Scottish rugby end of season summary and awards

With several months until the next rugby game, let's discuss the season just finished for Scottish rugby. It is also time for the coveted V2 Forum Scottish Rugby Awards (V2FSRA - a catchy title).

Scotland



Results

Played - 8
Won - 2
Lost - 6
PF - 167
PA - 185

The season started so well, with a demolition of Argentina, a strong showing against NZ and a comfortable victory over Tonga.  The 6N though was a shambles.  Scotland always have the 'dark horses' tag and this year was no different, but once again we completely failed to deliver, picking up the wooden spoon.  Losses at home to Wales and Italy were particularly tough to take, as was our humbling to Ireland which ultimately won them the championship.

Cotter has got his work cut out.



Edinburgh



Achievements

1872 Cup winners  
European Rugby Challenge Cup Finalists  
8th in the league  


If you take out Edinburgh's run to a European final, this has been a disappointing season. Despite winning 3 more games than last season we've remained in the same league position - 8th. Given how bad last season was, that doesn't represent an improvement.

Ask any Edinburgh fan though and most will say they are a lot happier than last season.  We have been desperately inconsistent, but generally speaking Solomons has started to make us hard to beat.  We are also developing one of the better packs in the league, and certainly one of the best front rows in the league. Solomons still didn't learn from his mistakes though in terms of rotation, with us running out of steam for the Euro final and last 2 league games.

We certainly need to expand our attacking game more (which is almost non-existent) as that will be the difference between 8th place and top 6.



Glasgow



Achievements

Pro 12 Winners
1872 losers

Glasgow won the Pro 12 - who cares about what else happened over the season! A massive achievement for Scottish rugby, and hopefully the monkey will be off our backs now. Glasgow once again failed in Europe, with a weaker pack and lack of self belief being the main stumbling block, not to mention a few mistakes and bad missed kicks. Still they had some good wins, with the humbling of Bath at home being the main stand out.

I actually don't think Glasgow played as well this year as they have in previous seasons - especially 2 years ago when they were regularly running riot. But who cares - they won when it mattered, saving their best performance to last. Most people would say it was now or never for Glasgow, as they are losing a lot of key players and (so far) are struggling to replace them, and luckily they managed to do it.


Scottish Rugby End of Season Awards!



Scotland player of the year
Scotland young player of the year
Scotland worst player of the year
Scotland honourable mention

Edinburgh player of the year
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award)
Edinburgh new signing of the year
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award)
Edinburgh honourable mention

Glasgow player of the year
Glasgow young player of the year
Glasgow new signing of the year
Glasgow worst player of the year
Glasgow honourable mention

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season
Controversy of the season
V2 forum thread of the season
V2 forum post of the season
V2 forum honourable mention

I'll get the ball rolling with my awards:

Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year - Sorry Greig Laidlaw, but it has to be you after the 6N (great AIs though)
Scotland honourable mention - Mark Bennett had a difficult first few caps in the AIs but had a superb 6N, looking entirely comfortable at this level

Edinburgh player of the year - Al Dickinson
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - SHC
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Anton Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) - Step forward Mr creative vacuum Andries Strauss
Edinburgh honourable mention - Roddy Grant usually gets this, but I'd like to nominate Mike Coman. Put in the same bracket as Struass last year, he actually has played very well for Edinburgh this year and has led the team well.  He is a good asset for the squad to have.

Glasgow player of the year - Finn Russell
Glasgow young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Glasgow new signing of the year - Rossouw De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year - not been many, but will give it to James Downey for his very limited gametime!
Glasgow honourable mention - Mr Ruck Inspector himself, Al Kellock. Us Edinburgh fans do like to make fun of him, but there is no doubting what he has done for Glasgow.

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Tim Visser's interception that all but secured the 1872 Cup for Edinburgh!

Controversy of the season - The kebab shop incident (albeit leading to a lot of hilarity on this forum)

V2 forum thread of the season - we've gone through 4 'on-going banter' threads this season, all of them as hilarious and nonsensical as the last.

V2 forum post of the season - Kebab shop incident, someone posted a quote from an artilce along the lines of 'a crayon was seen to be observing from a distance' and I think it was Biggee who commented it must have been Al Kellock!   Apologies if it was someone else...

V2 forum honourable mention - Biggee deserves an honourable mention for being the wise old head that regularly keeps us young pups in check, but I'll have to give it to GC for his tireless work on creating endless match threads.  Time for others to step up to the plate!

RDW

Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year - Greig Laidlaw,ponderous and unimaginative but special mention must go to Matt Scott12: his going awol in defence cost us the games against Wales and England.
Scotland honourable mention - Mark Bennett for almost living up to ASBO's hype.

Edinburgh player of the year - Al Dickinson
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - SHC
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Anton Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year far too many to mention, but McVisser decerves a mention for his hands off approach to tackling.
Edinburgh honourable mention - should we rename this the W P Nel Good Attendance Award?


Glasgow player of the year - Finn Russell
Glasgow young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Glasgow new signing of the year - Rossouw De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year - Get real, we are the champions: no negativity today.
Glasgow honourable mention - The Captain, Henners Piecrust for improving steadily throughout the season and ending up streets ahead of MadMata at the death, Ryan Wilson for staging Batman Returns (18 certificate in Munster), Rob Harley for flogging himself to death in the regular season- taking a short nap and coming back to destroy Munster in the final.

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Dancer's against Ulster; dummy, step then bulldoze through Paddy Jackson and anyone else in his way.

Controversy of the season - The ongoing mystery of why John Barclay is never to soil the towels in Murrayfield again.

V2 forum thread of the season - we've gone through 4 'on-going banter' threads this season, all of them as hilarious and nonsensical as the last. Yes, these threads remind me that there are a lot of sensible, intelligent people in the world and most of them have never heard of rugby.

V2 forum post of the season - FES congratulating Glasgow on being the champions.

V2 forum honourable mention - Bru and Schiz for bringing the necessary surrealist edge to proceedings. GC for being our equivalent of Rob Harley, remarkable workrate but also a real diamond. The rest of you for making me smile on grey days.

Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year - Sorry Ben Toolis on for less than a minute and then given his marching orders  
Scotland honourable mention - Alex Dunbar Injured and sadly very sorely missed. Could have had a lot more to offer. Also the ACL injury gives me the heebie jeebies.

Edinburgh player of the year - Al Dickinson Part of what can be argued to be the best front row in the pro 12. The change in rules have really suited him and whilst nowhere near as big as the likes of Cian Healy or the other monster looseheads out there he is technically dismantling most tightheads he is coming up against.
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - SHC Are we sure he didn't play for Ayr?
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Anton Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) -Andries Strauss It's called the Strauss award for a reason. He is about as creative as the Ethiopian Cookery book.
Edinburgh honourable mention - Roddy Grant Our very own Al Kellock but better.

Glasgow player of the year - Finn Russell But seriously stop with the dancing, you look like an imbecile.
Glasgow young player of the year - Jonny Gray Richie Who?
Glasgow new signing of the year - Rossouw De Klerk I dunno much about the guy apart from the fact he used to be two players? Seems to know his way around a scrum though.
Glasgow worst player of the year - Sean Lamont go to the backrow or retire. You don't offer much around the park any more.
Glasgow honourable mention - Mr Ruck Inspector himself, Al Kellock. Inspecting rucks over the course of his life has ravaged him. However I have never been more happy for any player they way I was for him on Saturday as he lifted the pro12 trophy.

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Perhaps a little biased but I loved SHC's try against the Dragons. Especially since Andy Nichol was verbally bashing him literally seconds before he scored.

Controversy of the season - The kebab shop incident. Utterly hilarious from start to finish.

V2 forum thread of the season - The Kebab shop incident.

V2 forum post of the season - Easy one for me courtesy of Ian Bru on the Kebab Shop incident thread.

https://www.606v2.com/t56913p400-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-vi-banter-boogaloo

Page 9

"For the sake of the uninitiated, I have produced this dramatis personae for your assistance:"

I said at the time there is no smiley on the forum to adequately describe how funny I found this.

V2 forum honourable mention - GC and RDW take this for me. The Moderators (Volunteers on a power trip) do a great job here and have to put up with a lot of excrement. Top marks chaps. Even more so for GC and his impeccable threads.

Really impressed by Finn Russell every time I see him play.

If he was English with an ex RL dad he'd probably have his own brand sports drink and polo shirt range.

For me, these are my nominations:

Scotland player of the year: Finn Russell We've needed a great 10 and we might just have found one. Seems comfortable at international level and is getting better and better.

Scotland young player of the year: Finn Russell Tough call between him and Jonny Gray, but I reckon Finn Russell is perhaps more important of a revelation when you consider the alternatives in each position, and how quickly Russell has emerged this season.

Scotland worst player of the year: Greig Laidlaw Just wasn't up to it in the 6 Nations sadly.

Scotland honourable mention: Ross Ford Let's not forget where he was, and where he is now. His lineout throwing is pretty superb and he's carrying well in the loose. He's progressed quietly but will surely be a vital component in the RWC.

Edinburgh player of the year: SHC & Al Dickinson

Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award): Hamish Watson If he was in the Glasgow side we might be talking about him more...

Edinburgh new signing of the year: Anton Bresler Adapted well to the pro12

Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award): Jack Cuthbert There are times when he is just missing in defence which he can't do given his lack of pace. Also not much of an attacking threat. An elephant might have more pace and urgency than Strauss in attack, but he doesn't let you down quite as badly as Cuthbert can.

Edinburgh honourable mention: Mike Coman, Roddy Grant, Cornell Du Preez (for saving Edinburgh's blushes vs Gloucester), Tim Visser (for vs Glasgow 1872)

Glasgow player of the year: Josh Strauss When he plays well Glasgow seem to play well.

Glasgow young player of the year: Finn Russell

Glasgow new signing of the year: Fraser McKenzie Can't have this unopposed like F**A can we

Glasgow worst player of the year: Glenn Bryce Just thinking of that charge down. Hard to pick someone though - Bryce was a bit too inexperienced really for that game.

Glasgow honourable mention: Peter Horne & Richie Vernon Especially Horne, but this combo has really stepped up after Dunbar and Bennett's injuries. Horne seems to be at the peak of his game and Vernon's bringing physicality and versatility - great to see.

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season: THAT try vs Bath (Vernon)
Controversy of the season: Matawalu vs Hogg maybe? Or Solomons in the early half of the season?
V2 forum thread of the season:
V2 forum post of the season:
V2 forum honourable mention: To the above 3, everything. I know But it' has been a great place to have rugby chat with people who really follow it and for example can understand why you get so frustrated seeing Scott at 13 and not 12, and don't just say "but he's playing".

Edinburgh player of the year - Al Dickinson (proof you can turn a career around with personal happiness and hard work. Vital to Scotland's chances) and Ben Toolis (that's how you take your chance when it's presented to you)

Edinburgh young player of the year  - Okay, okay, the pretty Spanish kid.

Edinburgh new signing of the year - Anton Bresler (turned into the enforcer that his reputation always suggested he was. Absolute animal.)

Edinburgh worst player of the year - Visser for being a lazy set of ladyparts, Denton for being permanently unconscious, Tom Heathcote for regressing faster than Jimbo's jokes at a wedding with an open bar

Edinburgh honourable mention - Ross Ford (easy to make fun of, but has improved exponentially) and WP Nel (the man must be made of kevlar)

Glasgow player of the year - Finn Russell (impossible to look past this scrawny, pock marked kid with the buck teeth - he might be our finest since Rutherford. Just whisper it. We completely went to c0ck in the 6N when he was serving his ban)

Glasgow young player of the year - Jonny Gray

Glasgow new signing of the year - Rossouw De Klerk (big man who stood up for himself) and Fraser Lyle (in his first professional season, never looked out of place)

Glasgow worst player of the year - would be churlish to pick anyone, really, but the fall and fall of Ryan Grant has not been pleasant to watch.

Glasgow honourable mention - The Captain (you can succeed despite your physical limitations), Richie Vernon (we all made fun of you, but you got the bloody job done), Ryan Wilson (took his lumps like a man and came back flying at a crucial time), Rob Harley (Ex Machina) and The 52 (guys like Connor Braid, Zander Fagerson, Kevin Bryce, Will Bordill - your contributions were crucial)

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - DTH against Ulster in the semi. Right man, right place, right time. He'll never score a more crucial try, wherever he plays for the rest of his career.

Controversy of the season - how the Tombola actually works. That and, of course, KebabGate and the fact we deserved a home final but had to travel to Belfast instead and sleep in a skip by the side of the road.

V2 forum thread of the season - our Banter Thread is the best regular feature here and we should be proud of the sheer volume of nonsense we generate. The winner this year has to be the Scottish Independence Thread:
https://www.606v2.com/t55268-606v2-rugby-fans-scottish-independence-thread
It actually led to some people abandoning these boards but it also generated more intelligent comment and reasoned debate than the British press managed in a year. An experiment that worked.

V2 forum post of the season - any of Jimbopip's family stories, IanBru's "Will Heluuuuuuuuuuuuu ladies" post and any posts by Maj, Vince or any of our other experts who made me learn more about Scottish rugby and their players.

V2 forum honourable mention - all of the Scottish posters. There are other great posters here (Secret Fly, Gibson, Notch, Bedford, Rodders and Luckless Pedestrian to name but a few) but as a collective I genuinely believe we are the funniest and most magnanimous and contribute a great deal to making this a pleasant online place to be. If 606v2 was your local, we would be the regulars. Being an expat is hard and working mad hours as an expat is harder. Nothing reminds me of home more than these boards. And I can't be more complementary than that.

GC,

As an outsider I'll add a +1 to the Scottish independence thread. It was a rare source of quality information that provided 50 times the understanding that could be gained from looking at mainstream media sources.

Will just do some Edinburgh ones for now as work is very unreasonably getting in the way of valuable posting time:

Edinburgh player of the year - Ben Toolis shades it for me for his zero to hero antics
Edinburgh young player of the year - no question, SHC
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Anton Bresler managed to step up and become a real force alongside Toolis
Edinburgh worst player of the year - Tom Heathcote completely lost track of his career in the space of a single season! A serious job to do at Worcester now.
Edinburgh honourable mention - Phil Burleigh the difference between our backline achieving any level of success or not at all. Had a good game at 10 followed by some not so good, but 12 is where he needs to be and he put in some very effective performances with very little help from his colleagues or Hamish Watson quickly becoming my favourite Edinburgh player for his livewire approach to backrow play

Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg. In a team that was average 3 times and dreadful twice he still managed to top the tournament stats in most categories.
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray. Gets through a ridiculous amont of work with and without the ball.
Scotland worst player of the year - Laidlaw. Gets it for Keeping SHC out the team.
Scotland honourable mention - Ross Ford. Most improved.

Edinburgh player of the year - Sam H-C. Top form until running out of steam in the last couple of weeks.
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - Hamish Watson.
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Bresler. Not much competition but he has impressed.
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) - James Hilterbrand. Did nothing all year apart from the cameo v Ulster where he threw away a game winning 5m lineout.
Edinburgh honourable mention - Alan Solomons. Everyone was getting stuck in big time last year but looks as if he knew what he was doing all along.

Glasgow player of the year - Peter Horne. Not in anyones starting line up and had a mare against Italy but following the huge blow of losing Dunbar and Bennett for the run he has been one of our best players. Should be in the world cup squad.
Glasgow young player of the year - Finn Russell. For the scoring pass & conversion in the semi.
Glasgow new signing of the year - Rossouw de Klerk. Best of an average bunch but suspect Allan will be better in the long run.
Glasgow worst player of the year - Ryan Grant . Nowhere near the player he was 18 months ago and got involved in the BBQ Kings rammy. Here's hoping missing the final has the same effect on him as it did to Hogg last year.
Glasgow honourable mention - Stuart Hogg. Mr AP has sorted it out. Great season for Warriors and Scotland.

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - DTH v Ulster
Controversy of the season - Pro12 announcing the change of plan for the final half was through the season.
V2 forum thread of the season - 6 Nations post mortem version 12.0
V2 forum post of the season - A tie between the Will Helu/Mrs Doubtfire post and fES' champaign-soaked declaration of love for all things Glasgow Warriors.
V2 forum honourable mention - Chunky Norwich for being able to drag every thread back to how duff the Pro12 is.  

Totally worth replicating Ianbru's explanation of the Kebab shop incident:

Ianbru wrote:For the sake of the uninitiated, I have produced this dramatis personae for your assistance:

Name

Ryan Wilson

Ryan Grant

Rory Hughes

Richie Vernon

Gavin Quinn

Ally Maclay

AN Other

AKA

Batman

Bane

TBC

Shark

Minion

Tweedle Dee

Red Crayon

Photofit

TBC

Scotland player of the year: Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year: Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year: Greig Laidlaw
Scotland honourable mention: Mark Bennett

Edinburgh player of the year: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award): Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Edinburgh new signing of the year: Anton Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award): Tom Heathcote
Edinburgh honourable mention: WP Nel

Glasgow player of the year: Jonny Gray
Glasgow young player of the year: Finn Russell
Glasgow new signing of the year: Russouw De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year: James Downey
Glasgow honourable mention: Al Kellock, Greg Townsend, the Suicide squad...

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season: Van Der Merwe's in the semi
Controversy of the season: #finnocent
V2 forum thread of the season: Any of GC's match threads
V2 forum post of the season: Any of Schizoid's posts following mod's attempt to maintain order
V2 forum honourable mention: All those who left following the neverendum

123456789 wrote:Scotland player of the year: Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year: Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year: Greig Laidlaw
Scotland honourable mention: Mark Bennett

Edinburgh player of the year: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award): Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Edinburgh new signing of the year: Anton Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award): Tom Heathcote
Edinburgh honourable mention: WP Nel

Glasgow player of the year: Jonny Gray
Glasgow young player of the year: Finn Russell
Glasgow new signing of the year: Russouw De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year: James Downey
Glasgow honourable mention: Al Kellock, Greg Townsend, the Suicide squad...

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season: Van Der Merwe's in the semi
Controversy of the season: #finnocent
V2 forum thread of the season: Any of GC's match threads
V2 forum post of the season: Any of Schizoid's posts following mod's attempt to maintain order
V2 forum honourable mention: All those who left following the neverendum

It truly is sad when people leave under these circumstances. We all had our reasons for voting and discussing the matter at the time. However to leave the forum because of the discussion and outcome is a shame indeed.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

123456789 wrote:Scotland player of the year: Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year: Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year: Greig Laidlaw
Scotland honourable mention: Mark Bennett

Edinburgh player of the year: Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award): Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
Edinburgh new signing of the year: Anton Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award): Tom Heathcote
Edinburgh honourable mention: WP Nel

Glasgow player of the year: Jonny Gray
Glasgow young player of the year: Finn Russell
Glasgow new signing of the year: Russouw De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year: James Downey
Glasgow honourable mention: Al Kellock, Greg Townsend, the Suicide squad...

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season: Van Der Merwe's in the semi
Controversy of the season: #finnocent
V2 forum thread of the season: Any of GC's match threads
V2 forum post of the season: Any of Schizoid's posts following mod's attempt to maintain order
V2 forum honourable mention: All those who left following the neverendum

 It truly is sad when people leave under these circumstances. We all had our reasons for voting and discussing the matter at the time. However to leave the forum because of the discussion and outcome is a shame indeed.

Politicians on both sides have clearly read a book entitled the "Worst way to Unite a Country" and enacted it, it is natural that resentment still exists. Cameron attempting to use a very Scottish event to win votes in England in the aftermath was appalling as was the SNP going back on its statement that it was "once in a lifetime". Also the "No" campaign focused on the basis that Scotland wasn't good enough or ready and the SNP bordered on Xenophobic at times and certain aspects of their support was very unsavoury to the point my elderly Grandmother, a no voter who'd lived in Glasgow her entire life, was too frightened to go into the centre of Glasgow alone after being threatened by a Yes campaigner.

I think the way the referendum was fought will have left divides that will take decades, if ever, to heal, bearing in mind the result of the American Civil War seemed to be accepted more amicably than the referendum and millions died in that war.

I find that view totally alien. My group of friends were split almost down the middle and in the run up we talked about it endlessly but no-one has fallen out or holds a grudge.

I think folk see a few wallopers on twitter and think they reflect the mood of the whole country. They don't.

I hve seen no one fall out over the referendum. I know people passionate on both sides. There is no divide except in the minds of bampots

Back to the rugby.

Very disappointing 6N. 3 games we could have won but failed to do so

European cup - again dissapointing that Glasgow failed to get theu - a combination of circumstances ( montpellier being so inconsistant) and a lack of bottle / discipline cost

Minnows cup - a dstraction that cost Edinburgh a top 7 finish in the league. A waste of time even if it did allow Edinburgh to rediscover some form but two cruicial league games lost during the cup as Edinburgh do not have the squad to compete on two fronts

League - Glasgows win was great

Overall - b minus. Nearly but no cigar. However we end the season in a better place than last year with players gaining experience and getting used to winning and the players will be better for the years experiences.

Weegie Wizard wrote:I find that view totally alien. My group of friends were split almost down the middle and in the run up we talked about it endlessly but no-one has fallen out or holds a grudge.

I think folk see a few wallopers on twitter and think they reflect the mood of the whole country. They don't.

My sister (a yes voter and a teacher) and I still have a very frosty relationship post indyref. To the extent I didn't see her neither on my birthday or over christmas. It took me to go through and practically camp on her doorstep before she would let me in her house to talk to her.

Another one of my sisters (a yes voter) accepted the result with predictible grace and humour and has been a mediator between us. However needless to say things aren't great between us even now.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Weegie Wizard wrote:I find that view totally alien. My group of friends were split almost down the middle and in the run up we talked about it endlessly but no-one has fallen out or holds a grudge.

I think folk see a few wallopers on twitter and think they reflect the mood of the whole country. They don't.

My sister (a yes voter and a teacher) and I still have a very frosty relationship post indyref. To the extent I didn't see her neither on my birthday or over christmas. It took me to go through and practically camp on her doorstep before she would let me in her house to talk to her.

Another one of my sisters (a yes voter) accepted the result with predictible grace and humour and has been a mediator between us. However needless to say things aren't great between us even now.

That's sad to hear, Rugger, you have my sympathies. Hopefully things get better soon.

I live in Kent, so didn't see much of the referendum at first hand, but my close family in Edinburgh (all No voters) said the mood definitely took a turn for the worse in the run up to the vote and hasn't improved much since. It's all a bit depressing - Scotland is such a fantastic place that it's painful to see divisions opening up among its people.

Maybe the rugby team can bring us all together again this autumn!

Keep the award nominations coming in folks!

Therse divisions simply only exist in the minds of some overheated fools.

My mother actively campaigned for NO. One day walking to the area she was canvassing she met somone else doing the same thing for YES. They had a frioendly chat,m wished each other luck and got on with things

I have seen no nasty afters bar a few bams from each side.

TJ wrote:Therse divisions simply only exist in the minds of some overheated fools.

My mother actively campaigned for NO.  One day walking to the area she was canvassing she met somone else doing the same thing for YES.  They had a frioendly chat,m wished each other luck and got on with things

I have seen no nasty afters bar a few bams from each side.

I realise that the plural of anecdote is not data, but my mum actively campaigned for No, and had some very unpleasant experiences from the other side. These included, on polling day, one rather large Yes-supporting gent shaking his fist in her face and swearing at her (she being a 60 year old, retired woman).

Anyway, back to the rugby. Politics and polite society, etc.

Scotland player of the year -Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year - Mark Bennett
Scotland worst player of the year -Geoff Cross
Scotland honourable mention - Jonny Gray

Edinburgh player of the year - Hidalgo-Clyne
Edinburgh young player of the year -Hamish Watson
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Anton Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year - Andries Strauss
Edinburgh honourable mentions - Ben Toolis, Phil Burleigh and Willem Nel. Consistently good.

Glasgow player of the year - Jonny Gray (don't let him ever leave)
Glasgow young player of the year - Finn Russell
Glasgow new signing of the year -De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year - Al Kellock
Glasgow honourable mentions -Hall, Matawalu, DTH and Maitland. You will be missed.

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season -Russell sealing the Pro12 title
Controversy of the season - Scott Johnson is still being paid by the SRU
V2 forum thread of the season -any thread pointing out Nel scoring more tries than Maitland.
V2 forum post of the season - tricky, I've posted so many times. Will Heluuuuuu by IanBru takes the title for me!
V2 forum honourable mentions -GC and RDW for policing these boards with the Internet equivalent of tear gas and water cannons. Schiz for his robust defence of Scottish independence and Al Kellock, notwithstanding reality. Jimbo for supplying an obscure nickname to each and every member of the Glasgow squad. IanBru for maintaining a sense of humour whilst undergoing a training contract as a lawyer. Maj and BigGee for unerring accuracy and detail. EW Spoons for keeping the faith with Solomons. Radge for his optimism that he'll still have life once the missus gives birth. 1234567 for using his online banking password as his username. Nematode for leaving Murrayfield for pastures new - I heartily recommend Celtic Park. Tigertattie for keeping the heat on the soft weegie supporters - I consider it character building. Final last word is to the Ruck Inspector. Who on earth am I going to take the p1ss out of next season??

birth. 1234567 for using his online banking password as his username.

In a moment of stupidity I panicked when I read this and thought I'd done something ridiculously idiotic by accident

Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year - The honorable Tim McMisser of tackles
Scotland honourable mention - Scott Johnson for laying the foundations of success.....ok maybe not.....The tea lady for finding space for another wooden spoon in the collection

Edinburgh player of the year - Al Dickinson  - solid and solid and solid in the front row
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - SHC  -
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) -Andries Strauss - it would have been passed on, but he could not complete the pass.
Edinburgh honourable mention - Yes, they got one after we gave them the 1872 - and well deserved it was too


Glasgow player of the year - Hogg - was on a slippery slope to Ciprianiland - but really has turning his attitude and performance around.
Glasgow young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Glasgow new signing of the year - Rossouw De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year - Sean Lamont
Glasgow honourable mention -  Al Kellock. What he lacks is creative juice he makes up for in leadership and passion. A worthy winner

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Any from this weekend


Controversy of the season - The kebab shop or Edinburgh winning the 1872

V2 forum thread of the season - The Kebab shop incident.

V2 forum post of the season - The one where FES butler sneaked onto the computer to say something positive about Glasgow's win at the weekend

Tim McMisser - how has now one come up with that before??

Riskysports wrote:
Scotland worst player of the year - The honorable Tim McMisser of tackles

Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) -Andries Strauss - it would have been passed on, but he could not complete the pass.

Bravo to both of these comments.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Tim McMisser - how has now one come up with that before??

I tend to have one good idea a year. I was hoping to use it just before my appraisal at work. Ah well no promotion for me for another 12 months...

Any more nominations to come in?

Give me until tonight chief. I've only just seen this, and I'm feeling embarrassing levels of love for you all right now.

IanBru wrote:Give me until tonight chief. I've only just seen this, and I'm feeling embarrassing levels of love for you all right now.

No problem.

Scotland player of the year - Ritchie Gray - No giving it to any weegie!
Scotland young player of the year - Sam H C for his breakthrough year
Scotland worst player of the year - Tim "off to Quinns now" Visser
Scotland honourable mention - John Barclay for getting back into the wider WC squad

Edinburgh player of the year - Sam H C
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) Sam H C I guess
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Bresler
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) Te Rure
Edinburgh honourable mention - Hurley Burleigh

Glasgow player of the year - Ryan Wilson
Glasgow young player of the year - Ryan Wilson
Glasgow new signing of the year - Batman
Glasgow worst player of the year - Ryan "manshamed in every scrum" Grant
Glasgow honourable mention - Niko and his oscar winning performances

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Tim's try against the unwashed ones in the cup
Controversy of the season - Strauss being parachuted into the WC squad
V2 forum thread of the season - Batman vs The Kebab shop
V2 forum post of the season - i can't mind them all ffs!
V2 forum honourable mention - I'd like to applaud RDW as and ADMINISTRATOR for his efforts. I would thank GC but he is a soap dodging ex pat so I won't.  I'd also like to thank FES for continuing his great work with reminding the West siders that that coming last in the 1872 cup and collecting a giro on a tuesday can't be compensated by winning a trophy that no one actually cares about coz the Euro comps are more important!

Tattie, glad to see you're keeping up standards.
RDW, don't close this thread yet Schiz has not been heard from since arriving in Belfast on Saturday morning. They must have cleared the backlog in Belfast Sheriff Court by now.

Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year - Sorry Greig Laidlaw must be 3rd choise s/c now.
Scotland honourable mention - Mark Bennett started slowly, but showing his potential at international level

Edinburgh player of the year - WP Nel
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - SHC
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Te Rure
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) - Andries Strauss how could it be anyone else!
Edinburgh honourable mention -  ben Toolis
Glasgow player of the year - Finn Russell
Glasgow young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Glasgow new signing of the year - Rossouw De Klerk
Glasgow worst player of the year - Euan Murray
Glasgow honourable mention -  James Eddie.

jimbopip wrote:Tattie, glad to see you're keeping up standards.
RDW, don't close this thread yet Schiz has not been heard from since arriving in Belfast on Saturday morning. They must have cleared the backlog in Belfast Sheriff Court by now.

In best News Voice -

Sunday Morning News Broadcast :

"Glasgow Warriors secured their first ever Pro12 title with a powerful display against Munster. Warriors fans partied long into the Belfast night. The final tally 27 injured, 3 dead."

cakeordeath wrote:
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Te Rure

I'm assuming that was for my benefit!

RDW_Scotland wrote:

cakeordeath wrote:
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Te Rure

I'm assuming that was for my benefit!

Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg, for actually giving a damn on the pitch
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year - Sorry, going to have to say Matt Scott. Good player but had a bad year. Honourable mention here to Toolis/Watson for getting YC on their debuts!
Scotland honourable mention - Adam Ashe for how well he settled into the side and seemed to play for Scotland more than Glasgow.

Edinburgh player of the year - WP Nel
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - SH-C
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Phil Burleigh
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) - Gotta be the eponymous Strauss.
Edinburgh honourable mention - Rory Sutherland

Glasgow player of the year - Finnocent
Glasgow young player of the year - Adam Ashe
Glasgow new signing of the year - De Klerk (who else did they even sign?)
Glasgow worst player of the year - James Downey
Glasgow honourable mention - Strauss for his indefatigability!

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Vernon vs Bath (Bennett vs Bath coming close)
Controversy of the season - Hugh Blake. Or Glasgow getting diddled out of a home final. Nah, we'll stick with Blake.
V2 forum thread of the season - Independence Referendum. Never posted but was a good read.
V2 forum post of the season - Bru's stones?
V2 forum honourable mention - Jimbopip for the inability to quite master the quote function

Scotland player of the year -
Scotland young player of the year - Finn Russell
Scotland worst player of the year - Turnstile Tim (dis)honorable mentions for Watson & Toolis for worst debuts in a while.  
Scotland honourable mention - Ross Ford for getting over his throwing demons

Edinburgh player of the year - Sam H C
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) see above
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Hugh Blake
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) Heathcote
Edinburgh honourable mention - Du Preez for his comeback & tap tackling prowess

Glasgow player of the year - Josh Strauss
Glasgow young player of the year - Ickle Gray
Glasgow new signing of the year - Hugh Blake
Glasgow worst player of the year - Bane
Glasgow honourable mention - Nakawara, for rightly ignoring our posts and going offload crazy to great affect in the final.

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Russell V Ulster (his first one) for his Lomu impression
Controversy of the season - Glen Jackson & Clownshoes Clancy releasing their inner timelord, messing about with the wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff & ending the Wales game early
V2 forum thread of the season - Any of the various banter threads that helps to while away the time waiting for files to render etc
V2 forum post of the season - Bru's kebabshop lineup
V2 forum honourable mention - My fellow Scots We'll get through the turmoil that is supporting Scotland together

highland_scot wrote:Scotland player of the year - Stuart Hogg, for actually giving a damn on the pitch
Scotland young player of the year - Jonny Gray
Scotland worst player of the year - Sorry, going to have to say Matt Scott. Good player but had a bad year. Honourable mention here to Toolis/Watson for getting YC on their debuts!
Scotland honourable mention - Adam Ashe for how well he settled into the side and seemed to play for Scotland more than Glasgow.

Edinburgh player of the year - WP Nel
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - SH-C
Edinburgh new signing of the year - Phil Burleigh
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) - Gotta be the eponymous Strauss.
Edinburgh honourable mention - Rory Sutherland

Glasgow player of the year - Finnocent
Glasgow young player of the year - Adam Ashe
Glasgow new signing of the year - De Klerk (who else did they even sign?)
Glasgow worst player of the year - James Downey Does this answer your previous question?
Glasgow honourable mention - Strauss for his indefatigability!

Miscellaneous:

Try of the season - Vernon vs Bath (Bennett vs Bath coming close)
Controversy of the season - Hugh Blake. Or Glasgow getting diddled out of a home final. Nah, we'll stick with Blake.
V2 forum thread of the season - Independence Referendum. Never posted but was a good read.
V2 forum post of the season - Bru's stones?
V2 forum honourable mention - Jimbopip for the inability to quite master the quote function

Indefatigability? Eponymous? If we wanted that type of verbiage we'd live in Stockbridge.
Quote function! I'll quote function you, boy.

https://www.606v2.com/t59284-scottish-exiles-team-of-the-season-2014-2015

I am stuck at work and Chairman of the Bored at the moment.

George Carlin wrote:https://www.606v2.com/t59284-scottish-exiles-team-of-the-season-2014-2015

I am stuck at work and Chairman of the Bored at the moment.

Sounds like an afternoon of "Other - reading" awaits your time sheet!!

Scotland player of the year - Jonny Gray for being the most ultimate bad-ass since Hudson from Aliens.
Scotland young player of the year - Finn Russell - In the words of Rugby World, "Scotland have found their fly-half". They're right. Now let's win something.
Scotland worst player of the year - Jim Hamilton - for that cold feeling of dread whenever he came on the pitch.
Scotland honourable mention - Mark Bennett for actually living up to expectations. Just like I expected.

Edinburgh player of the year - Willem Wallace Nel - absolutely crucial to Edinburgh playing well, and he looks to have sorted out whatever problem the referees had with his scrummaging. Born to kill in blue.
Edinburgh young player of the year (AKA the Hidalgo-Clyne award) - Sam Hidalgo-Clyne. Whoever killed his father had better prepare to die. The six-fingered man has some explaining to do.
Edinburgh new signing of the year - The new "World Class Phil" Burleigh, except it's not quite so hilarious.
Edinburgh worst player of the year (AKA the Strauss award) - Tom Heathcote - didn't learn anything new, and seemed to become worse at the things he was good at. Suddenly George Ford being picked ahead of him for Bath looks less like paternal nepotism and more like common sense.
Edinburgh honourable mention - My stones. It was fun while it lasted. Dr. Kenneth Noisewater, I'll miss the conversation. James Westfall, just keep on trucking, buddy.

Glasgow player of the year -  Joint award for Peter Horne and Richie 'V8' Vernon for taking on the job no one wanted, and doing it better than we could have hoped.
Glasgow young player of the year - Zander Fagerson partly for his Glasgow form (looking immediately at home at the top level), but mostly for his showing for the U20s, taking the Wales front row apart like a backwards-constructed IKEA bookshelf.
Glasgow new signing of the year - De Klerk One signing was good...
Glasgow worst player of the year - James Downey The other was bad...
Glasgow honourable mention - Gordon Reid, for this


and this...


Miscellaneous:
Try of the season - the one that kicked it all off, Horne vs Leinster (in a very tight second place ('giggity'), Vernon vs Bath)
Controversy of the season - Glasgow getting cheated out of their home final, and the Pro12 being too lazy to change the rules on their website.
V2 forum thread of the season - The second of three Glasgow v Ulster threads, where it turned out that everyone likes the Stiff Little Fingers. SO much joy.
V2 forum post of the season - This little doozy:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Ah, you can take boy out of the finishing school: but you can't take the finishing school out of the boy.

Sounds like the sort of place you should have sent Sean Maitland.

V2 forum honourable mention - Far too many to mention. Farnkly, you are all awesome. However, a final word for Schiz's good lady wife for being such a fine civilising influence and for scaring me just a little bit.
IanBru award for 'Huh?' - Jimbopip for the most hilarious and threatening-sounding voicemail message I've ever received, and the good people on the 6:10 from Haymarket who didn't leave the carriage when I giggled for seven minutes straight.

Good call on Fagerson. Massive potential there, in a position where we're starting to struggle. I think Nel will be a great option but with the Rev now gone, one of Welsh, Low, Cross and Cusack needs to step up and prove themselves at international level. Fagerson could find himself promoted rapidly next season.