Glasgow & Edinburgh: Pre-Season Friendlies

Keen to know which sides all other teams are playing over the next few weeks before the season starts in earnest, so please post your side's fixtures and I'll add them to the OP.

GLASGOW:

            
Harlequins v Glasgow Warriors
The Stoop, Twickenham
Saturday 20 August
KO: 16:00

                        
Gloucester Rugby v Glasgow Warriors
Kingsholm, Gloucester
Friday 26 August
KO: 19:45

EDINBURGH:

            
Sale Sharks v Edinburgh Rugby
Heywood Road, Sale
Friday 19 August
KO: 19:00

                       
Edinburgh Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
BT Murrayfield, Jessieland
Friday 26 August
KO: 19:45

Newport Gwent Dragons v Cardiff Blues is our first real game. It's a beneficiary for our skipper Lewis Evans and fantastic servant Ashley Smith. Kick off Friday 12th at 19:30 down at Rodney Parade.

The rest are

Sat 20 Aug kick off 15:30 at Ystrad Mynach

NGD v Ealing Trailfinders

Friday 26 Aug kick off 19:30 at Dave Parade

NGD v Exeter Chiefs (no offence meant)

Leicester are away at Ospreys Friday 12th Aug, kick off 7.15pm and playing them again at home on the 26th at 7.45pm.

In between those 2 games Tigers are playing Treviso away on the 19th at 8.20pm, streamed live here.

There's also a game against Nottingham earlier on the 26th at the training ground.

Nobody seems that bothered, so I'm going to steal the thread back for the jocks.

Looking forward to the season starting. Is anyone going to make it to the Stoop or Kingsholm to watch the soapdodger games?

How much are the tickets at the Mausoleum for the Falcons game?

I am planning to make the Stoop. Tickets are reasonable (£25 for best seats, £10 for the 22). It will be interesting to see who plays at 10. I assume Clegg will start and maybe get a glimpse of Schulte. Hopefully Vernon and the Namibian get some time on the pitch as well.

Depending on health, would like something along the lines of:
1) Allan/Djustice
2) Malcolm
3) Rae/Fagerson
4) Cummings/Peterson
5) Uanivi
6) Harley
7) Fusaro
8) Ashe
9) Price
10) Clegg/Horne
11) Jones
12) Johnson
13) Vernon
14) Junior
15) Murchie

Well I am going to both games and looking forward to it, especially going to Kingsholme, a famous citadel of rugby, that I have never previously been to.

Both games are great match ups, aided by the fact that there is plenty Scottish interest in the opposition as well.

The Olympic sevens has definitely whetted my appetite to get the season going again.

I love the Stoop - excellent craic from the fans too. I got into a conversation with an elderly potty mouthed Quins fan once. She maintained that if she was 30 years younger she would have found a way to get into Nev's pants. I asked her how that would have worked. She replied that wearing short skirts and challenging men to drinking contests worked well for her in the 60s.

Gentlemen, I will be unavailable for selection at The Stoop as I am flying back that day. However Flaws sounds good. Gee, if you are thinking of driving up and back pm me. Young Pipetto wants to go so I will be driving up with space in the charlatan.

Damn spell check. Rendered my prose almost unintelligible. Glaws not flaws and charabanc not charlatan.

jimbopip wrote:Damn  spell check. Rendered my prose almost unintelligible. Glaws not flaws and charabanc not charlatan.

Greig Laidlaw has that tattooed on his tiny hobbit arm.

George Carlin wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Damn  spell check. Rendered my prose almost unintelligible. Glaws not flaws and charabanc not charlatan.

Greig Laidlaw has that tattooed on his tiny hobbit arm.

Actually it says "Glaws no" - they ran out of space.

When can we expect the teams to be released for the first two friendlies?

The day before, I guess? And are we allowing something like 10 subs as usual?

Yes, yes.

I'm assuming.

Glasgow have just announced a fixture at Stirling Z County against Canada A on 30 August!

Could be a good test, right up until kickoff when the full national team take the field. After a quizzical look from Mr Townsend, the Canadian coach will inevitably reply, "No, no, no, we said you're playing "Canada, eh?" I'm awfully soarry aboot that."

I can't see Glasgow putting out much of a team for that one bearing in mind it is 4 days after playing Glaws and 3 before the season kicks off.

This will be one for the kids and the also rans with probably a few club players given the chance to show what they can do. No Canadian player who has a pro contract is going to be released either, though it does say in the blurb that several of the players will have caps. It will be the home-grown Canucks though.

No teams yet? Am very, very bored.

Right, this is the XV I'd select from that elite bunch:

1.Beavon 2.McInally 3.Berghan 4.McKenzie 5.Gilchrist 6.Fihaki 7.Watson 8.Bradbury 9.Fowles 10.Weir 11.Helu 12.Burleigh 13.Rasolea 14.Scholes 15.Bryce

Do I hear the words "world class" being whispered......?

Beavon is a tighthead...

Cosgrove/McCallum into loosehead and SHC to 9. Only changes I would definitely make. Need to rebuild SHC's form and he will have had a summer off to recover.

I would be tempted to put Rasolea at 12 and Bryce at 13 to have Kinghorn at 15. Bryce looked good at 13 and would like Kinghorn getting game time often as well. Only reason not to start him is to have him cover 10 from the bench.

Morning gentlefolk. I am back in sunny Essex and raring for the season to start. Our, largely, third XV did very well against Harleyqueens and could have come away with a win. I think we'll see lots of changes for Glaws;

Front Row: The Pukekohe Kid must be up to speed, fitness wise, by now- Corey Flynn and Fraser Brown to share Hooking duties- Puafisi
Second Row: The Captain(part1) and Oscar Peterson to start
Back Row: Bluto,Batman and Ashe.
9: The Other Captain/ The Fijian Captain
10: A crisis already!!! Dancer won't be playing for a few weeks yet; Clegg showed nothing that would mark him out as an improvement on Meatball (if anything his kicking was less effective) and the child prodigy makes Mark Bennett look like a grizzled old veteran. The Tombola may well stick with Clegg in order to give him a chance to find some form.
Centres: Furra Linee at 12- Vernon at 13 with Johnson and the Silver Medallist coming on. "Dunbar injured again" could be a recurring headline from now on.
Wings: Likely to start with Seymour and Schlong, I'd like to see Paddy Kelly and Junior B come off the bench.
Full Back: Hoggy/ Murchie

Before anyone tells me I've got 47 replacements...I don't care.
I think the pack, as a whole squad, is looking good. Uannivi (sp) Peterson and Cummings all look to have bulk and skill. Fagerson and Rae are shaping up to be excellent prospects.
Scrum half: Henners should take over as Scotland first choice, Price looks to have spent the summer at Matawalu's School For Wayward Boys, Hart needs to keep improving and Kenetale should bring that slow, measured thoughtful approach we associate with the FijianWeegians.
Stand Off We really seem to be short of options if Dancer is unavailable. The first month of the season will be Clegg's chance to show that he should be in the team. Hornee may be pushing for the 12 jersey if Dunbar's injury woes continue so Schulte may get lots of bench time. This is the one area where the squad looks threadbare.
Centres: Dunbar-Messiah, Hornee-Vernon, Johnson-Grigg with Sandy Lyle as back up. Looks good.
Wings: Sarto-Seymour, excellent. Schlong, Junior, Lee Jones mmm? Paddy Kelly looks a prospect.
Full Back: Hoggy excellent, Murchie decent, Lyle ???, Clegg !!!

I would like to see Junior get in ahead of Schlong. Schlong should be kept as fresh as possible and Junior needs time to impress.

Firth has had a bit of a break and time to build fitness with Djustice starting on the other side. Djustice is going to make some huge hits this season. Reid, Allan (if he can stay healthy) and Djustice are a good loosehead rotation, however we really need one of them to show something more if we want progress in the pack. Fagerson and Rae look to be a good first and second choice going forward. If Firth turns out good then Puafisi may be in his final season. Do we have any more young tightheads coming through?

Clegg should be given another game at 10 but, if he fails, Horne has to be considered. Vernon looked faster than I expected and want to see him get a bit of playing time. Offers some real size at 13 as a contrast to Bennett and Grigg. Grigg's knockout was bad, could see it immediately from 50m away, hope he gets a few weeks off to sort himself out.

Fully agree with most of that Ms Sapling.
I feel the Horne-Vernon pairing doesn't get the credit it deserves; when we won the league they played together more often than any other pairing and had the highest win % (for Glasgow obv.) I also understand that Furra Linee wants to concentrate on 12 rather than be a "utility player". So maybe Sam Johnson will get a run out at 10.
Does Schlong need a run out before the season starts? Probably not. Or maybe a gentle stroll against Canada A.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Beavon is a tighthead...

He'll be a hooker or a flanker by the end of the season.

Hazel Sapling wrote:I would like to see Junior get in ahead of Schlong. Schlong should be kept as fresh as possible and Junior needs time to impress.

Although that's really a lot like saying you are trying to keep a Pop Tart 'fresh'.

The very subject matter means that you can't, really.

Glaws have announced their teams for tomorrow night. There are a few notable injuries, i.e. May, Thrush and Kalamafoni, but the 1st half is largely a 1st XV.

Gloucester Rugby (first half)

Tom Marshall, Charlie Sharples, Matt Scott, Billy Twelvetrees, Henry Purdy, Billy Burns, Greig Laidlaw; Yann Thomas, Richard Hibbard, John Afoa; Joe Latta, Mariano Galarza; Ross Moriarty, Matt Kvesic, Ben Morgan

Second half

Lloyd Evans, David Halaifonua, Andy Symons, Mark Atkinson, Elliott Creed, James Hook, Callum Braley; Paddy McAllister, Darren Dawidiuk, Paul Doran-Jones; Alex Craig, Tom Denton, Lewis Ludlow, Dan Thomas, Gareth Evans

Full match between Harlequins v Glasgow

(Skip to 9:10)

Edinburgh Rugby team to play Newcastle Falcons at BT Murrayfield Stadium
Tomorrow (Friday 26 August, kick-off 7.35pm)

15 Glenn Bryce

14 Tom Brown
13 Sasa Tofilau
12 Phil Burleigh
11 Rory Scholes

10 Duncan Weir
9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne

1 Rory Sutherland
2 Ross Ford
3 WP Nel
4 Fraser McKenzie
5 Grant Gilchrist
6 Jamie Ritchie
7 Hamish Watson
8 Magnus Bradbury

Substitutes:
16 Stuart McInally
17 Jack Cosgrove
18 Simon Berghan
19 Ben Toolis
20 John Hardie
21 Nathan Fowles
22 Blair Kinghorn
23 Chris Dean

George Turner (blank shirt)
Lewis Carmichael (blank shirt)
Viliami Fihaki (blank shirt)
Solomoni Rasolea (blank shirt)

Evening gentlepersons, first off a quick apology to Big Gee and Glove; on Tuesday MrsPip received some very bad news about her mother which necessitated a drive up to Ayr. We are still here and any plans I had about sloping off to Glaws and enjoying a sherbert or two with you guys are well and truly snafued.
On a much more trivial note... Gilchrist and McKenzie in the Luvvies second row   There are two young men with everything to play for. Let's hope they come through unscathed and we finally get to see the players they can be.
Also,
6 Jamie Ritchie
7 Hamish Watson
8 Magnus Bradbury
You really want that back row to run riot against the Falcons, don't you?

The Champions In Waiting have been Tombolaed again.
15. Rory Hughes
14. Leonardo Sarto
13. Alex Dunbar
12. Sam Johnson
11. Sean Lamont
10. Peter Horne
9. Henry Pyrgos (Captain)

1. Gordon Reid
2. Corey Flynn
3. Zander Fagerson
4. Greg Peterson
5. Scott Cummings
6. Rob Harley
7. Fraser Brown
8. Ryan Wilson

Replacements: Pat MacArthur, Ryan Grant, D’Arcy Rae, Sila Puafisi, Tim Swinson, Tjiuee Uanivi, Simone Favaro, Lewis Wynne, Ali Price, Grayson Hart, Rory Clegg, Richie Vernon, Fraser Lyle.




Fraser Brown at 7.Dunbar at 13. Horne at 10. Still no sign of the Pukekohe Kid.Two 9's on the bench (but no sign of the Fijian who I shall call Special K, in the hope that he is). No wingers on the bench, unless you count Richie V. Four props in the squad!No recognised full back in the squad.
Don't you love it when Toonie tries to lull us into a false sense of security by being all sensible and predictable?

Sorry to hear that Jimbo.

Every cloud and all that - you'll now be world class having spent some time in Ayr!

You are right about that backrow - incredibly exciting, but not what you'd want on a November evening in Newport!

Thanks, RDW.
You got off lightly. On the 20th August when we retired to our hotel room after poolside cocktails to celebrate our anniversary I saw your thread about moving into your shoebox in Putney, or Hackney or Neasden or Gdansk. Anyhoo, I was taken by the co-incidence that you two were moving to that London almost 29 years to the day after MrsPip and myself; so much so that I penned you a pm to give you some serious advice about long and happy matrimony.
Thankfully, alcohol, computers and my renowned IT skills mean that some Bhuddist monk in Ulan Bator is even now re-appraising his philosophy of life and MrsRDW is still happily married.
I'm fairly sure that will give the ne'erdowells who lurk here the opening they need to begin posting Jimbo's Gentlemanly Guide To Succes In The Matrimonial Arts Volume One.

I guess it'll make you feel old then knowing that you moved to London the year I was born!

Sorry to be missing you in Gloucester Jim. We will catch up one of these days.

I sympathise with your situation as my own father is not at all well at the moment and I don't want to be to far away. It is unfortunately that time of life.

If it is any consolation to you both, I have now lived in London since 1982 and I only planned to stay for a couple of years. Can't imagine living anywhere else now though!

We've put quite a strong side out for the friendly...whats your team like?

GeordieFalcon wrote:We've put quite a strong side out for the friendly...whats your team like?

Injuries aside it is close to our first choice front 5 with a young but very exciting back row. Hard to tell about the backs as we have a lot of new signings, but it should be a strong backline.

So pretty strong but a lot of players playing their first game.

Newcastle
1 Jon Welsh
2 Scott Lawson
3 Taione Vea
4 Calum Green
5 Will Witty
6 Evan Olmstead
7 Will Welch (captain)
8 Mark Wilson

9 Sonatane Takulua
10 Mike Delany
11 Sinoti Sinoti
12 Juan Pablo Socino
13 Chris Harris
14 Vereniki Goneva
15 Simon Hammersley

REPLACEMENTS:
16 Ben Sowrey
17 Alex Rogers
18 Paddy Ryan
19 Nick Civetta
20 Tyrone Holmes
21 Joel Hodgson
22 Sam Egerton
23 Zach Kibirige

Edinburgh
15 Glenn Bryce
14 Tom Brown
13 Sasa Tofilau
12 Phil Burleigh
11 Rory Scholes

10 Duncan Weir
9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne

1 Rory Sutherland
2 Ross Ford
3 WP Nel
4 Fraser McKenzie
5 Grant Gilchrist
6 Jamie Ritchie
7 Hamish Watson
8 Magnus Bradbury

Substitutes:
16 Stuart McInally
17 Jack Cosgrove
18 Simon Berghan
19 Ben Toolis
20 John Hardie
21 Nathan Fowles

Is that Fraser McKenzie former falcon?

It is. He missed most of last season with a horrendous neck injury so is making his comeback.

Is Scott Lawson really one of your best hookers??

Lawson is a curious one RDW.

He's actually having a bit of an Indian summer. He was excellent last season and ive seen the preseasons this season and he's been great. Very physical and aggressive. He's got a good physical pack around him now which also helps.

Our other hookers are a big yet mobile lad from Worcester who hasn't really shone yet in the preseasons...and new South African Kyle Cooper from the sharks who looks a right aggressive lump. But he only arrived here yesterday.

Useful team there from Edinburgh, and from the 21 players listed above I count only 3 NSQ (Scholes, Burleigh and Tofilau).

The full squad is listed in my post above (we're taking 27)

So 5 NSQ from 27 then (and only 3 in the 23). Pretty useful from an SRU perspective.

I am hearing that the reason Arthur Ashe is not available tonight is that he has undergone surgery for a foot ailment and will be out of action for SIX MONTHS.

Baws as the Schizoid one would say.

The soapdodger game is apparently not on TV. Is the Edinburgh game televised?

Edinburgh game is on youtube.

I thought we had a physical pack out....but Edinburgh are showing us that I was wrong!

That worries me for the season!

GeordieFalcon wrote:Edinburgh game is on youtube.

I thought we had a physical pack out....but Edinburgh are showing us that I was wrong!

That worries me for the season!

Link or it didn't happen :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkU3i8-vjtM

And FFS can someone please tell the feckin commentator that our No 8 is Mark WILSON!!!!! Not Mark feckin Smith!!!!

Lovely try by Olmstead!!!