Ireland confounded by streetwise Welsh, Guscott's view.

Well, he is speaking his mind again, do you agree with his team of the week ? Are Scotland staring down a barrell, without a hope of a Scottish player making the Lions squad ? Was Yoann Maestri's try the best of the weekend ? Have a read, and see if you agree:-

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/31896926

I can't argue much with Mr Guscott. The Wales v Ireland game was certainly ferocious (did we expect anything less) and the Irish tactics were well worked out by Gatland's men but the Irish played their own part in that as well. Not taking kickable penalties is simply daft in the game these days with the try drought. On another day with a little more rub of the green Ireland would have come away from the MS as victors but the red wall was immovable on saturday. I am sure Warburton and his soldiers are still a bit stiff today

It has set up one hell of an exciting weekend of rugby to come. You gotta love super saturdays with all to win and all to lose.

"This current Scotland squad would struggle to get a player on a Lions tour, never mind in a Lions team"

Stuart Hogg is a certainty to make the tour based on current form anyway. He is the most attacking player in the NH and IMO one of the best fullbacks if not the best. Of course Scotland will have tourists.

LordDowlais wrote:Well, he is speaking his mind again, do you agree with his team of the week ? Are Scotland staring down a barrell, without a hope of a Scottish player making the Lions squad ? Was Yoann Maestri's try the best of the weekend ? Have a read, and see if you agree:-

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/rugby-union/31896926

Oh it's the Lions again is it????

Oh right.

GunsGerms wrote:"This current Scotland squad would struggle to get a player on a Lions tour, never mind in a Lions team"

Stuart Hogg is a certainty to make the tour based on current form anyway. He is the most attacking player in the NH and IMO one of the best fullbacks if not the best. Of course Scotland will have tourists.

Thats total nonsense from Guscott. Hogg would be challenging for a test place, Jonny Gray would be in there, Maitland or Seymour would be amongst many wingers who could do a job for the Lions, and Mark Bennett looks like one of the best young players in the tournament. The minimum they would have on tour is three.

I think Jonny Gray and Mark Bennett are both going to be serious, serious players. The kind of players that don't achieve much in the Six Nations because they aren't in the best team but when the Lions tour comes along suddenly we get to see what they can do when surrounded by quality players. Then they are amongst the breakout players on the tour and get into the test side.

By the time the next tour comes along in 2017 I'm backing them both to tour and wouldn't be surprised to see them get test caps as well.

Guscott has selected Stuart Hogg on the wing.

I don't understand why Vern Cotton looks passed Barclay. He is one of the best 7's in the northern hemisphere. Atm i would say Hogg, Barclay and maybe Laidlaw and Johnny Grey are the only players that are capable of going on the Lions Tour.
I did have higher expectations of Scotland with Cotter in charge; Scotland have the potential to be a great team with some of the young players coming through, i just hope Cotter lives up to the expectations the Scotland fans deserve.

Jhamer25 wrote:I don't understand why Vern Cotton looks passed Barclay. He is one of the best 7's in the northern hemisphere. Atm i would say Hogg, Barclay  and maybe Laidlaw and Johnny Grey are the only players that are capable of going on the Lions Tour.
I did have higher expectations of Scotland with Cotter in charge; Scotland have the potential to be a great team with some of the young players coming through, i just hope Cotter lives up to the expectations the Scotland fans deserve.

Whilst it's impossible to make Lions judgement calls at this stage, more than 2 years off, I think it's tricky to argue that Stuart Hogg wouldn't be involved in a "hypothetical" squad were one being picked right now on current form. He's the only player I'd include though right now. Jonny Gray is a work in progress and has been below par this 6 Nations, Laidlaw would be behind a number of other scrum halves and similarly Barclay at 7. You could make a case for Alex Dunbar and Mark Bennett, in fact the Sunday Times noted Bennett as a Lion in the making, but it's really his breakthrough season in international rugby and you'd think that JD2, Tuilagi and Joseph would all make it in ahead of him at 13 should they all be fit.

As for Barclay, we've done it to death on the Scotland threads but suffice to say we pretty much all felt he should at least been in the squad. Blair Cowan has been good through the tournament at 7 though, and was outstanding against England I thought.

BTW, just because we lost to Wales in what some commentators are saying was a game for the Ages...not one Irish player makes the list when three French men make it after playing what some commentators are saying was a game for the refuse collector?

Somebody was forcing Wales to play well enough to have five on the list and be part of the Bone-Crunching, Earth-Shattering game of the tournament so far??????  No, Jeremy?

Oh yeah...we lost.  Our players don't count when we lose.

SecretFly wrote:BTW, just because we lost to Wales in what some commentators are saying was a game for the Ages...not one Irish player makes the list when three French men make it after playing what some commentators are saying was a game for the refuse collector?

Somebody was forcing Wales to play well enough to have five on the list and be part of the Bone-Crunching, Earth-Shattering game of the tournament so far??????  No, Jeremy?

Oh yeah...we lost.  Our players don't count when we lose.

No Irish players really stood out at all. Maybe Jack McGrath but thats about it.

SecretFly wrote:BTW, just because we lost to Wales in what some commentators are saying was a game for the Ages...not one Irish player makes the list when three French men make it after playing what some commentators are saying was a game for the refuse collector?

Somebody was forcing Wales to play well enough to have five on the list and be part of the Bone-Crunching, Earth-Shattering game of the tournament so far??????  No, Jeremy?

Oh yeah...we lost.  Our players don't count when we lose.

Welcome to my world. It's inconceivable that individuals can play well in a losing team. Truly inconceivable.

It's not about standing out, Guns.  We all know what I think of the Irish performance - it's about real players playing real rugby and being recognised for the efforts.

France played a side that gave up (not my opinion but the opinion of most commentators I've been reading, especially comments coming from here in 606 after the game "Dreadful stuff!!!")

So, it's much easier to 'look good' and 'stand out' under those circumstances.

If the game of the Ages happened in Wales, then two sides fought in it and made it so.  Wales crushed us, we returned the favour, they came back at us, we came back at them.  That was the only genuine top dog International class game of the weekend.

Not one Irish player?

Nope.  Not logical.  Even POC was all meat, gristle, bone and heart in a game that needed it unlike Dusatoir.  

LordDowlais wrote:............. Are Scotland staring down a barrell, without a hope of a Scottish player making the Lions squad ? ..........................

Scotlands best players are in positions where there is plenty of choice. Gray - great player - but great competition at lock. Bennet / Scott / Dunbar - great players but in competition with other great centres. Hogg - again a good choice of full backs around.

As things stand then no - no scots would make the lions bar perhaps Hogg.

SecretFly wrote:It's not about standing out, Guns.  We all know what I think of the Irish performance - it's about real players playing real rugby and being recognised for the efforts.

France played a side that gave up (not my opinion but the opinion of most commentators I've been reading, especially comments coming from here in 606 after the game "Dreadful stuff!!!")

So, it's much easier to 'look good' and 'stand out' under those circumstances.

If the game of the Ages happened in Wales, then two sides fought in it and made it so.  Wales crushed us, we returned the favour, they came back at us, we came back at them.  That was the only genuine top dog International class game of the weekend.

Not one Irish player?

Nope.  Not logical.  Even POC was all meat, gristle, bone and heart in a game that needed it unlike Dusatoir.  

POC's two line breaks were the only things to bring a smile to the face on Sat. The utilizing of a clear dummy runner to be the actual player to receive the ball was simple, clever, and the type of thing which will stand to us when we get accuracy right.

Gusset presumably has to dumb down his column to the level of his readership? Accuracy is unimportant for someone trying to reach people who must literally know nothing about the game. Even if Ireland win the Championship next week, I doubt that Jerry would have any green shirted players in his side of the week because he obviously doesn't have any Irish readers or at least any that take him seriously.