Scotland 6N lookahead

 

Scotland 45 – Japan 10

Hardie, Bennett (2), Seymour, Russell

Scotland 39 – USA 16

Visser, Maitland, Nel, Scott, Weir

South Africa 34 – Scotland 16

Seymour

Samoa 33 – Scotland 36

Seymour, Hardie, Laidlaw

Australia 35 – Scotland 34

Horne, Seymour, Bennett


Tries this world cup:

Seymour – 4
Bennett – 3
Hardie – 2
Russell, Visser, Maitland, Nel, Scott, Weir, Laidlaw, Horne – 1


6 Nations fixtures:
Scotland V England
Wales V Scotland

Italy V Scotland

Scotland V France
Ireland V Scotland

Image of the match for me.

3 amazing stats:

Australia were turned over 17 times, to Scotland’s 9

David Denton carried furthest in the game with 58 metres

Jonny Gray was the top tackler with 18, Blair Cowan was next with 13 and Richie Gray with 10

It's also fairly safe to say Scotland have one of the best scrummaging packs in the world right now? That Ozzie pack manshamed England and then Wales in a fairly convincing fashion.

I counted at least 7 or 8 Scottish 'track suits' jumping around like madmen in the in-goal area when Horne played his trick and dashed over to score.

It's not all doom and gloom. We should have won that, but I blame composure, not Joubert, the back of the lineout was a stupid decision in the dying minutes, but these boys will learn.

Fantastic to see 17 tries on the board for this world cup. We have come so far, I have to say yesterday I felt a bit of teary eyed pride. Watching Laidlaw interviewed post-match was heartbreaking, has to be his best game in a Scotland shirt.

Going forward, we're now in the nice position where we're often in the game after 60-70 minutes. We need to work on the basics and composure, composure, composure. If we nail the restarts and keep it simple, these fine margins will become wins. Of that I am confident. Defence was an issue in that game. But Australia played with exceptional pace.

Thinking back, this Scotland team seem to be in a similar place to Glasgow under Sean Lineen, a good team just not quite there yet in terms of finishing. Look at Glasgow now, however, and they have become a lot more ruthless and clinical, which is what Scotland needs, but we're close, really really close. I think next season we will be competing very strongly. I think this 6Ns we can win, but we're more likely to get 2nd or 3rd.

As Edinburgh get stronger I can only see things getting better. Think about how rough a time we've had over the last 15 years boys, we've hit a new milestone and we're still going in the right direction. A great team isn't born in a season.

this is the big winner from a scottish viewpoint,

Turnovers won

Australia 8
Scotland 17

i think we know whose playing 6 and 7 now.

alive555 wrote:this is the big winner from a scottish viewpoint,

Turnovers won

Australia 8
Scotland 17

i think we know whose playing 6 and 7 now.

aye, Kiwi flankers do tend to have the evil eye over aussies

Scotland always have one game in them like this and the decision against them at the end is dreadful but that's sport and we all have to try to live with it. Hopefully from it comes some change for the better.

As for the 6 Nations I think Scottish fans need to try to remain cautiously optimistic as we have seen this euphoria time and time again only for them to fall. They are a useful team and can cause most sides problems but 1 swallow does not a Summer make. Good luck in the 6 Nations.

LondonTiger wrote:

alive555 wrote:this is the big winner from a scottish viewpoint,

Turnovers won

Australia 8
Scotland 17

i think we know whose playing 6 and 7 now.

aye, Kiwi flankers do tend to have the evil eye over aussies

And a Zimbabwean no.8 don't forget.

In all seriousness though Denton looked absolutely gutted last night. The place of birth for last night's backrow is irrelevant for me, they all gave absolutely everything for the thistle.

On another note Laidlaw. His best game for Scotland by some distance. He has really grown into his role as a snr player and captain. His interview last night was really hard to watch.

Stern Vern looked on the point of cracking at a couple of points too.

RubyGuby wrote:Scotland always have one game in them like this and the decision against them at the end is dreadful but that's sport and we all have to try to live with it. Hopefully from it comes some change for the better.

As for the 6 Nations I think Scottish fans need to try to remain cautiously optimistic as we have seen this euphoria time and time again only for them to fall. They are a useful team and can cause most sides problems but 1 swallow does not a Summer make. Good luck in the 6 Nations.

As a team we have been guilty of that in the past Ruby, however with big Vern now stamping his authority on the squad and a core of players all playing for each other the foundations are being laid for us to win some silverware.

Keep in mind that we were the second youngest team in the Tournament with 34 year old Lamont upping the average by quite a bit.

Perhaps this year will be too soon, but this group will win trophies of some description before 2020.

Ford, Gray, Hardie, Denton, Laidlaw, Russell, Dunbar/Horne/Scott, Bennett and Hogg is the spine to build the team around.

For me its the good, the bad and the ugly

The good - in the last game we finally looked to come together and play as a team and it looks like Cotter has got the guys to buy into his tactics and selections.   Finally they look like a team and look like living up to their potential.   Cotter also grew in confidence from some dubious "defensive" selections in the early games to trusting the guys to attack - and although we were really second best against Aus we gave them a real game and a real fight and never gave up.  Some nice attacking play at times - FFS we scored tries.  A few guys came of age and a few guys showed their class.  Cotter looks like the real deal.  

The bad - brainfarts again. Why did Russell not mark the kick he caught? - almost cost a try.  We did we make the high risk call on the lineouts in our own half twice? - one cost us a try the other the match.  Restarts!!!!!!!  Cotter should have them working on restarts until they puke!  Captaincy - I like Wee Greig and he played well in his sometimes limited way but captain he is not.  Someone needed to call the guys together and calm them down / get them to regroup on several occasions and no one did.  He also does not seem to communicate well with refs.  But who else is there?

And the ugly- jeezo there is some horrendous looking guys and ruddy awful haircuts in the squad.  Can no one find these guys a paper bag to wear?  Has no one got a proper razer?  What is living in Blutos beard? Bring on SHC I say - he knows how to be well groomed.

Post-Mortem

This was a good World Cup overall for Scotland. Although we beat the teams we should beat, and lost to the teams ranked above us, we played some great rugby and ran a good Australia team right to the last kick of the game.

Cotter's squad selection contained some bad errors, which is some cause for concern. His decisions to pick Strokosch and Wilson looked odd at the time, and neither did anything to vindicate the faith shown by Cotter. Strokosch is a spent force, and Wilson just isn't a force at all. Decent club man, nothing more. Injuries allowed some of that damage to be repaired. Cowan got a reprieve and made a fool of Cotter and his initial decision not to include him. Cowan played twice and was outstanding both times.

Still, some outstanding performances over the tournament: Nel, Dickinson, Grayx2, Cowan, Hardie, Denton, Laidlaw, Bennett, Seymour and Hogg. Really strong performances.

Before the World Cup a few posters on here lined up to take pot shots at Greg "Milk" Laidlaw. How are we feeling about those comments now?

6 Nations

More of the same would be my mantra. I think we've stumbled upon our best XV and I would look to play the following throughout the 6 Nations:

1.Dickinson 2.Ford 3.Nel 4.J Gray 5.R Gray 6.Cowan 7.Hardie 8.Denton 9.Laidlaw(c) 10.Russell 11.Seymour 12.Dunbar 13.Bennett 14.Maitland 15.Hogg

16.Welsh 17.Brown 18.Reid 19.Gilchrist 20.Strauss 21.SH-C 22.Horne 23.Visser

You'd like to think that this group will not be collecting another Wooden Spoon.

TJ wrote:For me its the good, the bad and the ugly

The good - in the last game we finally looked to come together and play as a team and it looks like Cotter has got the guys to buy into his tactics and selections.   Finally they look like a team and look like living up to their potential.   Cotter also grew in confidence from some dubious "defensive" selections in the early games to trusting the guys to attack - and although we were really second best against Aus we gave them a real game and a real fight and never gave up.  Some nice attacking play at times - FFS we scored tries.  A few guys came of age and a few guys showed their class.  Cotter looks like the real deal.  

The bad - brainfarts again. Why did Russell not mark the kick he caught? - almost cost a try.  We did we make the high risk call on the lineouts in our own half twice? - one cost us a try the other the match.  Restarts!!!!!!!  Cotter should have them working on restarts until they puke!  Captaincy - I like Wee Greig and he played well in his sometimes limited way but captain he is not.  Someone needed to call the guys together and calm them down / get them to regroup on several occasions and no one did.  He also does not seem to communicate well with refs.  But who else is there?

And the ugly- jeezo there is some horrendous looking guys and ruddy awful haircuts in the squad.  Can no one find these guys a paper bag to wear?  Has no one got a proper razer?  What is living in Blutos beard? Bring on SHC I say - he knows how to be well groomed.

Scott Hastings was ranting about this. You can't mark a restart...

Well here’s my thoughts on the world cup. Apologies for the word count!

- Summary

Most Scottish fans pre world cup would have been happy to get through our group and put in a good performance in the QF. We got both of that so we should be content, but what makes it so hard to cope with is that fact that we should have won that game and been preparing for a semi-final. One messed up lineout aside and we probably would have. The South Africa game was a real bone of contention, but I’m still of the opinion that if we had put out our ultimate strongest team available for that day we would have come up well short anyway. So overall I think we should be pleased – I suspect Scottish rugby will have gained a lot of respect this tournament, and we’re now in a strong position to really make a good fist of the 6N.

- Squad selection

We’ve said it all along and I think we have been proved correct – Strokosh and Wilson were bad calls by Cotter. Fair play to Swinson for proving us all wrong though – I still think he’s too small for International rugby but there’s no doubting he gave his all for the team. Strokosh’s contribution was limited to a completely forgettable performance against USA, and the least said about Wilson the better – poor with ball in hand, missed a lot of tackles, yellow carded for a stupid act of foul play. The fact that Cowan was a late squad replacement yet played in the QF suggests that Cotter realised the mistake he’d made – I hope he learns from this come 6N. I’m not saying Cowan and Harley/Barclay being selected from the off would have made the difference, but that is not the point – they were poor choices.

Final point on Struass – I’m maybe being a bit harsh, but I think he realised our worst fears in that he would find it difficult making the step up to international rugby during a world cup with no previous experience. He didn’t do much wrong, but he certainly wasn’t as prominent as he has been for Glasgow and was outplayed by Denton this tournament. His time will come though – I’m expecting big things from him in the 6N.

- Plus points

We scored a lot of tries. Last world cup we scored 4 – this world cup we scored 17. We also blew away the weaker teams in the end – I remember all too well how much we struggled against Georgia and Romania last time round.

Scrum – our starting front row is currently one of the form units in world rugby. I genuinely fear for the safety of some of the Pro 12 teams that Edinburgh’s front row is going to come up against this season – they are a very strong unit. In WP Nel we finally have a tighthead of International class who not only anchors the scrums but puts in a lot of work around the pitch too.

The average age of our squad was 26.5 – Scotland’s youngest ever world cup squad. The majority of players will still be around at the next world cup, and a healthy number even for the one after that. In Brown, the Gray’s, Denton, Hidalgo-Clyne, Russell, Dunbar, Benett, Scott and Hogg we have a cored of players who are still to reach their prime – the team needs to be built around then.

- Negative points
-
Restarts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They almost cost us the game against Samoa, and were one of the main contributing factors to our defeat yesterday. This has to be fixed.

Physicality – we were completely blown away by SA physically and struggled against Samoa. I fear that against other powerful teams – like Wales and England, we will also struggle given our current crop of players. The Grays, Cowan, Hardie and Denton are very athletic and strong but they certainly don’t have the same level of physicality of the saffers.

Dealing with pressure situations. Once again we messed up when it really mattered – crucial restarts were lost, important lineouts were messed up, and I’d even say Russell kicking long when we simply had to regain possession also showed a lack of big game experience. This is something very difficult to coach because it is a mental thing, but we need to deal with these situations better

Squad depth – we now have a very competitive first XV but are lacking depth. Welsh is a big step down from Nel, and with Gilchrist injured Swinson is also a step down in quality at lock. Hopefully Toolis regains his form after injury to add to our options. Most crucially though our biggest step down in quality is if we lose Russell, although granted he didn’t have the best of world cups. We desperately missed a fit and on form Dunbar – Matt Scott has had a disappointing campaign in his absence. He is still only 25 though and I think will remain a key player for Scotland in the future – he just needs to go back to Edinburgh and build up his confidence and form before the 6N or else he might find himself out of the 23 all together.


So all in all Scotland probably get n 8 out of 10 for the world cup – we qualified out of a tricky group and put in one hell of a performance in the quarters. The South Africa game was a big disappointment, and we struggled in the first half against Samoa, but we at least put in a commanding 2nd half display to come away with the win.

Plenty to build on.

TJ wrote:For me its the good, the bad and the ugly

The good - in the last game we finally looked to come together and play as a team and it looks like Cotter has got the guys to buy into his tactics and selections.   Finally they look like a team and look like living up to their potential.   Cotter also grew in confidence from some dubious "defensive" selections in the early games to trusting the guys to attack - and although we were really second best against Aus we gave them a real game and a real fight and never gave up.  Some nice attacking play at times - FFS we scored tries.  A few guys came of age and a few guys showed their class.  Cotter looks like the real deal.  

The bad - brainfarts again. Why did Russell not mark the kick he caught? - almost cost a try.  We did we make the high risk call on the lineouts in our own half twice? - one cost us a try the other the match.  Restarts!!!!!!!  Cotter should have them working on restarts until they puke!  Captaincy - I like Wee Greig and he played well in his sometimes limited way but captain he is not.  Someone needed to call the guys together and calm them down / get them to regroup on several occasions and no one did.  He also does not seem to communicate well with refs.  But who else is there?

And the ugly- jeezo there is some horrendous looking guys and ruddy awful haircuts in the squad.  Can no one find these guys a paper bag to wear?  Has no one got a proper razer?  What is living in Blutos beard? Bring on SHC I say - he knows how to be well groomed.

Can't call mark from a restart. If that's the one you are referring too, where Hastings went mental (and then apologised later on twitter for his mistake), if it was another occasion....I can't think of it.

TJ wrote:The bad - brainfarts again. Why did Russell not mark the kick he caught? - almost cost a try.

I was thinking about this. Was it straight from a restart (which you can't mark)? I can't remember.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Scott Hastings was ranting about this. You can't mark a restart...

Ah - I was only peeping from behind the sofa and missed the fact it was a restart

TJ wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Scott Hastings was ranting about this. You can't mark a restart...

Ah - I was only peeping from behind the sofa and missed the fact it was a restart

Yeh - you need to learn the rules!!

Ouch. Saucer of cream sir?

funnyExiledScot wrote:

TJ wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Scott Hastings was ranting about this. You can't mark a restart...

Ah - I was only peeping from behind the sofa and missed the fact it was a restart

Yeh - you need to learn the rules Laws!!

RDW - 8/10? I would make it 6/10 Just a bit more than par - par would have been getting into the QFs and getting stuffed by Aus. 6/10 for scoring a few tries and giving Aus a game

And my thoughts on the 6N…

Despite the new found sense of optimism, we could still end up showing great improvement yet come away with only 1 win – or even no wins. The 6N is an incredibly difficult competition for Scotland. Since the last world cup we have won 4 out of the last 20 games. We are clearly the 2nd lowest ranked team and as such any finish above 5th place is a remarkable achievement for Scotland. England, Ireland, France and Wales have regularly been several levels above us and we have struggled to beat them over the years. We also have only 2 games at home this year so life is even more difficult.

Looking at the fixtures, our best chance of picking up a 2nd win assuming we beat Italy) is probably England or France at home. We’ve got England first up and I am certain we won’t face the same England tea as the won that failed so miserably at the world cup. They are going to have one hell of a point to prove and have some very good players available – I fear a backlash. France are, well, France! We’ve not beaten them since 2006 and they’ve certainly been in similar sorry states that they are in now.

Player wise we could take squad selection in two ways – drop all the players that won’t be around at the world cup and purely focus on the next 4 years, or only drop a few players and keep much of the same squad. I suspect it will be the latter. Strokosh and Lamont are the only players that I think should be stood down on age grounds, with the rest up for selection depending on form leading up to the 6N. We need to really target this competition and are in a good place going into it – I don’t think we should disrupt things by making wholesale changes looking too far ahead.

In the summer tour I would like to see some changes – Hidalgo-Clyne and Brown getting good gametime, Sutherland being brought through etc. Maybe even Zander Fagerson if he carries on putting in strong performances for Glasgow.

So as I said – we could be a lot better this year yet still finish 5th. The 6N is an incredibly difficult competition.

TJ wrote:RDW - 8/10?  I would make it 6/10  Just a bit more than par - par would have been getting into the QFs and getting stuffed by Aus.  6/10 for scoring a few tries and giving Aus a game

On the basic that 6 is average, in my mind your view would be more 7/10, i.e. better than average, which I wouldn’t have massive arguments with – I just though yesterday’s performances warranted higher marks.

But it really doesn’t bother me either way!

One of the main concerns for Cotter now will be to find some squad depth I would think; Weir, Wilson, Stroker, Scott and Welsh particularly have gone backwards in the WC. Our first choice 15 is looking good but we're really only an injury or suspension or two away from struggling in certain positions; stand-off, centre ,tight head prop and possibly back three need more options in particular.
At stand-off after Russell we are struggling, some people are calling for Jackson but he's had some real howlers for Scotland in the past.
At centre Scott has looked poor this WC and Horne still seems lightweight for certain oppositions.
Nel has been immense but obviously Welsh is a step down from him no doubt, we seem to have some potential options at loosehead after Dickinson but who is there at 3? Low and Cross have both fallen away and the young props at Glasgow aren't ready and Berghan isn't getting enough playing time at Edinburgh to know if he'll be any good or not.
In the back three we're looking pretty good for wingers with Visser able to come in if either Seymour or Maitland drop out and up and coming players like Bulumakau who might well figure if he continues his current development. Fullback however is a bit threadbare, if Hogg drops out then you really have to move Maitland to 15 to cover him as no other players are really at the required level, Tonks is steady but no real danger to defences. Not sure Hughes has the potential to make it either.

I don't think Fagerson is a bad shout for a bench slot. He's got a ton to learn and is very young for a prop, but I don't rate Welsh highly and we are painfully short otherwise at tighthead.

I think our best prospects for a win in the 6 Nations are Italy (away) and France (home). England will be desperate to make good after a woeful World Cup, Wales have a physicality and intensity we struggle with (particularly at the Millenium) plus Biggar is warming up nicely to become a Lions fly half and Ireland are just too savvy at the breakdown, although we are much improved in that area.

What I hope we have learned from this World Cup is that we are now good enough to compete with very good teams. Not just contain them, hope it rains and kill the game, but actually score tries and stretch them in defence. That is a big step forward.

Looking back at Scotland's World Cup it has been a good tournament for us. Minus a few squad picks cotter got it pretty right.
We have discovered the art of scoring which is great to see and the players look confident in attack and not panicking like teams of old.
Players when they make mistakes want to make amends for them and not burry their heads in the sands. When Seymour mistimed his hit on kuidrani I knew he would score later in the game as there is a bit of dog in the team which is good.
The pressure and rushing we put on teams is now excellent. We are forcing teams into mistakes and scoring tries. How many intercepts have we knocked off recently and scored from. Must be probably the most in world rugby at the moment.
Other positive is we seem to be playing as a unit and there is a good team spirit which will now be even stronger after yesterday.
With our first choice front row our scrum is ow world class, Dickinson is now one of the best scrummaging loose head props in the world at the moment.
The back row we played yesterday is the one I have been calling for for weeks and weeks. Very well balanced. Two real workhorses at 6 & 7 who can hit hard, win turn overs and really be a menace to the opposition. Denton seems to be maturing and performed well yesterday.
A few negatives to work still, our defence has looked a little fragile at times. Not sure why this is, if players are just switching off or if the defence pattern isn't 100%.
Our line out has gone fairly well this World Cup. On a few key occasions we have gone for silly moves or over complicated throws when a simple ball to the front would have been best. Again hopefully they will learn from those mistakes.
Our maul defence is still pretty poor, Japan, South Africa,Samoa and Australia all destroyed us with attacking mauls. Probably the area where most work is needed.
Re starts are still pretty poor both on our kick and receiving them.
On kick receive they did seem better yesterday apart from Russell's howler.

For me Scotland's player of the World Cup has been john Hardie. The power in his tackles is outstanding. His ball carrying is also impressive along with his support running. At the breakdown he is one of the best, really put one over hooper yesterday.
Huge credit also to Dickinson, nel, Cowan, Laidlaw, Bennett as well.

Hogg for me has been average this tournament, not sure if it was a case of he actually tried to hard which led to mistakes.
Matt scott under performed during the tournament, seemed to go missing in defence, needs a good run of games at 12 for edinburgh to get his confidence and sharpness back.
As others have said regarding strokosh & wilson.....why? Strokosh is way way past it & wilson is just not an international player.

Looking ahead to the 6 nations I would agree with fes 100% on that being the best match day 23.

Very few weak areas in that squad and lots of good impact from the bench. Impact from the bench is key these days and often determines who will win depending who has the stronger bench impact.

Lots of positives going forward with the players we have and the coaching staff going forward. New attack coach coming in who is apparently very good and highly sought after. Is humphries still involved after this? Hopefully a lot of his role will be passed to wagga Hines.

Other positive is the high number of young very talented players we have on the fringes coming through who can add to the squad over the next couple years. Players like Rory Sutherland, zander fagerson, Adam Ashe, ben toolis, scott Steele, Damian Holland, Rory Hughes will all be phased in over the next couple years along with potentially others a year or so younger.

Just on the depth point, making certain assumption around the 1st XV, this is what I have for Scotland A come the next 6 Nations:

1.Grant 2.McInally 3.Cusack 4.Swinson 5.Toolis 6.Harley 7.Watson 8.Barclay 9.Pyrgos 10.Jackson 11.Hughes 12.Scott 13.Taylor 14.Fife 15.Tonks

16.Fagerson 17.Bryce 18.Sutherland 19.McKenzie 20.Wilson 21.Fowles 22.Weir 23.McColl

funnyExiledScot wrote:Just on the depth point, making certain assumption around the 1st XV, this is what I have for Scotland A come the next 6 Nations:

1.Grant 2.McInally 3.Cusack 4.Swinson 5.Toolis 6.Harley 7.Watson 8.Barclay 9.Pyrgos 10.Jackson 11.Hughes 12.Scott 13.Taylor 14.Fife 15.Tonks

16.Fagerson 17.Bryce 18.Sutherland 19.McKenzie 20.Wilson 21.Fowles 22.Weir 23.McColl

I'd go
Grant mcinally low Swinson toolis Harley Watson Ashe pyrgos Jackson Hoyland scott taylor Hughes tonks

Subs
Bryce Sutherland fagerson Mckenzie eadie Steele heathcote vernon

Even though he is only playing in the English championship I would be bringing Mitch eadie into the A team as he has been outstanding there. I believe 5 Aviva premiership teams all came in for him over the summer but he is sticking with his home town club.
Still lots of good players who don't even make the A squad so depth is fairly good in most positions.
A couple positions where we are struggling for good quality depth is tight head, stand off, full back. Full back is slightly less of a concern as we have maitland who can play there but still could do with some more options. Not only in case off injury but also,to put pressure on Hogg and try get the best out of him.

Full back or 10 -Tonks?

Whats happened to James Eadie?

Steele is a good shout, and more than happy to replace Wilson with Eadie or Ashe.

Much as I love Hoyland, I think he needs to work a bit more on his allround game. His technique under the high ball and his kicking game are two aspects of his game which look amateur at best. His pace and finishing instincts are top notch though so he certainly has the potential to become a special player.

TJ wrote:Full back or 10 -Tonks?

Whats happened to James Eadie?

The Scottish brewer or the QC?

I wonder if there might be some mileage in 'doing a Vernon' with Hamish Watson and converting him to centre? He looks extremely fast but perhaps lacks the size to be really effective in the back row.

ON Weir - I think he did show a little form in the bits he got in the WC but still way below what he needs. I think he needs a season as a regular starter somewhere even if its English Championship to develop him. He has had much less than a seasons worth of starts in 3 years.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

TJ wrote:Full back or 10 -Tonks?

Whats happened to James Eadie?

The Scottish brewer or the QC?

James Eddie. One day I will learn to spell Just googled him and he is much older than I thought. So he is out then.

Tonks - I was one of his biggest supporters at 10 in the lead up to the tournament, and he did OK when he did play, but given he's not playing their for Edinburgh he isn't an option. I don't know if the debate is fully settled yet, but if he doesn't regularly play at 10 soon I don't think he ever will.

Eddie - A solid committed club play, but he ain't an internationalist!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Tonks - I was one of his biggest supporters at 10 in the lead up to the tournament, and he did OK when he did play, but given he's not playing their for Edinburgh he isn't an option.  I don't know if the debate is fully settled yet, but if he doesn't regularly play at 10 soon I don't think he ever will.

Eddie - A solid committed club play, but he ain't an internationalist!

I think the Tonks debate has been settled, he is not a FH, he is a half decent FB even if not quite international class. Solly clearly has not intention of playing him at 10 and I would tend to agree with him on that one. Who exactly should be playing 10 for Edinburgh however is still not clear!

James Eddie, great club servant that he is, has never even held down a regular spot in the starting Glasgow XV. He was probably only kept on this year because of the WC and it will likely be his last year at the club. Got a soft spot for him as well, but he never was and never will be an international. He will likely be back on the sevens circuit for the rest of the year now.

BigGee wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Tonks - I was one of his biggest supporters at 10 in the lead up to the tournament, and he did OK when he did play, but given he's not playing their for Edinburgh he isn't an option.  I don't know if the debate is fully settled yet, but if he doesn't regularly play at 10 soon I don't think he ever will.

Eddie - A solid committed club play, but he ain't an internationalist!

I think the Tonks debate has been settled, he is not a FH, he is a half decent FB even if not quite international class. Solly clearly has not intention of playing him at 10 and I would tend to agree with him on that one. Who exactly should be playing 10 for Edinburgh however is still not clear!

James Eddie, great club servant that he is, has never even held down a regular spot in the starting Glasgow XV. He was probably only kept on this year because of the WC and it will likely be his last year at the club. Got a soft spot for him as well, but he never was and never will be an international. He will likely be back on the sevens circuit for the rest of the year now.

Jade Te Rure

RDW_Scotland wrote:

BigGee wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Tonks - I was one of his biggest supporters at 10 in the lead up to the tournament, and he did OK when he did play, but given he's not playing their for Edinburgh he isn't an option.  I don't know if the debate is fully settled yet, but if he doesn't regularly play at 10 soon I don't think he ever will.

Eddie - A solid committed club play, but he ain't an internationalist!

I think the Tonks debate has been settled, he is not a FH, he is a half decent FB even if not quite international class. Solly clearly has not intention of playing him at 10 and I would tend to agree with him on that one. Who exactly should be playing 10 for Edinburgh however is still not clear!

James Eddie, great club servant that he is, has never even held down a regular spot in the starting Glasgow XV. He was probably only kept on this year because of the WC and it will likely be his last year at the club. Got a soft spot for him as well, but he never was and never will be an international. He will likely be back on the sevens circuit for the rest of the year now.

Jade Te Rure

Get Adam Hastings back from Barf!

For the 6n it will be broadly the same squad so we need to work on cutting our missed tackle count and fixing the restart nightmare.

Looking further ahead, we should be very positive. This the last WC for Ford, Dickinson, Cowan, Stroker, Laidlaw and Vernon. In their place we will have McInally, Sutherland, Dell, Gilchrist, Toolis, du Preez, Watson, Tonks, Hoyland, Allan, Fagerson, Blake, Harley, Ashe, Dunbar all in contention plus exiles plus guys we don't know about yet

One other point I’d like to say, without coming over too soppy, is how much of a pleasure this world cup has been on here with you lot – there really are some fantastic people on here (even the weegies) who can provide a good mix of humour and detailed rugby discussion  and it is a great place to be as a Scotland fan.

I hope you have all enjoyed your time on here as much as I have – imagine what we would be like if Scotland actually managed to win something??

Typical Edinburgh. Shall we all go and get our nails done together?

RDW_Scotland wrote:One other point I’d like to say, without coming over too soppy, is how much of a pleasure this world cup has been on here with you lot – there really are some fantastic people on here (even the weegies) who can provide a good mix of humour and detailed rugby discussion  and it is a great place to be as a Scotland fan.

I hope you have all enjoyed your time on here as much as I have – imagine what we would be like if Scotland actually managed to win something??

Stop getting in touch with your emotions

Next you will be asking us to quaff our hair a al Denton

Well since BabyfES came about I think it's sadly true to say that I spend more time "talking" to you lot than anyone else (other than possibly Mrs fES).

So I echo RDW's sentiments, obviously in a more manly Clint Eastwood-ish sort of way.

Riskysports wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:One other point I’d like to say, without coming over too soppy, is how much of a pleasure this world cup has been on here with you lot – there really are some fantastic people on here (even the weegies) who can provide a good mix of humour and detailed rugby discussion  and it is a great place to be as a Scotland fan.

I hope you have all enjoyed your time on here as much as I have – imagine what we would be like if Scotland actually managed to win something??

Stop getting in touch with your emotions

Next you will be asking us to quaff our hair a al Denton

Indeed, did enough of that last night

There is nothing wrong with being well groomed!

With hindsight I think Scotland can be very pleased with their World Cup, they had a difficult pool Samoa are always tough. Japan were the surprise team of the World Cup, I thought the USA might be a surprise package as well due to their squad. It's sad they went out the way they did, but that's sport really, Wales had Warburton red carded in the last World Cup due to a referees interpretation at the time.

Lets hope the SRU finally put some thought into player development and utilising some of those talented U20 players, and help bring them through in the next 4 years.

Look at you lot trying to be all manly!

Hiding some deep routed insecurities I reckon

I reckon we'll do some damage this year, if we start with yesterday's team with Dunbar in the centre and Horne on the bench, first time I wished Scotland had gone independent, then we could block Glen Jackson and Craig Joubert from getting Visas.

We say this every year, but we've really got to be looking for a minimum of three wins in the 6N. Both our home matches, and Italy away.

I'd love, love, love to finally beats Wales, but their pack is just so hard to counter.

With Dunbar back in, and some of the deadwood in the squad cut away, I'd say we're in pretty good shape for that tournament. Not as good a shape as we would have been if we'd won yeterday, but hey ho.

Apologies for the Daily Fail link http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-3278298/Scotland-lose-narrowly-Australia-Rugby-World-Cup-quarter-final-Twitter-comes-support-Vern-Cotter-s-men.html#v-4565645182001 but watch the video with Scotland fans post game. Why the hell are all they so mellow???????

Unless something drastic happens in France, them and Italy really should be wins.

England at home and Wales away really is a tough start so as usual it will be difficult to build any momentum. If we can win one of those to make 3 wins I'll be pretty happy.

The next couple of years should be used to phase out the group who won't be at Japan and give Watson, Sam H-C etc experience. We really can't be going into the next WC with most of our team on less than 20 caps.