Scotland XV for Autumn Internationals

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Right let's get down to business shall we?!

9/11/13
Scotland vs Japan
KO - 2.30pm

17/11/13
Scotland vs South Africa
KO - 3pm

23/11/13
Scotland vs Australia
KO - 6pm

First of all, the schedule for these three matches is super. Unlike last few years, Scotland will play a less formidable team first before two tough matches against SA and Aus. SA are on a roll at the moment and will be a good, stern test for Scotland before Australia. Injuries may be an issue however as we saw in the summer.

If Scotland beat Australia that will make it 3 wins in a row vs the Wallabies which would be a fantastic achievement. But obviously wins over any of these three teams will be great.

Players

Backs M Bennett (Glasgow), C Cusiter (Glasgow), De Luca (Edinburgh), A Dunbar (Glasgow), M Evans (Castres), T Heathcote (Bath), R Jackson (Glasgow), S Lamont (Glasgow), G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), S Maitland (Glasgow), H Pyrgos (Glasgow), M Scott (Edinburgh), T Seymour (Glasgow), D Taylor (Saracens), G Tonks (Edinburgh), T Visser (Edinburgh), D Weir (Glasgow).
Forwards J Barclay (Scarlets), J Beattie (Montpellier), K Brown (Saracens), B Cowan (London Irish), G Cross (Edinburgh), D Denton (Edinburgh), A Dickinson (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), C Fusaro (Glasgow), G Gilchrist (Edinburgh) R Grant (Glasgow), J Gray (Glasgow), R Gray (Castres), J Hamilton (Montpellier), R Harley (Glasgow), A Kellock (Glasgow), S Lawson (Newcastle), K Low (London Irish), M Low (Glasgow), P MacArthur (Glasgow), E Murray (Worcester), A Strokosch (Perpignan), T Swinson (Glasgow), J Welsh (Glasgow)

*Sorry for not updating this sooner. My girlfriend and I broke up a few weeks ago after four and a half years, three living together. I've been in a pretty bad place. However, I'm getting better and looking forward to these games so I'll continue to contribute when I can

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Dickinson-MacArthur-Welsh
Gray snr-Hamilton
Brown-Denton-Barclay
Laidlaw-Jackson
Taylor-
Lamont-Maitland-Seymour

MacArthur deserves his chance over Ford, the rest of the front row picks itself imo, Cross and Low on the bench alongside Ford; the boiler room pairing is also obvious with Gray jnr on the bench, and Stroks drops to the bench in a swap with John Barclay; I'm sticking with my half-back pairing, but Cus and Heathcote move up to the bench; we're going to give Taylor and a baptism of fire, and the back three remains as is, with RDW promoted to bench ahead of Max Evans

I don't think that team will be to far away given the injuries, the desire to see other players and the fact that it is a 6 day turn around to the Australia game the following Saturday.

Laidlaw is also carrying a knock, if he is out as well then it may be that Pygros starts and kicks. I don't think Heathcote will start but we will see him on the bench for one game, probably this one if Weir is also doubtful. Taylor and Bennett is a very inexperienced line up, though one with great potential but I imagine we will see De Luca again and Bennett on the bench.

There is Harley, Beattie, Fusaro and the other two new back row boys to think about as well if he genuinely is going to give everyone a chance.

We played and gave South Africa a very good game over the summer with another weakened side. I think we have got a lot more depth now. If some of these guys want to play regularly for Scotland then they are going to have to step up to the plate and show it

I have always wondered how people can judge that players aren’t doing enough ‘unseen’ work, when the whole point if it is that it is unseen!

There was an interview with Denton where he said he was working hard with that aspect of his game and Solomons was helping him a lot with it.

With regards to his ball carrying technique he does have a low centre of gravity which is very effective, but it does mean that he’s off-balance and can hit the deck easily. Still, I would prefer that than someone who runs into contact too upright – Denton always gets over the gainline. Surely he’s getting isolated because his team mates aren’t supporting him properly? We shouldn’t be telling someone off for making too many yards in attack!

Where I do want to see him improve is in the effectiveness of his tackles – nothing wrong with his defence, I just want to see him put in a few more huge hits like Swinson has been doing.

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:What did Kellock do wrong exactly ?

Baffled by this comment... He didn't do much wrong because like Euan Murray he was missing in action for the entire time the ball wasn't in a set piece. You don't see a player making mistakes when he isn't trying to be involved. Kellock has had some good performances for Scotland but we have better alternatives now.


1. Grant - Unlucky to take that bump to the head, he should start against South Africa. I did think however Dickinson gave nothing away at the scrum and was superb in the loose. An easy bench choice for me. In addition, I feel that the new scrum rules have helped Dickinson a lot. He is a strong and powerdul unit and I feel the absense of the "hit" in the scrum allows him to deploy his powerful core strength on the tighthead. Been really impressed with him all season and his performance on Saturday was also good.

2. MacArthur -  I don't feel Ford did anything dramatically wrong, but his reluctance to hook the ball was very disruptive. We can't assume we'll be able to drive the South Africans off the ball at the scrum so we need a hooker to hook the ball. Thinking of the entire context of the front row the Bokke are a trio of big units whoever they pick, lets pick a shorter front row and try to get under them.

3. Dr Cross - The only realistic alternative. I don't know if Glasgow / Scotland or anyone knows what to do with Lowe and Welsh, whether they are looseheads or Tightheads, but these guys need a bit of stability at their clubs before they can challenge for Scotland test match honours. We don't have a big enough player pool to muck these guys around. On consistancy grounds I start Cross.

4. Swinson - What a well of Talent we have in the boiler room these days, Gray Jr, Gray Sr, Hamilton, Gilchrist long may it continue.

5. Hamilton - This sort of game is taylor made for big Jim. Gray Snr coming in off the bench.

6. Strokosch - Produced the match of his life against South Africa in the summer.

7. Barclay - Harsh on Kelly Brown who again did nothing wrong but we need Barclay's turnover prowess in this match more than any other.

8. Denton - Will be central to developing our momentum and critical at the base of the scrum for getting us out of dodge.

9. Laidlaw (C) - Apart from his work from the kicking Tee, (I reckon the pitch played a major part) he was excellent, kept the forwards moving and took his try really well.

10. Jackson - Did enough to keep the 10 jersey. Some mistakes but some sublime passing too. Clearly responsible for 2 tries at least (Dickinson's and Seymore's 2nd).

11. Maitland - Lamont had a good game against Japan, but I fear what JP Pieterson and Habana might do to him.

12. Scott 12 - What a welcome sight it is to see a 12 for Scotland that is powerful, phsycial and abrasive. Nice to see him at 1st reciever too.

13.  - NDL did enough to show he still has his uses in the test match arena. But Bennet is just the sort of elusive guy at 13 that might wrong the Bok defence.

14. Seymore - Took his tries well but did get burned a couple of times by that lightning Japanese winger.

15. Tonks - Moved Maitland to the wing to cover for Lamont who just doesn't have the pace to play on the wings in a test match anymore. Thanks for your service Sean but I reckon the SA back three will cause huge problems if we keep Lamont on the park.

Re the injuries, I think it's important to remember that after every Test there are a number of 'walking wounded' that suffer from soft tissue damage. Most of the time, these knocks clear up for the following week, so there's a good chance that some of the currently injured will play next week.

Scott looks doubtful, certainly, but it's not all doom and gloom for the other guys. Let's wait and see.

If this was a six nations game and we won with a score like that then I am sure the whole team would be out again the following week baring injuries. I think that there is a somewhat different mindset to this series of games however. I don't think anyone should consider themselves to be dropped if they don't play this week but they do have to accept the value of a bit of experimentation and rotation just as happens in the club games.

We have not nailed down our best team yet, not by a long chalk and we do need to continue to build up an experienced squad. The guys that are picked have every incentive to go out and put down a marker. I think at this point in time for us that this is the right thing to do.

Radge, buddy, you've lost your mind. Lamont had a superb game against Japan, he's still got a fair bit of pace and he's a very solid defender. We need a big ball carrier somewhere in the backs, as well. I'd much rather play Lamont on the wing and keep Maitland at FB than shuffle in a mediocre FB like Tonks and lose Lamont's power.

Can one of you guys please start a new thread on this please, we have to lock it when it gets to 1000 posts.


Thanks.