Scotland XV to face Ireland 6N 2014

First topic message reminder :

So after the final Heineken Cup games, where Edinburgh suffered at the hands of a clinical Munster and Glasgow impressed but failed to deliver against Toulon, players have done all they can to merit selection for the opening 6 Nations game.

Front row - Geoff Cross, Alasdair Dickinson, Ryan Grant, Moray Low

Hooker - Ross Ford, Scott Lawson, Pat MacArthur

Second row - Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton, Tim Swinson

Back row - John Beattie, Kelly Brown, David Denton, Chris Fusaro, Robert Harley, Kieran Low, Ross Rennie, Alasdair Strokosch, Ryan Wilson

Scrum halves - Chris Cusiter, Greig Laidlaw

Fly halves - Ruaridh Jackson, Duncan Weir

Centres - Nick De Luca, Alex Dunbar, Max Evans, Matt Scott, Duncan Taylor

Back three - Dougie Fife, Stuart Hogg, Sean Lamont, Sean Maitland, Tommy Seymour, Greig Tonks

* I'm trying to be ambitious and use the poll so you can select who you want in your 15.
** It's not great and some players may not be the correct number i.e. you might want Dunbar at 12. Just pick your 15 going by name, the shirt number is just to help make it clearer.

I don't necessarily agree, but you can see why SJ has done it. The game is at the start of the championship so give him the 10 shirt and see how he does, for consideration for the remaining games.

Saying that, I wouldn't say an A game of two cobbled together teams playing a one off match against each other would be that more of a step up than the recent HK games. In fact it is probably a step down if anything!

Strange to have no Roddy Grant - he's recently had a baby though so he's maybe ruled himself out of the A team to spend more time with her.

looking for Tonks and Grove to play a blinder and push for full squad selection.

Great to see the try scoring machine that is Ally Hogg back in the set up. He's another who could put his hand up for full squad selection!

tigertattie wrote:looking for Tonks and Grove to play a blinder and push for full squad selection.

Great to see the try scoring machine that is Ally Hogg back in the set up.  He's another who could put his hand up for full squad selection!

Not sure what Grove can do to push himself in to the full squad, one of the steadiest 13s playing in England for some time and certainly far more consistent than De Luca. As he's staying with Worcester, who look to be going down this season, his days of even A team selection may soon be over unfortunately.

Agree with that. I think we've constantly missed a trick with Alex Grove, but no he's going down to the Championship I think he'll slip off the radar with the likes of Horne, Dunbar, Taylor and Bennett coming through.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Agree with that. I think we've constantly missed a trick with Alex Grove, but no he's going down to the Championship I think he'll slip off the radar with the likes of Horne, Dunbar, Taylor and Bennett coming through.

Some players seem to get more than their fair share of selection calls whereas others never seem to get the chance, I doubt that De Luca would be a regular starter at an English club so why does he consistently get picked for the Scotland squad despite underwhelming form (especially this year)? Grove is obviously not the only one who could complain but well done to him for still playing for Scotland A despite the senior squad door being seemingly closed to him.

I've never understood the non selection of Grove! It was shown time and time again that Sean lamont wasn't a centre but grove was always over-looked. When Grove was selected, he played well.

Most confusing!

Scotland aren’t the only nation that seems to favour some players over others – many Ulster fans can’t fathom how Jamie Heaslip has 70 odd caps and numerous Lions caps to his name when their number 8 (Wilson?) has a handful of Ireland caps.

Being good enough isn’t quite enough– you’ve got to have a coach who wants to pick you.

Grove is definitely good enough, he unfortunately just hasn’t had a Scotland coach that wants to pick him

Ford has been a lucky boy. At various stages Fergus Thompson, Dougie Hall, Scott Lawson and not Pat MacArthur have arguably been playing better for their respective clubs, and yet Ford has been consistently selected throughout, often not playing very well.

In terms of caps he'll probably go down as one of Scotland's great hookers, but I'd pick Gordon Bulloch or Kenny Milne every day of the week and twice on Sunday's ahead of him.

S Lamont has been lucky in a sense as well. Had Thom Evans not been forced into retirement I doubt Schlong would have had so many caps on the left wing.

Brown at 6 needs to be an option. That's always been the position I think he's best suited to, plus it would always guarantee him a start.

funnyExiledScot wrote:S Lamont has been lucky in a sense as well. Had Thom Evans not been forced into retirement I doubt Schlong would have had so many caps on the left wing.

Oww I think that's a wee bit harsh, when Lamont first burst onto the scene he was deadly. He was also (and probaby still is) the only player besides Jason White to consistently play with passion and heart when all those around him had let their heads drop.

He's getting on now and I understand the argument for dropping him, but we mustn't forget how good he was in his prime.

MacKnocked-on wrote:
Not sure what Grove can do to push himself in to the full squad, one of the steadiest 13s playing in England for some time and certainly far more consistent than De Luca. As he's staying with Worcester, who look to be going down this season, his days of even A team selection may soon be over unfortunately.

A lot! He's had trouble cementing his starting spot at over the past couple of seasons in one of the worst teams in European rugby. He also hasn't won a game or even scored a single point in almost a year. I like him but think he's actually very lucky to even be in the A squad.

The more I look at this thread, the more I think the Scottish team should actually be selected by fan votes!

madmaccas wrote:

MacKnocked-on wrote:
Not sure what Grove can do to push himself in to the full squad, one of the steadiest 13s playing in England for some time and certainly far more consistent than De Luca. As he's staying with Worcester, who look to be going down this season, his days of even A team selection may soon be over unfortunately.

A lot! He's had trouble cementing his starting spot at over the past couple of seasons in one of the worst teams in European rugby. He also hasn't won a game or even scored a single point in almost a year. I like him but think he's actually very lucky to even be in the A squad.

Trouble cementing his spot?? When Grove is fit he is one of the first names on the team sheet at Worcester.
He could easily be playing at one of the higher pedigree Aviva teams but is showing loyalty to his team. Yeah Worcester are rubbish but one man doesn't make a team and despite them being very poor, Grove's form has still been very good!

We weren't too far off with our selection but picking Wilson is an odd one. If over 30 true fans voted and only 3 voted for him, SJ must see something in him or it must be tactical.