Scotland World Cup Watch

To take my mind off the neverending mince pies, Christmas specials and family arguments I found myself pondering who the contenders for the 2015 Scotland squad could be.

Previously I've held back from idle speculation but, as it's now under 2 years away, the chances for players to mount a serious challenge are diminishing by the game. By my reckoning there are only 16 international games to be played between now and the World Cup, and even less with Cotter at the helm.

With that in mind here are my predictions for the top 3 in each position - with one outside bet (some more wild than others). I've chosen not to repeat utility players (e.g Maitland/Hogg) across various positions so that it's easier to see true depth in each position. Most of the players are in their favoured position but I've taken the liberty of moving a couple into a different position that I think they could easily convert to.


1: 1) GRANT  2) Welsh  3) Dickinson  (Outside bet Hislop)
2: 1) MCARTHUR  2) Ford  3) Hall  (Outside bet McInally)
3: 1) NEL  2) Cusack  3) Murray   (outside bet Low/Cross)
4: 1) J GRAY  2) Hamilton  3) Gilchrist  (Outside Bet Hines)
5: 1) R GRAY  2) Swinson  3) Ryder   (Outside bet van der Westhuizen)
6: 1) BROWN  2) Low  3) Harley  (Outside bet Roddy Grant)
7: 1) RENNIE  2) Barclay  3) Holmes  (Outside bet Fusaro/Hardie)
8: 1) BEATTIE  2) Strauss  3) Denton  (Outside bet Wilson/Hogg)

9: 1) LAIDLAW  2) Pyrgos  3) Hart  (Outside bet McKibbin/Stevenson)
10: 1) JACKSON  2) Heathcote  3) Weir  (Outside bet Lee Millar/Robbie Robinson)
11: 1) VISSER  2) Seymour  3) Fife  (Outside bet Farndale)
12: 1) SCOTT  2) Horne  3) Taylor  (outside bet Beard)
13: 1) BENNETT  2) Dunbar  3) De Luca  (outside bet Vernon)
14: 1) MAITLAND  2) McGuigan  3) Brown  (outside bet Mantella)
15: 1) HOGG  2) Tonks  3) Murchie  (outside bet McColl)

What would constitute success for Scotland in 2015?

Probably beating SA is a bridge too far. But Scotland should be confident of progressing from the group. They must beat Samoa.

A knock out final will be at twickenham whether first or second. Facing either Australia, England or Wales.

Since pool A is too close to call, they'd probably most fancy Australia where they have recent success.

Is a semi-final setting the bar too high?

GloriousEmpire wrote:What would constitute success for Scotland in 2015?

Is a semi-final setting the bar too high?

After 2011, escaping the pool would be an improvement! I would be pretty disappointed if we didn't beat Samoa but very few games are safe bets when it comes to Scotland.

I think the quarter opponents of Australia/England/Wales are potentially beatable on a good day (with a brisk wind behind us!) as opposed to the All Blacks who we always lose to.

I'd be pretty made up with a semi exit but happy with a quarter spot.

Very good post Maccas.
 
I was so, so depressed with the last tournament. I had never seen Scotland fail to make the quarters before - it was horrible.
 
In response to Glorious' question - there is cause to be far more optimistic this time round. We have a backline with guile and gas, we have enormous strength at lock and amongst the loose forwards. The key will be whether Cotter can pull it all together into some sort of order and coherence. Quarter final is definitely doable and we ran a full strength Springbok side very close in the Quadrangular so anything is possible over an 80 minute period.
 
Some positions are a worry. I suspect that Mike Cusack's professional career may be over, which would be terribly sad but I'm not sure what else we're supposed to infer from a year out of a matchday squad. Euan Murray will be 35/36 by then and whilst he's been a great servant, I'm not sure we can rely on him as still being international quality by then. WP Nel certainly is - I hope he is definitely SQ by then.

George Carlin wrote:Very good post Maccas.
 
I was so, so depressed with the last tournament.

You're telling me - I'd paid thousands of pounds to go watch them play in NZ!

With regardd to the OP, is 16 games before the wc correct? Five 6n, 4 sumner tour, 3 AIs then another five 6n = 17

Can I add that a fully fit back row of 6. Strauss 7. Rennie 8. Beattie is the stuff of rugby dreams.

George Carlin wrote:
Some positions are a worry. I suspect that Mike Cusack's professional career may be over, which would be terribly sad but I'm not sure what else we're supposed to infer from a year out of a matchday squad. Euan Murray will be 35/36 by then and whilst he's been a great servant, I'm not sure we can rely on him as still being international quality by then. WP Nel certainly is - I hope he is definitely SQ by then.

You make a very good point. That would be such a shame because he's been the rock on which Glasgow's pack has been build over the past few years. And there I was thinking loosehead was our weakest position depth wise! The whole front row looks a bit wobbly.

I don't think we can rely on Murray but I just don't see any other really quality options coming through - certainly not anything to strike fear into the boks. Nel will just be qualified having arrived in August 2012, if he's injured though we're up the creek.

Won't be ideal if nel is making his debut in the world cup!

Hopefully he can qualify in time for the warm up games. We shouldn't be basing our future plans around him though - we need someone who is going to regularly play for Scotland over the next 18 months.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Very good post Maccas.
 
I was so, so depressed with the last tournament.

You're telling me - I'd paid thousands of pounds to go watch them play in NZ!

With regardd to the OP, is 16 games before the wc correct? Five 6n, 4 sumner tour, 3 AIs then another five 6n = 17

Oops you're spot on, I counted 3 for the summer tour. Still I hope the point stands that there's not long to go. I remember Woodward saying that a player needs at very least a dozen games under his belt at international level before he can really cope with the speed and pressure. Last thing we want to do is blood players in the middle of a World Cup. If we're going to play them then it has to been soon. Maybe there'll be 1 bolter not featured in the list above, but I doubt it. The last time we had a fresh crop come through was during the last World Cup when a load of youngsters (Hogg etc) covered for the missing players at Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The positions I think we're weak in are across the front row, fly half and wing. We're surprisingly healthy in the centres for once   

Let's not talk about 2011, Wellington was a very lonely place for a man in sodden kilt and windbreaker   

I feel your pain - my wimd breaker in Wellington was my Scotland flag!   

I think the more telling statistic is that cotter is only going to be in charge for 12 of those 17 games...

Fly half is incredibly annoying - we are really "between World Cups" in terms of having a tested, settled, international quality option. But take courage, soggy kilt-wearing brethren. Just compare the team that lost to the Pumas in the group stage of the last World Cup (one of our worst ever, we only started playing once the game had been lost and then tanked 13-12):
 
FB 15 Chris Paterson
RW 14 Max Evans
OC 13 Nick De Luca
IC 12 Graeme Morrison
LW 11 Sean Lamont
FH 10 Ruaridh Jackson
SH 9 Rory Lawson (c)
N8 8 Kelly Brown
OF 7 John Barclay
BF 6 Al Strokosch
RL 5 Jim Hamilton
LL 4 Richie Gray
TP 3 Geoff Cross
HK 2 Ross Ford
LP 1 Allan Jacobsen

Replacements:
16 Dougie Hall
17 Alasdair Dickinson
18 Nathan Hines
19 Richie Vernon
20 Mike Blair
21 Dan Parks
22 Simon Danielli
 
I think I can safely say that without exception, we can boast a stronger player (or one of equal ability) in every single position in the 23.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Won't be ideal if nel is making his debut in the world cup!

Hopefully he can qualify in time for the warm up games. We shouldn't be basing our future plans around him though - we need someone who is going to regularly play for Scotland over the next 18 months.

So we're only talking Low, Cross or Welsh then? They're all solid but I don't think they could ever be world class. May be find a granny time.

RDW_Scotland wrote:I feel your pain - my wimd breaker in Wellington was my Scotland flag!   

I think the more telling statistic is that cotter is only going to be in charge for 12 of those 17 games...

I'm sorry but how can the glass be anything other than half full in that regard? We could have Toonie or some random as the national team manager. At least Cotter has skills, pedigree and can kick some arse. The future has to be brighter for us now than at the last world cup with the silly gold strip. Made us look like the Village People at Parents School Sports Day.

George Carlin wrote:
IC 12 Graeme Morrison

  

Cringlingly nicknamed G-Dog was a great guy and a faithful servant to Glasgow, but he and Andy Henderson had to be 2 of the worst centres Scotland ever produced. Oww but then we can't forget Di Rollo and Kevin Utterson. Any more for any more?

I forget how much we've struggled with centres over the past decade.

George Carlin wrote:Fly half is incredibly annoying - we are really "between World Cups" in terms of having a tested, settled, international quality option. But take courage, soggy kilt-wearing brethren. Just compare the team that lost to the Pumas in the group stage of the last World Cup (one of our worst ever, we only started playing once the game had been lost and then tanked 13-12):
 
FB 15 Chris Paterson
RW 14 Max Evans
OC 13 Nick De Luca
IC 12 Graeme Morrison
LW 11 Sean Lamont
FH 10 Ruaridh Jackson
SH 9 Rory Lawson (c)
N8 8 Kelly Brown
OF 7 John Barclay
BF 6 Al Strokosch
RL 5 Jim Hamilton
LL 4 Richie Gray
TP 3 Geoff Cross
HK 2 Ross Ford
LP 1 Allan Jacobsen

Replacements:
16 Dougie Hall
17 Alasdair Dickinson
18 Nathan Hines
19 Richie Vernon
20 Mike Blair
21 Dan Parks
22 Simon Danielli
 
I think I can safely say that without exception, we can boast a stronger player (or one of equal ability) in every single position in the 23.

I totally agree - we will be a far better side at the next World Cup in terms of ability and talent. This is my crystal ball effort at the World Cup squad:

1.Grant(c) 2.Ford 3.Low 4.Swinson 5.R Gray 6.Brown 7.Rennie 8.Denton 9.Laidlaw 10.Weir 11.Visser 12.Scott 13.Dunbar 14.Maitland 15.Hogg

16.Dickinson 17.MacArthur 18.Nel 19.J Gray 20.Strauss 21.Cusiter 22.Horne 23.Tonks

Remainder of squad: 24.McInally 25.Welsh 26.Gilchrist 27.Beattie 28.Hidalgo-Clyne 29.Bennett 30.Fife

If Scotland beat Samoa then they will be knocked out by England/Wales or Australia, job done.

You're right Scratchy - let's not turn up at all.

Cotter's mum can write us a note excusing us from games and we call all retire to a local watering hole for reconstituted meat pies, heroin and some introspection.

wont du pu preez be sq also ?

Maccas, my only criticism of your list is that you have too many option having only sixteen matches before the RWC.

To take a leaf from Heyneke Meyer prior to the AI's.

His goal was to have 25 players sorted by the end of the tour.

I would think that would be the case for most coaches, the core of their squads should be formed by now, only debutants who can truly make a huge impact would be added to the squad or even get the starting position.

From my perspective you need to think core squad at this point.

Otherwise good article mate.

That is our problem Bilt.

Very few of our starting 23 are incontrovertibly nailed down. In fact, I would say only:

1 Grant
5 Swinson
9 Laidlaw
11 Visser
12 Scott
14 Maitland
15 Hogg

16 Welsh
17 Ford/MacArthur
18 R. Gray

have that status.

In part this is because of a higher incidence of quality players but to say that few are nailed down is a simple lack of continuity of opinion amongst recent head coaches.

The worst thing SJ can do now is continue the experimenting (especially with players out of position) in the same way he admitted to doing in the Quadrangular and the AIs. This will kill us in the end.

Yeah George, I can see what you mean. But perhaps it is now time to stop the new caps and go with only those who have been capped and then start reducing it by limiting the numbers per position.

6 front rowers, 4 second rowers, 5 backrowers, 3 scrumhalves, 3 flyhalves, 4 midfielders, 4 wings, 3 fullbacks.

Some of these positions you will have players that fit in the "utility" mould, such as second rows and backrows. Danie Rossouw was an example for the Boks, the back three can also interchange.

Does any one know what the squad size will be for the world cup. In the past it has been 30 but that was when there was a 22 man match day squad. It is now 23 with an extra prop, will the overall squad size be increased to accommodate that?

Overall I think the Scotland squad at the next world cup will be far stronger the world cup 2011. A lot more depth now and the starting team especially in the backs are a lot more dangerous. A couple positions we still need to find players of better quality, stand off being the key one and probably tight head. Moray Low looked solid in the autumn tests but doesn't seem to get much game time recently at Glasgow. A change of club could be key for Low.
Euan Murray will be 35 and won't be play Sundays. 35 isn't too old for a prop but the Sunday games does cause problems. WP Nel will obviously be a shout, Mike Cusack I ain't convinced by, would rather look at other options over him. The option Scotland really need to look at and get on board is Scott Wilson from Newcastle. Melrose born and brought up in Berwick. Been in the Falcons academy since he was 16ish and played for the senior squad since he was 18, tight head for England when they won the junior world cup in 2013. Great prospect at tighthead but from what i have heard is still open to playing for Scotland at senior rugby.

Currently the squad i would take if it is still 30 players would be
props
Ryan Grant, Al Dickinson, Moray Low, WP Nel, Jon Welsh

Hookers
Ross Ford, Pat MacArthur, Fraser Brown(offers the option of playing in the backrow)

Locks
Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton, Tim Swinson, Johnny Gray

Back Row
Ross Rennie, Johnnie Beattie, Kelly Brown, Dave Denton, Al Strokosh

9s
Greig Laidlaw, Chris Cusiter, Henry Pyrgos

10s
Duncan Weir, then any one of Greig Tonks(preferred choice as offters 10 or 15), Jackson, Heathcote possibly Lee Millar

centre
Matt Scott, Alex Dunbar, Mark Bennett,

Wings/Full Back
Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Tim Visser, Tommy Seymour, Sean Lamont(good impact from bench and due to small squad can cover centres too)

Starting line up
1 Grant 2 Ford 3 Low 4 Hamilton 5 Swinson 6 Brown 7 Rennie 8 Beattie 9 Laidlaw 10 Weir 11 Visser 12 Scott 13 Bennett 14 Maitland 15 Hogg
16 McCarthur 17 Dickinson 18 WP Nel 19 R Gray 20 Denton 21 Cusiter 22 Tonks 23 Lamont

Given the undeniable quality of Tommy Seymour, and a current international retiree, would anyone be particularly surprised if Cotter's preference is for 4. Hines 5. Swinson and 11. Visser 14. Seymour 15. Maitland with 12. Scott 13. Hogg?

Would that be the worst thing if that lineup can get, say, 10 games together?

Majestic - we're not far apart on our predicted squads (mine is included earlier in the thread).

We're agreed on the pack with the exception of Gilchrist over Hamilton, and I've taken a probably silly punt on McInally going as third hooker. I've also gone with Josh Strauss ahead of Strokosch as I think Strauss makes a better impact sub covering both 6 and 8.

I've assumed that fly half cover will be provided by Weir (1st choice), Horne (also covers 12) and Tonks (also covers 15). I also think Pyrgos will be overtaken by one of Kennedy or Hidalgo-Clyne. I've gone with H-C based on the fact that Solomons seems to prefer him. My only other change to your squad is to go with Fife over S Lamont. Schlong isn't getting any faster and with Scott, Horne, Dunbar and Bennett already in the squad (plus cover from Hogg and Tonks), it's really wing cover I'm looking for primarily, albeit that Fife also plays outside centre. The choice for me came down to Seymour or Fife. Probably harsh of me not to pick Seymour, certainly at this stage, but I do think Fife will emerge over the next couple of years. Plus Fife plays for Edinburgh.......

FES:

1. Wouldn't you say Kennedy is a better prospect at 9 than our young Scottish Spaniard?
2. I won't make fun of Fife over Seymour because they actually have similar records and are only 2 years apart. Tommy Seymour - 39 apparances for Glasgow (11 tries) plus 5 appearances for Scotland (2 tries). Dougie Fife - 34 apparances for Edinburgh (7 tries). But I still think it will be Tommy who is the incumbent for the shirt...

I think it's a hard call between Kennedy and H-C. Last season in a Glasgow team playing great rugby Kennedy looked the business (as did most of the players involved), but when given a chance this season for Edinburgh I'd have to say H-C has looked the more complete scrum half. Kennedy is sharper on the break, but H-C has a good pass and reads the game well. It's a pretty tough call.

I probably agree with you re: Seymour. The reason I like Fife is that he's often had to play with a dreadful group of players around him and yet he always seems to make yards and given the rubbish we played last season, his try scoring record isn't bad at all.

Both are tough calls and I'd be happy with both to go either way. Sean Lamont on the other hand I don't want in the squad. Not good enough as a centre. Not good enough as a winger.

Agree with FES here sam h-c will probably get more game time in the lead up to the wc and people forget he is basically brand new to playing nine after playing 10/12 at school and 15 at under 20 level he will only get better. He is also incredibly committed he is always practising hours before kick off on his box kicking etc so hopefully by 2015 he will be behind laidlaw.

Would like to see fife in the squad because he has always been solid at edinburgh and is better than Lamont. Interesting to madmaccas list mantella as an outside bet I always thought he was English but he does seem a strong finisher. Strauss and Denton have to go both add ball carrying that will be vital.

Hopefully Horne and heathcote gain plenty of playing time before then and we can actually have some competition and pick on form players

couple of points

Du Preez won't be SQ by the next WC (misses out by a few months)

The biggest thing in this post that scares me is our total lack of quality at 10. I pray (I'm not saying it will be) that tonks is our answer to our 10 problem. Oh how I'd love for him to set the heather alight having moved to 10 for th mighty Burgh.

Scotland SHOULD be making it to the 1/4 finals and Scotland COULD then beat Oz/Wales in that QF. I dont think we'd be able to turn over England in thier own yard

On 10s - its too early to write4 off Weir. He has the potential but needs gametime which he looks like getting this year. Tonks has looked OK in the games he has played however

I'm not writing off anyone. We don't have the luxury of being able to simply discard players for poor performance and move on.

Jackson, Heathcote, Weir, Horne, Tonks (even after only two games), Russell (GC's best mate), Leonard etc. are all in contention for the World Cup slot. A half decent run of games at 10, as demonstrated by Tonks, can propel anyone into the frontrunner slot. None of the aforementioned should be "written off".

Rather than simply focusing on the one position as well, we need to be thinking about combinations. Which players work best in tandem. It's quite possible the best 10 individually isn't the 10 that works best with Laidlaw and Scott, or the best half back combination prefers Horne or Taylor at 12 to Matt Scott (perish the thought).

On paper I think the best combination is Laidlaw, Jackson, Scott and Dunbar, but Cusiter, Weir, Horne and Bennett could also be compelling, and any combination of the foregoing. The fact that Tonks is a serious contender at 10 after only two professional matches is telling as to how far away we are from having a settled midfield.

Pretty content with how our squad is shaping up for RWC, far more exciting than the previous two campaigns.

Obviously there are a couple issues to iron out (3, 10 & 13 being the most pressing) and currently the strongest XV isn't particularly clear, especially up front.

The goal for the next 17 tests imo is to become difficult to beat, central to that is a good tactical game. Our players need to learn how to play % rugby so when it doesn't quite click they can win ugly. We've got the tools to do it in Laidlaw, Weir, Scott & Hogg.

Running rugby and tries come on top of that foundation, and with quality footballers like Scott, Maitland, Hogg, Rennie, Beattie and Gray in the team they will.

reallybored wrote:Pretty content with how our squad is shaping up for RWC, far more exciting than the previous two campaigns.

Obviously there are a couple issues to iron out (3, 10 & 13 being the most pressing) and currently the strongest XV isn't particularly clear, especially up front.

The goal for the next 17 tests imo is to become difficult to beat, central to that is a good tactical game.  Our players need to learn how to play % rugby so when it doesn't quite click they can win ugly.  We've got the tools to do it in Laidlaw, Weir, Scott & Hogg.

Running rugby and tries come on top of that foundation, and with quality footballers like Scott, Maitland, Hogg, Rennie, Beattie and Gray in the team they will.

100% agree with all of that.

We've just got to hope that SJ doesnt break the team completely before Cotter rocks up

I don't think SJ has done a bad job. It seems to be happy camp from the outside looking in, and we've had some good results (Ireland, plus Italy and Japan being games we should have won and did) and good performances (South Africa in the summer and Australia in the AIs). His biggest failing was probably losing to Samoa, plus the performances against England in the 6 Nations and South Africa in the AIs were both poor.

That all said, he has made some odd selection decisions (albeit we had injury issues in the AIs), and I still don't think we're playing to our potential. Hopefully Cotter can take us to the next level. It'll take some time though for his ideas to sink in.

Johnson has us playing kick and chase! and that game against Ireland was a total fluke. Ireland lost rather than us winning (still happy about it mind)

I hope cotter can get us playing proper rugby again in time for the WC. Even if he had our forwards competing at the breakdown I'd be happy

It's why I distinguished between good performances and good results, the Ireland game being in the latter camp. It was a poor performance but a good result. If we're going to be tough on SJ for games in which Scotland play well and yet lose, we ought to give credit for the reverse.

I'd settle right now for 3 poor yet victorious performances in the World Cup Group Stages!

Ach, I'm a bit of a nit-picker with these tings but I want a performance and a result. I like to be entertained by the match I am watching. I'm not asking for a try fest nessesarily. I've seen some great 9-6 affairs where both teams have fought and bled for every inch of territory.

If Scotland won three pool matches in the WC by 6 points to 3 with both teams not missing any tackles then I'd be entertained.

But Cotter has no excuses for not coming up with a game plan that involves playing 'real rugby'.

He is inheriting the best Scotland collective in at least 5, possibly even 10, years. I understand that this is a relative term but still, in the dark days of Andy Robinson and even the olden days of Middle Earth under St Franklyn of Haddock, there was genuinely a case to be made for 'up the jumper, trundle forward, have Parks kick the goals, defend the slender lead like your life depended on it' as Plan A and Plan B because that was genuinely the game plan that suited our meagre 'talents'.

That's not where we are now. We have the makings of a pack that can compete with anyone and win a reasonable amount of possession. We have a back three to choose between Hogg, Visser, Tonks, Seymour and Maitland  - all of whom have tries in them and in Matt Scott, a linebreaker and linkman of genuine international quality.

In Horne, Dunbar, Bennett and Fife there is a choice of partner to Scott that have the makings of being similar international quality. We are not short of quality scrum halves. Our weaknesses at 10 are well known but for all that FES is inclined to make fun of young players he has not seen - all of the current crop have the potential to be better than Godman and most have more strings to their bow than the faithful but limited servant that was Dan Parks.

I wish Cotter all the best but I am going to be monumentally annoyed if this generation of Scottish players is not given the chance to play the rounded game that there's a very real danger they are capable of.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I'm not writing off anyone. We don't have the luxury of being able to simply discard players for poor performance and move on.

Jackson, Heathcote, Weir, Horne, Tonks (even after only two games), Russell (GC's best mate), Leonard etc. are all in contention for the World Cup slot. A half decent run of games at 10, as demonstrated by Tonks, can propel anyone into the frontrunner slot. None of the aforementioned should be "written off".

Rather than simply focusing on the one position as well, we need to be thinking about combinations. Which players work best in tandem. It's quite possible the best 10 individually isn't the 10 that works best with Laidlaw and Scott, or the best half back combination prefers Horne or Taylor at 12 to Matt Scott (perish the thought).

On paper I think the best combination is Laidlaw, Jackson, Scott and Dunbar, but Cusiter, Weir, Horne and Bennett could also be compelling, and any combination of the foregoing. The fact that Tonks is a serious contender at 10 after only two professional matches is telling as to how far away we are from having a settled midfield.

As in 'FACT. End of'?!  That'll be like one of them unionist facts i.e. fiction. Fact only in your heid

Euan Murray unlikely to be fit in time for 6Ns, still carrying an achilles injury that he picked up in the AIs

George Carlin wrote:Fly half is incredibly annoying - we are really "between World Cups" in terms of having a tested, settled, international quality option. But take courage, soggy kilt-wearing brethren. Just compare the team that lost to the Pumas in the group stage of the last World Cup (one of our worst ever, we only started playing once the game had been lost and then tanked 13-12):
 
FB 15 Chris Paterson Yes Hoggy is better
RW 14 Max Evans Maitland ditto Seymour ditto my 10 year old son ditto
OC 13 Nick De Luca Dunbar is better by far but SJ did play NDL in the AIs
IC 12 Graeme Morrison Scott is a far better 12
LW 11 Sean Lamont Still there
FH 10 Ruaridh Jackson Still there
SH 9 Rory Lawson (c) Laidlaw is better
N8 8 Kelly Brown From 8-2 could all start in the World Cup. No real change there. Also there is no point comparing anyone with Chunk. It's just pointless.
OF 7 John Barclay
BF 6 Al Strokosch
RL 5 Jim Hamilton
LL 4 Richie Gray
TP 3 Geoff Cross
HK 2 Ross Ford
LP 1 Allan Jacobsen

Replacements:
16 Dougie Hall
17 Alasdair Dickinson
18 Nathan Hines
19 Richie Vernon
20 Mike Blair
21 Dan Parks
22 Simon Danielli Again 16-19 could all feature, although anyone would be an improvement on Danielli.
 
I think I can safely say that without exception, we can boast a stronger player (or one of equal ability) in every single position in the 23.

Not really that many changes, four by my harsh reckoning. Knowing Scotland Max Evans might still be in the squad come World Cup.

Will WP Nel be qualified for us in time for the World Cup?

He will, but only in August so at best he will be able to play yhe warm up games as his first caps.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:I'm not writing off anyone. We don't have the luxury of being able to simply discard players for poor performance and move on.

Jackson, Heathcote, Weir, Horne, Tonks (even after only two games), Russell (GC's best mate), Leonard etc. are all in contention for the World Cup slot. A half decent run of games at 10, as demonstrated by Tonks, can propel anyone into the frontrunner slot. None of the aforementioned should be "written off".

Rather than simply focusing on the one position as well, we need to be thinking about combinations. Which players work best in tandem. It's quite possible the best 10 individually isn't the 10 that works best with Laidlaw and Scott, or the best half back combination prefers Horne or Taylor at 12 to Matt Scott (perish the thought).

On paper I think the best combination is Laidlaw, Jackson, Scott and Dunbar, but Cusiter, Weir, Horne and Bennett could also be compelling, and any combination of the foregoing. The fact that Tonks is a serious contender at 10 after only two professional matches is telling as to how far away we are from having a settled midfield.

As in 'FACT. End of'?!  That'll be like one of them unionist facts i.e. fiction.  Fact only in your heid

No, just the sort of fact deduced from reasonable argument and sound observations. I also consulted an expert on the subject and sought legal advice as to whether my findings could constitute a "fact". You know, actual legal advice, not the made up sort which the "Yes" campaign prefers to use.

  

RDW_Scotland wrote:He will, but only in August so at best he will be able to play yhe warm up games as his first caps.

Wouldn't think that matters as much as it might. Cotter will have him training with the Scotland squad as an invitee long before he is actually qualified to play as he is potentially a very important addition to the squad. There's no substitute for real game time of course, but he'll know the calls, the squad and have been packing down with a lot of them for Edinburgh in previous years at any rate.

Ditto with Strauss (if he continues to progress and wishes to wear the thistle) who becomes SQ on 19 September 2015, a day after the Rugby World Cup kicks off. Strauss alone means that we should never see Richie Vernon on the subs bench ever again. Unless he's playing at centre (etc).

George Carlin wrote:In Horne, Dunbar, Bennett and Fife there is a choice of partner to Scott that have the makings of being similar international quality. We are not short of quality scrum halves. Our weaknesses at 10 are well known but for all that FES is inclined to make fun of young players he has not seen - all of the current crop have the potential to be better than Godman and most have more strings to their bow than the faithful but limited servant that was Dan Parks.

They must have some pretty dedicated Scottish rugby TV channels out there in UAE if you're managing to catch all of Finn Russell's performances for whichever amateur/kids rugby XV he's currently turning out for (if any) in order to get a game!!

Has he even played a single minute of professional rugby at stand-off yet?? I know he provided emergency cover at 12 earlier this season (I think Richie Vernon was injured), but as understand it he was propelled into the stands by a stiff breeze.

I'm sure he'll be fine against Samoa and South Africa in the pressure cooker environment of the World Cup.

I see Lee Millar is now also being added to the list of future world class Scottish stand-offs. Exciting times.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:In Horne, Dunbar, Bennett and Fife there is a choice of partner to Scott that have the makings of being similar international quality. We are not short of quality scrum halves. Our weaknesses at 10 are well known but for all that FES is inclined to make fun of young players he has not seen - all of the current crop have the potential to be better than Godman and most have more strings to their bow than the faithful but limited servant that was Dan Parks.

They must have some pretty dedicated Scottish rugby TV channels out there in UAE if you're managing to catch all of Finn Russell's performances for whichever amateur/kids rugby XV he's currently turning out for (if any) in order to get a game!!

Has he even played a single minute of professional rugby at stand-off yet?? I know he provided emergency cover at 12 earlier this season (I think Richie Vernon was injured), but as understand it he was propelled into the stands by a stiff breeze.

I'm sure he'll be fine against Samoa and South Africa in the pressure cooker environment of the World Cup.

I see Lee Millar is now also being added to the list of future world class Scottish stand-offs. Exciting times.

Out of the pick of possible 10s just now Lee Millar for me has the most potential. Had a great season at London Scottish when many thought he might struggle with the step up from Gala but has been one of the best players in the league and really pushed LS on. Only on a one year contract at LS and from my source at Edinburgh could well be back up North of the border next season if Edinburgh get their way as they are already trying to get his signature. All depends on if LS get promoted or not! Great player though, tactically very good, good boot on him from hand and at goal, can get the ball wide with good passing and is solid in defense. Really don't have a clue how he wasn't signed by Edinburgh especially when one Gregor Hunter couldn't get in the Gala team ahead of Millar!

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:In Horne, Dunbar, Bennett and Fife there is a choice of partner to Scott that have the makings of being similar international quality. We are not short of quality scrum halves. Our weaknesses at 10 are well known but for all that FES is inclined to make fun of young players he has not seen - all of the current crop have the potential to be better than Godman and most have more strings to their bow than the faithful but limited servant that was Dan Parks.

They must have some pretty dedicated Scottish rugby TV channels out there in UAE if you're managing to catch all of Finn Russell's performances for whichever amateur/kids rugby XV he's currently turning out for (if any) in order to get a game!!

Has he even played a single minute of professional rugby at stand-off yet?? I know he provided emergency cover at 12 earlier this season (I think Richie Vernon was injured), but as understand it he was propelled into the stands by a stiff breeze.

I'm sure he'll be fine against Samoa and South Africa in the pressure cooker environment of the World Cup.

I see Lee Millar is now also being added to the list of future world class Scottish stand-offs. Exciting times.

Er, no, I just watch Ayr a lot when I'm back, which was several times a year when he was playing.  In addition to this, I have quite a lot of family in Halswell, Canterbury. This is very close to Lincoln Uni and so they watched every single game which Finn played whilst on the MacPhail. The crowd were very impressed with him and he became a fan favourite very fast. My cousins in particular will tell you that it's a tough crowd down there and it takes something a bit special to get their attention. I am sure that you will poo-pooh this as heresay and flimflam but nonetheless I think it's worth mentioning to provide some context for any comments that I may make about young Mr Russell.

I think also that you may be overstating what posters actually make of him or indeed any of our young 10s. Of course he'd not ready for international exposure. Nobody is claiming that he is (as far as I am aware). The tenet of recent chat has been whether we have a settled international quality stand-off who will take us into the RWC. The answer is that we don't, therefore making any suggestion as to whom the long term solution may be worth considering.

I don't mind this. It's fun. But I may have misunderstood. If, on the other hand, this isn't what you're doing and you really do quite literally feel that (for example) young Sam Clyne is worth including in the RWC Scotland squad (as you have indicated on a previous post) on the basis of his 6 appearances for Edinburgh in 3 years and with a defensive technique that makes Tim Visser resemble the barsteward lovechild of Jason White and Brian Lima, then it just goes to show that we all have our hopes and favourites.

"A hit, a palpable hit" as they said in Hamlet.
GC any rugby complement from a Kiwi is usually very hard-earned: I'll be keeping an eye out for young Mr Russell.  
Now play nice boys.  

Some fair comments GC, and given my crystal ball prediction re: McInally making the WC squad as a hooker, I'll give you more slack on your Finn Russell theory.

I think S H-C has slightly more merit as a candidate however. We'll take 3 scrum halves, and I'd assume Laidlaw and Cusiter wil go. That leaves one of S H-C, Kennedy and Pyrgos in terms of pro scrum halves. Based on rugby this season, I think S H-C is a fair shout.