Scotland 6N post mortem

by **BigGee** Sun 07 Feb 2016, 2:14 pm

First topic message reminder :

Scotland 6N post mortem - Page 2 _88860115_sixnations

by RuggerRadge2611 Mon 08 Feb 2016, 1:20 pm

Having watched the game on the Telly we looked better on the TV than at the stadium. Wales will still batter us at the weekend but I think 2 wins is achievable in this campaign.

Another wooden spoon will probably see Cotter move back to Clermont. I certainly wouldn't want to hang around for this bunch of losers. Scotland are currently damaging his reputation.

by **BigGee** Mon 08 Feb 2016, 2:30 pm

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Having watched the game on the Telly we looked better on the TV than at the stadium. Wales will still batter us at the weekend but I think 2 wins is achievable in this campaign.

Another wooden spoon will probably see Cotter move back to Clermont. I certainly wouldn't want to hang around for this bunch of losers. Scotland are currently damaging his reputation.

Remember that Clermont were known as a team of perenial chockers until Vern eventually got them over the line for their championship. He stayed there for a long time to get the best out of that team. I don't see him walking away from Scotland.

by bsando Mon 08 Feb 2016, 3:55 pm

Yes I think Mike Blair is pretty spot on. I think there were definitely moments in the game where Scotland could have upped the tempo a bit in attack. Overall it did just seem like a rusty performance with too many basic mistakes. I'm sure they'll work hard in traing this week to improve.

Wales looked pretty good yesterday vs Ireland. If they hadn't had such a slow start I think they would have won. So it's just going to get harder now for Scotland.

by **RDW** Mon 08 Feb 2016, 3:57 pm

I'm not sure I'd agree that our kicking game was good though - compared to what we saw in the Ireland-Wales game it was amateur stuff. We're good at the long punts but have little to no variety to our kicking game. That and we rarely claim our own kicks whereas Ireland and Wales regularly do.

Wales will definitely have the upper hand in that department.

by EWT Spoons Wed 10 Feb 2016, 2:09 pm

Scotland 6N post mortem - Page 2 Ca27CsgWAAA1Afb

u20 team to face Wales

SRU Site wrote:Head Coach John Dalziel has promoted three players to the starting XV to face Wales this Friday at Eirias Park (kick-off 6.30pm), from the team that defeated England (24-6) in the opening round of the Six Nations Championship.

There is only one change to the pack where Callum Hunter-Hill steps up from the bench to pack down at lock, with Andrew Davidson [pictured] moving into the back-row.

In the back line, BT Sport Scottish Rugby Stage 3 Academy players Ruairi Howarth and George Taylor start at full-back and outside-centre respectively, with Rory Hutchinson moving in-field to stand-off.

Hugh Fraser retains the scrum-half spot to partner Hutchinson, and Galbraith starts in midfield alongside Taylor.

Darcy Graham and Robbie Nairn complete the backline on the right and left wings respectively.

In an unchanged front-row, Murray McCallum, who scored in last week’s four-try victory over England, and Callum Sheldon pack down at loosehead and tighthead prop, to accompany hooker Jake Kerr.

Captain Scott Cummings, who also touched down, will partner Hunter-Hill in the boiler-room, with Ally Miller, Matt Smith and Davidson forming the back-row trio.

Replacements Stephen Ainslie and Chris Lines, are set to make their Scotland under-20 debut if called upon from the bench.

Dalziel said: “We were delighted to get the win last week, but we’ve had to refocus quickly and work hard on the training pitch ahead of the Wales game to ensure that we continue to improve.

“There’s a lot of rugby to be played in this tournament, and we can’t rest on our laurels; we need to keep building."

“Wales are always going to be physical and play a good brand of rugby, and, like us, confidence will be high from their victory in the first round, so we know how tough it’s going to be down there.

“We’ve brought a few players into the team for this weekend, but we have good depth in the squad, and have no doubt in the ability and experience of those coming in.”

Scotland under-20 team to play Wales under-20 in the Six Nations Championship at Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay (kick-off 6.30pm) – live on S4C.

15 Ruairi Howarth

14 Darcy Graham
13 George Taylor
12 Tom Galbraith
11 Robbie Nairn

10 Rory Hutchinson
9 Hugh Fraser

1 Murray McCallum
2 Jack Kerr
3 Callum Sheldon
4 Callum Hunter-Hill
5 Scott Cummings
6 Andrew Davidson
7 Matt Smith
8 Ally Miller

Substitutes
16 Lewis Anderson
17 Goerge Thornton
18 Adam Nicol
19 Stephen Ainslie
20 Scott Burnside
21 Charlie Shiel
22 Chris Lines
23 Ben Robbins

Players unavailable due to pro-team commitments:
Blair Kinghorn, Jamie Ritchie (both Edinburgh Rugby) and Adam Hastings (Bath Rugby).

by Tattie Scones RRN Wed 10 Feb 2016, 2:46 pm

I would happily sacrifice the U20s getting pumped a new one if it meant we beat Wales on Saturday.

I absolutely detest losing to them. More so than any other team.

by True Raven Wed 10 Feb 2016, 4:05 pm

Any decent youngsters to look out for on Friday night?

by **RDW** Wed 10 Feb 2016, 4:11 pm

A few players from last week have been called up to their pro teams, or else I would have said them - Jamie Ritchie at 6, Adam Hastings (Gavin's son) at 10 and Blair Kinghorne at 15.

I suspect all 3 are full internationalists in the making.

Of the remaining Scott Cummings at lock has had gametime for Glasgow during the world cup and didn't look out of place at all. Matt Smith at 7 was my MOTM last week when we beat England.

There are some decent backs in there too.

Zander Fagerson should be playing for the under 20s but he's in the Scotland squad!

It is a shame we have lost some key players as a win down in Wales after beating England would set up the under 20s very nicely for a real push at the title.

by funnyExiledScot Wed 10 Feb 2016, 4:15 pm

It's a shame we aren't playing our full strength U20 team. Add Fagerson, Ritchie, Bradbury, Hastings and Kinghorn into the mix and you have a pretty awesome group. Hopefully they can all develop into full internationals to supplement the young Scotland XV we have at the moment.

by True Raven Wed 10 Feb 2016, 11:06 pm

We wont be at our strongest either as a couple of main players have been released back to the regions and 5 of the squad members are still eligible for under 18s rugby but if they play with the same attacking intent as last week, it should be a good game

by bsando Thu 11 Feb 2016, 10:10 am

Team I would pick for wales...

1.Dickinson
2.Ford
3.Nel
4.R.Gray
5.J.Gray
6.Cowan
7.Hardie
8.Strauss
9.Laidlaw
10.Russell
11.Seymour
12.Scott
13.Bennett
14.Maitland
15.Hogg

16.MacInally
17.Reid
18.Fagerson
19.Toolis
20.Barclay
21.SHC
22.Jackson
23.Taylor

by **NeilyBroon** Thu 11 Feb 2016, 11:25 am

Taylor in for Scott - not a bad substitute at all but am concerned we have no backup centres on the bench now, so if either is crocked, unless we're 20 points ahead (ha!) we're going to have another points drought.

Either way have to be on best game. Glad to see faith has been put in the team still - but the bench still is rubbish...

by funnyExiledScot Thu 11 Feb 2016, 2:08 pm

NeilyBroon wrote:Taylor in for Scott - not a bad substitute at all but am concerned we have no backup centres on the bench now, so if either is crocked, unless we're 20 points ahead (ha!) we're going to have another points drought.

Either way have to be on best game. Glad to see faith has been put in the team still - but the bench still is rubbish...

Lamont is on the bench and would presumably cover centre should we have an injury. The idea of Bennett being injured and replaced by Lamont is a very worrying thought. A Taylor/Lamont centre partnership has a look of the bad old days.

by GLove39 Thu 11 Feb 2016, 2:22 pm

The bench really depresses me. Others teams use theirs for impact, a positive one that is. Our team got steadily worse last week as the quality of player dropped.
Other than his funny facial hair, what does Swinson offer?

by GLove39 Thu 11 Feb 2016, 2:29 pm

funnyExiledScot wrote:
NeilyBroon wrote:Taylor in for Scott - not a bad substitute at all but am concerned we have no backup centres on the bench now, so if either is crocked, unless we're 20 points ahead (ha!) we're going to have another points drought.

Either way have to be on best game. Glad to see faith has been put in the team still - but the bench still is rubbish...

Lamont is on the bench and would presumably cover centre should we have an injury. The idea of Bennett being injured and replaced by Lamont is a very worrying thought. A Taylor/Lamont centre partnership has a look of the bad old days.

Now just imagine if Russell went down as well.
Laidlaw, Weir, Taylor, Lamont. What an attacking axis!

by **NeilyBroon** Thu 11 Feb 2016, 2:31 pm

GLove39 wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:
NeilyBroon wrote:Taylor in for Scott - not a bad substitute at all but am concerned we have no backup centres on the bench now, so if either is crocked, unless we're 20 points ahead (ha!) we're going to have another points drought.

Either way have to be on best game. Glad to see faith has been put in the team still - but the bench still is rubbish...

Lamont is on the bench and would presumably cover centre should we have an injury. The idea of Bennett being injured and replaced by Lamont is a very worrying thought. A Taylor/Lamont centre partnership has a look of the bad old days.

Now just imagine if Russell went down as well.
Laidlaw, Weir, Taylor, Lamont. What an attacking axis!

Where's Phil Godman when you need him?

by GLove39 Thu 11 Feb 2016, 2:36 pm

NeilyBroon wrote:
GLove39 wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:
NeilyBroon wrote:Taylor in for Scott - not a bad substitute at all but am concerned we have no backup centres on the bench now, so if either is crocked, unless we're 20 points ahead (ha!) we're going to have another points drought.

Either way have to be on best game. Glad to see faith has been put in the team still - but the bench still is rubbish...

Lamont is on the bench and would presumably cover centre should we have an injury. The idea of Bennett being injured and replaced by Lamont is a very worrying thought. A Taylor/Lamont centre partnership has a look of the bad old days.

Now just imagine if Russell went down as well.
Laidlaw, Weir, Taylor, Lamont. What an attacking axis!

Where's Phil Godman when you need him?

That name in the context of the upcoming game can only be described as triggering

by **NeilyBroon** Thu 11 Feb 2016, 2:54 pm

GLove39 wrote:
NeilyBroon wrote:
GLove39 wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:
NeilyBroon wrote:Taylor in for Scott - not a bad substitute at all but am concerned we have no backup centres on the bench now, so if either is crocked, unless we're 20 points ahead (ha!) we're going to have another points drought.

Either way have to be on best game. Glad to see faith has been put in the team still - but the bench still is rubbish...

Lamont is on the bench and would presumably cover centre should we have an injury. The idea of Bennett being injured and replaced by Lamont is a very worrying thought. A Taylor/Lamont centre partnership has a look of the bad old days.

Now just imagine if Russell went down as well.
Laidlaw, Weir, Taylor, Lamont. What an attacking axis!

Where's Phil Godman when you need him?

That name in the context of the upcoming game can only be described as triggering

All we need now is Geoff Cross to start and we'll finish the game with a rugby league side!

by GLove39 Thu 11 Feb 2016, 2:59 pm

NeilyBroon wrote:
GLove39 wrote:
NeilyBroon wrote:
GLove39 wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:
NeilyBroon wrote:Taylor in for Scott - not a bad substitute at all but am concerned we have no backup centres on the bench now, so if either is crocked, unless we're 20 points ahead (ha!) we're going to have another points drought.

Either way have to be on best game. Glad to see faith has been put in the team still - but the bench still is rubbish...

Lamont is on the bench and would presumably cover centre should we have an injury. The idea of Bennett being injured and replaced by Lamont is a very worrying thought. A Taylor/Lamont centre partnership has a look of the bad old days.

Now just imagine if Russell went down as well.
Laidlaw, Weir, Taylor, Lamont. What an attacking axis!

Where's Phil Godman when you need him?

That name in the context of the upcoming game can only be described as triggering

All we need now is Geoff Cross to start and we'll finish the game with a rugby league side!

Swap Rambo for the match assassin just for good measure!

by IanBru Thu 11 Feb 2016, 5:13 pm

Ryan Wilson isn't starting, so... No one on the other side is going to get glassed.

by funnyExiledScot Thu 11 Feb 2016, 5:28 pm

You've got to love the faux hardman act from Wilson. He doesn't actually put his body on the line during play or tackle with any sort or courage or ferocity, but he does love a bit of after whistle pushing and shoving.

I'm probably being unfair. He did assault two members of the public in what the court recorded as unprovoked attacks. Tough guy.

by R!skysports Sat 13 Feb 2016, 8:15 pm

Well after today - Taylor must be the second name of the team sheet after hogg

by GLove39 Sat 13 Feb 2016, 10:29 pm

*sigh* why do we keep doing this to ourselves???

by RuggerRadge2611 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 12:35 am

Taylor was phenomenal. Utterly owns that number 12 shirt now. Our bench issues really came home to roost this time. Wales experience and skills from the bench drilled us in that last quarter.

Can't overstate how amazing Taylor was. Stopped a certain try and individualy scored a belter of his own.

by Cyril Sun 14 Feb 2016, 12:50 am

Sarries did that.

by bsando Sun 14 Feb 2016, 2:44 am

I didn't read any news articles since Thursday night. Maitland? Did he get injured?

Losing Hogg early didn't help. Jackson did well but definitely missed Hogg who was playing great up until he went off.

Good news though..Visser/Dunbar back for Italy? Might have a near full team by then.

I personally think we needed Strauss on the bench for that game. Cowan came on, one big hit from Roberts and he was off, Barclay back on. Strauss is a beast, why isn't he on the bench??! He will definitely bring much needed physicality in the last 20 mins of the game. Id start him for Italy, Denton on bench.

Taylor ahead of Scott now. Pressure on Dunbar who I consider the first choice 12 for Scotland. A Dunbar 12, Taylor 13 axis could be a good one, especially in the 6 nations. Bennett on bench? He's been bit quiet so far.

by Prothero Sun 14 Feb 2016, 8:15 am

I had to go to bed early after that game felt like a kick in the teeth, the thought of having to go through three more of these exercises in frustration is making me come out in a stress rash. Why oh why do Scotland have to make it so hard to be a fan? Yes there is still signs of progress but the need for us to beat France or Ireland in march is becoming overwhelming.

Having Taylor do well was a bonus, other positives were Seymore and Russell and Laidlaws contribution. The Scrum and Backrow done fine. The lineout was a shocker that killed any chance of winning that game, possible solution is Harley as a third Jumper but that weakens us at the breakdown?

Interesting thing for me was Cotter not putting on young Faggerson when Nel was clearly done from the 70th minute? Either the young lad is ready for international rugby or he isnt? Surely Low would be a better option in the short term?

If macinally is the long term successor to Ford he needs to be playing as much high stakes rugby as possible at hooker NOW, as talented a rugby player as he is, he has started very few games at hooker for club or country and as yesterday shows the lineout is far to important to be handed over to a guy who may crumble under pressure? Also there would seem to be a issue in the body lengths of Nel and Macinally im not convinced you can have your Hooker be five inches taller than your tight head and maintain dynamism?

by **RDW** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 9:26 am

Aye it ain't easy being a Scotland fan.

Taylor had 2 standout moments but outside of that he was just solid really - he's certainly done enough to justify his place next week though.

The lineout was incredibly frustrating. This happens with us sometimes - we go game after game with a solid lineout then just seem to lose concentration one game and it falls apart.

As always I don't think the blame should just be with Ford - the whole drill was off and that's the responsibility of the 8 forwards.

Laidlaw had one of his best games for a while but was responsible for the worst mistakes of the whole game, that ultimately cost us.

I agree that we need more impact off the bench - Toolis and Strauss please!

I'm not sure how well Barclay is working at 6 - I'd rather Harley against Italy.

by **BigGee** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 10:53 am

I tend to feel it was all about the subs, or lack of them. We definitely tired around around the last 15 mins. Wales brought on effective subs, we did not.

Gordon Reid, lovable chap that he is, is not an international class prop and is certainly not the future. If we think Grant is done (though he played much better this week against Ulster than he has done recently), then surely we need to bring Allen and Sutherland on.

I have given Swinson the benefit of the doubt, but I will come off the fence now and agree that he is just not physical enough for the international game as well. If VC is going to make some changes for the next game then surely he needs to be one of them.

Jackson was the one player who really impressed off the bench, playing out of position as well. For me he takes the bench spot over Weir next time around. McInally may well have done enough to jump Ford as well, someone needs to carry the can for the lineout fiasco and Ford did not do a lot else right in the game either.

I think Visser will come into the team for the next game into Maitland's place and Dunbar if fit, or Horne if not onto the bench. S H-C deserves a bit of game time as well at some point, though VC seems to want to keep the captain on the pitch and he did play well other than one howler. Sammy may have to wait until the summer tour, for which Laidlaw may get rested to get his chance.

It was much much better than the England game but we still have not got that we need to play for 80 mins to win these games. The good sides we are playing against always will!

by **RDW** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 10:56 am

Surely Dunbar isn't a serious option? Until he plays 4 or 5 games in a row for Glasgow he should be no where near the Scotland squad IMO

His fitness can't be relied upon just now.

by **BigGee** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:01 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:Surely Dunbar isn't a serious option? Until he plays 4 or 5 games in a row for Glasgow he should be no where near the Scotland squad IMO

His fitness can't be relied upon just now.

You are probably right on that one, on reflection he should just concentrate on getting and staying fit. Glasgow would certainly benefit from him stringing a few games together. I would be happy enough with the Taylor-Bennett combo for now. Bennett showed a few flashes but not quite there yet, I feel confident with him that it will come though. Scott may be the one who struggles to get back into the team.

by **RDW** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:07 am

But Scott would at least offer impact off the bench.

I'd like to see Taylor at 13 for Scotland but I think Bennett is worth sticking with.

by **RDW** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:13 am

I think a bench of

Sutherland
McInally/Ford
Fagerson
Toolis
Strauss
Hidalgo-Clyne
Jackson
Scott

Offers as much impact as I think we could ever have

by RuggerRadge2611 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:15 am

Dunbar should play no part in the 6N. Cotter is smart enough to play the long game. Taylor after saving 7 certain points and securing 7 points with a moment of individual brilliance is now undroppable.

The fact he was also solid in between those 2 moments IMO makes him our stand out performer. Roberts was brilliant though. His try exemplified the danger he poses.

by RuggerRadge2611 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:17 am

On another note, do we seem to bear the brunt of dodgy referee decisions?

Last time we played Wales the game finished 1 minute early.
Yesterday Davies was clearly offside.
And of course Joubert in the RWC.

There are of course plenty of reasons we as a team lost the match, but we do seem to be disproportionately at the wrong end of some refereeing decisions.

by **BigGee** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:31 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:I think a bench of

Sutherland
McInally/Ford
Fagerson
Toolis
Strauss
Hidalgo-Clyne
Jackson
Scott

Offers as much impact as I think we could ever have

I could live with that. Horne I guess would have a case to cover Jacko, he played pretty well when he came on against Ulster as well.

Gilchrist would be there if fit, but won't be in time for this game. Cowan I would think will be sitting out a few weeks now anyway after Roberts rang his bell. Surely Strauss must come in, except he still did not look great coming off the bench again on Friday. He has got to start against Ulster and that will show us where he is at.

by alive555 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:54 am

Ford has to be dropped. Hes the only hooker in the 6 nations who is going to cost you 4-5 lineouts each and every match cause he cant throw straight. those are absolute game changers

how many lineouts di he cost us yesterday 5 ?6 ?

by GLove39 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:56 am

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:On another note, do we seem to bear the brunt of dodgy referee decisions?

Last time we played Wales the game finished 1 minute early.
Yesterday Davies was clearly offside.
And of course Joubert in the RWC.

There are of course plenty of reasons we as a team lost the match, but we do seem to be disproportionately at the wrong end of some refereeing decisions.

Yes!
Admittedly in all these situations much like the wider game we don't help ourselves...

- Finn fannied about with that conversion effectively running the clock down last year.
- Yes, but should have dealt with the chip
- Frak Frak Frak Frak Frak Frak but we should've secured our lineout

So yes. But only way to rectify it is to tighten up and not put ourselves in positions where refereeing blunders can totally Frak us up

by RuggerRadge2611 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:57 am

alive555 wrote:Ford has to be dropped. Hes the only hooker in the 6 nations who is going to cost you 4-5 lineouts each and every match cause he cant throw straight. those are absolute game changers

how many lineouts di he cost us yesterday 5 ?6 ?

Not one line out was pinged for not being straight, they were intercepted by Charteris or AWJ, 2 very canny line-out operators.

Ford was not exclusively to blame the Gray boys call the throws.

by alive555 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 1:22 pm

Must have watching another game.
Fords throws were down the welsh side too long too low overthrown and just plain innacurate.
He has to go.

by bsando Sun 14 Feb 2016, 1:33 pm

I thought Ford had a good game yesterday, we can't blame him. As much as he does annoy me at times, he is our best hooker and at scrum time he makes a big difference. Until someone else is playing a lot better at Glasgow or elsewhere Ford should always be starting.

The game away to Italy is a MUST MUST win!! Scotland need to put a stop to this losing streak and head back to Murrayfield with a solid win under their belts to take on a French team who are gaining confidence from two sketchy wins in a row.

Therefore, I would probably retain the same team once again but make some changes to the bench. Cowan out, Swinson out, Fagerson out perhaps, MacInally out too perhaps.

Fot Italy (assuming injury free) perhaps the following?...

Dickinson
Ford
Nel
R.Gray
J.Gray
Barclay
Hardie
Denton
Laidlaw
Russell
Seymour
Taylor
Bennett
Maitland
Hogg

MacArthur
Reid
Low
Toolis
Strauss
SHC
Jackson
Visser or Scott or Dunbar (probably not)

Also, Tom English sums yesterdays game up so well. Scotland are definitely somewhere between the bad old days and the new dawn. They could go on to win the next 3 games in a row, or they could lose the next 3 in a row and then what?? Will Cotter stay?

I'd say

6 points from next 3 games = Major step forward
4 points (Beat Italy + France, lose close to Ireland) = Good result, more to build on.
2 points (Lose to Italy, beat france, lose to Ireland) = Alright but not good enough, lot more to improve on.
2 points (Beat Italy well, lose to France and Ireland) = Not good enough but not unexpected, lot more to improve on.
0 points (Lose closely to Italy, lose close to France, lose close to Ireland) = Poor but not unexpected by press and fans, alarm bells ringing
0 points (lose badly in next three games, i.e., poor games all of them) = Serious problem, Cotter possibly leaving, fans furious.

How's it going to swing? Personally I think Scotland will win the next two games. Bookies I suspect will expect Scotland to win close to Italy away and lose the rest.

by Prothero Sun 14 Feb 2016, 1:39 pm

Trouble is guys Ford is a huge part of the most solid front row we have had in years do you weaken the Scrum to fix the line out?

Macinally is a beast in the loose but isnt the same animal in the front row and is a bit unproven at test level line-out wise.

Brown is out of favor/ injured

MacArthur is completely out of the picture and looks under powered at this level.

In short Ford is our test hooker for the next couple of years at least. Macinally may be the answer but he needs to start of his club first.

by highland_scot Sun 14 Feb 2016, 2:22 pm

Hmm, that was a good but very frustrating game. We were the better team for long periods (which is better than previous games against Wales) but couldn't turn it into points thanks to ridiculous handling errors or Clancy's interpretation of the maul. Wales were more clinical, a team of winners.

Any word on Hoggy's injury?

For Italy I might be tempted to change things around a bit - start Jackson at 10, Finn on the bench. Finn has been a bit meh but could have good impact off the bench. Taylor stays in after a decent performance, could be tempted to put him to 13 if Scott's fit though. Toolis in for Swinson because Swinson is rubbish. Cowan to start instead of Barclay, Strauss on the bench. Nel was blowing out his erse from the hour mark but Vern would not replace him - guess he thinks Fagerson isn't ready? Tempted to give Low a shot, or Jon Welsh? Likewise Reid was a bit poopie, Sutherland in.

Finally, what to do about hooker? Ford's throwing not great but his bulk in the scrum so handy. Also not sure about the height differential between Mcinally and Nel - how does that work??

My team for Italy:
Dickinson
McInally/Ford
Nel
Gray
Gray
Cowan/Barclay
Hardie
Denton
Laidlaw
Jackson
Seymour
Taylor
Bennett
Maitland
Hogg

Sutherland
Ford/McInally
Low
Toolis
Strauss
SHC
Russell
Schlong/Visser/Hoyland/Dunbar? Horses for courses

That bench looks like it can deliver much more impact. Nothing says desparation like bringing Meatball on when you're chasing the game!

by **RDW** Sun 14 Feb 2016, 2:30 pm

The Italy game is going to be as hard as ever looking at them today.

If we make it a slug fest we will lose - when England up the tempo they can't cope.

by EWT Spoons Sun 14 Feb 2016, 3:56 pm

I think the only change I'd make to the starting 15, would be visser in for lamont. Nothing against him as he did ok, but visser is an actual attacking threat whereas lamont isn't.

Other than that I'd make some changes to the bench. Reid out for sutherland, swinson out for toolis, Cowan out (head knock related) for harley or potentially Watson. Weir out for Jackson

Also it's easy to blame ford for the lineout issues we have but I didn't think he was to blame, none of them looked particularly bad, with that said I have no idea what the call was so he could have been having a total mare.

by 123456789 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 8:35 pm

That game was a bit of a wake up call; if you look at the experience and achievements of that Wales team compared to our own then there really is absolutely no comparison. But the positive was that yesterday wasn't a brave Herculean effort that fell short nor was it referees screwing us over, it was simply us losing a 50-50 game.
I think we'll beat Italy and the way the Irish are playing they shouldn't hold much of a threat, nor the French really, we could win our last three matches especially if we play well against Italy. Three wins is a good result for Scotland, yes it's been a disappointing start but losing to the two favourites with a points difference of 10 really isn't too bad especially when you consider how close we were to winning them and how poor we were against England. If come the end of the tournament we've lost every game by less than 7 and everyone is talking about the bounce of the ball and referees decisions being the difference between a wooden spoon and a grand slam then I'll be annoyed.

by RuggerRadge2611 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:08 pm

I agree, that's our 2 toughest matches done. Winning the next 3 is very achievable especially with Ireland's players keeping the A&E wards busy.

by Gwlad Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:41 pm

Scots were pretty awesome, i was concerned, smart pinning us back so that our much vaunted new wide game had to start in our own 22, but your defensive structure seemed to fall apart….. England were lucky and i still reckon you'll beat France or Ireland and Italy. Patience.

by GLove39 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:48 pm

Gwlad wrote:Scots were pretty awesome, i was concerned, smart pinning us back so that our much vaunted new wide game had to start in our own 22, but your defensive structure seemed to fall apart….. England were lucky and i still reckon you'll beat France or Ireland and Italy. Patience.

Arghhhhhh, it's been 723 days (or 1 year, 11 months, 24 days) since we won a 6 Nations game!!!! Absolutely gagging for a win.

by GLove39 Sun 14 Feb 2016, 11:50 pm

But yeah at the risk of jinxing things, reckon we could do a continental couple.

Although concerned that Cotter talked about altering tactics against Italy. As England showed today, keep the pace high & eventually they can be ran off their feet.

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