Scotland player rating

From the Torygraph:

Stuart Hogg - The teenager had played brilliantly against Wales and England, but was far less obvious in far more testing circumstances. 5/10

Lee Jones - Suffered a gruesome injury when he clashed heads with Andrew Trimble. Maybe to blame for Trimble's try, but ran a lovely support line for Gray's try. 6

Max Evans - Called in late after a difficult period in his life. Never really had the chance to work the magic he can produce. 5.

Graeme Morrison - A big game by the big centre. Not the most creative midfielder in world rugby, but he stood up well and made a couple of crucial turnovers. 7.

Sean Lamont - Looked fired up, but the winger's decision-making was questionable at times and was culpable at Redden's try. 5.

Greig Laidlaw - Zipped the ball along the Scottish backline at every opportunity but could maybe have used more tactical kicks than he did. 6.

Mike Blair - The scrum-half seemed less inclined than in recent games to take the ball on himself , but worked well with Greig Laidlaw before leaving with a knock. 6.

Allan Jacobsen - The veteran prop was tireless as ever in open play, but had problems in the scrums where he gave away a couple of penalties. 5.

Ross Ford - Made a solid contribution in his playing duties, especially at the lineout, but Scotland's composure problems ask questions of his captaincy. 6.

Geoff Cross - A difficult day in the scrum for the Edinburgh prop, who made way for Euan Murray just five minutes into the second half. 5.

Richie Gray - An fine and conspicuous performance by the haystack-haired lock, capped by a try of astonishing deftness for such a big man. 8.

Jim Hamilton - Another muscular display by the Gloucester giant, who made good yards on the few occasions he was given a chance. 6.

John Barclay - The natural openside showed his origins on a couple of crucial defensive occasions, but his workrate was faultless. 6.

Ross Rennie - Less effective than he has been in other championship games and it was maybe significant that he was the loose forward who was substituted. 5.

David Denton - Ran powerfully and tackled tirelessly. The big No.8 only added to his burgeoning reputation with this display. 7.

Replacements - Euan Murray seemed to have a positive effect on the Scottish scrum

Your thoughts? Some slightly too generous, and some downright wrong there imo.

I thought Euan Murray was hammered in the scrums

I was quite disappointed by Denton. One break off a scrum aside I don't recall noticing him.

15. Hogg- 5 MIA for the whole match.
14. Jones - 6 Couple of darting runs but nothing spectacular.
13. Evans - 5 too quiet
12. Morrison - 6 Not threatening enough
11. S.Lamont - 5 completely at fault for Reddan's try and did nothing worthy of note with ball in hand.
10. Laidlaw - 6 Telegraph comment 100% right.
9. Blair - 7 Thought he played pretty well, good line break and tackled his heart out.
8. Denton - 7 A good shift
7. Rennie - 7 See above
6. Barclay - 6 Out of position.
5. Gray - 8 A pillar of strength and had a good shift in the lineout. Selling Kearney that dummy was a thing of beauty although he probably had the power and strength to turn him into roadkill.
4. Hamilton - 7 Didn't do too much wrong.
3. Cross - 5 Struggled, but so did Murray.
2. Ford - 6 Good show in the lineout and he carried well.
1. Jacobsen - 5 Struggled all game long.

My tuppence anyway.

15. Hogg- 5 Unusually quiet, perhaps the tlak of the battle between master (Kearney) and apprentice (Hogg) got to him?
14. Jones - 5 Defensive frailties
13. Evans - 4 Stupid YC
12. Morrison - 5 Not threatening enough, and how many penalties? (3)
11. S.Lamont - 5 completely at fault for Reddan's try and did nothing worthy of note with ball in hand
10. Laidlaw - 5 Telegraph comment 100% right.
9. Blair - 7 Thought he played pretty well, good line break and tackled his heart out ( gets left to do far too much mopping up in defence imo)
8. Denton - 7 A good shift
7. Rennie - 7 See above
6. Barclay - 6 Selectorial mistake to hope that he would repeat the French display when out of position.
5. Gray - 8 A pillar of strength and had a good shift in the lineout. Selling Kearney that dummy was a thing of beauty although he probably had the power and strength to turn him into roadkill.
4. Hamilton - 7 Didn't do too much wrong.
3. Cross - 4 Struggled, but so did Murray.
2. Ford - 6 Good show in the lineout and he carried well; am concerned that the captaincy does not rest easily on his shoulders
1. Jacobsen - 4 Struggled all game long.

"Replacements - Euan Murray seemed to have a positive effect on the Scottish scrum"

Really - i did not see that at all

Riskysports wrote:"Replacements - Euan Murray seemed to have a positive effect on the Scottish scrum"

Really - i did not see that at all

If by positive you mean being marched back, wheeled and pushed off your own ball then yeah he did have a positive effect on the Scrum.

Standulstermen wrote:I was quite disappointed by Denton. One break off a scrum aside I don't recall noticing him.

Suppose it shows how far he's come that Saturday's display was classed as being quite, as I thought he actually had another good game, although agreed not the best he's had in the championship. The only number 8 that really stood out from the home nations was Ben Morgan. I wouldn't say anyone of the others stood out more than Denton did.

I thought Denton had a good game. Made that great carry off the back of the scrum and got through a lot of work. I would want to see him make more carries though, as he really is a devastating ball carrier.

I have been impressed with Denton and Morgan so far this championship. If the Lions were being selected right now I would say both Heaslip and Falateau might not make the plane. Denton was relatively quiet but put in a good shift at the breakdown compared to Morgan who did more 'flashy' stuff rather than the nitty gritty.

Surprised Rennie is getting a bad write up to - again like Denton it wasn't his best game in the championship but again he didn't play badly, and I have no idea why Robinson subbed him off so early!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Surprised Rennie is getting a bad write up to - again like Denton it wasn't his best game in the championship but again he didn't play badly, and I have no idea why Robinson subbed him off so early!

Because he is an idiot?

Bit harsh on Monty.

Yes he was at fault for Reddan's try but he ran v good support lines all match, won you at least 2 crucial turnovers and kept himself busy.

I'd have given him a 6, perhaps 7. No more than that though.

Apart from Gray I don't think any Scottish player should get a mark north of 6. He really was the only player to turn up.

The scrum was awful - all three props should be on 4. The lineout fell away, Kellock had zero impact there and when he came on the scrum got even worse. Barclay was anonymous. Rennie was having a half decent game but was taken off rather oddly. Denton was quiet. Laidlaw slipped into the Godman role of just shipping responsibility sideways, Morrison was his usual honest toiling self (which actually made him one of our better players), Evans was rubbish at 13, Jones can't defend and Hogg started to look 19 years old. Lamont was a clown throughout.

It was a dreadful performance that seemed to get worse as the game progressed.

Changes should be made before Saturday but there obviously won't be any.

Very depressing. I think I'll drink quite a bit next Saturday.....

funnyExiledScot wrote:
Very depressing. I think I'll drink quite a bit next Saturday.....

It is a shame our game is first - as I would prefer it last - not for the fantastic climax to the game, but I would be bladdered after the first two games and fall asleep for the tosh that is Scottish rugby -

Maybe wakin up at the 60 min mark to watch the weird and wonderful pre-arrange selections form like badger out of a gnomes ar se

It is quite clear from the results that we're still unable to close out games. Here's the Half Time results from all our matches so far...

Scotland vs England @ HT = 6-3 to Scotland

Wales vs Scotland @ HT = 3-3 (squandered good opportunity for try in dying moments of first half due to stupid chunk knock on)

Scotland vs France @ HT = 10-10

Scotland vs Ireland @ HT = 22-14 to Ireland (should have been 15-14)

The point I'm getting at is if a match lasted 40 minutes we'd be sitting on 4 points just now instead of 0. It has been a trend this 6 nations for us, we seem to self destruct/go to sleep/not give a damn in the 2nd half each match. Last weekend I was thinking this at half time, although I was really hoping we'd continue in the 2nd half with the same intensity from the first.

My main points for our poor results would have to be... 1. Not closing out games. 2. Not sustaining the same level of intensity and alertness throughout the entire 80 minutes. 3. Lacking support for runners (There was some improvement though, mainly due to younger players influence i feel). 4. Individual errors that put the whole team under enormous pressure and allowed easy points for the opposition. 5. Having a very weak scrum, particularly in the latter stages of each match.

bsando wrote:It is quite clear from the results that we're still unable to close out games. Here's the Half Time results from all our matches so far...

Scotland vs England @ HT = 6-3 to Scotland

Wales vs Scotland @ HT = 3-3 (squandered good opportunity for try in dying moments of first half due to stupid chunk knock on)

Scotland vs France @ HT = 10-10

Scotland vs Ireland @ HT = 22-14 to Ireland (should have been 15-14)

The point I'm getting at is if a match lasted 40 minutes we'd be sitting on 4 points just now instead of 0. It has been a trend this 6 nations for us, we seem to self destruct/go to sleep/not give a damn in the 2nd half each match. Last weekend I was thinking this at half time, although I was really hoping we'd continue in the 2nd half with the same intensity from the first.

My main points for our poor results would have to be... 1. Not closing out games. 2. Not sustaining the same level of intensity and alertness throughout the entire 80 minutes. 3. Lacking support for runners (There was some improvement though, mainly due to younger players influence i feel). 4. Individual errors that put the whole team under enormous pressure and allowed easy points for the opposition. 5. Having a very weak scrum, particularly in the latter stages of each match.

bsando, good points, all (altho the Ireland score at half-time should've been 17-14 cos he missed the last conversion, or even less than 15 or 17 given the bone-headed Reddan try that we gave to Ireland! )

Your point 2 above is the critical one for me - we are trying to play this multi-phase continuity off-loading game that usually results in trying to keep the ball alive thru offloads and passes thru many phases - I think that even the ABs would leak the odd try from time-to-time with that exhausting gameplan to follow, btu we are far from the ABs, and our defense suffers as our players tire more quickly and our concentration lapses (your "individual errors"). It is also absolutely true that we have a mental stumbling block about scoring tries that absolutely seems to haunt us in the oppo 22 - thought we'd cured that with Wales and France, but the frailty was obviously still there lurking just beneath the surface against Ireland

I'm not a fan of Matt Williams (he was truly awful for Scottish rugby), but some of his pre-match comments in the Irish Times were prescient:

Numbers stack up slightly in favour of Ireland

FRENCH NOTES: The loser today is facing the reality of a very bad season. For the Scots that means 0-4 and for Ireland 1-1-2, writes MATT WILLIAMS

ANYONE IN business knows that “the statements of accounts” are the basis of a viable enterprise. Each game of rugby generates a statement of accounts. If correctly analysed these numbers can inform on what actions teams should take in the future.

Let’s apply American analysis to Saturday’s Six Nations match at the Aviva. Scotland are 0 from 3. Ireland are 1-1-1.

There are lies, damn lies and statistics but no matter how you cut it up, for both teams, those numbers are poor.

It is not beyond reason that both teams could be coming into this game carrying numbers of 3 and 0. Winning in the Six Nations is about inches not yards. The margins between success and failure are tiny.

Against both England and France, Scotland should have, could have but didn’t. If Ireland had played with the same intensity in defence against Wales as they did in Paris they would be 2-1-0 and still be alive in the championship.

If only.

The numbers don’t lie and now both teams are scrapping to attain mediocrity. The loser today is facing the reality of a very bad season. For the Scots that means 0-4 and for Ireland 1-1-2.

The number of players in Scotland is tiny in comparison to the other major rugby countries, including Ireland. Therefore, the talent pool is small. Answers have been searched for in “Kilted Kiwis” and a large number of Anglo-Scots being capped. I have no trouble with either of these – however, the Scottish public do.

The long-term goal is to increase the talent pool of players in the Scottish game. In the medium term it is also about giving more Scottish players the opportunity to play professional rugby. If you look at the geography of Scotland, the professional game is played in a straight line across the country between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Professional teams no longer exist in the traditional rugby heartland of the Borders region or to the north in Aberdeen or Perth.

The economic realities have forced the professional teams to be reduced to two with a significant population of elite Scottish players contracted in England, Wales and France. Internally, the Scottish Rugby Union remains divided. There are those who wish to function like Argentina, in having other unions pay for their professionals, only bringing them home for internationals. The other smaller faction understand what it takes for Scottish rugby to flourish by managing their elite players in professional teams.

Innovative ideas, such as taking the Borders franchise and basing it in London, were wrongly discarded. The massive population of Scots living inside the M25 in London would have generated both a financial boon and provided another much-needed avenue for Scotland to develop international talent.

Imagine London-Scottish playing Munster in London. Not only would the London-based Scots turn up, so would every Munster supporter living in the south of England. This means another economically viable Scottish professional team.

The numbers stacked up. The arguments, both rugby and financial, were positive. It was original, innovative and progressive. But these are not words often associated with the SRU.

The number of line breaks Scotland made against England was nine for no tries. Against Wales it was 10 for no tries.

The failure of the London franchise and Scotland’s failure to convert line breaks into tries was due to an inexplicable lack of support from key individuals who took their eye off the ball and did not do what was best for Scotland.

Sadly for Scottish rugby the opportunity is lost and it is unlikely it will never come again. The closing of the Borders without the London option was a major victory for the Luddites and body blow to those good Scottish rugby men within the SRU who truly understand the requirements for professional rugby in Scotland to grow and succeed.

A few good men do exist, but they are not empowered.

The incoming chief executive of Connacht would do well to consider relocating selected matches to London. With adequate corporate hospitality and increased sponsorship, a Connacht versus Leinster match at The Stoop on a Friday night would generate significant income for the men from the west. It could also provide a foothold into a massive market for a financially challenged organisation.

The concept of a Connacht-London Rugby franchise may frighten some, especially the English RFU, but to those with a bold vision the numbers will be analysed and viewed with real potential.

Comparing the number of Scottish passes per match tells another significant story.

In the Calcutta Cup match Scotland passed an amazing 219 times to England’s 58. Against Wales it was 220 to 140. Against France it was 188 to 108. This equates to a staggering 619 passes that produced only three tries.

If ever numerical evidence was required to emphasise the flaws of Scotland’s attacking philosophy there it is. Scotland employ a lateral attacking strategy, attempting to create overlaps on the flanks but rarely playing advantage-line rugby. Basically, they go sideways, rarely straight.

The overwhelming evidence is that this philosophy does not create space that leads to tries. So why employ an attacking system that does not lead to points? Bloody good question.

Ireland are minus their two all-time great players. They are also minus last season’s European player of the year, Seán O’Brien. As New Zealand demonstrated in last year’s World Cup, if you lose world-class players it is inevitable that your performance will suffer.

The key to the match may lie in the incredible Irish defensive display in Paris. Ireland usually play an “up-and-out” system but last Sunday they changed the system to an “up-and-in”. Stephen Ferris, having played this system in Ulster, was simply devastating. The change in system caught the French totally by surprise and led to Tommy Bowe’s intercept try. The defensive display was first class but it was also extremely fatiguing. It is humanly impossible for those energy levels to be repeated six days later.

The advantage is that Scotland are unsure of what defensive system will be in place – “up and out” or “up and in”.

Ireland, on the other hand, are more than sure how Scotland will attack. The numbers are, ever so slightly, in favour of Ireland.

Prescient and informative. Thanks for sharing ASBO.

"If ever numerical evidence was required to emphasise the flaws of Scotland’s attacking philosophy there it is. Scotland employ a lateral attacking strategy, attempting to create overlaps on the flanks but rarely playing advantage-line rugby. Basically, they go sideways, rarely straight."


We all know the solution don't we. Promote the clown who has developed this lateral and ineffective attacking strategy!!

Riskysports wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:
Very depressing. I think I'll drink quite a bit next Saturday.....

It is a shame our game is first - as I would prefer it last - not for the fantastic climax to the game, but I would be bladdered after the first two games and fall asleep for the tosh that is Scottish rugby -

Maybe wakin up at the 60 min mark to watch the weird and wonderful pre-arrange selections form like badger out of a gnomes ar se

The solution is simple. Start drinking at 10am. I mean the heavy stuff.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Riskysports wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:
Very depressing. I think I'll drink quite a bit next Saturday.....

It is a shame our game is first - as I would prefer it last - not for the fantastic climax to the game, but I would be bladdered after the first two games and fall asleep for the tosh that is Scottish rugby -

Maybe wakin up at the 60 min mark to watch the weird and wonderful pre-arrange selections form like badger out of a gnomes ar se

The solution is simple. Start drinking at 10am. I mean the heavy stuff.

Nope, start the nite before, just to be absolutely sure that you're appropriately blootered to be able to watch this match - don't leave it to chance

I actually disagree with the notion that we go sideways and not straight. We don't actually find the ball on the wings that often if we started centre field (we do often go blind). We use Morrison, Lamont et al for crash ball and Evans and the forwards tend to hold on to it too. Much of the time we make ground but have no support runners. Usually we get it turned over , kicked back to use and then we start again, making all those 2/3 pass phases back up to the 22 where the same thing happens again. They get a penalty or something, kick to a lineout, we steal it, and start again.

Other teams actually create space get some support runners in and punish our lack of scramble defense.

That's how I see the problem. Too many mistakes and not enough concentration when attacking.

BTW for the summer - Gray for captain? Other than Ford and Rennie isn't he the only guaranteed start at the moment? Given his stature and POC'esque lineout success, this is not a joke.

Denton nailed on too, and hopefully Kelly Brown back by then - we've missed him

fES,

have you seen the -ahem- team selected. Must be a resignation by tnuc face Robinson surely ?

ROBINSON MUST GO -NOW