Italy v Scotland, 22 February

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Italy  v Scotland 

Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Saturday 22 February 2014
KO 14:30

Referee: Steve Walsh (ARU)
First Assistant: Jérôme Garces (FFR)
Second Assistant: Luke Pearce (RFU)
TMO: Geoff Warren (RFU)

A. Squads

1. Italy

Forwards: Martin Castrogiovanni (Toulon/FRA), Lorenzo Cittadini (Treviso), Alberto De Marchi (Treviso), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Treviso), Davide Giazzon (Zebre), Marco Bortolami (Zebre), Francesco Minto (Treviso), Quintin Geldenhuys (Zebre), Antonio Pavanello (Treviso), Robert Barbieri (Treviso), Mauro Bergamasco (Zebre), Paul Derbyshire (Treviso), Joshua Furno (Biarritz/FRA), Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais/FRA), Alessandro Zanni (Treviso)

Backs: Tobias Botes (Treviso), Edoardo Gori (Treviso), Tommaso Allan (Perpignan/FRA), Luciano Orquera (Zebre), Tommaso Benvenuti (Perpignan/FRA), Michele Campagnaro (Treviso), Gonzalo Garcia (Zebre), Alberto Sgarbi (Treviso), Mirco Bergamasco (Rovigo), Angelo Esposito (Treviso), Tommaso Iannone (Zebre), Luke McLean (Treviso), Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre), Leonardo Sarto (Zebre)

2. Scotland

Forwards: John Beattie (Montpellier), Kelly Brown (Saracens), Geoff Cross, David Denton, Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford (all Edinburgh Rugby), Chris Fusaro (Glasgow Warriors), Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby), Ryan Grant, Jonny Gray (both Glasgow Warriors), Richie Gray (Castres), Jim Hamilton (Montpellier), Robert Harley (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons), Kieran Low (London Irish), Moray Low, Pat MacArthur (both Glasgow Warriors), Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby) Alasdair Strokosch (Perpignan), Tim Swinson and Ryan Wilson (both Glasgow Warriors).

Backs: Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Max Evans (Castres), Dougie Fife (Edinburgh Rugby), Stuart Hogg, Ruaridh Jackson, Sean Lamont (all Glasgow Warriors), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby), Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Taylor (Saracens), Greig Tonks (Edinburgh Rugby) and Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors).
 
B. Previous Form

9 February 2013: Scotland 34-10 Italy

17 March 2012: Italy 13-6 Scotland

19 March 2011: Scotland 21-8 Italy

C. Teams

1. Italy

15 Luke MCLEAN (Benetton Treviso, 54 caps)
14 Angelo ESPOSITO (Benetton Treviso, 1 cap)
13 Michele CAMPAGNARO (Benetton Treviso, 4 caps)
12 Gonzalo GARCIA (Zebre Rugby, 30 caps)
11 Leonardo SARTO (Zebre Rugby, 4 caps)
10 Tommaso ALLAN (Perpignan, 5 caps)
9 Edoardo GORI (Benetton Treviso, 31 caps)

8 Sergio PARISSE (Stade Francais, 103 caps)(c)
7 Robert BARBIERI (Benetton Treviso, 32 caps)
6 Alessandro ZANNI (Benetton Treviso, 82 caps)
5 Joshua FURNO (Biarritz Olympique, 15 caps)
4 Quintin GELDENHUYS (Zebre Rugby, 43 caps)
3 Martin CASTROGIOVANNI (Toulon RC, 103 caps)
2 Leonardo GHIRALDINI (Benetton Treviso, 61 caps)
1 Alberto DE MARCHI (Benetton Treviso, 14 caps)

Substitutes:

16 Davide GIAZZON (Zebre Rugby, 17 caps)
17 Matias AGUERO (Zebre Rugby, 22 caps)
18 Lorenzo CITTADINI (Benetton Treviso, 29 caps)
19 Marco BORTOLAMI (Zebre Rugby, 101 caps)
20 Paul DERBYSHIRE (Benetton Treviso, 20 caps)
21 Tobias Weitz BOTES (Benetton Treviso, 21 caps)
22 Luciano ORQUERA (Zebre Rugby, 38 caps)
23 Tommaso IANNONE (Zebre, 8 caps)

2. Scotland

15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors)
14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors)
13 Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors)
12 Matt Scott (Edinburgh Rugby)
11 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors)
10 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) capitano

8 Johnnie Beattie (Montpellier)
7 Chris Fusaro (Glasgow Warriors)
6 Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors)
5 Jim Hamilton (Montpellier)
4 Richie Gray (Castres)
3 Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors)
2 Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons)
1 Ryan Grant (Glasgow Warriors)

Substitutes

16 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby)
17 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby)
18 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby)
19 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors
20 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby)
21 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 

22 Duncan Taylor (Saracens)
23 Max Evans (Castres)

Have to say very nice to see alot of support and congratulations from fellow home nations. Cheers!  

LeinsterFan4life wrote:There are better lineouts in the AIL than one Italy have. They have no maul or platform from it and it cost them at the end there with Scotland stealing one at the end.

Italy had the best lineout of the six nations teams until today.

And credit to big jim. He had a much better game. Ran the line out. Stole a couple. Made a great chase on a kick. Never got sin binned.

doctor_grey wrote:me have Gabby Logan love

You can have her, I'll take her job, ta.

Gutting result. Was hoping Italy could have held on

oooh, was there a yellow for that shoulder to the head?

Cusiter has to start, for me Laidlaw slows it down far too much at the base and gives the defence far too much time to get aligned. Backs actually look like they might do something when cusiter is in charge.

And Weir's kicking matches Laidlaw. There was a point when he just left the ball at the ruck and allowed the turnover.

For anyone unable to watch it live, highlights here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/RBS6Nations/videos

                                                                                                                                                                        

Congrats Scotland, bad luck Italy - turned out to be an exciting finish. I thought Scotland had blown it when they kicked when they had a knock on advantage but luckily for them Walsh went back for it rather than letting Italy claim the mark which would probably have seen them home.

Anyone got stats on the amount of ball kicked today compared to previous games? Looked like there was far less kicking, especially from laidlaw.

I think Denton > Wilson and Cusiter > Laidlaw would be the only changes I'd make. Still stuff to work on, but plenty of positives - did we lose a single lineout?

Duncan Weir trending 4th in UK twitter, ITAvsSco 3rd

Scozia  

Surely cross in for low? He turned the scrum from being a liability to being pretty solid.

Great win their. Italy played very well. Scots backline is starting to fire. Good centre partnership

Nachos Jones wrote:Who was the MoTM? I would give it to Lamont myself, thought he was great in attack and defence.

The Italian 5 who scored

Great win Scotland. Thank god for the tries, when they came second half as the first half was a bit of a snoozer

Tommy Allan, or Tommaso as he now likes to be called must be gutted, he cost Italy the game with his predictable attack and shocking defence. I think we had a lucky escape there.

Could the BBC have gone on about Tommaso Allen any more?

Seriously, it was like they had nationality Tourette's.

Well, I am glad we won, simply because I can now call Steve Walsh a Frak without it appearing to be sour grapes.

Oh and if Laidlaw could speed up his service and stop kicking it down the throat of the back line in future, that would be great.

123456789 wrote:Tommy Allan, or Tommaso as he now likes to be called must be gutted, he cost Italy the game with his predictable attack and shocking defence. I think we had a lucky escape there.

is it any coincidence that every backline move from scotland went down his throat? he must have been sick of the sight of scott, dunbar and lamont gunning down on him

Allan had a tough day at the office, but he's still young and has a good basic skill set.

He'll come good for Italy, but I'm delighted we made his life hell   

you're right rdw, think i invented a few new swear words when he scored his try.

Well done Scotland, played so much better today and deserved the win. Good to see a lot of players answering their critics in the right fashion as well.

Some of the more lurid speculation about disharmony in the dressing room was, going on in lots of places, including these boards, was thankfully proven to be way wide of the mark. The players and coaches do care about their performances and playing for their country. I never actually doubted that.

I think even SJ, who has taken an awful lot of flak on behalf of his team, should take some credit for today. He played a very aggressive bench today, making the changes when they were needed. Subbing a prop before half time shows you are not totally one eyed about a selection. Laidlaw was rightly hooked the second after he spent a minute looking at the ball at the back foot with the ref yelling at him to lose it! He also did not change the things that were going well, so Ford stayed on the bench and Swinson as well. If it isn't broken don't fix it, often a useful mantra!

We have still got problems at tight head, Low not looking like the answer. Fair play to Cross though, played well despite his lack of game time and at SH. After that ending surely he has got to let Weir kick and Cusiter start next time

Lawson was a breath of fresh air-splendid performance! Low was poor as shown when replaced and Cross steadied the ship. I feel Dickinson offers more than Grant both in scrum and the loose. Wilson at 6 must be 3rd or 4th choice, but better today if unremarkable. Apart from his drop-goal Weir was bloody awful! Cussiter should be 9 of choice. we desperately need an International standard 10. A step forward however as Italy are no mugs as we know. Oh and  Lamont pure class by the way!

Good character to come back after a disappointing first half. See saw game in the second half and thought Scotland had blown it but Scotland will take the win and let's see how this performance affects the players in the remaining games. Looked like something finally clicked on attack after two games of toothless attack.

I think both sets of players really struggled with Steve Walsh's interpretation of the laws. Lots of bewildered looks from both sides. Great to see some open running rugby from both teams and even more delighted that tommy Allan will be having nightmares about big Scottish dudes running through him.

Impressed we came back from 10 points down. When we lost that try just before half time I thought that was it. Great spirit shown. Also it's just so refreshing to see a win & one with 2 great tries from a back as well!

I thought Weir was fine - beggining to really find his feet. varied play well. Still some big questions over selection - Like why was Gray dropped and what has happened to kellybrows and why do we never play the right back row?

IanBru wrote:Could the BBC have gone on about Tommaso Allen any more?

Seriously, it was like they had nationality Tourette's.

Fair point.The positive was that Jonny Wilkinson wasn't mentioned!

PERFECT 10

An away WIN fantastic. We can build from there.

Get your basics right and you are halfway there.

We had over 65% of the possession and territory, we won 95% of our mauls, we had a perfect 10-0 100% success in the line out and we did pretty ok under pressure at the scrum.

Two tries and from our backs!

The spine of the side looked pretty damn solid, especially Lawson-Gray-Beattie

Whoa...... steady on there!.

Italy have being poor this year both at club level and on the international, probably as poor as they have been for a decade.

Defensively
We were out-muscled at the scrum, and the last 25 mins of the first half was a disaster we were lucky to be ten points down.

We have massive problems at TH. Wilson and Hamilton are liabilities, with Wilson for the second match giving away pens for fun, and Jim losing 50% of his line-outs and tackles. Why didn't Swinson get any game time!?.

We gave away twice as many pens as the Italians albeit Low gave four away.

Offensively
Hogg looked like he wanted to force the play when he should have been keeping the defensive line.

We looked much better when Evans replaced Seymour

I am not convinced with the Laidlaw/Weir/Scott axis (but agree it should be given the full 6Ns stint), and I don't think Weir had a great first half at all, it was a superb drop but in my mind its papered over the cracks.

I would look at starting Denton at 6, unsure if Swinson can play 5 but I would seriously look at playing him with Gray, Evans on the right wing and Cusiter to replace Laidlaw and let him lead the side as well.  

So great result, showed some fantastic character and we got the basics right in most areas, but lets temper it with some realism.

flyhalffactory wrote:
So great result, showed some fantastic character and we got the basics right in most areas, but lets temper it with some realism.

Screw realism!
We win our next 2 games we'll have 6 points.

Now for the remianing games if Italy beat Ireland and England, Wales draw with England. And France draw with Ireland in the final match. Them we'll be champions!!!!!     

Wow Scott Johnson, way to build up your outhalfs confidence!   

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3551_9180873,00.html

I agree with the clown on while they played better and were the better team they nearly let a poor Italy get away from them in the 1st 40.  Gave away too many penalties, although some of that fud Walsh's decisions were truly baffling  :head scratch: esp the scrum in front of the posts where they scored their 1st try.   Weir needs Cusiter at 9 to get quicker ball rather than Mr Ponderous Laidlaw.  Welsh or Cross for Low, Harley for Wilson (no loss as a line out jumper as Harley as good as Wilson) and he is a proper blindside.   That is if Brown (and Barclay) are still persona non grata.

I think Cross and Low will simply switch against France. Cross has held his own against Domingo before, whereas I think Low would really struggle against Domingo's low and square scrummaging technique.

I'd also switch Cusiter and Laidlaw, and Hamilton and Swinson. Two lineout steals in three matches not enough to justify Hamilton in the side, and in the same vein we need to see Cusiter's quicker service against the French.

More controversial perhaps, but I'd drop Sean Lamont. I realise he had a fairly decent game, and he always gives the proverbial 110%, but Max Evans knows the French players well and he's looked bright each and every time he's come off the bench. He's also much faster than Lamont, and I've been impressed with Evans' defence this season. I think he'd cause the French more problems personally.

Those are my main switches. I'd also replace Wilson at 6 for Kelly Brown or, if KB and SJ are having a tiff, Rob Harley. Wilson has had three games, I'd now give Rob Harley two games. I'd keep Fusaro at 7 for the final two games. He's done enough in his two matches to warrant further inspection.

My side for France:

1.Grant 2.Lawson 3.Cross 4.Swinson 5.R Gray 6.Harley 7.Fusaro 8.Beattie 9.Cusiter (c) 10.Weir 11.Evans 12.Scott 13.Dunbar 14.Seymour 15.Hogg

16.Low 17.MacArthur 18.Dickinson 19.J Gray 20.Denton 21.Laidlaw 22.Taylor 23.Lamont

tigertattie wrote:Anyone got stats on the amount of ball kicked today compared to previous games? Looked like there was far less kicking, especially from laidlaw.

cakeordeath wrote:Well, I am glad we won, simply because I can now call Steve Walsh a Frak without it appearing to be sour grapes.

Oh and if Laidlaw could speed up his service and stop kicking it down the throat of the back line in future, that would be great.

Laidlaw kicked 5 times according to espn stats and passed 82. I agree he seems to have lost a little zip and Cussitor should be starting. We are lucky to have two such good players but laidlaw is not at his best.

Haven't even begun to recover from an incredible weekend in Rome but    what a trip!

Italian fans were incredible (as were the Scots - apologies to those I offended with my potty mouth!), the atmosphere was incredible. After the final whistle we found some guys throwing a ball about by a training pitch and set up a game of touch. By the time we left there were about 25 people on each side and it had turned into pretty much full contact, with driving mauls and lifting in lineouts. On hard ground. It was properly mental and so much fun. Can't recommend a rugby trip to Rome highly enough!

funnyExiledScot wrote:I think Cross and Low will simply switch against France. Cross has held his own against Domingo before, whereas I think Low would really struggle against Domingo's low and square scrummaging technique.

I'd also switch Cusiter and Laidlaw, and Hamilton and Swinson. Two lineout steals in three matches not enough to justify Hamilton in the side, and in the same vein we need to see Cusiter's quicker service against the French.

More controversial perhaps, but I'd drop Sean Lamont. I realise he had a fairly decent game, and he always gives the proverbial 110%, but Max Evans knows the French players well and he's looked bright each and every time he's come off the bench. He's also much faster than Lamont, and I've been impressed with Evans' defence this season. I think he'd cause the French more problems personally.

Those are my main switches. I'd also replace Wilson at 6 for Kelly Brown or, if KB and SJ are having a tiff, Rob Harley. Wilson has had three games, I'd now give Rob Harley two games. I'd keep Fusaro at 7 for the final two games. He's done enough in his two matches to warrant further inspection.

My side for France:

1.Grant 2.Lawson 3.Cross 4.Swinson 5.R Gray 6.Harley 7.Fusaro 8.Beattie 9.Cusiter (c) 10.Weir 11.Evans Lamont 12.Scott 13.Dunbar 14.Seymour Evans 15.Hogg

16.Low 17.MacArthur 18.Dickinson 19.J Gray 20.Denton 21.Laidlaw 22.Taylor 23.Lamont Seymour

I'd go with that 23 but you cannot drop Lamont who in my eyes didn't just have a decent game he was MOTM and keep an underperforming Seymour

flyhalffactory wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:I think Cross and Low will simply switch against France. Cross has held his own against Domingo before, whereas I think Low would really struggle against Domingo's low and square scrummaging technique.

I'd also switch Cusiter and Laidlaw, and Hamilton and Swinson. Two lineout steals in three matches not enough to justify Hamilton in the side, and in the same vein we need to see Cusiter's quicker service against the French.

More controversial perhaps, but I'd drop Sean Lamont. I realise he had a fairly decent game, and he always gives the proverbial 110%, but Max Evans knows the French players well and he's looked bright each and every time he's come off the bench. He's also much faster than Lamont, and I've been impressed with Evans' defence this season. I think he'd cause the French more problems personally.

Those are my main switches. I'd also replace Wilson at 6 for Kelly Brown or, if KB and SJ are having a tiff, Rob Harley. Wilson has had three games, I'd now give Rob Harley two games. I'd keep Fusaro at 7 for the final two games. He's done enough in his two matches to warrant further inspection.

My side for France:

1.Grant 2.Lawson 3.Cross 4.Swinson 5.R Gray 6.Harley 7.Fusaro 8.Beattie 9.Cusiter (c) 10.Weir 11.Evans Lamont 12.Scott 13.Dunbar 14.Seymour Evans 15.Hogg

16.Low 17.MacArthur 18.Dickinson 19.J Gray 20.Denton 21.Laidlaw 22.Taylor 23.Lamont Seymour

I'd go with that 23 but you cannot drop Lamont who in my eyes didn't just have a decent game he was MOTM and keep an underperforming Seymour

MOTM? Lamont? Really?   Roberts did a lot more damage for Wales against France and wasn't anywhere near a contender for that Accolade.

Sean Lamont is hugely limited. Let's be honest here, he made a few line breaks but compare him to Roberts, a player of similar skill and style. This 6N will most likely be his last, he'll never be able to displace Visser if he can stay fit.

Johnson is a muppet but if we are building for the future I'd drop Lamont. One good game is not enough to make up for his terrible performance against England and his lethargic performance against Ireland.

He just isn't good enough to be an international class winger anymore.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I think Cross and Low will simply switch against France. Cross has held his own against Domingo before, whereas I think Low would really struggle against Domingo's low and square scrummaging technique.

I'd also switch Cusiter and Laidlaw, and Hamilton and Swinson. Two lineout steals in three matches not enough to justify Hamilton in the side, and in the same vein we need to see Cusiter's quicker service against the French.

More controversial perhaps, but I'd drop Sean Lamont. I realise he had a fairly decent game, and he always gives the proverbial 110%, but Max Evans knows the French players well and he's looked bright each and every time he's come off the bench. He's also much faster than Lamont, and I've been impressed with Evans' defence this season. I think he'd cause the French more problems personally.

Those are my main switches. I'd also replace Wilson at 6 for Kelly Brown or, if KB and SJ are having a tiff, Rob Harley. Wilson has had three games, I'd now give Rob Harley two games. I'd keep Fusaro at 7 for the final two games. He's done enough in his two matches to warrant further inspection.

My side for France:

1.Grant 2.Lawson 3.Cross 4.Swinson 5.R Gray 6.Harley 7.Fusaro 8.Beattie 9.Cusiter (c) 10.Weir 11.Evans 12.Scott 13.Dunbar 14.Seymour 15.Hogg

16.Low 17.MacArthur 18.Dickinson 19.J Gray 20.Denton 21.Laidlaw 22.Taylor 23.Lamont

I would kind of agree with the rationale for keeping Le Goblin Ecrase but similarly that's also a reason to keep Hamilton, who will be facing off at lineout time with these players every week. Not sure that Swinson did enough before to drop straight in.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:MOTM? Lamont? Really?  Roberts did a lot more damage for Wales against France and wasn't anywhere near a contender for that Accolade.

 

Yes really and just because you put a little icon next to you comment doesn't mean in many peoples eyes he wasn't.

If you wan to go compare then Roberts is an outside centre and Lamont is left wing

His performance against England or Ireland wasn't remotely what you are suggesting, he has the best defensive record of all our backs 20 tackles and not one missed, its not all about how fast you are    

And quite agree when Maitland/Visser are back they will be back in on the wing

flyhalffactory wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:MOTM? Lamont? Really?  

 

Yes really and just because you put a little icon next to you comment doesn't mean in many peoples eyes he wasn't.

His performance against England or Ireland wasn't remotely what you are suggesting     

#

Oh yes it was. He cost us 7 points against England. A player of his experience shouldn't be giving away blatant penlalties in front of the ref. Farrell kicked for touch and Burrell bundled over for a try straight off the lineout. De Luca took pelters for a lot less than that.

Against Ireland he got caught from behind by O'Driscoll from a standing start. Would Visser, Cuthbert, North, Brown, Kearney, Trimble or any other winger in the 6N get tackled from behind by a pensioner?

Not good enough, we aren't looking for a crash ball merchant winger. If we are I guess Visser and Maitland won't hold their breath about making it back into flyhalffactory's Scotland Squad. A few line breaks don't make you man of the match.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

flyhalffactory wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:MOTM? Lamont? Really?  

 

Yes really and just because you put a little icon next to you comment doesn't mean in many peoples eyes he wasn't.

His performance against England or Ireland wasn't remotely what you are suggesting     

#

Oh yes it was. He cost us 7 points against England. A player of his experience shouldn't be giving away blatant penlalties in front of the ref. Farrell kicked for touch and Burrell bundled over for a try straight off the lineout. De Luca took pelters for a lot less than that.

Against Ireland he got caught from behind by O'Driscoll from a standing start. Would Visser, Cuthbert, North, Brown, Kearney, Trimble or any other winger in the 6N get tackled from behind by a pensioner?

Not good enough, we aren't looking for a crash ball merchant winger. If we are I guess Visser and Maitland won't hold their breath about making it back into flyhalffactory's Scotland Squad. A few line breaks don't make you man of the match.

There was 16 pens given away against England of which Schlong contributed to one!!.

He was up there for MOTM for more than just a few breaks for gods sake!.... he tackled 7 times and didn't miss one, he made more passes, he made more metres, beat more defenders, he pressurised Tommy Allan consistently and that led to our try, this is a winger who should be waiting for decent ball to come out to him not doing all the work that our 12 and 6 should be doing.

He also made the most metres, made the most tackles, beat the most defenders and made the most off loads against England. If you are going to cherry pick on lost tackles, pens and turnovers etc over the last three games then you don't have to look further than Hogg, Seymour.

We don't want a crash ball wing I agree but if he hadn't been helping out in the middle of the park then we would have had a fair few more tries against our name this term.

TJ wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Anyone got stats on the amount of ball kicked today compared to previous games? Looked like there was far less kicking, especially from laidlaw.

cakeordeath wrote:Well, I am glad we won, simply because I can now call Steve Walsh a Frak without it appearing to be sour grapes.

Oh and if Laidlaw could speed up his service and stop kicking it down the throat of the back line in future, that would be great.

Laidlaw kicked 5 times according to espn stats and passed 82.  I agree he seems to have lost a little zip and Cussitor should be starting.  We are lucky to have two such good players but laidlaw is not at his best.

The point I was trying to make was if you are going to kick you need to try and find a bit of space to kick into. Not directly to someone like Luke McLean

Cake - one or two poor kicks - not half our possession like before. McLean had a good game returning kicks - give him credit for keeping in the great touchfinder of Hoggs for example

Flyhalf - Lamont had a good game no doubt. One of his best ever. But his lack of pace will always be a weakness. Never has a player done so much with so little talent   

TJ wrote:Cake -  one or two poor kicks - not half our possession like before.   McLean had a good game returning kicks - give him credit for keeping in the great touchfinder of Hoggs for example

Flyhalf - Lamont had a good game no doubt.  One of his best ever.  But his lack of pace will always be a weakness.  Never has a player done so much with so little talent   

Dan Parks, anyone?

TJ wrote:Cake -  one or two poor kicks - not half our possession like before.   McLean had a good game returning kicks - give him credit for
 

Fair points

TJ wrote:Cake -  one or two poor kicks - not half our possession like before.   McLean had a good game returning kicks - give him credit for keeping in the great touchfinder of Hoggs for example

Flyhalf - Lamont had a good game no doubt.  One of his best ever.  But his lack of pace will always be a weakness.  Never has a player done so much with so little talent   

We know he is not one of the quickest, but we can say the same for Matty Scott cant we.

Its strange but he does all the things as a footballer......... off loads, tackles very well, beats defenders, but because he hasn't that blistering speed then he is talentless