Scotland vs England - Match Thread - Team News - etc...

[HERSH]

First topic message reminder :

How the teams line up

England team: B Foden; C Ashton, M Tuilagi, M Tindall, D Armitage; J Wilkinson, B Youngs; M Stevens, S Thompson, D Cole, L Deacon, C Lawes, T Croft, L Moody (capt), J Haskell.

Replacements: D Hartley, A Corbisiero, T Palmer, N Easter, R Wigglesworth, T Flood, M Banahan.

Scotland team: C Paterson; M Evans, J Ansbro, S Lamont, S Danielli; R Jackson, M Blair; A Jacobsen, R Ford, E Murray, R Gray, A Kellock (capt), A Strokosch , J Barclay, R Vernon.

Replacements: S Lawson, A Dickinson, N Hines, R Rennie, C Cusiter, D Parks, N De Luca.



Last 10 meetings

2011 England 22 - 16 Scotland
2010 Scotland 15 - 15 England
2009 England 26 - 12 Scotland
2008 Scotland 15 - 9 England
2007 England 42 - 20 Scotland
2006 Scotland 18 - 12 England
2005 England 43 - 22 Scotland
2004 Scotland 13 - 35 England
2003 England 40 - 9 Scotland
2002 Scotland 3 - 29 England

England 7 - Scotland 2 - Draw 1

England 273 pts - Scotland 143 pts


IMO on paper the Scots might as well start packing their bags, but I have a strange feeling they might just pull it off, Chris Paterson will have plenty of shots at goal if England continue getting penalised at the breakdown and we all know what that means, he very rarely misses unless his wearing cherry and White!

Or am I being silly?


RWC so far

England

Argentina 9 - 13 England
England 41 - 10 Georgia
England 67 - 3 Romania

England PF 121 pts - PA 22pts


Scotland

Scotland 34 - 24 Romania
Scotland 15 - 6 Georgia
Argentina 13 - 12 Scotland

Scotland PF 61 - PA 43


Missed this one,

England 17 tries to Scotlands 4



Discuss

[RuggerRadge2611]

Four people travelling on a train. An Englishman, a Scotsman, an old lady and a very fit blonde with huge boobs. They go into a dark tunnel and hear a very loud slap! when they come out the Englishman is rubbing his face.

The Englishman thinks "I bet the Scots guy touched the blondes boobs and she slapped me by mistake"

The old lady thinks "I bet he tried touching the blondes boobs and got slapped"

The Blonde thinks "I bet he thought he was touching me but got the old lady instead"

And the Scotsman thinks "I can’t wait to go into another tunnel so I can slap Great White again"

That one really brightened up my day

[BATH_BTGOG]

very good

How is everybody’s nerves holding, mine was ok until today.

On the eve of the game I’m beginning to realise just how big a game it is and picturing what life will be like if Scotland did win by more than 7 pts.

On the Brightside England’s world cup kit will be slashed in price, but would I want to wear one?

[TheGreyGhost]

I dunno Bath, I still see guys proudly wearing the Lions kit

[HERSH]

What 1997 Lions Shirt.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Ah hilarity ensues. its a good job there are two FRISPS here now. When someone tells a joke, one can laugh, while the other one thinks about it.

So Great White (aka the Salisbury hard ticket - I guess he must be the ONLY ONE !) is reduced to racist bile. What a complete &*nK&r

[HERSH]

+1

[rodders]

Four people travelling on a train. An Englishman, a Scotsman, an old lady and a very fit blonde with huge boobs. They go into a dark tunnel and hear a very loud slap! when they come out the Englishman is rubbing his face.

The Englishman thinks "I bet the Scots guy touched the blondes boobs and she slapped me by mistake"

The old lady thinks "I bet he tried touching the blondes boobs and got slapped"

The Blonde thinks "I bet he thought he was touching me but got the old lady instead"

And the Scotsman thinks "I can’t wait to go into another tunnel so I can slap Great White again"

+ 1

[RubyGuby]

+2

[alcoombe]

Oh and Foden's metres run will be skewed by the fact that he runs from deep not 'from the gainline'

That would be true for all FBs though (and a number of wings & FHs, who also regularly field kicks), so in topping the metres made for the 6N & HC it still means that he surpasses all other players in a similar position in those competitions in that particular regard. He still stands out for his clean breaks and defenders beaten though, which certainly considering the rest of the players keeping him company at the top of the tables is less positionally lead.

[Biltong]

It looks like this thread will hit a thousand posts before the match.

Wonder what will be left to say after the fact.

[yappysnap]

Oh and Foden's metres run will be skewed by the fact that he runs from deep not 'from the gainline'

That would be true for all FBs though (and a number of wings & FHs, who also regularly field kicks), so in topping the metres made for the 6N & HC it still means that he surpasses all other players in a similar position in those competitions in that particular regard. He still stands out for his clean breaks and defenders beaten though, which certainly considering the rest of the players keeping him company at the top of the tables is less positionally lead.

Owned.

[Comfort]

Oh and Foden's metres run will be skewed by the fact that he runs from deep not 'from the gainline'

That would be true for all FBs though (and a number of wings & FHs, who also regularly field kicks), so in topping the metres made for the 6N & HC it still means that he surpasses all other players in a similar position in those competitions in that particular regard. He still stands out for his clean breaks and defenders beaten though, which certainly considering the rest of the players keeping him company at the top of the tables is less positionally lead.

Owned.

maybe even "pwned".

[TheGreyGhost]

Did they add the meters he ran to switch the balls prior to the shots at goal to those stats?

[Luckless Pedestrian]

I have to say I couldn't care less how many metres a player's run during a game, any more than I care how many metres a bowler has run during in his run-ups over a day's play.

[trebellbobaggins]

GG..

NZ's finest ambassador.

[robbo277]

I have to say I couldn't care less how many metres a player's run during a game, any more than I care how many metres a bowler has run during in his run-ups over a day's play.

It's not a stat on metres run, it's a stat on how far he's carried the ball forward.

[Cowshot]

Given that both countries have a long and proud history of carrying the ball sideways, it might be a stat worth having for this particular game.

I'm very interested to see how this England side fires. It is, I think, the 1st XV and we know that the Scottish spoiling game can be incredibly destructive (and kudos to them for it). So there's a sort of irresistible force/immovable object feel to the game.

Only a bit over 12 hours now...

[flyhalffactory]

Given that both countries have a long and proud history of carrying the ball sideways, it might be a stat worth having for this particular game.

What exactly does that mean


By the way you have actually noticed the side that AR has picked, if anyone is going to do a bit of spoiling its going to be the boys in white........... sorry the boys in black

[racingnut]

For all that Scotland are saying that they are going to play an expansive game(Scotland and expansive in the same sentence!) the fact remains that to play with ball in hand you first need to win the balland quick ball to boot,for the life of me i just cant see it.They will "get in the way" and slow ball down for sure but the backline hasnt looked like scoring a try against anything that resembles decent opposition and theres no reason to think that tomorrow should be any different.The boot of Chris Patterson looks like the main and only threat.Although im totally one eyed on this game i cant get that over enthused about England,they have been good,bad and at times down right ugly.Cant afford the penalty count to get out of hand and the sometimes frenetic handling has smacked of schoolboy rugby but i still think that they have too much in the back division for Scotland to contain and if i had to pick out one threat then it would be Tuilagi,particularly on the short pass,he is devestating.It wont be pretty but i for one was not expecting it to be but England by around the 10 point mark for me.

[flyhalffactory]

racingnut

If you have actually looked at ARs selection you will realise that we have rarely selected a more attacking back-line.

Schlong at I/C with Ansbro has the potential to be pretty lethal and Max Evans is always looking to create opportunities. Have to say we need our back-line to actually defend this match though.

Our forwards will not lose that much in the set-piece, and hence our key men will be our half-backs, if our pack can provide Jackson with quick ball he will get our midfield going........ and then who knows.

[TheGreyGhost]

Has there ever been a match thread that started a week early and reached ten pages 12 hours prior to kick off?

[Davie]

England by 30 - and I'm teeing off for a game of golf only 40 minutes after the expected final whistle time with a couple of Scots.

Should be a fun morning!

[TheGreyGhost]

Or a veeeerrrry long day Davie...

[Cowshot]

What exactly does that mean

That you've risen like a trout to the fly? I was being equally rude about both sides' reputation for back play. At least in part because both sides have back lines with ambition these days, even if it hasn't always worked.

Scotland do best when they throw everything, including the kitchen sink, the deep fat fryer AND the haggis at the opposition. If you can produce a performance like SA last year then you might do us. I think most of us are aware of that. Even if on paper we ought to do you comfortably...

I'm hoping that we don't need to do much in the way of spoiling. That we retain possession and show some nous in the counter-ruck. I'm hoping we can pull you into mauls early on and let the back three fly...

Heck, I'm hoping this England side can show what it really can do and tears Scotland a new one! But we both know it's knockout, that the form book means nothing and it's winner takes all. Either side could win it or lose it.

Less than 11 hours...

[TheGreyGhost]

Personally I think Scotland's team indicates they've picked the wrong game plan. England have shown they are vulnerable to the direct approach. Scotland have the pack to achieve this. But it looks like they're going to try to out run them. Bad bad bad mistake. For all England's faults, they outmatch Scotland out wide and will have too much structure in defence.

[PJHolybloke]

Personally I think Scotland's team indicates they've picked the wrong game plan. England have shown they are vulnerable to the direct approach. Scotland have the pack to achieve this. But it looks like they're going to try to out run them. Bad bad bad mistake. For all England's faults, they outmatch Scotland out wide and will have too much structure in defence.

+1

It's mental but true, I totally agree with you TGG. Also, I can't understand the relatively lightweight midfield Scotland have picked - they do know Tindall and Tuilagi are playing don't they?

Back in March Scotland gave England a good going over and it could be fairly argued that they did enough to win the game, but fell at the final hurdle in much the same way as they did against Argentina, I would have thought more of the same would be the best approach to the game.

I wonder if Jo Ansbro will sleep well?

[BigTrevsbigmac]

Morning All - up early for a dog walk & & to ease pre match nerves.

Come on England!

[RDW]

Greetings from queens warf fan park in Auckland! Not much to add, other than come on Scotland!!!

[BigTrevsbigmac]

Is it raining there yet?

[flyhalffactory]

Personally I think Scotland's team indicates they've picked the wrong game plan. England have shown they are vulnerable to the direct approach. Scotland have the pack to achieve this. But it looks like they're going to try to out run them. Bad bad bad mistake. For all England's faults, they outmatch Scotland out wide and will have too much structure in defence.

+1

It's mental but true, I totally agree with you TGG. Also, I can't understand the relatively lightweight midfield Scotland have picked - they do know Tindall and Tuilagi are playing don't they?

Back in March Scotland gave England a good going over and it could be fairly argued that they did enough to win the game, but fell at the final hurdle in much the same way as they did against Argentina, I would have thought more of the same would be the best approach to the game.

I wonder if Jo Ansbro will sleep well?

AHEM!!! Amazing how little knowledge posters have, yes we know Tindall is playing that why we selected a player opposite him who is taller, heavier, and faster

Scotland Midfield

12 Lamont 6' 2" 16st 2lbs
13 Ansbro 6' 0" 15st 4lbs

England Midfield

12 Tindal 6' 1" 15st 10lbs
13 Tuilagi 6' 1" 17st 6lbs

I would say Ansbro had a fine sleep, probably only lack of sleep will be him wondering how a 17 1/2 stone Samoan is going to be able to turn and keep up with his step and swerve

[Guest]

All the best to both teams.
Looking forward to a brilliant match

[HammerofThunor]

Hopefully highly contested and low error game (in attack and defence).

[Biltong]

This game is now so much more important, with france losing to tonga it has shown they are simply completely out of form, whoever wins this poool has a semi final spot waiting for them.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Got to love ITV...lets look at scotland by talking about when their coach was with England.

[HammerofThunor]

Got to love ITV...lets look at scotland by talking about when their coach was with England.

Thinking the same. It was funny when Vickery ( ) said that Robinson should have been there in 2007 and then one from Robinson saying he should have gone earlier.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Got to love ITV...lets look at scotland by talking about when their coach was with England.

Thinking the same. It was funny when Vickery ( ) said that Robinson should have been there in 2007 and then one from Robinson saying he should have gone earlier.

Did you notice LOL get a sly dig in at Johnson as well? Talk about bitter.

[Cari]

Morning All

This should be an absolute corker of a match. Best of luck to both teams.

Nice to see Thom Evans in the studio....easier on the eye than the others

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Morning All

This should be an absolute corker of a match. Best of luck to both teams.

Nice to see Thom Evans in the studio....easier on the eye than the others

Yeah lets represent Scotland by getting in one of their English players. Im beginging to understand why some people get prissy about it now!
Im happy though, at least its possible to understand him.

[Guest]

so excited for this one, should a great team, good luck to both sides, but I can't help myself, C'mon Scotland!

[Cari]

I liked that player introduction section - that's cool.

This is the embarrassing bit when they're stood around the telly....

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

God LOL is a goon.

Armitage for Cueto takes away the kicking option? Has he checked how often England kkick form the back 3 now...and has he forgotten that Armitage used to play fullback and is a KICKING OPTION

[TheGreyGhost]

While it would be great for the Scotts to pull one out of the bag, they've looked poor. They've got the team selection utterly wrong for this one, and as I've said it indicates the game plan is wrong.

England by 17, conservatively. I think my rose filtering glasses are preventing me from seeing the true extent of the likely damage.

[Gatts]

Jonny seems to be walking strangely...injury? or perhaps his balls are the wrong shape, causing him strife

[TheGreyGhost]

He has looked a bit ginger since the ball switching incident. I guess you have to be more careful in international sport.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Jonny seems to be walking strangely...injury? or perhaps his balls are the wrong shape, causing him strife

Hes probably got the spares hidden up his shorts incase he needs a change

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

He has looked a bit ginger

Maybe just some of the fake tan got in his hair?

[Gatts]

Kevin the Psychic Cat says Scots score first and last

[Cari]

Kevin the Psychic Cat says Scots score first and last

Some great fancy dress cossies in the crowd.

[Cumbrian]

C'mon England!

[rodders]

Come on Scotland!!!

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