The Glasgow and Edinburgh General Chat. Discussions are limited to 6 people before 10pm to prevent the spread of Jimboish.

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Another chat thread dedicated to speculation, rumination, and general perambulation through the trials and tribulations of the club from the west with no forwards and the club from the east without a backs coach.

One day we'll have more rugby to talk about!

RDW wrote:That would be a good signing.

Can hear Glasgow fans reactions already, given they're also in need of a 10/12!

It is an out and out 10 we need, well two of them to be exact. We have plenty of 12s, Horne, Johnson and McDowell.

Lang is primarily a 12 these days, so Edinburgh probably a better home, though I might live to regret saying that!

True, although we're not in bad shape with Dean a solid pro and Taylor looking good before his horrific injury.

Lang may well be an upgrade on those two.

Toonie seems to think so at any rste, though he has stuttered a bit in his Scotland performances so far. There is a bit of a vacancy at 12 in the national team though for someone to put up their hand for.

So, Edinburgh let Matt Scott go, but in turn sign James Lang.
That really doesn't make much sense to me.

Anglobraveheart wrote:So, Edinburgh let Matt Scott go, but in turn sign James Lang.
That really doesn't make much sense to me.

Agreed, but I'm guessing he's coming because we're losing players elsewhere.

Lang is s younger, maybe more robust version of MS, whoes time unfortunately has probably past

BigGee wrote:

RDW wrote:https://www.rugbypass.com/news/jamie-bhatti-on-why-he-had-to-leave-edinburgh/

Bhatti speaks, and gives another insight into life at Edinburgh. I feel there is a lot unsaid here, but he does say he has no ill will towards Cockerill.

He's definitely one you hope succeeds from a personal perspective, but from a rugby perspective we really can't afford to lose someone who can do a job at international level.

A great back story, we had heard bits of it before but not that much.

I am sure he is doing the right thing in seeking pastures new, he certainly won't die wondering.

Edinburgh seem to be lining up another SA LH ftrom the Cheetahs to replace him from this February. I guess it is forward thinking as they will be loosing Schoeman to international duties from next november.

I know there’s been a run of bad stories about various Glasgow and Edinburgh players missing out on being resigned or not getting game time but if you have three good LH props you can’t play them all every week. At least at Bath he’ll hopefully get more game time and if he doesn’t then perhaps he’s not quite at the level that would ensure he’s in the shop window for Scotland week in week out. Bath have some good forwards so he’s going to have to work hard to be on the team sheet regularly. A change of setting will be good for him though I imagine.

Lang coming in would be fantastic! I’m sure he’ll be happy to get some more game time at 10 and help out in the midfield where he can. More likely to retain his spot with Scotland too.

bsando wrote:

BigGee wrote:

RDW wrote:https://www.rugbypass.com/news/jamie-bhatti-on-why-he-had-to-leave-edinburgh/

Bhatti speaks, and gives another insight into life at Edinburgh. I feel there is a lot unsaid here, but he does say he has no ill will towards Cockerill.

He's definitely one you hope succeeds from a personal perspective, but from a rugby perspective we really can't afford to lose someone who can do a job at international level.

A great back story, we had heard bits of it before but not that much.

I am sure he is doing the right thing in seeking pastures new, he certainly won't die wondering.

Edinburgh seem to be lining up another SA LH ftrom the Cheetahs to replace him from this February. I guess it is forward thinking as they will be loosing Schoeman to international duties from next november.

I know there’s been a run of bad stories about various Glasgow and Edinburgh players missing out on being resigned or not getting game time but if you have three good LH props you can’t play them all every week. At least at Bath he’ll hopefully get more game time and if he doesn’t then perhaps he’s not quite at the level that would ensure he’s in the shop window for Scotland week in week out. Bath have some good forwards so he’s going to have to work hard to be on the team sheet regularly. A change of setting will be good for him though I imagine.

Lang coming in would be fantastic! I’m sure he’ll be happy to get some more game time at 10 and help out in the midfield where he can. More likely to retain his spot with Scotland too.

I understand the positivity around Lang being young and more likely to enhance his Scotland chances. But, he must be 4th or 5th in the pecking order of choice for the 12 shirt, not including Scott, and he must be 5th choice at number 10, when all are fit. I just don't see him as anything to get excited about, especially after his less than dynamic contributions in the recent internationals that he got game time in.
It just seems a bit uninspiring, and I'd rather that we gave the opportunity to some of the youngsters coming through. Give them game time and the chance to grow in the pro environment.
Why not leave Lang where he is, and let an English team pay his wages?

I would probably want to judge Lang playing outside a better 10 like Hastings or Russell than we saw in the autumn. He has looked good playing outside Smith at Quins.

No-one is really standing up at 12 for Edinburgh. Dean has never really kicked on, Taylor might, but has only looked a club player so far in his career.

Their midfield is not doing their back three justice atm

Boys, boys!!!
Does it matter if Lang plays 10 or 12 for the Perfumed primadonnas? Does it matter if tigertattie plays in either of those roles? He'll be outside a Cockers coached pack and playing to Cockers' gameplan.
He'll be so underemployed he wont be on wages but on Furlough.

p.s. Is there a Ryan Wilson Brotherly Love And Harmonious Understanding Award this year? If so ...it's feccin mine.

jimbopip wrote:Boys, boys!!!
Does it matter if Lang plays 10 or 12 for the Perfumed primadonnas? Does it matter if tigertattie plays in either of those roles? He'll be outside a Cockers coached pack and playing to Cockers' gameplan.
He'll be so underemployed he wont be on wages but on Furlough.

p.s. Is there a Ryan Wilson Brotherly Love And Harmonious Understanding Award this year? If so ...it's feccin mine.

I'm guessing there's more to this....?

That's a good point about awards - I'll set them up!

BigGee wrote:I would probably want to judge Lang playing outside a better 10 like Hastings or Russell than we saw in the autumn. He has looked good playing outside Smith at Quins.

No-one is really standing up at 12 for Edinburgh. Dean has never really kicked on, Taylor might, but has only looked a club player so far in his career.

Their midfield is not doing their back three justice atm

Their midfield doesn't get the ball to do their back three justice!

Scott Cummings re-signs for Glasgow on a multi- year deal.

That is a very important result for us, as he may well be our future captain and the sort of player we can build a team around. We needed something to steady the ship and this may well be it!

Glasgow's midweek photos from training release, heavily features Leone Nakarawa taking a full part in training.

Looks like he is just about ready to play and we might well see him lining up against the Luvies on Saturday!

Could be Cummings and Gray in the engine room, with Nakarawa off the bench for Gray at half time?

There was talk from DW of Naks playing in the back row

Will Nakarawa be match fit enough for more than half a game? Could be a great bench option to wreak havoc in the second half.

There may be some competition for slots in the second row at Glasgow this weekend, today's shots featured Ritchie Gray prominently taking a part in training, so looks like he is on the mend as well.

The main walking wounded that we have not seen yet, has been George Horne unfortunately.

https://www.606v2.com/t69903-edinburgh-v-glasgow-the-1872-cup-saturday-2nd-january-2021#3944627

Time for a match thread I reckon!

Let the banter commence!

Bryce tweeted that this is his last two weeks at Glasgow.

Not ideal for Glasgow during the 6N period! At least Huw Jones will get some gametime...

Bryce heading off to North America to join the Giltinis

Probably a good move for him as he was unlikely to stay beyond the end of the season

3 months out for both Fraser Brown (neck injury) and George Horne (foot op). Hard to see either of them featuring in the 6N this year. Alex Allan also misses the rest of the season with an Achilles injury.

Been a pretty brutal year for the Warriors on the injury front. I guess we will see a bit of Thornton and Lambert during the 6N window, which is no bad thing. Turner will finally get the chance to show us if he can be a starter rather than a dynamic sub as well, that means improving his arrows considerably!

Plenty of game time for Dobie as well who could be pushing his way into the Scotland squad by next summer as well if he continue on the current trajectory.

2020 keeping up it's standards right to the bitter end.
Fecc.

Thistle Rugby Podcast saying Lang to Edinburgh is a done deal!

20/21 will probably be the number of passes he receives next season.

jimbopip wrote:20/21 will probably be the number of passes he receives next season.

As many as that?

BigGee wrote:Thistle Rugby Podcast saying Lang to Edinburgh is a done deal!

Not what we need at all. Horrid news about Fraser Brown as well. Had a great shot at making the Lions in my view.

Happy New Year to you all. May 2021 be much better in all respects, including from a Scottish Rugby perspective!!

Watching the Gloucester v Sale game tonight, the 19 year old Sale winger, Tom Roebuck is SQ, born in Inverness. The commentators referred to him as the Scotsman.

Looks a decent player, big and fast and starting for a side as good as Sale in the Premiership, one you might imagine would be on Toonie's radar.

Being born in Inverness is akin to playing rugby for Ayr. A guarantee of World Class....

Duncan Weir giving a very strong hint in a Sunday Times article, that he will be heading back to Glasgow next season, which will be a good move for both parties. That just means we will be needing one more in that position.

He has also just had the afro chopped off after raising 16K for his local children's hospice.

What a good lad!

Just watched Leicester v Bath this afternoon

Matt Scott still looking a bit ponderous in the Leicester midfield, not really putting up his hand for the Scotland 12 shirt, I wonder if his time as an international may be done now.

One for the future though is Cameron Henderson, who came off the Leicester bench, scored the winning try and had a very good 20 mins. Boy could we use him at Glasgow atm, but good to see him progressing at the Tigers. He has future international written all over him as well.

Henderson has looked good at Tigers. One of three good young locks in the development squad with the other two both playing some blindside as well. Henderson has a three year deal with Tigers, two years development squad and then one year senior pro. Whether that gets re-negotiated next summer will be interesting as both he and Martin looked to be the future lock combo for Tigers.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Henderson has looked good at Tigers. One of three good young locks in the development squad with the other two both playing some blindside as well. Henderson has a three year deal with Tigers, two years development squad and then one year senior pro. Whether that gets re-negotiated next summer will be interesting as both he and Martin looked to be the future lock combo for Tigers.

They will do well to try and tie him down, I am sure he will get offers including from up north, if he keeps playing like that.

BigGee wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Henderson has looked good at Tigers. One of three good young locks in the development squad with the other two both playing some blindside as well. Henderson has a three year deal with Tigers, two years development squad and then one year senior pro. Whether that gets re-negotiated next summer will be interesting as both he and Martin looked to be the future lock combo for Tigers.

They will do well to try and tie him down, I am sure he will get offers including from up north, if he keeps playing like that.

Well he's got two more years after this one. By the end of those three years I'd expect that Lavanini and Green will have left/retired and we will have promoted internally with all of Martin, Chessum and Henderson in the first team. If in his early 20s he isn't happy with being a regular in a Tigers team that should be back towards the top 6 then it must be some offer from elsewhere. He's also EQ I think so I wouldn't rule out a change in heart either.

The depth of young talent at Tigers is good we just need to create the platform for them to develop into. Genge is still only 2 and our 19 year old England under 20s loosehead made his debut in Europe this season Whitcombe (did fine at scrum time too), we've got young Heyes in his early 20s that has been training with England. Reffell who is a regular in the team at 22 and who captained Wales under 20s. White at 21/22 a 9 who captained England under 20s and JVP at 19 who played the second half of the game today. Steward the 15 who played today is only 20 but is easily the first choice 15 and likely to be in the 6N training squad at least. We've picked up Dan Kelly from Loughborough University who was Ireland's starting 13 during the last J6N and who has played a few games in the first team. There's a couple more as well as the locks I mentioned. Tigers should be a good bet for the next few years.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

BigGee wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:Henderson has looked good at Tigers. One of three good young locks in the development squad with the other two both playing some blindside as well. Henderson has a three year deal with Tigers, two years development squad and then one year senior pro. Whether that gets re-negotiated next summer will be interesting as both he and Martin looked to be the future lock combo for Tigers.

They will do well to try and tie him down, I am sure he will get offers including from up north, if he keeps playing like that.

Well he's got two more years after this one. By the end of those three years I'd expect that Lavanini and Green will have left/retired and we will have promoted internally with all of Martin, Chessum and Henderson in the first team. If in his early 20s he isn't happy with being a regular in a Tigers team that should be back towards the top 6 then it must be some offer from elsewhere. He's also EQ I think so I wouldn't rule out a change in heart either.

The depth of young talent at Tigers is good we just need to create the platform for them to develop into. Genge is still only 2 and our 19 year old England under 20s loosehead made his debut in Europe this season Whitcombe (did fine at scrum time too), we've got young Heyes in his early 20s that has been training with England. Reffell who is a regular in the team at 22 and who captained Wales under 20s. White at 21/22 a 9 who captained England under 20s and JVP at 19 who played the second half of the game today. Steward the 15 who played today is only 20 but is easily the first choice 15 and likely to be in the 6N training squad at least. We've picked up Dan Kelly from Loughborough University who was Ireland's starting 13 during the last J6N and who has played a few games in the first team. There's a couple more as well as the locks I mentioned. Tigers should be a good bet for the next few years.

I would imagine you could buy out a development contract, they are not going to be on very much.

Still, probably better for Scottish rugby if he stays down there and develops. Second row seems to be a position we are not so badly off with which is maybe why we did not try as hard as we should to hang on to him, though the way things have panned out this year at Glasgow with injuries, he would likely have played for us a decent amount as well. Just so long as he does not decide to switch flags! With a name like Cameron Henderson though, you got to fancy he will stay Scottish and with Gray Snr, Gilchrist and Toolis unlikely to go past the next WC, there will be places up for grabs for the next generation.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Being born in Inverness is akin to playing rugby for Ayr. A guarantee of World Class....

I came as soon as I heard the World Class Siren.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Being born in Inverness is akin to playing rugby for Ayr. A guarantee of World Class....

I came as soon as I heard the World Class Siren.

I think that is more information than we needed.

The frustrating thing with the SRU is that it seems like they have a skill at hacking players off so it is difficult to know why players have left sometimes. I am hoping that Cameron Henderson has not been put off playing for Scotland as he could easily come into contention after 2023 as someone has already mentioned. Regret saying it is likely the best for him to leave and get game time at Leicester than being blocked at Glasgow given Davidson and Sykes went east.

Lang to Edinburgh makes some sense on paper but I am not sure it would work in practice. Edinburgh need another 10 who will be around during international breaks rather than a 12 who can cover 10 and may also be called up. Lang would be an upgrade on Dean and G Taylor admittedly. Would prefer someone like a Stephen Myler who fancies another year before retirement and maybe do a bit of coaching on the side would be ideal but not sure who fits the bill. Maybe Gopperth will find himself squeezed out at Wasps and Edinburgh could offer him two years?

We are developing a young hooker for you aswell former Scotland u20 hooker Robbie Smith (22). Hes only 5'9 but at nearly 18st hes a tank. We're quite good with those at the moment. Mcguigan and Blamire are looking very good. Be interesting to see how he goes.

Thankfully Fslcons have always been our third team!

Is the SRU running out of funds that quickly that every player earning over £30k a year needs to be offloaded?

Also with Duhan moving clubs as soon as he was capped it really does make it look like totally mercenary behaviour.

The old residency debate shall rage on

DVDM is off to Worcester

Hard to blame him if the rumoured 300K pa is what he has gone for. Edinburgh could utilise their budget s lot better than that.

If that is his market rate and it can't be mstched or got close to, then good luck to him.

It seems a hell of a lot for Worcester to pay for a winger though!

tigertattie wrote:Is the SRU running out of funds that quickly that every player earning over £30k a year needs to be offloaded?

Also with Duhan moving clubs as soon as he was capped it really does make it look like totally mercenary behaviour.

The old residency debate shall rage on

It will but i don't see why.

The rules have been changed now so is old news.

That kind of money will turn any players head, it is a short career that could end every time you play these days.

This is about Worcester throwing silly money around, not residency!

Oh I have no issue with mk2 moving to Worcester. Especially if the salary is as reported. He needs to earn a living.

The bit that sticks in my throat is that he came to Scotland for the money. He’s now away for more money. It makes his original move here a bit of a laughing point. It leaves Edinburgh short of a top quality player also.

I’ve always said that players like Denton came to Scotland and then found Scottish rugby. I don’t like players who come here only for the rugby. It risks putting blockers, or even perceived blockers in place for youngsters coming through the ranks. Obviously the change to the years of residency will help.

The bright side is that it frees up space for a new winger to develop at Edinburgh.

Honestly the thing that annoys me about this is that Duhan is going to be playing at Worcester for the foreseeable future. There are many premiership teams I would rather he was playing for, but I guess no others came up with similar offers

He may well spend a good bit of time standing out on his wing getting cold down in Worcester

But i guess coming from Edinburgh, he will be used to that!

I'm disappointed that he's picked Worcester, but otherwise completely understanding of the move. From an Edinburgh perspective, Blain is ready to step straight into his shoes, and nothing wrong with Farndale, Sau and Hoyland. Duhan is a special player, but he's put up with Hodge and our useless backline long enough. It might even improve cohesion and teamwork, now we can't just rely on chucking the ball to Duhan.

The Luvvies' will all be breathless with anticipation to see what masterplan Hodge will devise to replace his grounbreaking, "Let the fat boys smash it up the middle for twenty minutes... then whoever's first to the ruck throw a 30 yard miss pass in the general direction of the big fast lad. wait till the second half and do it again."

Also, if Worcester have increased their wages bill, and wonderful Scottish player with interesting hair quota, then that must mean Meatball is returning. ( If only because it puts young BT out of his misery)