Scotland Summer Tour, Game 2: Canada v Scotland, 14 June

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Canada v Scotland 
14 June 2014, KO: 14:00 EDT (19:00 BST)
BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario

Live on BT Sport 2

Referee: Mike Fraser (NZ)
Assistant referees: Stuart Berry (SA), Nick Ricono (USA)
TMO: Davey Ardrey (USA)

A. Teams:

I. Canada

1.Hubert Buydens – (Manawatu Turbos/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saskatoon, SK
2.Aaron Carpenter – (Cornish Pirates RFC) Brantford, ON
3.Jason Marshall – (Atlantique Stade Rochelais) Vancouver, BC
4.Tyler Hotson – (London Scottish RFC) Vancouver, BC
5.Jamie Cudmore – (ASM Clermont Auvergne) Squamish, BC
6.Jebb Sinclair – (London Irish/Atlantic Rock) Fredericton, NB
7.John Moonlight – (James Bay AA/Ontario Blues) Pickering, ON
8.Tyler Ardron – Captain (Ospreys/Ontario Blues) Lakefield, ON

9.Phil Mack – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
10.Harry Jones – (Capilanos RFC/BC Bears) Vancouver, BC
11.Taylor Paris – (SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne) Barrie, ON
12.Nick Blevins – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
13.Ciaran Hearn – (Castaway Wanderers/Atlantic Rock) Conception Bay South, NL
14.Jeff Hassler – (Ospreys/Prairie Wolf Pack) Okotoks, AB
15.James Pritchard – (Bedford Blues) Parkes, NSW, Australia

16.Ray Barkwill – (Niagara Wasps RFC/Ontario Blues) Niagara Falls, ON
17.Andrew Tiedemann – (Castaway Wanderers/Prairie Wolf Pack) St. Albert, AB
18.Jake Ilnicki – (Castaway Wanderers/BC Bears) Williams Lake, BC
19.Kyle Gilmour – (Saint Albert RFC/Prairie Wolf Pack) Saint Albert, AB?
20.Jon Phelan – (Castaway Wanderers/Atlantic Rock) Montreal, QC
21.Gordon McRorie – (Calgary Hornets/Prairie Wolf Pack) Calgary, AB
22.Connor Braid – (James Bay AA/BC Bears) Victoria, BC
23.DTH van der Merwe – (Glasgow Warriors) Regina, SK

II. Scotland

15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); 21 caps, 5 tries, 25 points
14 Sean Maitland (Glasgow Warriors); 10 caps, 1 try, 5 points
13 Sean Lamont (Glasgow Warriors); 87 caps, 12 tries, 60 points
12 Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors); 2 caps
11 Tim Visser (Edinburgh Rugby); 13 caps, 7 tries, 35 points
10 Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors); 1 cap
9 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester); 30 caps, 3 tries, 254 points

1 Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors); 1 cap
2 Scott Lawson (Newcastle Falcons); 44 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
3 Moray Low (Exeter Chiefs); 27 caps
4 Richie Gray (Castres); 39, 1 try, 5 points
5 Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby); 5 caps
6 Alasdair Strokosch (USA Perpignan); 39 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
7 Kelly Brown (Saracens); 63 caps, 4 tries, 20 points
8 Johnnie Beattie (Castres); 31 tries, 3 tries, 15 points

16 Kevin Bryce (Glasgow Warriors), uncapped
17 Kyle Traynor (Bristol Rugby); 4 caps
18 Geoff Cross (London Irish); 29 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 Kieran Low (London Irish); 2 cap
20 Blair Cowan (London Irish); 1 cap
21 Grayson Hart (Edinburgh Rugby); uncapped
22 Ruaridh Jackson (London Waps); 24 caps, 18 points
23 Max Evans (Castres); 43 caps, 3 tries, 15 points

B. Form - head to head:

(includes 'Scotland XV' game in 1991)

5 Played 5
2 Won 3
3 Lost 2

(Scotland defeats were:

25 May 1991: Canada 24-19 Scotland XV
Saint John, New Brunswick

15 June 2002: Canada 26-23 Scotland
Vancouver, British Columbia)

C. Form - recent

22 Nov 2008
Scotland 41 - 0 Canada
Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, Scotland

15 Jun 2002
Canada 26 - 23 Scotland
Thunderbird Stadium, Vancouver, Canada

08 Jun 2002
Canada 8 - 33 Scotland
Fletchers Field, Toronto, Canada

21 Jan 1995
Scotland 22 - 6 Canada
Murrayfield, Edinburgh, Scotland

Unlucky Canada - tough tough call on red card

Harsh call I think

That's a crazy decision. Not even a penalty.

won yet?

If that's a red card some teams would have trouble finishing matches.

This has been so poor.

Well played, Canada - better in every facet of the game except the scoreboard!

2/10 for that performance - would have been less if we'd lost that!

only plus was blair cowan

bloody awful again   

Utterly embarrassing

Totally dreadful performance. We deserved to lose.

Canada should have won that. No way was that a red card, they had a penalty coming which would have put them in the lead with a few mins left.

We simply did not deserve to win that. Canada didn't play well but were the better side by a clear margin.

I feel sorry for Vern having to preside over that mess.

That red card was beyond belief.

Last week some people were happy enough to accept the difficult weather conditions as mitigation for a poor performance. What is the excuse this time?

doesn't matter, you played like shoite and won well done scotland, onwards and sideways

Scratch wrote:doesn't matter, you played like shoite and won well done scotland, onwards and sideways

with a healthy dose of backwards thrown in for good measure?

Just absolutely woeful, I feel sorry for Canada - the red card was farcical and Richie Gray looked a mile offside for the error that forced the last penalty.

sign of a good side is one that wins playing badly, yes scotland are definitley toying with tier 2 but we all know, its the W that counts and you have learned from this. I am surprised though, canucks must have had their tails up in tonto to push yuo that close.

Let's not celebrate mediocrity. That was a Poopie performance andthe players should be embarrassed

There's playing badly and then there's us.
Not sure if we kicked the ball out on the full more than we did pass the ball straight into touch?
Then there was the ever present issue of restarts. Hardly any attacking nous and a woeful defence. Argentina will beat us, South Africa will shaft us like we owe them money.

Reid - 4

Started well but was hampered by injury later on.

Lawson - 2

Their hooker who was playing his first game at hooker showed better basic skills required of a hooker. Also, stop standing in the 10 channel!!!!

Low - 4

Scrums started well, didn't stand out

Gray - 5

Lots of work as always, but still not at his best. Been a very long season for him though.

Gilchrist - 5

Lineout was good until the last 20 minutes where it fell apart as usual. Well taken try.

Brown - 3

Was he playing?

Cowan (strokosh injured) - 7

The standout forward

Beattie - 3

See Brown - anonymous


Laidlaw - 4

His 100% goal kicking won us that. Lacking in zip though, especially compared to his opposite number.

Russell - 3

Poor performance. Stupid chip through when it wasn't on, kicks out on the full, barely noticed he was playing which is concerning for a 10!

Visser - 3

Should have done better in attack and weak in defence.

Horne - 3

Was he playing?

Lamont - 7

Gave us go forward and strong in defence. Not a 13 though!

Maitland - 5

Some strong runs but think its fair to say we've been expecting more from him by now.

Hogg - 7

Strong defensive game, great kick at goal and excellent break at the end.

Just about right RDW. There was a worrying lack of leadership in the pack, nobody put their hands up and dragged the team forward by example - in a way that Jonny Gray was doing for Glasgow. As for Scott Lawson - one of the very worst performances I have ever seen at pro level.

The backs, excluding Lamont and Hogg, were so lacking in basic skills as to be embarrassing.

funnyExiledScot wrote:This is the worst international I have ever seen.

Really? Worse than the Australia France game today!!

Didn't get a chance to watch the game but doesn't sound like I missed much!
Any positives at all to take from the game?

God almighty.

Positives:
1. Gilchrist played reasonably well and scored.
2. Uncle Dougie got to sing the national anthem after locking the brass band in their dressing room.
3. Laidlaw kicking, Hogg kicking.
4. Cowan played well.
5. We don't need to select Scott Lawson ever again.
6. Visser accidentally made a tackle.
7. Sean Lamont's straight running.
8. Russell has a great pass.
9. We achieved some crucial turnovers.
10. Low (the other) didn't poop himself or give the other side his pin number.

Negatives:
1. Lineout was an utter Horlicks.
2. Moray Low cannot scrummage.
3. Utter lack of coherence in strategy. Did we ever do anything consistently?
4. Ease with which gainline was broken on 1st/2nd phase.
5. Simple lack of basic skills.
6. Didn't realise how underpowered Peter Horne can look at times.
7. Scott Lawson is a donkey.
8. RE-FECKING-STARTS. Do we have to group hypnotise the entire team to get them to pay attention?
9. Our tactical kicking gargles old man balls.
10. Far, far too lateral when it was clear shooting up the middle in pods was working just fine.
11. Utterly impatient at times.
12. Scrum seemed a little uneven - we should have dominated given the players involved.

Facebook brigade are out as usual - one guy said unless we're part of the team or management we shouldn't be criticising them!

What a douche.   

From FB, "Frak yea, rugby should be scotlands national sport. its one of the better things in scotland" - Can't tell if serious or trolling..?

Seriously?
Positives[b] We won....that's it, no really that is all we can take from it.
[b]Negatives We have gone from, "Never mind the result : focus on the performance and the results will come" to, " The performance was utter dross but at least we won"
So we've gone from the pavement philosophising of Rab C Johnston to the, "It's a result; another notch on the goalpost, that'll do me " world of Jamesie Cotter.

Didn't see the match. Is it possible cotter tried to do too much in 1 week and it made the team fall apart? Surely the only way is up? I mean most new coaches at least have few weeks before the first game. This tour was a logistical clusterduck before it even started. Yes next two matches do not bode well but we won the essential ones which was bare minimum let's give this time to embed.

Incidentally maybe that was what the Facebook chap is trying to say but more eloquently put?

We didn't deserve that at all. They were playing either amateurs, yet looked like the professionals. It's not even as if we put out an inexperienced side. Bar Russell and Horne that was pretty much our full strength side.

It's very depressing but I can't help feeling we've officially become tier 2 on this tour. The last time we beat a top nation was last year against Ireland, and it we celebrated it like we'd won the World Cup.

We struggled to beat the USA and should have lost to Canada. We also lost to both Tonga and Samoa in the past couple of seasons. The worst part is that this is best team we've had for almost a decade. The others are simply overtaking us. What happens when countries like the USA and Canada have pro leagues, we'll drop out of the top 10 for good.

Sorry for all the doom and gloom, just don't see a way back to the top table with only 2 clubs.

Plus wtf happened to the new coach bounce?

That was like 2 teams of under 10s playing. Scottish rugby is an embarrassment. I really wish they would stop putting them on TV any more, as I would prefer no one else she this complete and utter rubbish

So so so terrible. Terrible terrible

Not a fing hope of winning against Argentina or as

Depressing, depressing, depressing

I need a drink

Ps Canada should have own, never a red card

Just saw tape of sending off, ref correct by letter of the law, he turns his arm out and does lead with his elbow but perhaps not in the way the law intended to address. The ref should hoave given hima yellow but, having read this can someone who knows explain why a sending off was necessary as it killed the game
Law 10.4 - Dangerous Play and Misconduct

(a) Punching or striking.

A player must not strike an opponent with the fist or arm, including the elbow, shoulder, head or knee(s).
Sanction: Penalty kick

I can't think of many positives to take out of the game. Maybe one, Blair Cowan. Played well, Scavenged and got a couple of good steals.

What actually angers me more than the performance is the "facebook brigade" who try to defend it. Have we actually become so docile as a group of supportes that we are willing to accept performances like that (or one of the many others); or have we just come to accept that we are tier 2 country who occasionally punches above our weight.

As for the team themselves I hope Cotter injects a bit of honesty, performances like that are not acceptable from professional sportsmen. If he fails are we going to continue to blame the coach? I hope not. To me the players are becoming the issue, with lack of competition it seems many are happy to trundle among in mediocrity.

Key messages from the press conference and looking on Twitter:

Strokosh is ok and even posted a selfie on the stretcher!

KB was meant to travel to Argentina but has torn his bicep

Cotter didn't look happy. Although he rarely does!

Hogg - generally sound defensively, a couple of elusive runs, stepped into the first receiver position to good effect on a couple of occasions, one successful long-range penalty
Maitland - didn't see a great deal of the ball, but one shocking pass to touch, poor
Lamont - shouldntve been selected, but did what was asked of him, altho offloads would be a useful addition once in behind oppo defence, altho that also requires runners on good close lines to be fair
Horne - really did not merit his selection, having been fairly anonymous for Glasgow since his return, simply not at the races
Visser - the ideal game for his bullying attack play but we didn't see that, didn't get much ball to be fair, looks petrified in defence
Russell - due a duff game, and this was that, needed calm experienced heads around him to calm him down, instead he had Captain Useless and the Invisible Man
Laidlaw - just why?
Reid - scrummed reasonably well, not so much in evidence around the field
Lawson - also just why?
Low - not a scrummaging liability this time, so that's at least a plus
Gray - always leaves me wanting more, has not progressed as would have hoped on the international stage
Gilchrist - didn't look comfortable at the lineout, slightly better in the lose, but paled in comparison to the canny operator that is Cuddles Cudmore
Strokosch - hope he recovers and that it was precautionary
Beattie - anonymous and disinterested, at his worst
Brown - clearly knackered from a long season with Sarries, and simply not a 7

Hart - showed what a difference slick quick service can make
Cowan - showed the value of a proper 7
Low - not international class on this evidence
Bryce - earned his first cap at no8 and looked better than Beattie!
Cross - cant fault the good doctor after his last fortnight

This performance has Scott Buffoon Johnson's mark all over it still - Cotter really does need a clear out of back room staff and assistants and to get his own team in soon, and to impose his own tactics and gameplan

All right. Let's see how the other touring party get on.

George Carlin wrote:All right. Let's see how the other touring party get on.

Are there two separate ones, GC?

So I've been led to believe.

It's a real opportunity for some of these guys to put down a marker for the future, because lets face it the first squad haven't performed overly well.

Harley and Denton have a real opportunity especially - the backrow has majorly underperformed.

Utter dross.

Back row which used to be an area of strength for us is now a massive weakness. It actually looked better with the replacements on. One of them was an inexperienced hooker on debut and that says a lot.

If Cotter didn't know how tough a job he has on his hands before these games, he does now.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

George Carlin wrote:All right. Let's see how the other touring party get on.

Are there two separate ones, GC?

What worried me is there seems to be a complete lack af ability to pass the ball. How many were behind above, in front of the runner.

Basics are crap.

It's almost as if they met in the car park 15 minutes before kick off.

RDW_Scotland wrote:So I've been led to believe.

It's a real opportunity for some of these guys to put down a marker for the future, because lets face it the first squad haven't performed overly well.

Harley and Denton have a real opportunity especially - the backrow has majorly underperformed.

Absolutely, the experienced backrow players haven't produced the goods at all in the first too games. The one real positive is Cowan, he perhaps looked nervous on his first cap last week but when he came on yesterday he was very impressive, two or three turnovers, lots of tackling and good linking play, he's certainly a far more effective player than Brown in the 7 shirt. He's a lot bigger than Fusaro as well so,depending on what happens with Barclay and Rennie, I think Cowan could very well be the first choice at openside in the Autumn.

Obviously perhaps due to the tightness of the scoreline Hart didn't get long enough on the pitch in my opinion, one kick straight in to touch apart, I think his pass looks far better than Laidlaw and he has more physicality to his game as well. Fed up with Laidlaw and his constant box kicking, Russell and Hogg can both kick goals so no need to play an inferior scrumhalf now. I'd go with Cusiter starting and Hart on the bench.

We're gonna see a lot more of Hart this tour, and against much tougher opposition, so we're going to have a fair idea of how he copes with international rugby

Well hopefully the kickg the ball out on the full was just a phase for him. What really cracked me up was the one time in the match when Scotland did want to kick the ball out on the full, after the full time siren, Hart just sort of wandered over the dead ball line!

Agree with pretty much all of the criticism above. It was a truly awful performance, and whilst I always stress the importance of winning, it really doesn't feel like any sort of victory.

Even positives like Blair Cowan worry me. That he wasn't on from the start shows poor judgement from Cotter. Also, whilst Lamont was OK in the centre, it was only because he received static ball behind the advantage line, and therefore his unique brand of plowing through players was in its element. Had we played any sort of quality attacking rugby, he would be a hindrance at 13. He is not quick and cannot pass. I feel we have learned very little so far this tour, and wonder whether in fact the summer off wouldn't have been a better idea.

Lewis Stuart in the Sunday Times says Scott Lawson gets 7/10 and was "one of the best players".

Sean Lamont gets 5/10.

I'd like whatever he's smoking.

It gets worse. He praises Scott Lawson for "throwing well into the lineout". He also praises Gilchrist for strong lineout work. He then says in the match summary "when it mattered the lineout misfired".

Dreadful reporting.

Yes probably smoking the same thing SJ does before team selections, and Cotter now smokes to get him through his day knowing that he's now coaching Scotland!

I don't think anyone is denying that the point of the tour is to get some IRB ranking points in the bag - feels much better to be 8th in the world rather than 10th.

The irony of it is that with the Pumas in 9th place with about two tenths of a point between us, the test against them is going to be a much more accurate barometer as to where we are.

I agree with FES that I am absolutely none the wiser as to what our best XV is and that's really quite worrying in itself, particularly given that England (for example) can justfiably be p!ssed that they did not win a test series against New Zealand. IN New Zealand. We would be doing well to hold the Chiefs to a 20 point winning margin.

We are way way way behind the other home nations at the moment. Even a declining Wales shafted us. England hired an extremely competent and motivated head coach and we hired Scott Johnson. The gulf that has grown between us during that period is vast.

This whole tour is a mess, and I see no way in which we can defeat Argentina, and the South Africa game ought to come with an 18 certificate. Children should not be allowed to watch Willie Le Roux playing Scotland.