, Afoa is not in the Ulster squad

 

Well. That was some appalling dross last Friday.

Why is our breakdown work so neglected, given Anscombe’s playing career as a backrower? He seemed absolutely raging during the after-match interview, so hopefully we knuckle down. Hopefully.

1) Black
2) Herring
3) Lutton
4) Muller
5) Tuohy
6) Henderson
7) Henry
8) Wilson
9) Marshall
10) Jackson
11) Allen
12) Marshall
13) Cave
14) Trimble
15) Payne

16) Court
17) Annett
18) Fitzpatrick
19) Wilson
20) Doyle
21) Porter
22) McKinney
23) McIlwane

The only forward to distinguish himself last week (apart from Diack, who was decent but is strangely absent) was Ricky Lutton. I’d start the same front row – they’ve earned another crack.

Henderson is a fantastic player, but still a touch ropey at the breakdown, so I’d start Wilson, anonymous as he was. Henry would have to do some amount of work on the ground to balance a starting back row of Hendo, Williams and himself.  See if we can gain dominance in the scrums, reap the rewards, and then bring Nick on for the last stretch to best use his barracking, off-loading bobble-headed sorties.

Small Parcel had to be told repeatedly to “use it” at rucks last week, so I have no issue if Porter starts instead. Similarly McIlwane and Andrew for the bench, but I think McIlwane has to get a proper crack.

Ironically, the weakest unit on paper last week was the starting front row, who caused the Dragons considerable grief. That’s not a bad team at all, and they need to front up.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Agree with that team Dot, although if Ulster play 1. Court 2. Herring 3. Afoa then I would start with Dougie instead of Pat because I'd like the extra weight.
 
I am also starting to query whether our Lions should be back on the pitch now. It's not often you get a chance to take points at Ravenhill. Seems that it's decided on a man for man basis depending on how much the players have 'enjoyed' their off-season. Didn't think about that until I saw the comment from Faletau's coach suggesting that he put the pies down and get back amongst.

As for the Props, we really need Welsh and Low to step up this year, both have just not been the same since they switched over. Kalman and Reid for me are just not at the level we require, decent squad players but no more.

What is going on with those two?  Have they swapped back again?

Low was TH cover last Friday. Not sure if that was planned or just because Cusack & Welsh were missing.

Tom Court was Tom Kite on Friday- the nugget Black will start. Scrum I'm not too worried about.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:
Murchie, Lamont, Bennett, Dunbar, DTH, Jackson, Cusiter, Jerry, McArthur, Low, Ryder, Swinson, Harley, Fusaro, Strauss

Hall, Reid, Welsh, Gray, Vernon, Pygros, Wight, Seymour

I'd probably switch Seymour and DTH, use DTH as an impact sub and give Seymour a chance on the right wing. Seymour made a real difference with his direct running against Cardiff.

I may also consider switching Welsh and Low, but don't feel strongly.

Agreed on Jackson. Weir is back in a few weeks apparently so I'd give Jackson a run in the side up to that point. He may no float everyone's boat, but he's a better player than Scott Wight.

I'd have Finn Russell over Scott Wight, tbh

Well I've been promised big things from Finn Russell. Some chap called George Carlin keeps bigging him up, although I'm not sure which one.....

Wight is no more than a holding operation. If you've got a genuinely talented youngster on the books, with Weir out, now seems a decent time for him to be on the bench.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:I'd have Finn Russell over Scott Wight, tbh

Agreed, a thousand times agreed.

Although I had him in my team, got to agree overall about Wight. He just does not look like he is going to cut it at Pro Level, so in such a key position in terms of development for Scotland. Time to move on.

Still don't agree with him getting a new contract, although I understand why they did it.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Well I've been promised big things from Finn Russell. Some chap called George Carlin keeps bigging him up, although I'm not sure which one.....

Wight is no more than a holding operation. If you've got a genuinely talented youngster on the books, with Weir out, now seems a decent time for him to be on the bench.

Watched Finn on and off with Ayr for a year. Streets ahead of Wight and 6 years younger.

Scott Wight is like that girl who tags along on a night out. She knows you're single you know she's single. You also know she has three cats and calls her mother three times a day (and what student keeps a cat? Honestly.). Whatever happens that night is inevitable from the outset and can only be blamed on adverse circumstances, but you can't help thinking that one party is getting more from the experience than the other.

By contrast, Finn Russell is like your friend's hot sister - you know that there's a danger if you try anything serious, but the rewards could be awesome.

IanBru wrote:Scott Wight is like that girl who tags along on a night out. She knows you're single you know she's single. You also know she has three cats and calls her mother three times a day (and what student keeps a cat? Honestly.). Whatever happens that night is inevitable from the outset and can only be blamed on adverse circumstances, but you can't help thinking that one party is getting more from the experience than the other.

By contrast, Finn Russell is like your friend's hot sister - you know that there's a danger if you try anything serious, but the rewards could be awesome.

Sounds like you're talking from experience!

IanBru wrote:Scott Wight is like that girl who tags along on a night out. She knows you're single you know she's single. You also know she has three cats and calls her mother three times a day (and what student keeps a cat? Honestly.). Whatever happens that night is inevitable from the outset and can only be blamed on adverse circumstances, but you can't help thinking that one party is getting more from the experience than the other.

By contrast, Finn Russell is like your friend's hot sister - you know that there's a danger if you try anything serious, but the rewards could be awesome.

 

IanBru wrote:Scott Wight is like that girl who tags along on a night out. She knows you're single you know she's single. You also know she has three cats and calls her mother three times a day (and what student keeps a cat? Honestly.). Whatever happens that night is inevitable from the outset and can only be blamed on adverse circumstances, but you can't help thinking that one party is getting more from the experience than the other.

By contrast, Finn Russell is like your friend's hot sister - you know that there's a danger if you try anything serious, but the rewards could be awesome.

Classic, Bru

Let's just say that pickings were slim at the University of Southampton Debating Society...

So what you're saying is, you tried to pull Scott Wight over Finn Russell…? 

That is slim pickings!

How does Atiga fit into the analogy?? The munter who catches you off guard when you're smashed off your face and come the morning you wonder whether you actually consented to what took place??

Just me then.....