Glasgow and Edinburgh: Ongoing Banter Thread IV

[George Carlin]

First topic message reminder :

Historical Banter:

https://www.606v2.com/t48240-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread
https://www.606v2.com/t51313-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-ii
https://www.606v2.com/t53119-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-iii

A new thread for the 2014/5 season.

A. Edinburgh Rugby


1. Coaching Team

Alan Solomons - head coach
Stevie Scott -  assistant coach
Omar Mouneimne - assistant coach

2. Players In

Neil Cochrane from London Wasps
John Andress from Worcester Warriors
Rory Sutherland from Gala RFC
Tom Heathcote from Bath Rugby
Michael Tait from Newcastle Falcons
Fraser McKenzie from Newcastle Falcons
Phil Burleigh from the Highlanders
Anton Bresler from the Sharks
Brett Thompson from USA 7s

3. Players Out

Steven Lawrie retired
Alun Walker released
Alex Allan to Glasgow Warriors
Geoff Cross to London Irish
Lewis Niven released
Sean Cox to London Irish
Robert McAlpine released
Perry Parker to Rotherham Titans
Izak van der Westhuizen released
Ross Rennie to Bristol Rugby
Dimitri Basilaia released
Alex Black released
Greig Laidlaw to Gloucester Rugby
Chris Leck released
Piers Francis released
Gregor Hunter released
Harry Leonard to Leeds Carnegie
Ben Atiga retired
Ben Cairns retired
Nick De Luca to Biarritz Olympique
Lee Jones released
Aleki Lutui to Gloucester Rugby

4. Pre-season Fixtures

Leicester Tigers v Edinburgh
Saturday 23 August, 14:00
Welford Road

Edinburgh v Newcastle Falcons
Friday 29 August, 19:45
Mansfield Park, Hawick

B. Glasgow Warriors


1. Coaching Team

Gregor Townsend – Head Coach
Shade Munro – Forwards Coach
Matt Taylor – Defence Coach

2. Players In

Alex Allan from Edinburgh
Murray McConnell from Ayr RFC
Euan Murray from Worcester Warriors
James Downey from Munster
Rossouw de Klerk from the Cheetahs

3. Players Out

Moray Low to Exeter Chiefs
Chris Cusiter to Sale Sharks
Ruaridh Jackson to London Wasps
Ed Kalman retired
Byron McGuigan released
Finlay Gillies released
Scott Wight to Melrose RFC
Gabriel Ascárate released
Folau Niua released
Carlin Isles to USA 7s

4. Pre-season Fixtures

Glasgow Warriors v Harlequins
Saturday 23 August, 14:30
Scotstoun Stadium

London Scottish v Glasgow Warriors
Saturday 30 August, 15:00
Richmond Athletic Ground

[BigGee]

Well after my little faux pas, on reflection I will return to my position after the Edinburgh game. In Pre-season it is the performance that matters not the result. Not sure what the Glasgow performance was actually like, not having see it, but on paper, that Glasgow team, like Edinburgh looked significantly weaker than the opposition, so you would have to say that the score at least suggested a decent game.

I am most definitely not going to go down the Welsh route though. Having been supporting Scotland and Scottish teams for a long long time, I have to say that very often we did deserve to lose! Of course that is all in the past now and this is going to be the year when we do finally fulfil our potential!

I do love the beginning of a new season!

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Glasgow should have and could have won it.     The Quins try on 78 mins was clearly in touch and Paterson (who was abysmal throughout so nothing new there) went to the touch judge who had him award the try.   Yarde was clearly, wholly in touch i.e. his entire body.   How the touch judge missed that is beyond belief tbh!    Anyway thereafter we should have had a try and panicked, threw the ball instead of keeping possession and working a try.    Very entertaining 2nd 40.   Mark Bennett    had a fine game as did Johnny Gray.    DTH is back with a bang though.  To outpace Marlon Yarde takes some doing and he did it giving him a start for a 90 m sprint.  Usual madness from MacMata but scores 2 good tries.    BTW Peter Murchie very solid at fb.    Roussow de Klerk looks a belter of a prop with a sprint and sidetep similar to Big Gordy Reid's   

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Should have mentioned James Downey as well. Very encouraging start - he completely smashed Robshaw with a huge tackle in the first 40 - and looks the real deal. Lee Jones was very sharp too. New signings good business by Toonie.

[George Carlin]

Match reports from the Hootsmon below.
 
I cannot be arsed trying to tiptoe around the Herald paywall any more, regardless of how good their stuff is:

Glasgow Warriors let Harlequins back in
by DAVID BARNES
 
NO team likes to lose, but in the circumstances Gregor Townsend will not have too many sleepless nights agonising over this failure to hold onto a nine-point lead during the final 15 minutes.
 
Glasgow Warriors 23 - Harlequins 24
 
This was Harlequins’ third and final run-out of their pre-season programme, while the Warriors were back in action for the first time since losing the Pro 12 Final against Leinster back in May – but there was no obvious deficit in terms of match sharpness.
 
Against a physical and highly experienced opposition, the Warriors looked potent in attack, and stuck to their guns in defence. Given that they are still resting a number of internationalists, and were blooding several new faces, this was a pretty impressive showing.
 
“The first thing you look at in a pre-season game is how the guys are conditioned and I think we looked really good in the first 15 minutes when there were no set-pieces, and as the game wore on the guys continued to look good physically and the players coming off the bench also did well,” agreed Townsend.
 
“Every game you play you want to win so that is disappointing. We’ve got to make sure we stay switched on right to the end, but I’m generally pleased with where we are.”
 
Having said all that, Townsend was quick to point out that it would be foolish to read too much into one pre-season jaunt.
 
“Last year we scored five down at Exeter in our pre-season [but they then struggled to grind out wins when the season proper got under way] so it will depend on a lot of things like the conditions and the opposition we’re facing. Leinster is our first league game and they are an excellent defensive team, so that will be a big challenge,” he reasoned.
 
“The pleasing thing is that the skill level was high, there was some really good passing under pressure to put the wingers free, and good support lines being run.”
 
The Warriors drew first blood when Duncan Weir punished a Harlequins offside with a straightforward penalty, but the home side were never going to have it all their own way against a Harlequins team packed with international quality.
 
Mike Brown, Marland Yarde, Ugo Monye, Nick Evans and Danny Care were all in a classy visiting backline, but it was the power and savvy of a pack containing Joe Marler, Nick Easter and England captain Chris Robshaw which provided the impetus for the London side’s domination of the next quarter of an hour. After several minutes encamped by the Warriors’ line, Harlequins eventually got their reward when Easter won a line-out and Marler rumbled over.
 
On a sunny afternoon in west Glasgow, the holiday mood was not replicated on the park, with Leone Nakarawa picking up a yellow card after a bad-tempered scuffle. It was hard not to feel sorry for the big Fijian, who was understandably irritated after he had set up a sweeping attack which was carried on by Murray McConnell and Weir before the ball was snaffled by a Harlequin lying on the wrong side of a ruck.
 
The niggling continued, and Care soon joined Nakarawa on the naughty step after another shoving match. By this time, Weir had closed the gap to a single point with his 
second penalty of the afternoon.
 
An overthrow at a Warriors line-out gave Kyle Sinckler a clear run to the line at the start of the second half, and the big prop didn’t need a second invitation to touch down.
 
Niko Matawalu had come on for Murray McConnell at half-time and he wasted little time in reminding the Scotstoun faithful of why he is such a firm crowd favourite, with two quick-fire tries which exhibited a fine balance of ingenuity and pace.
 
It was a red letter day for DTH van der Merwe, who was playing his first game for the club since injuring his shoulder in training eight months ago, and the Canadian winger marked the occasion in fine style by intercepting a loose pass and showing phenomenal pace when leaving Yarde floundering in his wake as he raced home from 80 yards.
 
That score made it 23-14 with just 15 minutes to go and the Warriors looked likely to cruise to victory, but they then took their foot off the gas and paid the price when tries from Ollie Lindsay Hague and Yarde squeezed Harlequins back into the lead.
 
Scorers:
 
Glasgow: Tries: Matawalu 2, van der Merwe. Con: Weir. Pens: Weir 2.
 
Harlequins: Tries: Marler, Sinckler, Lindsay-Hague, Yarde. Cons: Evans 2.
 
Glasgow: P Murchie; L Jones, M Bennett, J Downey, R Hughes; D Weir, M McConnell; A Allan F Brown, E Murray, J Gray, L Nakarawa, J Eddie, T Holmes, J Strauss.
 
Subs: F Scott, D van der Merwe, N Matawalu J Yanuyanutawa, R De Klerk, R Harley, C Fusaro, P Horne, P MacArthur, C Braid.
 
Harlequins: M Brown; M Yarde, M Hopper, J Turner Hall, U Monye; N Evans, D Care (K Dickson 45); J Marler (M Lambert 40), J Gray, K Sinckler, C Matthews, G Robson, L Wallace, C Robshaw, N Easter. Subs: M Lambert, K Dickson, R Buchanan, P Doran Jones, G Merrick, B Botica, R Chisholm.
 
Referee: Neil Paterson. Attendance: 3,849

 
And: 

Cruel blow for Edinburgh as Tigers steal win
by IAIN MORRISON
 
EDINBURGH lost when the last kick of the match proved a real kick in the teeth. Leicester’s reserve scrum-half David Mele slotted a penalty well after the allotted 80 minutes.
 
Edinburgh 10 - Leicester Tigers 11
 
With a host of substitutes on the field Edinburgh’s set scrum creaked and then collapsed. The referee awarded a penalty and Mele stepped up and did the needful from 40 yards out on the right side. It was a cruel fate for Edinburgh who deserved a share of the spoils at the very least after dominating their illustrious opponents throughout the second half.
 
The Tigers bossed the first 40 but the home team grew in stature the longer this game went on, Edinburgh won all the big battles after the break and they took the lead thanks to a Tom Heathcote penalty just seven minutes from time. With a little more composure they might have kept hold of it.
 
Despite the pain of the late loss there was still plenty for Alan Solomons to smile about afterwards. “The really positive thing was that we got everyone on the field and everyone contributed,” said the Edinburgh coach. “We were missing 11 front line players and we gave 28 players a run and they all acquitted themselves well.”
 
Loosehead prop Rory Sutherland was turning out for Gala this time last year but he coped with the giant Samoan Logovi’i Mulipola admirably even though the big man opened the scoring, rumbling over from short range early in the match.
 
Edinburgh were aggressive in defence from one to 15, double-teaming the big Leicester runners and knocking them backwards. Former Leicester player Hamish Watson put in a great shift at openside flanker to win the man of the match award.
 
If the forwards fronted up against a much bigger pack of forwards the physical mismatch in the backs was if anything even more pronounced. Manu Tuilagi and Seremaia Bai pack as much beef as any centre combo in world rugby and still they didn’t have everything their own way.
 
Chris Dean started at 13, won a turnover with his first touch, tackled Tuilagi shortly after and then limped off with one ankle heavily strapped on 15 minutes. His replacement Joaquin Dominguez continued the good work and Edinburgh’s new Kiwi fullback Nick McLennan even had the brass neck to scrap with the giant centre.
 
England flanker Tom Croft dominated the sidelines with any number of takes but Ollie Atkins matched him for Edinburgh, although this steady supply of ball was interrupted after the introduction of James 
Hilterbrand at hooker. Twice in the opening 40 Leicester set up a driving maul from a lineout only to find themselves shunted backwards at a rate of knots.
 
Instead it was Edinburgh’s big men who showed them how to execute. Immediately before half-time, Greg Tonks made a sublime midfield break to give his side their best attacking opportunity of the half. A few phases later the same man’s pass to Dougie Fife was plucked out of the air by Leicester’s Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva. He wasn’t going to be stopped from scoring Leicester’s second by anyone except the referee, who had spotted an off-side offence. Edinburgh kicked to touch, Cornel du Preez took the catch at the back and Roddy Grant was the last man up with the ball.
 
Tonks had earlier missed a simple penalty but the fly-half made no mistake with the tricky conversion, and Edinburgh trailed 8-7 at the break after Freddie Burns added a penalty to Mulipola’s early score.
 
Solomons rang the changes at half time, six in all, and the driving rain that suddenly swept the Greenyards changed the entire complexion of the game. Still, Edinburgh picked up where they left off, on the front foot even if the best of the chances fell to Leicester. For a second time Goneva thought he had scored when the winger pounced on a clever grubber, but he was several yards offside and then only a tap tackle by du Preez on Croft prevented Leicester from extending their lead.
 
The second half was scoreless and looked set to stay that way. Burns missed a penalty from dead ahead of the posts and Heathcote fluffed two kicks, one from the half-way line. The Scotland fly-half eventually nosed his team ahead seven minutes from time, but it wasn’t enough.
 
Scorers:
 
Edinburgh: Try: Grant. Con: Tonks. Pen: Heathcote.
 
Leicester: Try: Mulipola. Pens: Burns, Mele.
 
Edinburgh: McLennan (Bezuidenhout 40, Tonks 53); Fife, Dean (Dominguez 25), Strauss (Beard 40), Visser (Thompson 40); Tonks (Heathcote 40), Kennedy (Hidalgo-Clyne 40); Sutherland, Ford (c) (Hilterbrand 55), Andress (Berghan 40), McKenzie (B Toolis 66), Atkins (A Toolis 66), Grant (Richie 55), Watson, Du Preez.
 
Leicester: Morris (Williams 61); Scully, Tuilagi, Bai, Goneva; Burns, B Youngs (Mele 53); Sio (Brugnara 40), Ghiraldini (T Youngs 40), Mulipola (Balmain 40), de Chaves, Parling (Wells 15), Croft (Crane 50), Salvi, Barbieri.
 
Referee: A McMenemy. Attendance: 3,381.

[jimbopip]

Well ladsies, I have learned a few things this weekend.
First up : it is really not advisable to drive 450 odd miles the day after attending a match in the company of Schiz, his carer and young Mr Bru.
Secondly: Neil Patterson is one of the most elbow-erse recognition deficit human beings you will ever meet.
Thirdly: Lee Jones is a little gem and will add a lot to the Warriors season,   must play in the AI's, Furra Linee did better in his half at 10 than Meatball did and Niko is mental as anything.
I'll go all Rab C Johnson and say that for both teams(MFL and the rugby side) yesterday the performance was more important than the result. So, it looks promising with one more "dead" weekend to go.

[RDW]

Well I've watched the Edinburgh game now and have to say I was a bit underwhelmed - I know it was a pre season game but from the comments on here I was expecting a bit more from the Edinburgh performance.

Yes we fronted up very well against a massive Leicester team, and the set piece and defence was generally good, but we did bugger all with the ball really and were very 1 dimensional - one of our main failings of last year. The backs have very little spark.

It is very early days and I'm probably being a bit harsh, but I'm going to hold my excitement yet.

Watson was very good (although again was expecting more from he comments about him!) And I liked the look of Tonks at 10. McLennan showed glimpses of him being a decent squad player.

I thought S-H-C looked better than Kennedy and I like the left footed option he brings

Heathcoat had a terrible first name but hopefully it was just the conditions and him trying to hard. The difference in quality between Burns and our two 10s was vast.

Anyway a good hit out - looking for a lot more against Newcastle!

[IanBru]

I have learned a few things this weekend too.
Firstly, when Jimbo steers you towards a reasonably attractive barmaid, it's worth having everyone's order to hand before you start talking. I looked like a fool.

Secondly, it really is possible to have a reasoned discussion on independence in a public house and to finish it as good friends as when you started. Take note, RDW: we huddled masses yearn for our voice. After September we'll just have to disagree about our favourite biscuit.

Thirdly, I'm not going to say that Glasgow are the finished article already. Clearly they're not quite there yet. However, from this time last year through to February, we were all asking 'where has our Glasgow gone'? While not perfect, Glasgow were at their free-flowing, barnstorming, balls-to-the-wall best for large portions of the match. There was a thirty minute period where Quins simply couldn't live with the Warriors. Obviously, the dry track and ball helped, but the signs are encouraging. Gray, Swinson, Horne, Bennett, Matawalu and Allen were all excellent. Strauss and Murchie were solid and dependable. Weir, McConnell and Ashe were pretty poor. De Klerk looks like a strong, rumbling mass of Highveld beef, but with a glorious sidestep and pace to burn. I'm quietly very excited.

Fourthly, for the sake of your livers, avoid these reprobates at all costs:

(L to R: Brother of Schitz, JimboPip, Schitz himself, a Jack Wills model)

Postscript:
I haven't watched the Edinburgh match yet, but it's worth saying that to stay that close to a team as physically imposing as Leicester definitely takes some doing. I know I've been wondering what would happen when Edinburgh actually had a proper pre-season imposed by a coach that takes no shizzle from prima-donna players. The real question is whether the Edinbokke can maintain that intensity for a few games. I'm hopeful.

[jimbopip]

Ian, I obviously steered you towards too many barmaids because I have no memory of Swinson being on the pitch on Saturday. Oh Mrspip says I'm the best looking there.
Considering we lacked Shrek, Angela,Coo, Ryder, Wilson AND Swinson I think our pack mullered theirs.

[George Carlin]

Highlights of Glasgow match here:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/rugby/glasgow-warriors-v-harlequins-watch-4089775 
 
Entire Exfoliators match here:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/rugby/edinburgh-rugby-10-leicester-tigers-4075807
 
Haven't watched the Edinburgh game yet (and based on RDW's comments, I may not) but the Glasgow highlights were terrific. Really would have loved to be there. Niko's bag of tricks remains bottomless and his two scores were marvellous. DTH looked back to his usual self which gives us an enviable back 3 and our offloading game looked quite crisp.

I think that the Selkirk Pixie has come on a bit since last year, but he remains a bit of a 'luxury' player for me (in the Tom Croft sense of the word) and I would only use him where his opposite number is 15 stones or (preferably) less.
 
More than anything, I want us to tw@t Leinster like they owe us money in week 1.

[George Carlin]

Fourthly, for the sake of your livers, avoid these reprobates at all costs:

(L to R: Brother of Schitz, JimboPip, Schitz himself, a Jack Wills model)

Great picture  . Exactly what I thought you shower looked like.

Except for a disappointing lack of visible tattoos on Schiz's face.

[RDW]

Fourthly, for the sake of your livers, avoid these reprobates at all costs:

(L to R: Brother of Schitz, JimboPip, Schitz himself, a Jack Wills model)

Great picture  . Exactly what I thought you shower looked like.

Except for a disappointing lack of visible tattoos on Schiz's face.

I'm actually disappointed - Schitz looks relatively normal!

[RDW]

Secondly, it really is possible to have a reasoned discussion on independence in a public house and to finish it as good friends as when you started. Take note, RDW: we huddled masses yearn for our voice. After September we'll just have to disagree about our favourite biscuit.

Is there really a desire to have an independence discussion on here?

I've been banning them so far mainly because this is meant to be a rugby forum, but also because I personally would rather moderate 1000 England V Wales match threads than an independence debate in full swing.

I may come round to the idea if a) people are actually interested in it and b) you all behave (I'm looking at you FES and ASBO!).

[George Carlin]

Secondly, it really is possible to have a reasoned discussion on independence in a public house and to finish it as good friends as when you started. Take note, RDW: we huddled masses yearn for our voice. After September we'll just have to disagree about our favourite biscuit.

Is there really a desire to have an independence discussion on here?

I've been banning them so far mainly because this is meant to be a rugby forum, but also because I personally would rather moderate 1000 England V Wales match threads than an independence debate in full swing.

I may come round to the idea if a) people are actually interested in it and b) you all behave (I'm looking at you FES and ASBO!).

 
Light blue touch paper.
 
Stand well back.
 
https://www.606v2.com/t55268-606v2-scottish-rugby-fans-independence-thread

[RDW]

Good job GC.

Anyway back to the rugby.

Just watched the Glasgow highlights and that game looked 100 times more entertaining than the Edinburgh one!

Glasgow looked back to their free-flowing best and were completely unplayable at times (helped by poor tackling from the opposition granted)

What is worrying though is that 'quins were let back in so easily. I appreciate it is a friendly, but you need to build that ruthless winning mentality early on. A late BP for the opposition for example could be the difference between a home and away semi final.

So very positive from Glasgow - I expect a big win agains LS.

Finally - why oh why did Edinburgh let Alex Allan go?? He had a rampaging game.

Rory Sutherland did very well during his first professional game against a massive Leicester front row, but I'd much rather Alex Allan instead of Wicuus Blaauw.

[GLove39]

It is very early days and I'm probably being a bit harsh...

...Heathcoat had a terrible first name but hopefully it was just the conditions and him trying to hard.

You definitely are being too harsh RDW. 'Tom' is a lovely first name & other than by deed poll I can't see it changing!

[jimbopip]

GC thanks for the link. There are things I missed in the hurly burly of a live match: Holmes put in some crunching tackles, Selkirk Pixie got drawn in and left his man for their penultimate try, Alex Allen can shift with the ball in hand and Naka offloaded in the tackle and then was the one to catch the off load!!! The only worrying thing for me is that we were on their line in the last minute and Niko threw a wild pass at Naka's face which contributed to the knock on. So how did we lose in the final ? Oh yeah on their line and Niko gets a rush of blood and costs us a try. Plus ca change as they say in Govan.
Still didn't notice Swinson, Mr Bru. Given his size you think he would stand out.

[Pal Joey]

Heathcoat had a terrible first name

What's wrong with Tom?

Nice photos Mr Bru.

[funnyExiledScot]

From a Scotland perspective it's hugely encouraging that both Sutherland and Allan went well against stellar opponents. With Dickinson at Edinburgh, Grant/Reid at Glasgow and Shiells at Bath we're looking well stocked on the loosehead side of the scrum going forward.

I'm also pleased that Hidalgo-Clyne impressed at 9 coming off the bench. Given adequate opportunity I think he's going to become and excellent scrum half for Scotland. Glasgow should stick with Matawalu at 9. I know he's completely bonkers, but he gives you guys an extra dimension and can be unplayable at times.

As for the photo, I had Schiz down as looking like your average Lothian Road jakey, and am disappointed to see a bloke who might actually convince me to buy car insurance. Hell, we may even let him into The New Club!

Hard to be pleased with defeats, but those results in these circumstances are not bad at all, and pleasing that both sides were so competitive in their first run out.

[RDW]

Yeah yeah - I wrote name instead of game, easily done!

[Pal Joey]

Yeah yeah - I wrote name instead of game, easily done!

I knod, thought for a moment your index finger had grown an offshoot.

[IanBru]

That's what she said.

[Pal Joey]

That's what she said.

I bet you'd make a fairly decent concert pianist too!

Where the hell did he get that extra demi-semi quaver note from?
Oh, I see... he's got one of those that extra claw like appendages under his palm. Handy to have.

It's always great to read the early notes from the season, fellas. Good luck to both teams.
Although I'm assuming one lot (of you) will have slightly smaller facial hair stretch marks at the end of the season compared t'other.

[funnyExiledScot]

Also sounds like Ollie Atkins had a positive game for Edinburgh. I presume Bresler will be Gilchrist's partner when both are fit, but Atkins/McKenzie are going to have big roles this season I suspect, particularly with Gilchrist becoming more prominent with Scotland.

RDW - your comments on the Edinburgh backline don't surprise me. Sounds like Tonks made a decent fist of it and had a nice individual break, but no backline will excite with Strauss and Dominguez in the centres. Both are contact junkies and "solid". Decent defenders but not creative players. We need Scott and Burleigh to return to fitness as soon as possible. Until that happens I can't see our backline threatening, other than individuals efforts from SH-C, Tonks and Visser.

[George Carlin]

Am keen to see how yerman Hurly gets on.

How long is Gilchrist out for?

[funnyExiledScot]

Not sure - I haven't seen an official source confirming he's injured.

[RDW]

Atkins was very solid - top marks to whoever plucked him out of obscurity in Australia.

The toolis brothers looked decent when they came on too, so plenty depth in the 2nd row.

Gilchrist has had ankle surgery and is likely to miss the first 3 games.

[RDW]

Also, hurly has been here for a week and is in contention for Friday's game!

He'll hopefully add a bit of cutting edge.

[funnyExiledScot]

Agreed on Atkins, and whilst I've yet to see much from the Toolis brothers, still plenty time for them to develop, and it's great that all the options other than Bresler (who passes my NSQ quality test) are Scots qualified.

I'd put Burleigh straight in at 12 against Newcastle. Hidalgo-Clyne, Tonks and Burleigh should play in tandem for 60 minutes, then Kennedy, Heathcote and Strauss can come on.

[RDW]

The Toolis brothers are big, athletic blokes who don't look like they mind the physical stuff. That's the raw basics you want from 22 year old 2nd rows - there's plenty time to develop their all-round games.

On another note, Hamish Watson's performance puts losing Ross Rennie into a bit more perspective.  If Rennie was still here, chances are Watson would get bugger all game time and would fall into the wilderness like so many other young pros (or go to Glasgow!).

It's just a shame Rennie is playing lower league rugby.

[funnyExiledScot]

Rennie must be hugely disappointed by the playoff results. He'll have expected to be in the Aviva this season proving himself against Robshaw, Burger, Wood, Salvi et al.

Watson's performance does sound encouraging, but he'll need to back it up. The Denton injury is a big boost for him as it forces Solomons to use Du Preez at 8 rather than 7. The question will be whether the return of Coman and Leonardi doesn't result in Grant shifting to 7. Good to have competition, but it sounds like Watson is ready for some gametime. Hopefully this performance will afford him further opportunities.

[George Carlin]

It's funny but openside is probably one of the best positions to be playing at if you are Scottish and you want Edinburgh game time. Du Preez is a lock for either 6 or 8 and Coman People (whom Pappy trusts enough to captain the side) usually appears in the back row somewhere but usually on the blindside as I (perhaps incorrectly) recall.

At 16 stone, Hamish is much bigger than Grant and is a scrapper, two criteria that usually endear players to Solomons. He is also a specialist 7, which I like.

[funnyExiledScot]

Solomons has shown little desire to pick a specialist 7 in his first season, but then again injuries will have played a role in that. As a South African coach he's tended towards size in the back row, and I suspect would have ear marked Denton, Du Preez and Coman as his first choice combination this season. My hope is that Watson features now with Denton out for a while, it certainly gives us better balance.

With the selection of Cowan in the summer it looks like Cotter isn't going to go down the same road as Scott Johnson in terms of putting together a back row with each player in the wrong position. That should hopefully bode well for Fusaro, Holmes and Watson who will want to show that they can compete at the highest level, and challenge Barclay and Cowan (and potentially Rennie as well). Plenty options, and one or two of them just needs to step up this season. With a new head coach in charge, and Scott Johnson hopefully discredited as a source of information, the field should be wide open.

[funnyExiledScot]

This is grim. I'm bored at work, waiting the "the call" from Mrs fES and as such doing sod all in the office, with nothing other than 606v2 for amusement. I've resorted to commenting on Irish rugby threads for heavens' sake!

Someone tell me something interesting about Scottish rugby!

[George Carlin]

www.miniclip.com

You're welcome.

[RDW]

Surely the independence debate is keeping you going?

[funnyExiledScot]

Hmmm - those look rather obvious on my screen, but thank you anyway.

I always liked the look of 606v2 - same colour as our internal knowhow product!

[funnyExiledScot]

Surely the independence debate is keeping you going?

I've read an awful lot on that today, including the history of Alistair Darling's beards. Slow news day.

[TJ]

The only worrying thing for me is that we were on their line in the last minute and Niko threw a wild pass at Naka's face which contributed to the knock on. So how did we lose in the final ? Oh yeah on their line and Niko gets a rush of blood and costs us a try...............

Scored two didn't he? Its what you get w2ith him. You just have to hope he creates more for Glasgow than he costs and over the year I bet he does. He also makes chances for others as the defense has to watch him?

[funnyExiledScot]

I agree TJ. There are pros and cons to Niko, but the other option is Henry Pyrgos, and for me there's no contest.

[RDW]

I watched Duncan Weir quite closely and he seems to have developed the Dan Parks crab sideways.

Because his first move is sideways instead of forwards he doesn't tie in his opposite man, meaning the men outside get put under a lot of pressure.

An advantage of Niko is that he sort of makes up for Weir's lateral ways by keeping the inside defence honest.

[TJ]

Just watched the highlights of the Glasgow game - thats not the worst pass NIko has thrown by a long way.
Hard to tell from the highlights but ~Glasgow looked very good but didn't put them away - Quins did get away with a blatant illegal turnover on their own line.  A great run fromthe jedi - simply smashed thru the winger adn a real turn of pace.
Danny Care - we see the best and worst of him in a game once more.  Some great play and breaks, petulant stupid yellow card

Edinburgh a decent performance as well.  can I put the optimistic-a-meter to " we are world beaters" Yet?  Or are we still at "we're doomed" ?

[George Carlin]

Glasgow still needs to be effective and I daresay more clinical for all of their endeavour and the lovely looking offloading game.

I remember the two Heineken Cup games against Cardiff last year where we effectively fecked our European season. Both games were the same. We would fancypants all over midfield, looking massively threatening. Then we would cough up the ball in a turnover, knock it on or try to force a grubber and young Sam Davies would just pepper the sidelines and/or clip over the penalty. Cardiff didn't look remotely threatening in either game, but still won both because they had a gameplan simpler than a Hooters waitress but executed it perfectly.

Glasgow can still beat themselves on occasion and it makes me very uncomfortable. We are a momentum team and can be disrupted. It's the brittle edge to our game. A bit like watching Edinburgh have a habitual and colossal collective brainfart in trying to gather a restart.

[TJ]

Oi - The restart thing is a cunning ploy I'll have you know

[RDW]

I see that Edinburgh rugby have started calling our latest kiwi centre Hurly as well - they clearly follow this thread and steal our (GC's?) ideas!

[George Carlin]

I see that Edinburgh rugby have started calling our latest kiwi centre Hurly as well - they clearly follow this thread and steal our (GC's?) ideas!

They're only human.

[George Carlin]

Why to the Edinburgh and Glasgow websites say that the new kit is available now on the online stores? It, like, totally isn't.

[RDW]

I bet they will be ridiculously expensive again - from memory last year's kit was £80

You buying something for little GC junior?

[jimbopip]

I see that Edinburgh rugby have started calling our latest kiwi centre Hurly as well - they clearly follow this thread and steal our (GC's?) ideas!

So the club badge will now be changed to incorporate two out of work actors (luvvies) "resting" in the Stockbroker's Arms while freely exfoliating.

[EWT Spoons]

I was very pleasantly surprised by the Edinburgh game (haven’t seen the Glasgow highlights yet), we looked far better than we did last season. The only downside for me, was how blunt we looked in attack, we seemed to be focussed on taking the ball into contact recycle and repeat, which does limit our attack somewhat. I watched the game live and it was a few days ago now, but I am really struggling to remember Visser seeing much if any of the ball, the only times I can clearly remember him being involved was from the kick off when he actually tackled the lad, and from the mistake over on the opposite wing, other than that, did he get the ball? Mixed emotions here on that, it’s nice that our gameplan seems to be different from the Bradley tactic of “get it to Visseer and hope for the best”, but equally he’s too important to our try scoring hopes to simply ignore. Bit of variety would be nice, like sometimes pass it to the wing, sometimes plough through the middle.

I know the commentators covered this endlessly during the game, but Watson had a very good game, will be interesting to see if he continues to get game time once everyone is back.

[RuggerRadge2611]

To be honest, it seems both Edinburgh and Glasgow were somewhat unlucky against 2 very reasonable English sides.

I'll settle for that in comparrison to Edinburgh's normal preseason games.

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