Scottish Exiles Team of the Season 2014/2015

I was very interested to see this:
http://www.the42.ie/ireland-exiles-irish-abroad-team-of-the-season-2140363-Jun2015/ 

Can we try and get a Scottish one together? It may not be possible due to the limited playing pool, but let's see.

The rules are that:

(1) the team must comprise SQ players based in England, France, Ireland, Italy or in the SH;
(2) for whatever reason, they must have had a good year;
(3) anyone picking Phil Godman or Jack Gilding will be banned from these boards for life.

*****

01 Kyle Traynor (Bristol) - overcame injuries to contribute a lot to the team this season
02 Scott Lawson (Newcastle) - well, I suppose he gets some game time
03 Jack Cosgrove (Worcester) - back to the Jeff for him next year. Still a youngfeller
04 Jim Hamilton (Saracens) - Aviva winners medal this year for the tattooed penalty magnet
05 Andrew Cramond (Toulon) - debut for them this year - that's good enough for me
06 Mitch Eadie (Bristol) - had a big, big year - hopefully gets another club because he's too good for the Championship
07 John Barclay (Scarlets) - the prodigal son returns
08 David Sisi (Bath) - did loan with Irish, played well, now back at the Rec. They seem to like him

09 Scott Steele (London Irish) - London Irish's young player of the season and scored in a European quarter-final
10 Ruaridh Jackson (Wasps) - I know he only played handful of games before getting broken, but he looked great in each
11 Robbie Nairn (Harlequins) - international U20 debut and signing for Quins in the same year - well done young man
12 Alex Grove (Worcester) - back in the Jeff and good for him, a very important player for Wuss this year
13 Duncan Taylor (Saracens) - you can't argue with an Aviva winners medal, had a great game in the playoff semi
14 Johnny McNicholl (Crusaders) - played well and often before buggering his knee in March
15 Matty Russell (Warrington Wolves) - we all know how good he is, signed a big money 3 year deal last April

Alternative thoughts please - especially from people like Maj and Vince who actually, unlike me, have Rugby Knowledge.

Moray Low, Richie Gray, Ali Hogg, Max Evans and Steve McColl would be alternatives, although perhaps it would be a stretch to say they've all had "good" seasons.

Good calls on Ali Hogg and Steve McColl who have each played frequently and well and received plaudits.

Low has regressed faster than the Labour party in Scotland, Richie Gray bombed out of the 6 Nations with injury and the Squashed Goblin's side came within an oiseau's fart of being relegated.

Scott Steele is a good call at 9. He really impressed me in the game between Irish and Edinburgh.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Scott Steele is a good call at 9. He really impressed me in the game between Irish and Edinburgh.

Brendan McKibbin at the Tahs is also playing well, but it just hurts too much to write his name down as he will almost certainly never come over here or be seen in a navy shirt with a thistle on it.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Scott Steele is a good call at 9. He really impressed me in the game between Irish and Edinburgh.

Brendan McKibbin at the Tahs is also playing well, but it just hurts too much to write his name down as he will almost certainly never come over here or be seen in a navy shirt with a thistle on it.

He's signed for London Irish has he not?

RDW_Scotland wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Scott Steele is a good call at 9. He really impressed me in the game between Irish and Edinburgh.

Brendan McKibbin at the Tahs is also playing well, but it just hurts too much to write his name down as he will almost certainly never come over here or be seen in a navy shirt with a thistle on it.

He's signed for London Irish has he not?

Feck me, quite right: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/30982430

He's 29 though. Not sure we need a piece of that at this stage.

George Carlin wrote:
08 David Sisi (Bath) - did loan with Irish, played well, now back at the Rec. They seem to like him

Sisi is back at LI for 2015/16 on a season long loan. How does he qualify for Scotland?

George Carlin wrote:


03 Jack Cosgrove (Worcester) - back to the Jeff for him next year. Still a youngfeller

I may be mistaken, but I thought that he had signed for Edinburgh for next year

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Scott Steele is a good call at 9. He really impressed me in the game between Irish and Edinburgh.

Brendan McKibbin at the Tahs is also playing well, but it just hurts too much to write his name down as he will almost certainly never come over here or be seen in a navy shirt with a thistle on it.

He's signed for London Irish has he not?

Feck me, quite right: http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/30982430

He's 29 though. Not sure we need a piece of that at this stage.

He has also been on the bench for Australia, so I am pretty sure he is tied now. It is not as if we are short of SH's anyway!

LondonTiger wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
08 David Sisi (Bath) - did loan with Irish, played well, now back at the Rec. They seem to like him

Sisi is back at LI for 2015/16 on a season long loan. How does he qualify for Scotland?

Grandparents.

Not fussed about McKibbon. Pyrgos and Hidalgo-Clyne are the future, with Kennedy, Fowles, Steele, Glashan coming through, and a couple of wise owls in Laidlaw and Cusiter to mentor that group through. 9 is not an issue.

I didn't know that Cosgrove is scheduled to join the 1872 Champions. Good news if true, as I'm not convinced about Andress, although I did think there were signs towards the end of the season that there's potential in Berghan. Still, always pleased to add a young SQ tighthead to the roster.

Is Cosgrove not a loose head prop?

My exiles team of the year would be
1 kyle Traynor - put in some good shifts this season for Bristol, strong in the scrum.
2 Scott Lawson - A lot of game time at Newcastle & seems to have played well and not given away as many penalties as has been his downfall with Scotland. Alan Walker now at Ealing has apparently been in outstanding in them getting promoted to the championship.
3 Nick Fraser - Had rave reviews for North Harbour Rays in the Australian Championship. Came up against some international props and got the better of them, only 23/24 and worth Edinburgh/Glasgow keeping an eye on him!
4 J Hamilton - Fairly good season at Saracens, good amount of game time and has been an important player for them
5 Josh Brown - Great season for London Scottish, Strong in the lineout and physical around the pitch.
6 M Eadie - Shifted him to 6 which he has played a bit for Bristol. Great season Player of the year for them and definitely one for the future for Scotland
7 J Barclay - Fantastic season for the Scarlets, switched between 7 & 8. one of the form back rowers in Europe at the moment and captained the Scarlets on occasions too.
8 A Hogg - Strong season again for Newcastle, lots of ball carries and done the hard graft as well. Still got the skills and a good link man between the backs and forwards. Should be in the Scotland squad.
9 S Steele - Established himself as London Irish starting 9. Good varied game, quick and has a quick pass on him. Definitely an international in the future and could battle with SHC for the 9 jersey for quite a few years to come
10 H Leonard - Not too many to choose from but from what I have read he has had a good season for Carnegie. Scoring a lot for points and being one of their stand out players.
11 H Jones - Edinburgh born but playing for the Stormers after going to South Africa on a gap year. Played between 13 and wing for them and scored a couple tries, looks very quick and powerful and one to keep an eye on.
12 D Taylor - Strong end of season for Saracens, switched between 13 and 12 a lot this season but looks comfortable in either role.
13 A Grove - Key player for Worcester in the play offs, very strong in defence and good passing game to get the outside backs into space.
14 M Doneghan - Strong season for LS. Switched between centre and wing a lot. Quick, powerful and knows his way to the line, Would have been a better addition at Edinburgh instead of Michael Allen.
15 B McGuigan - Brilliant season for Exeter and also when he was in New Zealand for Bay of Plenty. Seems to have found his best position at Full Back. Scored a good few tries for Exeter and looked very good, unlucky not to be in the world cup training squad.

Majestic83 wrote:3 Nick Fraser - Had rave reviews for North Harbour Rays in the Australian Championship. Came up against some international props and got the better of them, only 23/24 and worth Edinburgh/Glasgow keeping an eye on him!

Sounds like a really interesting prospect. Young SQ tightheads are vital to keep on the radar.

Also fully agree with you on Hogg, certainly if Denton is out injured.

He was a very good prop when he was at Boroughmuir and for Scotland U20s 3 or 4 years ago. Missed out on a pro contract and has gone down under and seems to have done him the world of good. If he has another season like it I would think he wont be too far off a training contract with the Waratahs. Danger of that is Australia are in desperate need of tight heads so could be a risk of losing him through residency!

Majestic83 wrote:He was a very good prop when he was at Boroughmuir and for Scotland U20s 3 or 4 years ago. Missed out on a pro contract and has gone down under and seems to have done him the world of good. If he has another season like it I would think he wont be too far off a training contract with the Waratahs. Danger of that is Australia are in desperate need of tight heads so could be a risk of losing him through residency!

What goes around comes around!! I can't help but feel that Australia would have used Nathan Hines had he stuck with them, Robbie Russell and Andrew Mower not so much.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Majestic83 wrote:He was a very good prop when he was at Boroughmuir and for Scotland U20s 3 or 4 years ago. Missed out on a pro contract and has gone down under and seems to have done him the world of good. If he has another season like it I would think he wont be too far off a training contract with the Waratahs. Danger of that is Australia are in desperate need of tight heads so could be a risk of losing him through residency!

What goes around comes around!! I can't help but feel that Australia would have used Nathan Hines had he stuck with them, Robbie Russell and Andrew Mower not so much.

True, Nathan Hines certainly would have been more than good enough to win a lot of caps with Australia. At that age though he wasn't in the scene for pro contracts in Union and had lost his contract at league so came backpacking to Scotland and ended up staying in Gala. Still remember him running riot at the Melrose 7s when Gala won. Definitely Australia's loss was Scotland's gain.
Times have changed though and Nick Fraser should be well known to those in charge at Scotland. With a good tighthead being high up on Scotlands wish list you'd hope they were keeping an eye on him!
Then again it is the SRU!