Scotland Scrum-half Crisis

With the news that Chris Cusiter looks set to miss at least the Autumn Internationals, Scotland's depth at scrum-half is starting to look decidedly bleak, a problem that Scotland has not had in a long time. Given that neither Blair nor Lawson are playing top-flight rugby and, in any case, are the wrong side of 30-years-old, who do you think is likely to feature for Scotland at scrum-half in the Autumn Internationals and Six Nations? Should Scotland continue with Blair and Lawson despite the fact they will struggle to make the next Rugby World Cup and are not playing in the Top 14 or Premiership or should Scotland award new caps?

I'm still not convinced that Laidlaw should be playing stand-off but he's spent the past 18 months trying to become one so to move him back to scrum-half and bring in Duncan Weir, who is hardly playing well at the moment, would be a mistake in my opinion. Henry Pyrgos's form has always been hit-and-miss for Glasgow and I'm not entirely sure who Edinburgh have on the books who is eligible for Scotland. I can't remember Ross Samson ever getting much game time for London Irish and I'm struggling to think who is there is available not still on training contracts at Edinburgh and Glasgow. For a position as important as scrum-half and the fact that most international squads will have three, it's a bit of a farcical situation really.

Crypto - now you've got me worried.

For the AIs, Robinson will surely stick with Blair and Laidlaw. I agree that in the long term it will damage his chances, but Blair hasn't suddenly turned into an appalling player because he fancies the restaurants and wine of Brive.

Pyrgos doesn't yet look special enough, I agree, and Budgie's ship has probably sailed with the full international side, which is a shame.

George Carlin wrote:Crypto - now you've got me worried.

What bugs me is that this was bound to happen in some position. It reminds me of Scotland being forced into capping Ed Kalman and using the flimsy pretext of a 'solid performance' for Glasgow the week before to hide the fact that Scotland can barely field an international XV at the moment. I can't see it getting any better with the professional teams signing non-qualified players in the hope that they will stick around for three years so we can cap them. The likes of Andy Titterell and Richie Rees getting game time at Edinburgh is hardly helping the situation.

I think the French 2nd division is a higher standard than the Championship, and has been said already Blair won't have suddenly become a worse player because he's not playing top lvel rugby anymore, so would be quite happy for him to start.

Reserve is a problem though - Pyrgos is pretty poor TBH and is an average Rabbo player never mind worth considering for Scotland. Edinburgh don't really have anyone except alex black, who was truely awful when he came off the bench against Zebre.

So I reckon Blair starting with Laidlaw covering Scrum half and hope to god none of them get injured!

Pyrgos is nowhere near an International cap. Would be better calling up Gregor from pussying about in the 7s. Although god knows how the Scottish 7s team would survive without him tbh as they are atrocious with him as their best player. Not likely to happen right enough. Blair was playing really well last season so we must stick with him and hope Cus gets well soon !

Samsons now at London Scottish, effectively ruling him out. If this had happened last season, i could see him being called up. As it stands, the only two scrumhalfs not mentioned are Mark Macmillan and Brendan Mckibbin. Mckibbin lost the starting jersey in a woefull waratahs team this season, and has expressed a desire to play for Australia rather than scotland anyway, so on the second point alone, i wouldnt cap him. Just as I wouldnt call up Simon Taylor again, he hasnt showed the desire.

Macmillan may be written off as hes never really been a starter at Barf, however he is behind Claassens, which isnt anything to be ashamed of. While not ideal to be picking someone who isnt starting, hes vastly experienced at every level apart from full international, and I remember him doing some good stuff for glasgow a few seasons ago.

The sooner Mconnell and Kennedy come through, the better.

edit: I just remembered Macmillans been part of the wider training squad before, which isnt much I know, but could weigh in his favour

Blair to start, laidlaw cover. On the plus side means we can cover other positions in the backs better.

Long term it isn't looking great at 9, but there are a couple of good years left in blair and cusiter yet, so plenty time for mcconnell or black to develop.

Macmillan not a bad shout though. Good player.

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Pyrgos is nowhere near an International cap. Would be better calling up Gregor from pussying about in the 7s. Although god knows how the Scottish 7s team would survive without him tbh as they are atrocious with him as their best player. Not likely to happen right enough. Blair was playing really well last season so we must stick with him and hope Cus gets well soon !

I know you were away for some time Schiz (and I'm hardly a regular) but this entire post made me laugh so much before I realised that IT'S YOU and YOU'RE BACK.

Anyway ... now that Visser has showed himself to be obviously better than the rest of the squad, probably because he's actually from a different country, can't Sean Lamont cover 9? Apparently he can cover 11 through 15 so why not push the boat out a little further?

In all seriousness, MacMillan to train with the squad with match day 22 having Blair, with Laidlaw covering. Genuine question will Blair's fitness for a full 80 be in doubt?

It is a bit daft that there's only 1 scottish qualified 9 playing top flight rugby as a starter at the moment. I still don't understand why Blair was okay with going to Brive and not another french squad - would no one else take him? Really? Phillips managed it.

Also, as a consolation come the 6N when both Laidlaw and Blair get injured, whoever does step up will not be as bad as Bergemasco-gate

Big Fergie in the Hootsman is giving early reports that Cus dislocated his shoulder and will need surgery to repair soft tissue damage around the joint, something that will see him out until potentially the new year.

Apparently Mike Blair also has a shoulder problem at the moment but should be back for Brive in a couple of weeks. Rory Lawson is reporting as playing well for Geordie's Falcons.

We're dooooooooooomed, Captain Mainwaring (etc).

So, do we reckon Robinson will start Blair and Laidlaw and have Lawson or McMillan on the bench? Alternatively he could assume Laidlaw will seamlessly move into scrum-half if needs be and go with a 5-2 split or an extra back? It's really not ideal considering we've got the All Blacks and Springboks coming up and this is the stage where we should be looking to build a new team going forward rather than having to rely upon older players. On the plus side, if we do get hammered in the AIs, we might not have to put up with the chirpy optimism we usually have going into the Six Nations.

Can't see past Blair at 9, with Lawson covering on the bench tbh. McMillan would be next in line, I suppose, and who knows after that. Initially I might have been tempted by Laidlaw to 9, with Meatball at 10, but the latter hasn't been in stellar form, the former has spent 18 months convincing everyone that he is a standoff (I remain unconvinced! ), and all that would do is shift the problem to who covers flyhalf on the bench imo

KickAndChase wrote:I still don't understand why Blair was okay with going to Brive and not another french squad - would no one else take him? Really? Phillips managed it.

He should have gone to the Clermont kiddies XV, it's basically a step up from international rugby and all the best players play there. They are all ready for international rugby so Blair would probably improve in that environment.

They teach you things there that can't be taught anywhere else

http://www.scottishrugby.org/content/view/3100/2/

Cusiter back in December - misses Autumn test but hopefully stays for ti the 6N!

I really hope that Laidlaw gets put back to scrum-half, I know he's done a great job at fly-half but Scotland don't have enough scrum-halves for the next couple of seasons.

Cusiter will probably be 1st choice when fit but he's become so injury prone over the last few seasons that we need a quality replacement.

Unfortunately Pyrgos isn't good enough right now, improved last season but still not an International level scrum-half. Young guys like McConnell, Kennedy, Black or McAndrew are a few seasons away from being in contention. McMillan is a journey-man, showed promise at Glasgow but hasn't developed at Bath behind Classens. Blair and Lawson can probably do a job if necessary for the next season or two but neither will be at the next RWC.

So the only other Scottish scrum-halve is Laidlaw, he's done really well at fly-half for both Edinburgh and Scotland but we need scrum-halves. Obviously there isn't a nailed on starter at fly-half but Weir is probably in pole-position and despite his form Jackson has a reasonable amount of international experience. For Edinburgh both Leonard and Hunter have shown promise plus Tonks and Scott can play at fly-half.

Would like to see Robinson be bold at the AIs and go with:

9 - Laidlaw
10 - Weir

20 - Blair

The thought of Weir running our backline against the all blacks doesnt fill me with confidence. We stand no chance if we play a kicking game, which is what he brings. Dagg and Jane will murder us if we kick to them, and Weir doesnt present enough options ball in hand to open the defensive line up. He will start kicking sooner or later.

The problem is that Laidlaw is first choice in two positions here.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

KickAndChase wrote:I still don't understand why Blair was okay with going to Brive and not another french squad - would no one else take him? Really? Phillips managed it.

He should have gone to the Clermont kiddies XV, it's basically a step up from international rugby and all the best players play there. They are all ready for international rugby so Blair would probably improve in that environment.

They teach you things there that can't be taught anywhere else

Oh, he's a ONE that fES!

So basically, Laidlaw is the best 9, he's also the best 10.

Cus would have started but now he's out so it's up to Pyrgos to show he's got some ability before Matawalu comes in next week and he goes back to the bench...

Budgie is never going to leave the 7's, and they'd fall apart without him.

Blair is playing for a Div 2 team in France who are basically as good as Zebre/Dragons/Connacht/LW...

Lawson is playing at an even lower standard...

MacMillan/McKibben are both out through one way or another.

McConnell/Kennedy/Black are all too young!

Weir is struggling for form, Jackson is going backwards, Leonard/Wight are too young...

Crisis, what crisis.......

The way I see it for the AIs is:

Experienced scrum half playing lower level rugby paired with a top quality international 10 - Blair-Laidlaw

Top quality international scrum half paired with an inexperienced, average international 10 who is not on great form - Laidlaw-Weir/Jackson

First option seems a lot better to me!

I reckon if Jackson sorts his game out then AR will maybe drop Laidlaw to 9 but otherwise I would tend to agree that it'll be Blair/Lawson at 9 with Laidlaw at 10 and either Weir or Jackson on bench.. Shame Shingler was deemed ineligible for Scotland

bsando wrote:I reckon if Jackson sorts his game out then AR will maybe drop Laidlaw to 9 but otherwise I would tend to agree that it'll be Blair/Lawson at 9 with Laidlaw at 10 and either Weir or Jackson on bench.. Shame Shingler was deemed ineligible for Scotland

It really is, hes taken the 10 shirt at Irish and has been playing some good rugby over the past 6 or 7 months.

Imperialbigdave wrote:

bsando wrote:I reckon if Jackson sorts his game out then AR will maybe drop Laidlaw to 9 but otherwise I would tend to agree that it'll be Blair/Lawson at 9 with Laidlaw at 10 and either Weir or Jackson on bench.. Shame Shingler was deemed ineligible for Scotland

It really is, hes taken the 10 shirt at Irish and has been playing some good rugby over the past 6 or 7 months.

He has? Irish have had their worst start in the AP in ages and missed out on the Heino last season due to poor league form?

I'd just bite the bullet and go for one of the younger scrum-halves with Blair on the bench if they have a shocker they can take him off and if he plays well then it will have been a great success.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Imperialbigdave wrote:

bsando wrote:I reckon if Jackson sorts his game out then AR will maybe drop Laidlaw to 9 but otherwise I would tend to agree that it'll be Blair/Lawson at 9 with Laidlaw at 10 and either Weir or Jackson on bench.. Shame Shingler was deemed ineligible for Scotland

It really is, hes taken the 10 shirt at Irish and has been playing some good rugby over the past 6 or 7 months.

He has? Irish have had their worst start in the AP in ages and missed out on the Heino last season due to poor league form?

Doesnt mean hes been bad...

Poor Wee Cus -he really is injury prone. Mark MacMillan - now that could be an outside shout. Never let The Warriors down and was sidelined when Cus was signed and Gregor covered 9. Edinburgh could do worse than get him back as cover for Rees since we have the Fijian Firework to come !

Imperialbigdave wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Imperialbigdave wrote:

bsando wrote:I reckon if Jackson sorts his game out then AR will maybe drop Laidlaw to 9 but otherwise I would tend to agree that it'll be Blair/Lawson at 9 with Laidlaw at 10 and either Weir or Jackson on bench.. Shame Shingler was deemed ineligible for Scotland

It really is, hes taken the 10 shirt at Irish and has been playing some good rugby over the past 6 or 7 months.

He has? Irish have had their worst start in the AP in ages and missed out on the Heino last season due to poor league form?

Doesnt mean hes been bad...

Ii just don't think you could argue that he's been close to international form, IBD?

I don't want to start this argument again but this really is proof that two professional teams isn't adequate to compete internationally, if we had two more team players like pyrgos and Black could have played regularly by now; the mass importing of foreigners to the existing teams is a good thing, it means our best players can rest and they have squads capable of reaching league play-offs and knockout rounds. If we had more teams maybe Lawson, McMillan and Samson may have played more at a higher level and stayed in Scotland rather than go south in search of game time.
Another good reason for the influx of top quality foreigners is we can start to use out top ageing players as sparingly as the Irish use O'Driscoll. With Cusiter's injury record and at his age, is it wise for him to be playing week in week out rather than use Pyrgos?

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Imperialbigdave wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Imperialbigdave wrote:

bsando wrote:I reckon if Jackson sorts his game out then AR will maybe drop Laidlaw to 9 but otherwise I would tend to agree that it'll be Blair/Lawson at 9 with Laidlaw at 10 and either Weir or Jackson on bench.. Shame Shingler was deemed ineligible for Scotland

It really is, hes taken the 10 shirt at Irish and has been playing some good rugby over the past 6 or 7 months.

He has? Irish have had their worst start in the AP in ages and missed out on the Heino last season due to poor league form?

Doesnt mean hes been bad...

Ii just don't think you could argue that he's been close to international form, IBD?

From what ive seen, and read hes been good in an otherwise poor team. Im not going to argue that hes international standard as its now irrelevant to scottish rugby, but had he been SQ, id have been comfortable with him on recent form.

Imperialbigdave wrote:The thought of Weir running our backline against the all blacks doesnt fill me with confidence. We stand no chance if we play a kicking game, which is what he brings. Dagg and Jane will murder us if we kick to them, and Weir doesnt present enough options ball in hand to open the defensive line up. He will start kicking sooner or later.

The problem is that Laidlaw is first choice in two positions here.

I would be surprised if the All Blacks deem it necessary to pick Dagg, Jane or generally a first-choice team. I'm not going out of my way to be a miserable Tinkywinky but I really think we're in big danger, possibly facing a worse drubbing than they gave us last time. It's unlikely we'll get another result out of the 'boks and I don't think we're in a position to hand out new caps against Tonga.

Think the All Black have got us first so definitely see them putting out a 2nd team. As has been said though - their 2nd team beat us by 40 points last time!

Still more confident about he Boks though - they haven't been setting the world alight just now and if we can match them up front then we stand a chance with a kicker like Laidlaw.

Definitely a problem in the near future for Scotland, the coaches seemed to have been trying to develop 10s that they have forgot about developing 9s.
We have always had great 9s but its typical we finally have some good options at 10 but lack 9s now.

The solution has to be moving laidlaw back to 9 and playing weir at 10.
Weir is in great form and the 2 of them will combine well. I doubt it will be much of an issue Laidlaw moving back to 9.

In the long term we do have some young players coming through like mcconnel, mcandrew, glashan but they are quite a bit off at the moment.

Majestic83 wrote:
Weir is in great form

Have you watched any games this year?? He has been in average form at best!

Yeah I've watched all Glasgows games so far and for early season form I think he has played well. If you look at some of the more established 10s in the rabo weir has played just as well if not better than most of them. Most of the players won't really start to hit form 100% until the next couple rounds.

Call it difference of opinion, but I've also watched the Glasgow games and still think that he's played "average at best" as I said earlier. Did he not throw that awful interception pass? Not good enough to warrant his immediate selection at 10 for the All Blacks IMO!

As you say though it is still early days and his pack hasn't been helping him very much so far, so lets see how he develops.

I like Weir as a player and I'm sure he'll get plenty caps, I just don't think he's showing anything just now to suggest anything other than Laidlaw still being first choice 10.

Yeah he might not be on top form but i don't think weir is playing badly and from what i have seen the only stand offs who have been in better form than him in the league have been Sexton and Laidlaw.
Laidlaw probably is in slightly better form than weir just now but to solve the problem at 9 Laidlaw is the best option and also for the long term i think laidlaw and weir at half back are the best combination. I the think the 2 of them combined would really be able to control a game which we haven't had for a long time.

Question is though - Laidlaw has spent 18 months learning how to play at stand off and probably neglecting his scrum half skills - will he really be up to scratch as a scrum half after so long?

I think Laidlaw has influenced games from 10 far more than I have ever seen him influence games as a 9.

I actually do think he would slip back into the role of 9 pretty easily. The way he plays at Edinburgh he quite often takes on the 9 role and the half backs interchange.
Before he switched to 10 with Edinburgh he was pretty good at 9 and I felt he controlled things fairly well. He was behind a pack that was really lightweight and struggling when he played 9 but still looked good. He does have a one of the best rugby brains around and behind a strong pack which we have i think he would do well.

Eh, the all blacks did put out their first choice team against us last time. Read, Mccaw, Carter, SBW, Smith, Muliaina, and an on form Gear all started. You know why they played first choice? Because we had a succesfull summer tour.

Even if Dagg and Jane dont start (which id bet my mortgage at least one of them will), the back up will likely be either Andre Taylor, or Robbie Robinson, with kicking to Taylor in particular possibly even worse than kicking to Dagg.

They will not underestimate us at all, and we need to be able to open their defence to stand any chance. Penalties will not be enough, even if they concede them, which they didnt last time.

The thing I find quite funny about the Weir bandwagon (especially on the weegie forum) is that when he kicks 5 or 6 penalties against the dragons etc its all "Weir should be starting for scotland", "Weirs the best stand off in the country", "Edinburgh Bias!", but when he has a pedestrian game and fails to really do anything its all "Hes still young, hes still learning, get off his back" etc. Hes either one or the other, if hes still young and has potential to improve (which is my opinion), then hes not ready. If he is ready, then he should be doing a lot more than he does.

Imperialbigdave wrote:

The thing I find quite funny about the Weir bandwagon (especially on the weegie forum) is that when he kicks 5 or 6 penalties against the dragons etc its all "Weir should be starting for scotland", "Weirs the best stand off in the country", "Edinburgh Bias!", but when he has a pedestrian game and fails to really do anything its all "Hes still young, hes still learning, get off his back" etc. Hes either one or the other, if hes still young and has potential to improve (which is my opinion), then hes not ready. If he is ready, then he should be doing a lot more than he does.

Spot on!

I see that the Flying Fijian has arrived - I'm assuming he arrived yesterday in the pishin rain and must have wondered what he had agreed to!

Nice pic of him with his summer shirt on too - that will soon change to 18 layers when he rocks up to training in the pishin rain and howling gails.

http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/5118-matawalu-checks-in-at-scotstoun

Moving Laidlaw to 9 when he's shown promise at 10 internationally, is playing regularly at 10 for his club, ought to have a 12 and 13 and 14 from the same club outside him, is not going to happen. Because Robinson is coach, it especially will not happen.

It's not impossible though that Robinson will have Laidlaw as the cover for 9 and only bring in Lawson as the extra SH to the squad (obviously that's a complete waste of time - might as well bring MacMillan or someone if you're not even planning on using them). Although it is a distinct possibility that Robinson will put Lawson on the bench.

What's the backline look like?

9 Blair
10 Laidlaw
11 Visser
12 Scott
13 De Luca? (Ansbro's out, right?)
14 Jones / S Lamont
15 Hogg

20 Weir
21 S Lamont / Jones
22 Brown?

Imperialbigdave wrote:Eh, the all blacks did put out their first choice team against us last time. Read, Mccaw, Carter, SBW, Smith, Muliaina, and an on form Gear all started. You know why they played first choice? Because we had a succesfull summer tour.

Even if Dagg and Jane dont start (which id bet my mortgage at least one of them will), the back up will likely be either Andre Taylor, or Robbie Robinson, with kicking to Taylor in particular possibly even worse than kicking to Dagg.

They will not underestimate us at all, and we need to be able to open their defence to stand any chance. Penalties will not be enough, even if they concede them, which they didnt last time.

The thing I find quite funny about the Weir bandwagon (especially on the weegie forum) is that when he kicks 5 or 6 penalties against the dragons etc its all "Weir should be starting for scotland", "Weirs the best stand off in the country", "Edinburgh Bias!", but when he has a pedestrian game and fails to really do anything its all "Hes still young, hes still learning, get off his back" etc. Hes either one or the other, if hes still young and has potential to improve (which is my opinion), then hes not ready. If he is ready, then he should be doing a lot more than he does.

I think he meant WC '07. But we also put out a B side and never intended to win it. Unfortunately this is still the only Scotland game I've been able to go and see.

The way I like to see it is, because the B sides had that result, the A sides would have had a similar one.

Max Evans looks to be getting gametime at Castres just now and Jones' form is woeful. I'd take Evans' pace over Lamont (getting a bit slow) for the All Blacks, but would maybe bring Lamont in for the SA game to give us a big ball carrier in the backline.

KickAndChase wrote:What's the backline look like?

9 Blair
10 Laidlaw
11 Visser
12 Scott
13 De Luca? (Ansbro's out, right?)
14 Jones / S Lamont
15 Hogg

20 Weir
21 S Lamont / Jones
22 Brown?

I would favour bringing in Grove instead of continuing to give de Luca carte blanche to disappoint for Scotland. Ansbro has shown quite a lot of promise for Scotland so far but we need to know what our other options can do. Evans and Lamont won't pass and my only concern about Grove is that he maybe lacks a bit of pace for a 13. Is Cairns still nowhere near making a comeback?

Hogg will struggle to make the AIs so I would look at Brown or Tonks for fullback or maybe Tonks at fullback and Brown on the wing, although Robinson will probably bring back Southwell. I'm not sure Murchie is worth capping, although Lineen moving him from 13, to wing, to 12 and then to fullback has hardly helped his development. Sean Lamont gets his fair share of criticism for playing like a donkey but we could be doing with him to give us a bit of bulk in the back-line.

Murchie is playing very well so far this season - great try tonight at Scotstoun. Agree Grove instead of Knock on Nick would be a good move - but it is Robinson we are talking about ffs !

Schizoid - knock on Nick has been playing well so far, a few passes to touch aside!

But let's not get into the ndl debate again...

I'd go for Blair at 9 and Laidlaw at 10 personally. Obviously I'd have started Cusiter, but that ship has sailed.

Laidlaw isn't an option at 9 unless he's playing there regularly, and neither Weir nor Jackson has made a compelling case this season to replace Laidlaw at 10.

My backline for the ABs and South Africa:

9.Blair 10.Laidlaw 11.Visser 12.Scott 13.NDL 14.Evans 15.Tonks

21.Weir 22.S Lamont 23.Brown

Against Tonga I'd be tempted to make a couple of changes:

9.Blair 10.Weir 11.Visser 12.Scott 13.Dunbar 14.S Lamont 15.Brown

21.Laidlaw 22.NDL 23.Tonks

fES,

can Grove cover i/c and o/c - he could be a useful back up to Dunbar, who can play both ?

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:fES,

can Grove cover i/c and o/c - he could be a useful back up to Dunbar, who can play both ?

Grove played inside centre against Argentina three years ago and I thought he looked quite good there, despite the result. Since then, he and Cairns seem to be have fallen out of favour with Robinson (Cairns has obviously had his injury saga too). Grove didn't work out as a 12 at Edinburgh but it's difficult to say whether Rob Moffat's tendency to pick his team on a names-from-a-hat basis had an impact. He doesn't play 12 for Worcester and he doesn't have the pace to cover the back three so I don't think we should have him on the bench. I would definitely welcome Robinson picking Grove or Dunbar to start against the All Blacks.

Pete Murchie might not be a bad shout for a call up in Nov... He's definitely improved on last year and he's getting regular gametime as well. He also seems to have put on a bit of weight, especially around the shoulders and was looking good again last night. Solid under the high ball and a decent boot (better than poor Scott Wight!) I'd be tempted to give him a go against Tonga or maybe a bench spot for the big games, as he covers centre/wing/FB?