Stuart Hogg

Can't wait to see Scotland's answer to Shane Williams play today. Good luck.

He is a very exciting prospect.

I still think Lee Jones is the closest you have to Shane Williams, but Hogg looks decent enough.

Good finish! Can't wait to see a Hogg, Jones and VISSER back three!

Yeah today's performance just highlighted the potential of the Scottish backline. With Visser and Scott involved things are gonna get really exciting. Something like this would be brilliant.

9. Blair
10. Laidlaw
11. Visser
12. Scott
13. Lamont or De Luca
14. Jones
15. Hogg

If we can't win games with that backline then we may as well give up

Visser is an out and out mercenary. I can't betray my standards in the case of any side and the fact remains that Scotland will have walked down the quick route of exploiting a flawed law if they cap Visser.

That aside they are developing a tasty looking backline. Hogg was the best back out of both sides imo, he'll be a contender at 15 for the Lions if he carries on.

Knowsit17 wrote:Visser is an out and out mercenary. I can't betray my standards in the case of any side and the fact remains that Scotland will have walked down the quick route of exploiting a flawed law if they cap Visser.

That aside they are developing a tasty looking backline. Hogg was the best back out of both sides imo, he'll be a contender at 15 for the Lions if he carries on.

Where are you from Knowsit17?

Knowsit17 wrote:Visser is an out and out mercenary. I can't betray my standards in the case of any side and the fact remains that Scotland will have walked down the quick route of exploiting a flawed law if they cap Visser.

From the mouth of MacVisser himself:

Tim "Mac" Visser wrote:There's been a lot of talk, particularly among Edinburgh fans, about my qualification for Scotland. It would be an absolute honour to represent Scotland, a country whose fans have adopted me into their rugby family and made me the player I am today.

I'm not sure what more you'd want him to say. So he wasn't born in Scotland. Neither were Barclay, Hamilton, Jackson, Kalman, Denton, Evans or Morrison. In fact, neither was I.

It's the unfortunate consequence of being such an unfailingly awesome country that people want to play for Scotland. I suppose Ben Morgan must have thought the opposite about Wales...

Visser is a better player because Edinburgh gave him a shot and made him feel at home, and he wants to repay that loyalty be playing for Scotland. I don't think it's your place to tell him he's wrong.

Knowsit17 wrote:Visser is an out and out mercenary. I can't betray my standards in the case of any side and the fact remains that Scotland will have walked down the quick route of exploiting a flawed law if they cap Visser.

That aside they are developing a tasty looking backline. Hogg was the best back out of both sides imo, he'll be a contender at 15 for the Lions if he carries on.

Ahem thats rich coming from a Welshman

Jon Davies - Solihull
Lydiate - Salford
North - Kings Lynn
Cuthbert - Gloucester
Ian Evans - Johannesburg, SA
Toby Faletau - Tofua, Tonga

and thats just the starting 15 on Saturday

flyhalffactory wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:Visser is an out and out mercenary. I can't betray my standards in the case of any side and the fact remains that Scotland will have walked down the quick route of exploiting a flawed law if they cap Visser.

That aside they are developing a tasty looking backline. Hogg was the best back out of both sides imo, he'll be a contender at 15 for the Lions if he carries on.

Ahem thats rich coming from a Welshman

Jon Davies - Solihull
Lydiate - Salford
North - Kings Lynn
Cuthbert - Gloucester
Ian Evans - Johannesburg, SA
Toby Faletau - Tofua, Tonga

and thats just the starting 15 on Saturday

But it's not simply about where they were born is it, all the players mentioned qualified by more than a three-year residency rule. And I'd stand by that in anyone's case (as I believe I've said already) which is why I'm glad Wales didn't get to poach Ben Morgan.

Where are you from Knowsit17?

Cwmbran, why? Is there something relevant about where I'm from?

Knowsit17 wrote:

flyhalffactory wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:Visser is an out and out mercenary. I can't betray my standards in the case of any side and the fact remains that Scotland will have walked down the quick route of exploiting a flawed law if they cap Visser.

That aside they are developing a tasty looking backline. Hogg was the best back out of both sides imo, he'll be a contender at 15 for the Lions if he carries on.

Ahem thats rich coming from a Welshman

Jon Davies - Solihull
Lydiate - Salford
North - Kings Lynn
Cuthbert - Gloucester
Ian Evans - Johannesburg, SA
Toby Faletau - Tofua, Tonga

and thats just the starting 15 on Saturday

But it's not simply about where they were born is it, all the players mentioned qualified by more than a three-year residency rule. And I'd stand by that in anyone's case (as I believe I've said already) which is why I'm glad Wales didn't get to poach Ben Morgan.

Where are you from Knowsit17?

Cwmbran, why? Is there something relevant about where I'm from?

Knowsit
Do you think the above players are Welsh then ?

Its as simple as you want it to be.....

* born in a country then play there only!!
* play in a county for 1...3.....5...... 7 yrs..........10 yrs

If those players (and they are arguably the stand out players for Wales) played for the country of their birth, then it might all be a tad different

Didn't I already say it's not a simple case of where you're born? That's not the point at all.

But to answer your question anyway, yes I can safely say I feel they are Welsh, for one thing because most of them have Welsh parents and those who don't (only Faletau by my count) spent the majority of their upbringing in Wales, not just three years. It's not the fact that they were born outside Wales, it's the fact that they can call Wales home that counts. Most of them are fluent Welsh speakers and I can assure you they all consider themselves to be Welsh.

Can you truthfully say that Visser considers himself Scottish? That he thinks of Scotland as home over Holland? Does he want to play for Scotland more because he feels Scottish or just to play top tier rugby for the first team that'll have him ala Shingler?

They're two cases you just can't compare. Sorry but Visser's a mercenary, plain and simple.

Knowsit

I have worked in Wales quite a bit, and I can assure you only North and Davies of those above can speak your native tongue, the others haven't even attempted to learn the fundamentals of the language

Secondly Visser trains more than any other player, lives and breaths Edinburgh rugby, he goes twice weekly to local schools attempting to integrate youths into the game, he also with his bro chats to young adults who have problems in life encouraging them to train in the local gyms

Can you say that the above Welsh players do that, how many of them will be playing in the principality when they get to the stage of renewing their contracts or will they be off to the south of france like alot of your other "Welshmen"

Sorry I can see where you are coming from, but I cannae see............ that a residency ruling doesnt make you more of a nationalist than living in a country most of your life, its what you put into a community or country that counts

Wow this has gone off topic.

Back on topic : Hogg is the most promising prospect we've had since Thom Evans. Touch wood - Hogg has a great career ahead of him.

Sorry

Bit distraught after coming back from the match (sorry Knowsit mate)

Hogg looked the part today, defence is a bit fragile however he is the real deal, searing pace, great positioning and awarenest and is bloody brave to boot

No probs mate, was going to say something else but will leave it alone now, for another thread in future

Most of those Welsh players have lived in Wales since before they could walk and talk with the exception of George North who moved from Krypton to Wales when he was 18.

idris wrote:Good finish! Can't wait to see a Hogg, Jones and VISSER back three!

Ouch, that would be a very good back 3.

Just need some centres now...

Centres - we have them its just Robinson is too feart to play them.

Hogg may have just done Scotland the world of good, Robinson really needed one of the yougnsters to repay his faith (considering how conservatise the man usually is when it comes to the backs) and Hogg really really did that.

He was excellant, has a real eye for the outside break, and amazing acceleration, he was very dangerous, best back on the pitch for me challenged only by Fofana. Robinson needs to look at the way a bit of youthful energy and confidence really helped scotlands backs, getting Scott/Visser in there will only help more.

Big mention to Nick De Luca today aswell, he looked at home as a defensive 13, worked out the French runners coming from deep perfectly a number of times and really stopped their go forward, big thumping tackles. Was glad to see him make a positive impact on the game at this level, ive given him a fair bit of stick previously.

Comfort wrote:Hogg may have just done Scotland the world of good, Robinson really needed one of the youngsters to repay his faith (considering how conservative the man usually is when it comes to the backs) and Hogg really really did that.

He was excellent, has a real eye for the outside break, and amazing acceleration, he was very dangerous, best back on the pitch for me challenged only by Fofana. Robinson needs to look at the way a bit of youthful energy and confidence really helped Scotland's backs, getting Scott/MacVisser in there will only help more.

Big mention to Nick De Luca today as well, he looked at home as a defensive 13, worked out the French runners coming from deep perfectly a number of times and really stopped their go forward, big thumping tackles. Was glad to see him make a positive impact on the game at this level

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