Maitland signs for Glasgow!

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Sean Maitland to Glasgow

Now, has Maitland definitely not played for the New Zealand 'A' team??? Don't want another Shingler fiasco!

After spending my day cooped up in a lab, looking through a microscope for 5 hours this has brightened up my day no-end! No more relying on a flakey lee jones, a passionate but gradually getting slower sean lamont and a Rory Lamont made of glass!!! Visser and Maitland for Scotland FTW!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Now, has Maitland definitely not played for the New Zealand 'A' team??? Don't want another Shingler fiasco!

Nope definitely no shingler fiascos going to happen with Maitland, think he deliberatley never played for the junior all blacks so that he wasn't tied if he wasn't going to get a full cap so he would be able to play for Scotland in the future.

YYYYYEEESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

I am so happy right now! You never know, Scotland might just be a force to contend with this 6 nations. Wow, this is so awesome!

bsando wrote:I am so happy right now! You never know, Scotland might just be a force to contend with this 6 nations. Wow, this is so awesome!

Reckon he'll be in the team that soon? Not to go out of my way to have a dig at Robinson but he's hardly the most progressive coach in the world. I wouldn't be surprised to see us continuing with Lamont and Morrison in the backs for at least another season. Just as long as he doesn't drop Hoggy for Southwell or something equally daft, eh.

A fantastic signing, although I am very surprised he hasn't gone to Edinburgh. I imagine he will go straight into the squad; he is streaks ahead of Lee Jones.

11. Visser
14. Maitland
15. Hogg

Nae bad.

Really not trying to WUM or poison this topic, but does Maitland have Scottish ancestry? I knew he'd been linked with Scotland, but I thought that was because he was thinking of signing and qualifying through residency?

Eitherway, a fantastic signing for Glasgow!

Ignore my comment above. I've just some searching and found my answer! Could well be seeing him in the Six Nations! Huge signing. Excellent news for al Glasgow and Scotland fans.

Cryptoyourisan wrote:

bsando wrote:I am so happy right now! You never know, Scotland might just be a force to contend with this 6 nations. Wow, this is so awesome!

Reckon he'll be in the team that soon? Not to go out of my way to have a dig at Robinson but he's hardly the most progressive coach in the world. I wouldn't be surprised to see us continuing with Lamont and Morrison in the backs for at least another season. Just as long as he doesn't drop Hoggy for Southwell or something equally daft, eh.

If he plays well for Glasgow he will.

Robinson dropped Morrison from the squad for the summer tour and Lamont only featured on the wing. I see no reason to believe he wants to go back to big, slow centres, Scott is clearly first choice at 12 now. We've also capped 11 new players in the last 8 tests as well as introducing McInally and Dunbar to the squad so I don't think you can accuse Robinson of not giving young players chances. I was as angry as anyone with the selections at the beginning of the last 6 nations but he has gradually introduced new blood since then, which is exactly what he had said he would do. I'm not necessarily convinced Robinson is the man to take Scotland forward but those sorts of criticisms are a bit dated!

I also don't think Maitland will instantly make Scotland a force to contend with unless the rest of the squad creates a platform for him, but I am delighted to have him and hope he does choose to represent us!

RDW_Scotland wrote:I know I'm getting massively carried away here but rank outsider bet - Maitland for the lions??

We should start a Maitland vs Ashton thread

Incredible signing for Glasgow. Can't wait to see him in action. I'm sure RTroy will take him under his wing and make him feel at home.

Guess this makes up for all the players Scotland have given NZ over the years.

bsando wrote:I am so happy right now! You never know, Scotland might just be a force to contend with this 6 nations. Wow, this is so awesome!

woah there. lets not get carried away

1 player does not make a team

Especially one that plays outside Nick De Luca!

Time to seriously look at Evans at 13 permanently?

tigertattie wrote:

bsando wrote:I am so happy right now! You never know, Scotland might just be a force to contend with this 6 nations. Wow, this is so awesome!

woah there. lets not get carried away

1 player does not make a team

Who said anything about 1 player, Visser hasn't had a six nations yet either!

He still has to pass medical and get a visa, lets hope both are in order!

Why would he have visa trouble if he is Scottish qualified?

When does Robbo announce the squad? I realise Maitland won't be named but I was unsure of the date. Surely its this week?

Crickey! Just when we all needed a pick me up. Lured out of lurking over this. Fingers crossed for a fully fit wing combination for the 6n, going to make my annual bet on top Scotland try scorer less lucrative than before though....

nickj wrote:When does Robbo announce the squad? I realise Maitland won't be named but I was unsure of the date. Surely its this week?

tomorrow I think

Great news for Glasgow and Scotland, didn't think he'd move north for another couple of seasons.

15: Hogg - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qK9Aw1AJK0
14: Maitland - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgMLB5vzukY
11: Visser - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqV_O8IJcIo

Can't wait.

Pat_Mustard wrote:

nickj wrote:When does Robbo announce the squad? I realise Maitland won't be named but I was unsure of the date. Surely its this week?

tomorrow I think

Cheers mate

Thats terrifying if you've got the centres and halfbacks to put them into space. Ruaridh Jackson seems to have stalled sadly, Weir has injury problems and isn't much better than Jackson, but you've always had good 9s and I like Laidlaw and Matt Scott as a centre.

nickj wrote:

Pat_Mustard wrote:

nickj wrote:When does Robbo announce the squad? I realise Maitland won't be named but I was unsure of the date. Surely its this week?

tomorrow I think

Cheers mate

Around 10am according to the official twitter

B#gger been touting him for Edinburgh for ages. Really glad he's coming to Scotland though. Well done Toonie, great signing.

Reckon we might see him against Tonga? Might have had a few games for Glasgow by then.

No point rushing him in unless we're desperate, but if he has a few games for Glasgow why not at least on the bench!

I doubt we will see him in any of the autumn tests, he won't be arriving in Scotland for probably another week or two and not sure either how close to match fitness he is after his hand injury so will probably need a few games under his belt with Glasgow to get match fit.

Looking through the NZ press this morning (or this evening in the UK) and still no mention of the signing??

Surely they didn't announce it until it was confirmed.....maybe missed the print deadline?

Yessssss - brilliant news. ASBO get your train pass sorted and get up to Scotstoun on every second Friday. Sean Lineen's mark all over this - that is why he is coming to The Warriors. Could we get Sean L back too ?

WOW, what a signing. Last season he was on the cusp of an all black call up and was in blistering Super form!!!

Fantastic signing for Glasgow, and a great sign for Scottish rugby that we've imported someone of genuine class. This will be a massive boost to the young Scots contingent at Glasgow, and further evidence that at least one of the pro sides in Scotland is moving in the right direction.

Glasgow, if all players fully fit, could now put out the following backline:

9.Cusiter 10.Jackson 11.S Lamont 12.Dunbar 13.DTH 14.Maitland 15.Hogg

21.Matawalu 22.Weir 23.R Lamont

Pyrgos, Wight, Morrison, Horne, Seymour and Murchie as back up.

That is a serious collection of backs, and potentially a top class backline. I mean top class.

Glasgow now have a better pack and better backs than Edinburgh. Life isn't fair. Hopefully Townsend will manage some coaching lunacy for the derby fixtures. I thought Matawalu made a fine winger, and where's Taylor Paris....perhaps those fixtures will need Morrison's experience at 12.....

I've always thought troy Nathan would make a good 10 fes...

Did Troy Nathan not play at 10 when he was at Connacht?

I'd rather we had Nathan at Edinburgh playing 12 than having Ben Atiga in the team, he might be a nice guy and trains hard but he has been atrocious on the pitch.

He's barely been on the pitch!

I'd take Nathan over Atiga as well, but I'd certainly rather have Nathan at 10 for Glasgow against Edinburgh than Jackson, Weir or Wight.

I suspect Townsend isn't that stupid, in fact he's shown very little inclination towards Nathan.

Nathan wasn't even included in the Heino squad

We can always hope for a Toonie Flip-flop (see what I did there) and hope for Nathan to be picked at 10 for the derby fixtures......it's all we can hope for in Edinburgh......that and Morrison playing on both wings instead of DTH and Maitland....

Well the beeb article suggests that he's "represented" NZ Maori. I highlight the word "represented" seeing as this doesn't necessarily mean he's played for them, maybe he was briefly selected in the squad but then ommitted/not played? Can anyone clear this up?

Excellent capture by Glasgow. Regarding Scotland, if they do pick him it'll be okay in the legal context. I say legal, don't take that to mean right. I still maintain that 1) grandparents shouldn't be a sufficient qualification and 2) you should represent your first choice country or nobody. Morally that's my stance and that's all I'll say for now.

Knowsit, the Maori are not NZ's second senior side as far as I know, instead they have, from time to time, the junior ABs, I believe

Wasn't flutey also a maori? Don't think that's an issue.

To be fair Maitland has far more ties to Scotland than Visser. No real issue with it myself if he's a Scottish dad.

the nz maori are definitely not NZ's second side so there is no issue with that, they have the junior all blacks who play from time to time which are their 2nd team.
Maitland is definitely all good to go with pulling on the scottish jersey.

All we need is bennet

And a couple of props

tigertattie wrote:

bsando wrote:I am so happy right now! You never know, Scotland might just be a force to contend with this 6 nations. Wow, this is so awesome!

woah there. lets not get carried away

1 player does not make a team

Thats true, but our backline has been one the contributing factors in our lack of tries and creativity for the last god knows how many years. If you compare a typical backline from 2-3 years ago with what we could have next year, I think my comments are justified.

3 years ago vs Next Year
9. Blair/ Cusiter 9. Blair/Cusiter (no change really)
10. Parks (we all know his flaws) 10. Laidlaw (handles himself very well for his size, has a bag of tricks)
11. S Lamont (Never says die, but getting on a bit) 11. Visser (try scoring maniac)
12. Morrison (hard grafting player, but no Nonu. A crash ball 12) 12. Maitland (try scoring, spacial awareness, unlucky not to be an AB)
13. De Luca (enjoys brain farts, lacks quality of many other centres) 13. Dunbar (real potential, physical player)
14. Evans (not very good at passing/support) 14. Hogg (Fast as **** and extremely talented)
15. Southwell (enough said) 15. Tonks (Catches every highball, is a very talented fullback)

The positions are just how I would have them. But you can see how far we've come in such a short space of time. We now have (in my opinion) a world class backline with a not bad backline available on the bench. Its an exciting time to be a scotland fan in my opinion. Saying this, it may all go jubblies up and we'll get the wooden spoon again next year. You just never know with Scotland. All I know is I didn't expect much this year in the 6 nations from Scotland, and I thought we'd do better in 2013 or 2014. Looking at whats happened since 6 nations, I think my guess is not far off.

Few things - You've put Maitland at 12 (he's a wing/fullback) and Hogg on the wing!

I also think it's a bit adventurous to say it is now a world class backline - I think there is potential, but we definitely aren't there yet!

It is positive times indeed but we've been here a few times before and come 6N time have fallen spectacularly on our face.

Brilliant news for Glasgow and Scotland. Also a much more "acceptable" choice than project players as, if he earns it, we can see him in the Scotland team straight away.
We have to be careful though - the guy is a fantastic player but not the messiah. Like Visser, he seems good at finishing tries - beat his man and put on the afterburners. This alone won't help Scotland unless we can get the ball to them through decent centres. Not saying he should be in the team, but how has Bennett been going at Clermont?

Other thing Maitland does well which would have helped Scotland in the last 6N is coming in off his wing to support a player making a break. As our players - Rennie & Hogg spring immediately to mind - tend to get isolated, Maitland's support play could be a godsend.

This is all, of course, assuming that he doesn't turn up in Glasgow, realise Toonie is clueless, catch Glasgow's injury fever and spend the next 3 years imitating RLamont on the sidelines!

that is fantastic news!

Yes Miatland is a great signing but lets see who is fit and on form come the six nations before making any wildly optomistic predictions. Last year injuries to Brown and Jackson torpedoed our chances in the 6 N's (allied to Robbo's selection issues: Parks instead of Weir etc).

For the AI's the injury list is massive and we will be doing really well if we manage a win against Tonga.

Edinburgh's form has collapsed and Glasgow, for all their stellar signings, have yet to convince with Toonie at the helm. Once the injured players return and Strauss and Maitland are match fit we will have a better indication of whether it has been money well spent by the SRU on giving Toonie the best possible chance to succeed as a club coach.

One other point Mark Bennet at Clermont is not in the first team and barring injuries is unlikey to make the bench this season. Ahead of him in the pecking order are Fofana, Rougerrie, Benson Stanley ( the preferred bench centre, who has 3 all black caps, and has scored and set up several tries this season) and fourthly the hugely experienced Regan King (6 years as a first team player at the Scarlets).

Unless he has received assurances that he is still on the radar of Vern Cotter then he should start looking for a move sooner rather than later.