What has happened to Scottish rugby

watching this really impresses me how far scottish rugby has regressed.

Its actually got worse under professional era !.   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwJuQsiLS-c

It was England's year at the last gasp but Fatty Gibbs and the taffs put the mockers on that little party. Scotland had some world class players but perhaps the main difference was Townsend, they haven't had a 10 since then.

Just think the regions havent worked for Scotland. Id like to see them go back to their old league and get the famous old clubs back battling...ie Jedforrest, Melrose etc...

But i also think they've just had a bad spell with player development. There does seem to be a host of youngsters coming through now though, hopefully a couple can really make the grade.

And dont forget the disaster that is Scott Johnson! Im sure the new guy will improve things.

I would have better selection policies than Johnson!!!

There's another thread devoted to the ills (and potential solutions) of Scottish rugby

I'm 6'0, 98kg, and run a sub11 100m. Is there a backline position Scotland is hopelessly undermanned in?

10

and 12
and 13

I don't think we've regressed, I think we've largely stood still and everyone else has improved.

Our current squad would also beat those 1999 sides comfortably.

Brilliant, I played 12&13 in high school, and the only reason I didn't play districts, is because I was too small... 22kg later, I should walk into Scotland's team

On a serious note though, teams are more likely to stagnate than regress. I think that when a sport goes professional, it improves pretty quickly, I think you lads were caught napping a tad.

kingraf wrote:I'm 6'0, 98kg, and run a sub11 100m. Is there a backline position Scotland is hopelessly undermanned in?

Running sub 11 seconds in the highveld is nothing given the altitude and favourable wind, probably just shy of 20 seconds in the Cape

On the other hand, I do produce more red blood cells, so my performances will remain high for the entire season.

http://environ-mental-guy.tumblr.com/post/30987771989

On the other hand, I do produce more red blood cells, so my performances will remain high for the entire season. Us altitude kids don't trough, just peak!

Nothing is wrong. They're just poop.

englandglory4ever wrote:Nothing is wrong. They're just poop.

Constructive, intelligent, well debated sir....  

 

I'm with GF on this one - regionalisation has been a big success for Ireland, ultimately something of a success in Wales and a disaster for Scotland. Two teams, neither really in your traditional rugby heartlands, is not enough to maintain a consistent player base. The problem is though that you can't just rectify it by creating further regional sides, particularly in the Borders because the local rivalry is what caused the failure in the first place.

Also clearly the last few years have seen a dearth of really high quality players, especially in the midfield backs. The last couple of seasons you do seem to have improved in the centres but have long-standing issues with picking and sticking with a 10 and of selecting your best 9. Too frequently since Patterson's retirement this has led to compromises because of the need for a goal kicker in the half backs.

Maybe Cotter will turn out to be the coaching wizard you hope, and his arrival will coincide with the emergence of a few more good players. For all you are our oldest rival, I want Scotland to have a strong side. Just preferably one slightly less strong than we are ;-)

For all the underlying issues around lack of support for rugby in schools, poor links between the clubs and pro sides and only having two pro sides - undoubtedly all extremely important - the most irritating failure has been the poor judgment shown by the Scotland head coaches over the last decade around team selection.

Not only do we have limited resources for all the reasons noted above, we haven't been maximising those meagre resources at all. Is there a side in the 6 Nations who would accept Scott Johnson as head coach? In the past coaches like McGeechan and Telfer managed to extract more from our players and adopt tactics to spoil the opposition game, and that perhaps papered over a few cracks. But some of the selections in the last few years have been eye wateringly stupid to even the most casual observer of the game.

There are big structural problems, but some easy fixes as well. Hopefully Cotter will reverse the trend of Scotland coaches ignoring form players and sticking players out of position.