Scotland 6N lookahead

by **RDW** Mon 19 Oct 2015, 9:28 am

First topic message reminder :

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 Scotland 6N lookahead - Page 7 Bangin11

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 Scotland 6N lookahead - Page 7 2gwb9210

Wales V Scotland

Italy V Scotland

Scotland V France
Ireland V Scotland

by **RDW** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:01 am

funnyExiledScot wrote:Anyway, when are you going to have that darn bridge fixed? It's taking ages.

Nothing to do with me. Although I did work on building the new bridge for a year and a half - I just won’t tell you which part of it!

by funnyExiledScot Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:15 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:Anyway, when are you going to have that darn bridge fixed? It's taking ages.

Nothing to do with me. Although I did work on building the new bridge for a year and a half - I just won’t tell you which part of it!

Oh don't worry, you'll be held responsible if anything goes wrong. You're like a Scott Johnson of the engineering world......

by **George Carlin** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:19 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:Anyway, when are you going to have that darn bridge fixed? It's taking ages.

Nothing to do with me. Although I did work on building the new bridge for a year and a half - I just won’t tell you which part of it!

At the end of your tenure, did you give a huge bag of nuts and bolts to your boss with the line "wow - just look at how many bits we seem to have left over after those repairs"?

by **RDW** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:32 am

George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:Anyway, when are you going to have that darn bridge fixed? It's taking ages.

Nothing to do with me. Although I did work on building the new bridge for a year and a half - I just won’t tell you which part of it!
At the end of your tenure, did you give a huge bag of nuts and bolts to your boss with the line "wow - just look at how many bits we seem to have left over after those repairs"?

Joking aside, in ye olde days (i.e. not that long ago) the metal scrap fund became the drinks money for the Christmas night out – you would regularly find bits of steel missing and not all the reinforcement put in the concrete!

Obviously that hasn’t happened on this project given it was on my watch…

by funnyExiledScot Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:51 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:
George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:Anyway, when are you going to have that darn bridge fixed? It's taking ages.

Nothing to do with me. Although I did work on building the new bridge for a year and a half - I just won’t tell you which part of it!
At the end of your tenure, did you give a huge bag of nuts and bolts to your boss with the line "wow - just look at how many bits we seem to have left over after those repairs"?

Joking aside, in ye olde days (i.e. not that long ago) the metal scrap fund became the drinks money for the Christmas night out – you would regularly find bits of steel missing and not all the reinforcement put in the concrete!

Obviously that hasn’t happened on this project given it was on my watch…

I'm going to hold my breath next time I cross the rail bridge!!

My grandfather and my father-in-law were engineers as it happens. Both "burling in their graves" (to borrow a phrase from the latest addition to the National Portrait Gallery) no doubt to discover that I paid a handyman last week to assemble some Ikea furniture in BabyfES' bedroom.....

by IanBru Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:55 am

I don't know what you're all worrying about, Stewart Hosie says we should stop complaining, as the bridge hasn't fallen down. Well that's me reassured!

That's a bit like telling a patient who's ambulance has just broken down that it's all going to be OK, as the hospital hasn't burned down.

Sometimes, people, sometimes...

by **George Carlin** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:55 am

For 5 minutes, I managed to convince my Lebanese-Canadian wife who had no experience of Ikea that 'Alan Key' was a guy who came round to build your furniture for you.

by **RDW** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 10:56 am

funnyExiledScot wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:
George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:Anyway, when are you going to have that darn bridge fixed? It's taking ages.

Nothing to do with me. Although I did work on building the new bridge for a year and a half - I just won’t tell you which part of it!
At the end of your tenure, did you give a huge bag of nuts and bolts to your boss with the line "wow - just look at how many bits we seem to have left over after those repairs"?

Joking aside, in ye olde days (i.e. not that long ago) the metal scrap fund became the drinks money for the Christmas night out – you would regularly find bits of steel missing and not all the reinforcement put in the concrete!

Obviously that hasn’t happened on this project given it was on my watch…

I'm going to hold my breath next time I cross the rail bridge!!

My grandfather and my father-in-law were engineers as it happens. Both "burling in their graves" (to borrow a phrase from the latest addition to the National Portrait Gallery) no doubt to discover that I paid a handyman last week to assemble some Ikea furniture in BabyfES' bedroom.....

1 – that is shocking. I am very much judging you just now!

2 – the civil engineering profession in the UK very much wishes the term ‘engineer’ was protected like in France. Anyone can call themselves an engineer here, to the point that most people think I fill in holes in the road when I tell them I am a civil engineer. Normally when you see a white van with ‘Bob’s Civil Engineering’ written on the side they are in fact the blokes who dig holes and maybe put a few kerbs in place. That ain't civil engineering.

by **BigGee** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 12:32 pm

Ah the days of christmas drinking funds!

At a hospital I used to work at many years ago, the doctors all used to chuck the fees they got from cremation forms into the xmas drinking fund.

Ever wondered why the medical profession is so keen on cremation?

by **George Carlin** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 12:36 pm

BigGee wrote:Ah the days of christmas drinking funds!

At a hospital I used to work at many years ago, the doctors all used to chuck the fees they got from cremation forms into the xmas drinking fund.

Ever wondered why the medical profession is so keen on cremation?

Apparently the decision to cremate George Best was retrospectively seen as something of a mistake:
Scotland 6N lookahead - Page 7 Explos10

by funnyExiledScot Tue 15 Dec 2015, 2:09 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:
George Carlin wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:
funnyExiledScot wrote:Anyway, when are you going to have that darn bridge fixed? It's taking ages.

Nothing to do with me. Although I did work on building the new bridge for a year and a half - I just won’t tell you which part of it!
At the end of your tenure, did you give a huge bag of nuts and bolts to your boss with the line "wow - just look at how many bits we seem to have left over after those repairs"?

Joking aside, in ye olde days (i.e. not that long ago) the metal scrap fund became the drinks money for the Christmas night out – you would regularly find bits of steel missing and not all the reinforcement put in the concrete!

Obviously that hasn’t happened on this project given it was on my watch…

I'm going to hold my breath next time I cross the rail bridge!!

My grandfather and my father-in-law were engineers as it happens. Both "burling in their graves" (to borrow a phrase from the latest addition to the National Portrait Gallery) no doubt to discover that I paid a handyman last week to assemble some Ikea furniture in BabyfES' bedroom.....

1 – that is shocking. I am very much judging you just now!

2 – the civil engineering profession in the UK very much wishes the term ‘engineer’ was protected like in France. Anyone can call themselves an engineer here, to the point that most people think I fill in holes in the road when I tell them I am a civil engineer. Normally when you see a white van with ‘Bob’s Civil Engineering’ written on the side they are in fact the blokes who dig holes and maybe put a few kerbs in place. That ain't civil engineering.

1. I see it as my role is society to ensure that the working class are suitably employed. Paying someone to deal with my Ikea furniture is exactly what Cameron had in mind when talking about a "Big Society"...I think.

2. Woah there. First of all I'll have you know my grandfather and father-in-law were proper engineers. In fact my grandfather was one of the pioneering engineers responsible for the stain on our landscape called wind farms. Wonderful legacy. Secondly, I don't think engineers can complain to lawyers about career mislabelling. Friends and family often ask me silly criminal law questions, or whether they can claim damages because someone flipped them the bird whilst driving, or whether I actually sit in hospital waiting rooms asking people how they got injured. Of course I like to point out that I'm a proper lawyer, above all that filthy retail end stuff, and that I only deal with faceless financial corporations whose only real crime is to exploit people for profit and bring down the global economy.

Anyway, get back to your digging, as ASBO needs to paint some lines later this afternoon.....

by GLove39 Tue 15 Dec 2015, 3:15 pm

Good omen klaxon!

Borthwick's been named as England's forwards coach. And England have never won at Murrayfield when he's be involved. Those melted rupees are as good as ours Braveheart

by **RDW** Tue 15 Dec 2015, 3:17 pm

GLove39 wrote:Good omen klaxon!

Borthwick's been named as England's forwards coach. And England have never won at Murrayfield when he's be involved. Those melted rupees are as good as ours

by funnyExiledScot Tue 15 Dec 2015, 4:49 pm

Ahh, the glory days of Borthwick's England. A lock that made Al Kellock look "towering".

by **BigGee** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 10:23 am

well all the assistant coaches, Taylor and Humphries, as of today, are now signed up until 2017 alongside VC.

I guess that shows that he is happy with their contributions and he continuity can only be a good thing. It is hard not to see that they will all see out this next WC cycle unless they have a few major hiccups along the way.

It will be good to see what the new boy O'Hallrohan brings to the party as well.

I know Humphries in particular took a while to get on top of things, but that may have been more about the tools he was trying to work with. Now he has got some decent options, our pack looks a decent weapon again.

I am happy enough with this team taking us forward.

by **RDW** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 10:28 am

And I’m pleased to see we’ve gone for reasonable length contracts unlike England, who signed up Lancaster’s entire coaching time for 4 years last season – look how that turned out! Won't have come cheap to get rid of them.

Genuine question – what do all these assistant coaches do when not involved with Scotland?? I know Matt Taylor is with Glasgow but there’s a lot of coaches there who are only directly involved over a limited part of the season.

by **BigGee** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 11:16 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:And I’m pleased to see we’ve gone for reasonable length contracts unlike England, who signed up Lancaster’s entire coaching time for 4 years last season – look how that turned out! Won't have come cheap to get rid of them.

Genuine question – what do all these assistant coaches do when not involved with Scotland?? I know Matt Taylor is with Glasgow but there’s a lot of coaches there who are only directly involved over a limited part of the season.

It said in the article that Humphries is doing a lot of work with the acadamies, which I guess is a good use of his time. I would hope the others are doing something similar. As you say, there are a lot of weeks of the year when there are no internationals going on!

by RuggerRadge2611 Wed 16 Dec 2015, 12:43 pm

I would really like to see Taylor, Jackson and Visser involved in our 6N squad.

by **BigGee** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 12:54 pm

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:I would really like to see Taylor, Jackson and Visser involved in our 6N squad.

I think they may well all be.

For me Jackson would bench ahead of Weir and on form you would have to say that Visser is ahead of Maitland. His defence is still a little bit of a worry though for international rugby, which might still swing it. Maitland never really does anything wrong when he plays. Visser might win you the game but he could lose you it as well. You don't get the feeling that VC is a gambler!

Duncan Taylor definitely deserves a place in the greater squad, probably ahead of RV. Hard to see him getting a game ahead of Dunbar and Bennett though. I would currently put him on a par with Matt Scott.

Horne may still keep his place on the bench due to his versatility and may jump over Jacko for that reason.

What is certain though is that we do have some options this time around, unlike plenty other years. There will likely be some injuries but some good players are still likely to miss out.

by funnyExiledScot Wed 16 Dec 2015, 1:31 pm

BigGee wrote:
RuggerRadge2611 wrote:I would really like to see Taylor, Jackson and Visser involved in our 6N squad.

I think they may well all be.

For me Jackson would bench ahead of Weir and on form you would have to say that Visser is ahead of Maitland. His defence is still a little bit of a worry though for international rugby, which might still swing it. Maitland never really does anything wrong when he plays. Visser might win you the game but he could lose you it as well. You don't get the feeling that VC is a gambler!

Duncan Taylor definitely deserves a place in the greater squad, probably ahead of RV. Hard to see him getting a game ahead of Dunbar and Bennett though. I would currently put him on a par with Matt Scott.

Horne may still keep his place on the bench due to his versatility and may jump over Jacko for that reason.

What is certain though is that we do have some options this time around, unlike plenty other years. There will likely be some injuries but some good players are still likely to miss out.

Agree with all of this. Duncan Taylor should certainly be involved. He's been impressive this season.

by **RDW** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 1:34 pm

On current form Visser is the clear winner out of all the options - shows what happens when he plays in a team that gives him the ball.

by RuggerRadge2611 Wed 16 Dec 2015, 2:14 pm

Yeah Visser's stock has risen sharply at Quinns.

After a disastrous start Dozer had a good game at the weekend, certainly in defense. 13 tackles missing none.

by funnyExiledScot Wed 16 Dec 2015, 2:25 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:On current form Visser is the clear winner out of all the options - shows what happens when he plays in a team that gives him the ball.

True. With Matt Hopper and Nick Evans inside at centre and fly half respectively he has two very canny playmakers to run off, plus he has Mike Brown to shout at him when he misses tackles.

by IanBru Wed 16 Dec 2015, 2:27 pm

BigGee wrote:What is certain though is that we do have some options this time around, unlike plenty other years. There will likely be some injuries but some good players are still likely to miss out.

Andy Henderson...

Rob Dewey...

Simon Webster (at centre)...

Nick. De. Lucaaaaaaaaargh mad

by funnyExiledScot Wed 16 Dec 2015, 2:44 pm

IanBru wrote:
BigGee wrote:What is certain though is that we do have some options this time around, unlike plenty other years. There will likely be some injuries but some good players are still likely to miss out.

Andy Henderson...

Rob Dewey...

Simon Webster (at centre)...

Nick. De. Lucaaaaaaaaargh

Also James McLaren, Andy Craig, Hugo Southwell (at centre), Brendan Laney, Ben Hinshelwood, Ronnie Erikkson, Marcus Di Rollo and Graeme Morrison.

Sadly during the wildnerness years we lost a couple decent centres to injury, notably Jamie Mayer, Tom Phillip and even John Leslie had to retire earlier that we'd have liked.

by IanBru Wed 16 Dec 2015, 3:10 pm

Joe Ansbro had it in him to be a really good centre/wing. Such a shame for the man.

by funnyExiledScot Wed 16 Dec 2015, 3:11 pm

IanBru wrote:Joe Ansbro had it in him to be a really good centre/wing. Such a shame for the man.

Good catch. Had real potential to become a very decent 13.

I should have also added Alan Bulloch to the "not so good" list....

by **RDW** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 3:17 pm

Who the feck is Ronnie Erikkson?

by IanBru Wed 16 Dec 2015, 3:41 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Who the feck is Ronnie Erikkson?

Didn't he drive for Skoda in the WRC? I'm pretty sure he was famous for t-boning a giraffe in a rally in Kenya.

by **BigGee** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 3:56 pm

There is a slightly worrying consensus on the forum at the moment about what our best squad should be.

Even the coaches seem to agree with us!

What is going on?

by RuggerRadge2611 Wed 16 Dec 2015, 4:19 pm

BigGee wrote:There is a slightly worrying consensus on the forum at the moment about what our best squad should be.

Even the coaches seem to agree with us!

What is going on?

I suppose the fact we have good players is one thing.

The Edinburgh front row.

A Gray Boiler room.

Any backrow combination of Strauss, Denton, Hardie, Cowan, Watson and Ashe would be acceptable.

Laidlaw playing well at Glaws and having a great world cup.

Russel in possession at 10 with Jackson snapping at his heels.

Scott, Dunbar, Bennett, Horne and Taylor all very capable in the middle.

A back three picking from Visser, Hogg, Maitland, Seymore again all reasonably acceptable.

We actually have a pretty good 1st XXIII when you factor in guys like Gilchrist, Fraz Brown, Welsh, Reid, SHC/Pyrgos into the mix

by **George Carlin** Wed 16 Dec 2015, 5:43 pm

IanBru wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Who the feck is Ronnie Erikkson?
Didn't he drive for Skoda in the WRC? I'm pretty sure he was famous for t-boning a giraffe in a rally in Kenya.

"T-boning a giraffe".

Surely that's Tyneside slang for something sinister and/or unsanitary?

by funnyExiledScot Wed 16 Dec 2015, 9:30 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Who the feck is Ronnie Erikkson?

A very average centre who was capped a couple of times in the 90s for Scotland.

My Mastermind specialist subject would be random Scottish rugby players with 5 caps or less.

by takethelongroad Wed 16 Dec 2015, 11:20 pm

Who was also about 18 stone as I recall.

by **George Carlin** Thu 17 Dec 2015, 8:20 am

funnyExiledScot wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Who the feck is Ronnie Erikkson?

A very average centre who was capped a couple of times in the 90s for Scotland.

My Mastermind specialist subject would be random Scottish rugby players with 5 caps or less.

An Irishman from County Westmeath called Bo Ronald Sheehan Eriksson who played only for London Scottish.

You couldn't make that sh!t up.

by IanBru Thu 17 Dec 2015, 12:59 pm

by IanBru Thu 17 Dec 2015, 2:20 pm

by funnyExiledScot Thu 17 Dec 2015, 4:22 pm

Ronnie Erikkson actually scored a try against England in the 1997 Calcutta Cup, and that was against the England dream team of Carling and De Glanville. That was also the game when a certain Richard Hill made his debut. Handy player that.

Here are the teams for some nostalgia (meaty England pack!):

ENGLAND: T Stimpson (Newcastle); J Sleightholme (Bath), W Carling (Harlequins), P de Glanville (Bath, capt), T Underwood (Newcastle); P Grayson (Northampton), A Gomarsall (Wasps); G Rowntree (Leicester), M Regan (Bristol), J Leonard (Harlequins), M Johnson (Leicester), S Shaw (Bristol), L Dallaglio (Wasps), T Rodber (Northampton), R Hill (Saracens).

SCOTLAND: R Shepherd (Melrose); D Stark (Melrose), A Stanger (Hawick), R Eriksson (London Scottish), K Logan (Stirling County); G Townsend (Northampton), B Redpath (Melrose); T Smith (Watsonians), G Ellis (Currie), M Stewart (Northampton), G Weir (Newcastle), A Reed (Wasps), P Walton (Newcastle), R Wainwright (Watsonians, capt), I Smith (Gloucester).

Pretty ropey Scotland team. Two good backs (Redpath and Townsend) and three useful forwards (Smith, Weir and Walton). The rest are cannon fodder. Never rated Wainwright.

by BamBam Thu 17 Dec 2015, 4:25 pm

Other than Rodber, that whole England pack were around the England squad in 2003, pretty good going!

by **RDW** Thu 17 Dec 2015, 4:27 pm

I have genuinely never heard of this Eriksson bloke – I thought you were taking the pish at first!

And I recognise every other name on that teamsheet.

Who was this guy??

by funnyExiledScot Thu 17 Dec 2015, 4:35 pm

From memory he was called up to cover an injury to Scott Hastings (who by then was old and well past his best) and I'm not even convinced he played again. Townsend was swtiched to 12 later in the tournament to accommodate Chalmers, and Stanger (a terrible centre) was ultimately culled for the more useful Alan Tait.

by funnyExiledScot Thu 17 Dec 2015, 4:44 pm

Just Googled him: 3 caps for Scotland. Ex-Merchiston Castle. London Scottish player. Average.

by jimbopip Fri 18 Dec 2015, 11:11 am

takethelongroad wrote:Who was also about 18 stone as I recall.

I recall two things about Ronnie Ericson in that match;

firstly, he had a Josh Strauss Bluto beard when no other rugby player in the northern hemisphere sported facial hair, this made him look like a club player who had wandered onto the pitch by mistake,

secondly, the most metres he gained with ball in hand during the game (and probably his entire Scotland career) came when he made a twenty yard line break running backwards. It's true, you couldn't make it up.

Ronnie Ericson...what's not to love?

by GLove39 Fri 18 Dec 2015, 3:05 pm

IanBru wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:Who the feck is Ronnie Erikkson?
Didn't he drive for Skoda in the WRC? I'm pretty sure he was famous for t-boning a giraffe in a rally in Kenya.

Nah, pretty sure he drives a Citroen Picasso.

Whoops, wrong Ronnie... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0dcv6GKNNw

by **RDW** Tue 22 Dec 2015, 7:51 am

Looks like Richie Gray (the other one) won't be coaching in Scotland any time soon

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/35145575

by funnyExiledScot Tue 22 Dec 2015, 8:48 am

His family are still back in Scotland. Surely we could find a job for this guy in Scottish rugby?? I'd have him at Edinburgh in a heartbeat.....he's used to working with South Africans.....

by **RDW** Tue 22 Dec 2015, 8:53 am

I suspect he'll be setting his sights higher than Edinburgh and Glasgow.

And he says it himself - Scotland are currently well stocked with coaches!

I'd recommend doing the tutorial first - much easier to spend a bit of time doing that than trying to find everything yourself.

by funnyExiledScot Tue 22 Dec 2015, 10:04 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:I suspect he'll be setting his sights higher than Edinburgh and Glasgow.

And he says it himself - Scotland are currently well stocked with coaches!

I'd recommend doing the tutorial first - much easier to spend a bit of time doing that than trying to find everything yourself.

Ummm, not sure what you could be referring to.

by funnyExiledScot Tue 22 Dec 2015, 10:05 am

RDW_Scotland wrote:I suspect he'll be setting his sights higher than Edinburgh and Glasgow.

And he says it himself - Scotland are currently well stocked with coaches!

I'd recommend doing the tutorial first - much easier to spend a bit of time doing that than trying to find everything yourself.

I think this was supposed to be on a work email re: fixing the bridge.

by **RDW** Tue 22 Dec 2015, 10:06 am

Woops - that was meant to be on the Rugby Team Manager game thread!

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