6N 2016: Scotland v England, 6 February

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SCOTLAND v ENGLAND
6 February 2016
KO: 16:50 GMT
Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Live on BBC, RTE, FR2, DMAX / ITV(H)

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
Touch judges: [tbc]
Television match official: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

133 Played 133
42 Won 73
18 Drawn 18
73 Lost 42
1,132 Points 1,547

B. Recent Form

14 March 2015
Twickenham, London
25 – 13 to England

8 February 2014
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
0 – 20 to England

2 February 2013
Twickenham, London
38 – 18 to England

4 February 2012
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
6 – 13 to England

1 October 2011
Eden Park, Auckland
16 – 12 to England

C. Teams

SCOTLAND

15. Stuart Hogg
14. Sean Maitland
13. Mark Bennett
12. Matt Scott
11. Tommy Seymour
10. Finn Russell
09. Greig Laidlaw (captain)

01. Alasdair Dickinson
02. Ross Ford
03. Willem Nel
04. Richie Gray
05. Jonny Gray
06. John Barclay
07. John Hardie
08. David Denton

16. Stuart McInally
17. Gordon Reid
18. Zander Fagerson
19. Tim Swinson
20. Blair Cowan
21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne
22. Duncan Weir
23. Duncan Taylor

ENGLAND

15. Mike Brown
14. Anthony Watson
13. Jonathan Joseph
12. Owen Farrell
11. Jack Nowell
10. George Ford
09. Danny Care

01. Joe Marler
02. Dylan Hartley
03. Dan Cole
04. Joe Launchbury
05. George Kruis
06. Chris Robshaw
07. James Haskell
08. Billy Vunipola

16. Jamie George
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Paul Hill
19. Courtney Lawes
20. Jack Clifford
21. Ben Youngs
22. Alex Goode
23. Ollie Devoto

BamBam wrote:Its most disconcerting when opposition fans are all in agreement that their coach has picked the best team!

We have been bickering about selection for the last 10 years Bam, I think the only debatable call is Taylor/Bennett.

I agree with the rest. Although you should take it into context mate. Our player pool is so woefully shallow our best XV pretty much picks itself

If it really is Barclay at 6 with Hardie at 7, then that is going to be very interesting to watch indeed. Barclay will concede fewer penalties than Cowan but official stats have Barclay at approximately a stone lighter than Cowan. Thankfully the tight five are not small men.

I hope this also means that it will be Strauss at 20 because we'll need him if we're getting overpowered. Surely in the name of Oprah we will not see Tiny Tim on the bench? That would really upset me.

Rob Robertson has also confirmed that team on twitter and he is normally spot on.

That's the starting XV I would have picked, very strong forward pack and an exciting back division. Back row looks very good and a good balance. Denton has been quoted as saying that his main role will be carrying the ball which he is very good at. I would suspect though that is a bit of gamesmanship and we will see Hardie carrying a lot too. Even though he is smaller than the likes of Denton he is very powerful in the ball carry and has done a good job for Edinburgh taking it into contact.

George Carlin wrote:If it really is Barclay at 6 with Hardie at 7, then that is going to be very interesting to watch indeed. Barclay will concede fewer penalties than Cowan but official stats have Barclay at approximately a stone lighter than Cowan. Thankfully the tight five are not small men.

I hope this also means that it will be Strauss at 20 because we'll need him if we're getting overpowered. Surely in the name of Oprah we will not see Tiny Tim on the bench? That would really upset me.

Spotted this as well but I'm guessing Barclays haven't been updated recently, certainly looks bigger and more powerful than he used to be and is certainly a far stronger ball carrier than he ever has been.

I really like the look of that team, albeit I would have started Taylor and have Toolis and Strauss on the bench.

The backrow in particular is an area I am really optimistic about. Others may have reservations about Barclay at six, but he is not the same out and out 7 that he used to be. He often plays at 8 for the Scarlets and whenever I have seen him this season and last, his carrying and grunt work is much more prevalent in his game. I don’t think there is much difference in power between Cowan and Barclay but there is no doubt in my mind that Barclay is the superior footballer and we gain a lot with him on the field.

England team as expected:

England match-day 23 to face Scotland

15. Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins, 43 caps)

14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (vice captain, Saracens, 35 caps)
11. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 17 caps)
9. Danny Care (Harlequins, 53 caps)

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 37 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints, 66 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 56 caps)
4. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 28 caps)
5. George Kruis (Saracens, 10 caps)
6. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 43 caps)
7. James Haskell (Wasps, 62 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (vice captain, Saracens, 21 caps)



Replacements

16. Jamie George (Saracens, 3 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 27 caps)
18. Paul Hill (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
19. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 42 caps)
20. Jack Clifford (Harlequins, uncapped)
21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
22. Alex Goode (Saracens, 19 caps)
23. Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby, uncapped)

Billy Vunipola is vice captain? Thats an interesting one

Oh, just seen that he's named three vice captains - Billy, Brown, Farrell

Hartley, Brown and Farrell in the leadership team says a lot about the type of side he wants

George Carlin wrote:If it really is Barclay at 6 with Hardie at 7, then that is going to be very interesting to watch indeed. Barclay will concede fewer penalties than Cowan but official stats have Barclay at approximately a stone lighter than Cowan. Thankfully the tight five are not small men.

I hope this also means that it will be Strauss at 20 because we'll need him if we're getting overpowered. Surely in the name of Oprah we will not see Tiny Tim on the bench? That would really upset me.

With Barclay being one of the best (if not the best) players at the Scarlets, I'd say his size probably isn't much of an issue......I don't remember it being an issue previously.

Strong team, exciting bench bar Goode. Can't wait.

LondonTiger wrote:England team as expected:

England match-day 23 to face Scotland

15. Mike Brown (vice captain, Harlequins, 43 caps)

14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 15 caps)
13. Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby, 16 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (vice captain, Saracens, 35 caps)
11. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
10. George Ford (Bath Rugby, 17 caps)
9. Danny Care (Harlequins, 53 caps)

1. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 37 caps)
2. Dylan Hartley (captain, Northampton Saints, 66 caps)
3. Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 56 caps)
4. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 28 caps)
5. George Kruis (Saracens, 10 caps)
6. Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 43 caps)
7. James Haskell (Wasps, 62 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (vice captain, Saracens, 21 caps)



Replacements

16. Jamie George (Saracens, 3 caps)
17. Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 27 caps)
18. Paul Hill (Northampton Saints, uncapped)
19. Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 42 caps)
20. Jack Clifford (Harlequins, uncapped)
21. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 52 caps)
22. Alex Goode (Saracens, 19 caps)
23. Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby, uncapped)

Strong team LT.

So both teams up now. Brains versus brawn?

Maybe in the packs but that's an attacking set of backs from England.

EXCITED!

beshocked wrote:

This makes my day

Eddie Jones also complimented the work done by predecessor Stuart Lancaster, who left after the abject World Cup campaign.

“We are indebted to the work Stuart Lancaster has done over the last four years," he said. "I have inherited a talented and highly motivated group of players.

“The boys have worked hard since coming into camp to understand how I want the team to play going forward. We have prepared well and I am pleased with the progress the group has made in the short time we’ve had together."

This is a much more experienced team than that first named by Lancaster for this same game 4 years ago. For all the failings in Lancaster's tenure post France match in last years 6 nations he has left the squad in a much healthier place than he inherited.

So one captain who has been banned for a full year and two vice captains for whom the odd act of petulance is not completely out of character...

Prefer Taylor to start and for Toolis to be the bench option for 2nd row. Shame about Welsh and Fagerson is in for a test against Vunipola. Otherwise I am fairly content.

Please be Jackson as 22 and Taylor at 23. Jackson can cover 10 and 15. He is also playing better than Weir.

Does that English back row worry Scottish fans ?

Who are they likely to be facing ?

munkian wrote:Does that English back row worry Scottish fans ?

Who are they likely to be facing ?

The entire pack is incredibly physical and confrontational - it is going to be a titanic clash.

We are more mobile in the forwards though I would say so I hope we up the tempo - we saw how badly England coped when Australia did that (not that we have the same skillset as Australia!).

munkian wrote:Does that English back row worry Scottish fans ?

Who are they likely to be facing ?

It doesn't worry me in the sense that it's what was expected - big, powerful and defensively strong.

However, despite Robshaw being generally underrated in this area, it does nothing considerable to negate Scotland's strengths at the breakdown and if Barclay and Hardie really are on the pitch at the same time, then we're going to turn the tackle area into an absolute mess for England. We could obviously simply be outmuscled though - especially later in the match as the England forwards bench is very useful. If Vern Cotter chooses Ben Toolis and Josh Strauss as our replacement forwards, then that is as good a set of forwards as Cotter could have chosen (and as good as Scotland has had in at least 5 years to be honest).

Cheers lads - good viewpoints.

Will Barclay be playing ?

munkian wrote:Cheers lads - good viewpoints.

Will Barclay be playing ?

Looks like it, the more reliable leaks seem to have him starting at 6, the official announcement is at half 12.

So England have replaced a non-7 with a, non-7? Besides that it looks like a good team. An interesting one too.

Whilst Scotland have two ?

That'll work well.

The official announcement has said his position is half 12 ? - why not just say 6

geoff999rugby wrote:The official announcement has said his position is half 12 ? - why not just say 6  

munkian wrote:Whilst Scotland have two ?

That'll work well.

Sounds like they're copying Wales , who had copied Australia...

I think we have gone out and put the best players (mainly) on the pitch, thats all we can do. My worry is that England come out with the intensity and physicality that SA displayed during our match at the WC. We were absolutely blown away that day and we really didn't have any asnwer to that level of power.

yappysnap wrote:

beshocked wrote:

This makes my day

Good at least someone is happy with the selection.

mikey_dragon wrote:

munkian wrote:Whilst Scotland have two ?

That'll work well.

Sounds like they're copying Wales , who had copied Australia...

Hey, we did it in 2013

I hope Barclay plays. He's had far fewer caps than his form deserves and he's a player I love to watch. As an England fan, a backrow combining Hardie and Barclay is pretty ominous.

Problem with opensides is that in some games they can be decisive but in others irrelevant.

bluestonevedder wrote:I hope Barclay plays. He's had far fewer caps than his form deserves and he's a player I love to watch. As an England fan, a backrow combining Hardie and Barclay is pretty ominous.

He's always good for the Turks.

What happened to Eddie Jones not playing 6.5s anymore ?

Barclay has been playing well for a long time. Him and Hardie in the back-row looks very good, on paper... I'm sure they'll go well on the pitch too. This is the first time in years I've looked forward to watching a Scot vs Eng match.

George Carlin wrote:So one captain who has been banned for a full year and two vice captains for whom the odd act of petulance is not completely out of character...

I see the game going a bit like this...

and repeat

England fans seem to be really happy at their lock selections, but when I looked at the team sheet I didn't see a lock of AWJ's calibre. Then again, there probably isn't anyone in the NH who is the same league as Jones.

The sole surviving killer b...

To think 6 years ago we thought it'd be brown beattie barclay.

Very happy with this backrow, I hope it pays off like Cowan hardie did, the nice thing is that Denton and barclay can swap if need be

munkian wrote:

bluestonevedder wrote:I hope Barclay plays. He's had far fewer caps than his form deserves and he's a player I love to watch. As an England fan, a backrow combining Hardie and Barclay is pretty ominous.

He's always good for the Turks.

What happened to Eddie Jones not playing 6.5s anymore ?

Well, I think Robshaw is now a proper 6 in that he's not being shoe-horned into a 7 shirt.

As for Haskell....who really knows what the hell he is? And I'm not just talking about position-wise.

bluestonevedder wrote:

munkian wrote:

bluestonevedder wrote:I hope Barclay plays. He's had far fewer caps than his form deserves and he's a player I love to watch. As an England fan, a backrow combining Hardie and Barclay is pretty ominous.

He's always good for the Turks.

What happened to Eddie Jones not playing 6.5s anymore ?

Well, I think Robshaw is now a proper 6 in that he's not being shoe-horned into a 7 shirt.

As for Haskell....who really knows what the hell he is? And I'm not just talking about position-wise.

He may wear a 7 on his back but he plays nothing like a traditional 7 who's great at the breakdown and a good link man for the backs. He could get properly schooled by Hardie this weekend.

mikey_dragon wrote:England fans seem to be really happy at their lock selections, but when I looked at the team sheet I didn't see a lock of AWJ's calibre. Then again, there probably isn't anyone in the NH who is the same league as Jones.

Sit back and enjoy watching Launchbury and J Gray. Both easily in Jones' league.

From an English point of view it is sometimes surprising how quickly things can change. Clifford, Devoto and Hill wouldn't have been seen as anything but distant potential this time last year. I mean if you were to back to just before the last Six Nations and ask England fans if they though those three players (Hill in particular) would be anywhere near the match day squad within a year, I doubt many would have predicted it.

No 7&1/2 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:England fans seem to be really happy at their lock selections, but when I looked at the team sheet I didn't see a lock of AWJ's calibre. Then again, there probably isn't anyone in the NH who is the same league as Jones.

Sit back and enjoy watching Launchbury and J Gray. Both easily in Jones' league.

You don't mean the blonde one ?

Perusing the BBC stories even as a Scot I'm staggered at Johnny Gray's tackling record from the 6N last year 84 tackles completed and only one missed. ONE! Incredible.

Although on the same article some of the comments are quite amusing. Present company in this thread aside it seems a lot of "casual rugby fans" that's the ones who don't know rugby exists outside of the RWC or the 6N seem to think that the only way Scotland can win is if it is in a perpetual deluge playing on a pitch the resembles the Somme.

The last time conditions were like that was only 2 years ago and England nilled us...

The days where Scotland prayed for rain are long gone.

munkian wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:England fans seem to be really happy at their lock selections, but when I looked at the team sheet I didn't see a lock of AWJ's calibre. Then again, there probably isn't anyone in the NH who is the same league as Jones.

Sit back and enjoy watching Launchbury and J Gray. Both easily in Jones' league.

You don't mean the blonde one ?

I'd say Johnny is a far superior player to Richie, and Richie is a great player too.

mikey_dragon wrote:England fans seem to be really happy at their lock selections, but when I looked at the team sheet I didn't see a lock of AWJ's calibre. Then again, there probably isn't anyone in the NH who is the same league as Jones.

Take your pish elsewhere.....it's not welcome here.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

munkian wrote:

No 7&1/2 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:England fans seem to be really happy at their lock selections, but when I looked at the team sheet I didn't see a lock of AWJ's calibre. Then again, there probably isn't anyone in the NH who is the same league as Jones.

Sit back and enjoy watching Launchbury and J Gray. Both easily in Jones' league.

You don't mean the blonde one ?

I'd say Johnny is a far superior player to Richie, and Richie is a great player too.

Snap - Johnny is streets ahead - I've never really rated Richie and he's not done much to convince me otherwise.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Perusing the BBC stories even as a Scot I'm staggered at Johnny Gray's tackling record from the 6N last year 84 tackles completed and only one missed. ONE! Incredible.

Although on the same article some of the comments are quite amusing. Present company in this thread aside it seems a lot of "casual rugby fans" that's the ones who don't know rugby exists outside of the RWC or the 6N seem to think that the only way Scotland can win is if it is in a perpetual deluge playing on a pitch the resembles the Somme.

The last time conditions were like that was only 2 years ago and England nilled us...

The days where Scotland prayed for rain are long gone.

Great numbers. The Chris Paterson of tackling....

lostinwales wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Perusing the BBC stories even as a Scot I'm staggered at Johnny Gray's tackling record from the 6N last year 84 tackles completed and only one missed. ONE! Incredible.

Although on the same article some of the comments are quite amusing. Present company in this thread aside it seems a lot of "casual rugby fans" that's the ones who don't know rugby exists outside of the RWC or the 6N seem to think that the only way Scotland can win is if it is in a perpetual deluge playing on a pitch the resembles the Somme.

The last time conditions were like that was only 2 years ago and England nilled us...

The days where Scotland prayed for rain are long gone.

Great numbers. The Chris Paterson of tackling....

To be fair, Paterson was a great tackler too for a man of his size.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVxEivORLwc

Especially when you compare him to Tim Visser, 6ft 5 the best part of 17 stone who tackles like a wet tissue paper.

mikey_dragon wrote:England fans seem to be really happy at their lock selections, but when I looked at the team sheet I didn't see a lock of AWJ's calibre. Then again, there probably isn't anyone in the NH who is the same league as Jones.

Most over-rated lock in the NH.

Lions locks will be J Launchbury & J Gray.  AWJ might make the bench but probably behind Henderson too.