Scotland v Australia, 12 November

by **George Carlin** Sun 06 Nov 2016, 11:36 am

First topic message reminder :

Scotland v Australia, 12 November - Page 6 Scot_f10

Scotland v Australia, 12 November - Page 6 Wallab10

SCOTLAND v AUSTRALIA
12 November 2016
14:30 GMT
BT Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Live on BBC One

Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
ARs: [tbc]
TMO: [tbc]

A. Head to Head

29 Played 29
9 Won 20
0 Drawn 0
20 Lost 9
364 Points 706

B. Recent Form

18 October 2015
Twickenham
35-34 to Australia

23 November 2013
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
15 – 21 to Australia

5 June 2012
Hunter Stadium, Newcastle
6 – 9 to Scotland

21 November 2009
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
9 – 8 to Scotland

25 November 2006
Murrayfield, Edinburgh
15 – 44 to Australia

20 November 2004
Hampden Park, Glasgow
17 – 31 to Australia

C. TEAMS:

SCOTLAND
Scotland v Australia, 12 November - Page 6 Stillg10

Scotland v Australia, 12 November - Page 6 Stillg10

Stuart Hogg, Sean Maitland, Huw Jones, Alex Dunbar, Tim Visser, Finn Russell, Greig Laidlaw (capt); Allan Dell, Ross Ford, Zander Fagerson, Richie Gray, Jonny Gray, John Barclay, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson.

Replacements: Fraser Brown, Gordon Reid, Moray Low, Grant Gilchrist, John Hardie, Ali Price, Pete Horne, Rory Hughes.

AUSTRALIA
Scotland v Australia, 12 November - Page 6 Roy__h10

Scotland v Australia, 12 November - Page 6 Roy__h10

Israel Folau, Dane Haylett-Petty, Tevita Kuridrani, Reece Hodge, Henry Speight, Bernard Foley, Will Genia; Scott Sio, Stephen Moore (capt), Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, Adam Coleman, David Pocock, Michael Hooper, Lopeti Timani.

Replacements: Tolu Latu, Tom Robertson, Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Simmons, Will Skelton, Dean Mumm, Nick Phipps, Quade Cooper.

by Shifty Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:24 pm

Bóllucks....
Ok I'm not doing the learning curve, potential, performances thing with Scotland. I'll just say a 22-23 loss in the final minutes, is far better than the rubbish Wales produced last week. Gutted you didn't win.

by Shifty Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:25 pm

mikey_dragon wrote:Unlucky. Scotland played some of the best rugby I've seen them play (in phases). Players playing with pride in their jersey much unlike my own.

^ Thanks Mikey I know it's not just me thinking that then. Hug

by wolfball Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:28 pm

Lord that was gutting. Hardluck Scotland, ye are my second team and thought ye had it with the Aus yellow.

by cakeordeath Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:29 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:That looks a horrible injury - could be out a long time

Who was injured I missed the last 25 minutes

by TheMildlyFranticLlama Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:30 pm

Gutting result, but we need to stay in the game better in the second half and not just try and hang in there. Discipline ultimately sank us, look at how many phases Australia went through at the end without giving away a penalty. We need to learn from that.

Congrats Oz, very good side. A few more of those passes sticking in the first half and we may not have still been in the game right till the end

by **RDW** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:31 pm

I think it is testament to our performance that Australia are genuinely delighted to win and Moore spoke of how tough a game it was.

We just gave away too many penalties in the 2nd half and had no ball.

Horne doesn't have a great history at Murrayfield does he?

by **RDW** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:31 pm

cakeordeath wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:That looks a horrible injury - could be out a long time

Who was injured I missed the last 25 minutes

Hardie

by cakeordeath Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:32 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:
cakeordeath wrote:
RDW_Scotland wrote:That looks a horrible injury - could be out a long time

Who was injured I missed the last 25 minutes

Hardie

Ah FFS

by **RDW** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:37 pm

I thought Watson had a very good game though, marred by a knock on near the end when he was trying to bosh

by cakeordeath Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:37 pm

Just looking at the ranking calculator, according to that a 1 point win would have pushed us up to 6th

by bsando Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:50 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:I think it is testament to our performance that Australia are genuinely delighted to win and Moore spoke of how tough a game it was.

We just gave away too many penalties in the 2nd half and had no ball.

Horne doesn't have a great history at Murrayfield does he?

Cheers for the pub suggestion RDW been great craic, gutted for Scotland. Australia did just enough but you just know Scotland should of closed that one out. Shame about breakdown I thought Scotland got a few harsh calls there and laid law missed a few he shouldn't have. But what a game, that would have been enough to hear most of the 6N sides.

by doctor_grey Sat 12 Nov 2016, 4:55 pm

Shame for Scotland. Thought the game was in hand. Just a break here or there.........

by TJ Sat 12 Nov 2016, 5:05 pm

Jonny Gray - another immense performance. A try, 19 tackles none missed. 14 carries for 7 yards, 10 passes beat a defender and made an offload, wound up an Aussie into getting a yellow card.

Thats the performance of a lion.

Watson a bit of a mixed bag but made 12 tackles with no misses.

by stub Sat 12 Nov 2016, 5:07 pm

Hard luck Scotland - sooo close.

by TJ Sat 12 Nov 2016, 5:09 pm

I thought Lacey had a good game. Good battle at the breakdown and got the calls pretty much right. No major blunders and didn't over do the TMO

by BamBam Sat 12 Nov 2016, 5:38 pm

TJ wrote:Jonny Gray - another immense performance. A try, 19 tackles none missed. 14 carries for 7 yards, 10 passes beat a defender and made an offload, wound up an Aussie into getting a yellow card.

Thats the performance of a lion.

Watson a bit of a mixed bag but made 12 tackles with no misses.

That's a 20 min sub appearance for Itoje... Run

Just kidding!

Hard luck Scotland, just watched it on fast forward after the England game, looks like you just ran out of steam at the end, but a terrific first half is very promising

by **George Carlin** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 5:45 pm

Feel very empty that this has happened again.

I have friends over so didn't get a chance to watch it but with so many inexperienced players in the side, that had to have been a pretty good all round performance to lead the entire match on the scoreboard until the 76th minute. That will have been invaluable for Dell and Fagerson in particular.

Can any of my brothers opine a little on how everyone played?

by **RDW** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 5:47 pm

That's a good point GC - we had one debutant and 3 guys on 1 cap only, and we almost beat one of the best teams in the world!

I'm just about to do player ratings...

by **RDW** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 6:01 pm

1 Dell - 7

A debut he should be proud about. His side of the scrum stayed up and he even had a few good runs in the loose. He is lacking in physicality at this level though.

2 Ford - 7

Played his part in our brightest spell of the match

3 Fagerson - 6

Very prominent in the loose but he had a tough day in the scrums

4 R Gray - 9

The show pony tag is very out of date. I thought he was immense - very physical in the tackle and a a powerful carrier

5 J Gray - 9

See TJ's stats above. This man is a freak.

6 Barclay - 8

A very good game with some key turnovers but also gave away some needless penalties in rucks, including one in their half that eventually led to their late try

7 Watson - 8
A very assured performance and he looked very comfortable at this level. As feared he was smashed a few times but also ran over Foley and was very aggressive. His contact area work was particularly pleasing and had a real battle with Pooper - smashing them whenever he could. With Hardie likely injured he should get a run of games.

8 Wilson - 1

Knocked on under no pressure from a restart then went off injured.....

9 Laidlaw - 6

Not his best performance and his conversion off the post was ultimately the difference between winning and defeat. His passing was all over the place in the last 10 minutes

10 Russell - 8

his chip for the first try was a thing of beauty and was a threat throughout. His defence was also very strong.

11 Visser - 6

Struggled to get involved and just wasn't firing on all cylinders when he was - should be replaced by Seymour

12 Dunbar - 7

Added much needed physicality in midfield but faded as the game went on

13 Jones - 8

Two fantastically taken tries but and looked at home at this level. Being critical he was fairly quiet apart from his tries

14 - Maitland 8

Looked hungry to get involved and was a man in a personal mission to right the wrongs of the last meeting between the teams

15 Hogg - 7

Limited chances in attack, his boot was a real asset

Subs - Hardie was very good before getting injured

Horne gets a 2 for a missed tackle that let them in at the end.

by Guest Sat 12 Nov 2016, 6:09 pm

Fagerson - 5 struggled in the scrum
Ford - 7 some wobbly lineouts but good carrying
Dell - 6 part of a struggling scrum but showed up in loose more
J gray - 9 wish he would carry more yards personally buyt then again thats not what hes there for. Surely future captain?
R gray - 8 great work justified his selection
Barclay - 7 some good turnovers but penalised at least 3 times. He had to adapt to play 8 though so gets a 7
Watson - 6 mixed bag. Not much carrying impact but solid
Wilson - 0 is just a tw*t
Laidlaw - 7 nothing flash and i wish he wasnt captain actually!
Russell - 8 made good breaks set up a try. Solid.
Visser- 3 aus first try he didnt even attempt to tackle, he was standing too flat on hogg for his break at the end ... poor game and missed his opportunities
Dunbar - 6/7 quiet game but did nothing wrong
Jones - 10 welcome huw jones! Every action he took was a net gain without exception so deserves the 10. Lions bolter? (Its a joke)
Maitland - 7 solid made some breaks
Hogg - 9 hes always a bit magic. Didnt put a foot wrong and always made metres

Reid - 4 was trying too hard. He actually came on and immediately put an elbow in too, not impressed..scrum didnt improve either
Brown - 7 good impact for a sub
Low - 5 didnt notice him
Gilchrist - 5 meh...
Hardie - 7 good job while he was on. Solid.
Horne - 3 crucial missed tackle no other impact. Though not the 1st or last kurundrani will do that against
Not used Price, Hughes

by **Notch** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 6:16 pm

George Carlin wrote:Feel very empty that this has happened again.

I have friends over so didn't get a chance to watch it but with so many inexperienced players in the side, that had to have been a pretty good all round performance to lead the entire match on the scoreboard until the 76th minute. That will have been invaluable for Dell and Fagerson in particular.

Can any of my brothers opine a little on how everyone played?

Remember that this happened to Ireland against the All Blacks in 2013, and in 2012... and there was a learning from those experiences and eventually we DID have our day in Chicago and it was effing brilliant. The only bad experience is one you don't learn from and the only question that matters is can Scotland learn from this and turn these narrow defeats into wins?

When Townsend comes in, I actually think they can yes. One of the best coaches in the club game right now.

by **RDW** Sat 12 Nov 2016, 6:35 pm

Focussing on Australia, like the last game they were deserving of their win but I don't think anyone would have begrudged Scotland if we had managed to win. The possession stats in the 2nd half won't make pretty reading for Scotland and they were very clinical in closing out the last few minutes, with great discipline in defence

First half their backline absolutely ripped us to shreds but it will be a worry to Chieka that they can't do that consistently over 80 minutes. He'll also be frustrated with the number of errors - a combination of players forcing things and pressure from Scotland.

Skelton almost lost them the game with a stupid shoulder charge in the ruck and needs to control that part of his game.

by westisbest Sat 12 Nov 2016, 7:34 pm

Unlucky Scotland.

Huw Jones looks a good prospect.

by jimbopip Sat 12 Nov 2016, 9:34 pm

George, viddy well my brother. It wasn't a real horror show.There were a lot of of positives.
BAD THINGS;
We didn't hold onto one restart.This unacceptable at any level. Tim Visser's Ghandiesque philosophy must be seen for the wilful heresy it is. I'll stop the criticisms there.

GOOD THINGS;
This was an extremely spirited, aggressive and confident performance. Hogg and Dancer looked like they have been studying the great French sides of yesteryear. Huw Jones looks a real prospect. Jonny Gray was colossal with Richie not far behind (GG looked ordinary beside them). They were very unfortunate not to win: Cooler heads would have set up a drop goal at the death and yes I was sitting there wishing Dan Parks was on the pitch. The wallabies are a decent side and we led for 76 minutes, and deserved to!
Argentina will be tough mind

by GLove39 Sun 13 Nov 2016, 1:25 am

Frak sake.
Frak sake.
Frak sake.
Frak sake.

It's the hope that kills you.
Perpetually brave. Frak.

by cakeordeath Sun 13 Nov 2016, 8:58 am

I missed the last 25 minutes, and that is where it all seemed to be go wrong, but I will give my attempt at ratings

Fagerson - 5 struggled in the scrum and was lucky not to be pinged at every scrum for binding on the arm.
Ford - 5 good in the loose, but once again crumbles under pressure in the line out.
Dell - 6 done well for his first cap. Was a bit anonymous at times
J Gray - 9 awesome
R Gray - 8 also awesome, but not as much as ickle j.
Barclay - 8 some good turnovers penalised unfairly I feel, but has to adapt to the ref
Watson - 6 tried his best but too small.
Wilson - 0 why BVC
Laidlaw - 5 don't want to upset some people on here, but he was just meh.
Russell - 8 getting back to his best. Solid in defence and set up 2 tries.
Visser- 1 he certainly didn't carry his "premiership form" into this game. I would have had Hughes on the pitch before him.
Dunbar - 6 done some things, didn't stand out
Jones - 10 2 tries solid in defence
Maitland - 7 I thought Maitland done well, showed some real hunger and seemed to get about the park
Hogg - 9 seemed a bit indecisive at times but made some good runs

by jimbopip Sun 13 Nov 2016, 9:13 am

Agree with just about all of that Cakey, except I thought Ragnar did very well in the loose, put in some solid tackles.

by **BigGee** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 9:19 am

Well it was a slightly subdued game for me, as unfortunately we lost my dad earlier in the week after a long illness.

I was hoping we were going to do it for him, but it was not to be. He would no doubt have noted wryly that that was the normal course of events for a Scotland team.

I think it was probably the lack of any real impact coming off the bench in the last 20 that did us along with losing Hardie, who was having a storming game. We put in a ferocious effort and were clearly tiring at the death, though they did rouse themselves for one last stirring tilt at the line.

There will be a few changes for the next game with the injuries and hopefully Tommy S being available again.

Once Wilson went off, the back row balance, despite all off them playing well was not right, we had no one to really carry the ball back at them or pick up effectively from the base of the scrums when we were struggling. If Strauss is fit, then surely he starts and I would have Bradbury on the bench. If Strauss not fit, then surely Bradbury must start.

I think everyone knows who Huw Jones is now! A welsh friend texted me after the match asking why he was not playing for them!

Lions bolter anyone?

by boomeranga Sun 13 Nov 2016, 9:52 am

Bad luck Scots. I haven't seen the game to add anything.

by majesticimperialman Sun 13 Nov 2016, 9:57 am

So close yet so far away. Just how many times are the scots going to come so close before they finaly get that win.

by RuggerRadge2611 Sun 13 Nov 2016, 10:11 am

Same old same old.

by jimbopip Sun 13 Nov 2016, 10:17 am

Gee, condolences.

by **RDW** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 10:36 am

Sorry to hear that Biggee

by **RDW** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 11:23 am

Just watched the highlights - between scrums and restarts we gave away 9 points. The most particularly annoying one was the restart after half time - 3 easy points for Australia.

by jimbopip Sun 13 Nov 2016, 12:10 pm

I'm sitting at Embra airport and have been chatting with a couple of Aussie chaps. Seems they know Ben Toolis very well.
They don't know why Grant Gilchrist ever gets near a Scotland squad.
They don't know what Toolis has to do to get into a Scotland squad.
They don't know why VC won't give Toolis a straight answer when he asks which areas of his game he needs to improve upon.
However, they do know that Toonie has been in touch with Toolis with the sort of detailed, specific advice professional rugby players appreciate.
P.s. They were also fulsome on their praise of Jason O'Halloran, and when you think how Hogg and Dancer played this bodes well for next season at Scotstoun.

by **George Carlin** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 12:30 pm

Condolences Big Gee - exactly the same thing happened to me in May, so I know how it feels.

When you're ready - lean on your friends, gather them around you, have a few drinks and talk about him a lot.

The Irish have the right idea with the whole 'wake' approach.

I didn't see the game, but am very irritated by the Aussie press (I left a sh!togram post on Paul Cully's feature in the Sydney Morning Herald comments section saying so) who are claiming that they were never really worried and that the Aussies were beating themselves until the condescended to stop doing that and score some tries. If that were true, they wouldn't have been outscored 3 tries to 2 or been behind until the 76th minute.

Given that we were without Dickinson, Nel, Seymour and Strauss we have to recognise aspects of game as being hugely encouraging. Man juice is being sprayed around like champagne after a F1 race about the England's run of games (and quite rightly in some respects - much to be proud of there) but I really think that this might be the beginning of something excellent for this Scottish team.

by MacKnocked-on Sun 13 Nov 2016, 12:46 pm

I think a large part of the loss yesterday (apart from re-start ineptitude as usual) has to go down to poor sub selection on Cotter's part. Hardie had a great game off the bench but once he was injured the only replacement left was Gilchrist who offers so little and obviously has no backrow experience unlike Harley. I'm sure that Toolis would have been far more effective as well.
However, for me the big error was Horne, too lightweight as we've seen before. If Dunbar really needed to come off then Matt Scott would have been a far more solid option.

by **BigGee** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 1:20 pm

Horne's tackle was disappointing considering all that went before it. Unfortunately it is not the first time he has been caught a little bit wanting against some of the giant backs you come up against at international level. In those circumstances, we would probably have been better with Horne moving into 10 and FR moving out to 12, as he is a lot stronger defensively than PH.

Albeit that with the players we had available, he was an obvious pick, I do wonder if he would be in the squad if everyone was available. While we have GL still playing, he can always cover the 10 spot.

by R!skysports Sun 13 Nov 2016, 1:40 pm

Postivies

Hogg - still terrifying defences
Russel - Very assured and dangerous
Gray Brothers- outstanding from both
Front row - not as bad as some say = the ref was quite random. Not the finished article, but possible future
Jones - a great start - now let him back it up wil some

Negatives

Wilson - will he soon take the tag of the worst Scottish player in history? (currently between NDL* and de Rollo)
Watson - sorry to say, he got a 3 or 4 from me - was caught behind the game line and push back far too often. Looks like a rabbit in the headlights and caused us lots of issues
Barclay - sorry again - too many games he does not adapt to the Ref - again - failed to change his style
Visser = a Pointless waste of space- we know he can not defend (Or will even try), but now his attack is useless. He had a chance to burn forwards down the wing, instead slowly trotted into touch - I think he is useless
Injuries - we just do not get much luck with injuries - especially early ones
Restarts - How can we be so bad at them

* Just for FES :-)

by Heaf Sun 13 Nov 2016, 2:01 pm

Hard luck Scotland - would have loved to see them get a win. Though Oz were lucky to get away with being half a yard off-side at virtually every ruck in all those phases at the end of the match.

by **RDW** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 2:04 pm

BigGee wrote:Horne's tackle was disappointing considering all that went before it. Unfortunately it is not the first time he has been caught a little bit wanting against some of the giant backs you come up against at international level. In those circumstances, we would probably have been better with Horne moving into 10 and FR moving out to 12, as he is a lot stronger defensively than PH.

Albeit that with the players we had available, he was an obvious pick, I do wonder if he would be in the squad if everyone was available. While we have GL still playing, he can always cover the 10 spot.

I think the more obvious choice would have been Scott over Hughes, with Jones covering wing.

Hughes was never going to get on yesterday barring injury and was a wasted bench spot. Scott was exactly what we needed yesterday off the bench - big, strong and athletic.

Cotter has been fantastic for Scotland and I'm sure we'll look back on his reign fondly, but his insistence on playing some of his favourites over others will be remembered too.

by **RDW** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 2:29 pm

Cornell Du Preez has been added to the squad - should have been Bradbury!

by **BigGee** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 3:11 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:
BigGee wrote:Horne's tackle was disappointing considering all that went before it. Unfortunately it is not the first time he has been caught a little bit wanting against some of the giant backs you come up against at international level. In those circumstances, we would probably have been better with Horne moving into 10 and FR moving out to 12, as he is a lot stronger defensively than PH.

Albeit that with the players we had available, he was an obvious pick, I do wonder if he would be in the squad if everyone was available. While we have GL still playing, he can always cover the 10 spot.

I think the more obvious choice would have been Scott over Hughes, with Jones covering wing.

Hughes was never going to get on yesterday barring injury and was a wasted bench spot. Scott was exactly what we needed yesterday off the bench - big, strong and athletic.

Cotter has been fantastic for Scotland and I'm sure we'll look back on his reign fondly, but his insistence on playing some of his favourites over others will be remembered too.

I think most coaches have their favourites, most Scotland ones recently certainly have.

The wisdom of having players in the squad who clearly are not fit and won't be playing any part in the 3 matches can certainly be called into question now. Having to put two players on our bench, neither of whom are ready for international rugby, may well have contributed to us losing the game as we had no ammunition to call on when it counted.

CDP over Bradbury, that is a tough one for the young lad as well. We all want to know what CDP can do internationally, as he does look like he has the game for it. That game has not been evident this year so far though due to him being injured and clearly not fully fit though, wheras Bradbury has been ripping up trees.

Who knows what goes through a coaches mind? I still hope we might see a glimpse of both of them before the autumn is out.

by TJ Sun 13 Nov 2016, 4:20 pm

MacKnocked-on wrote:I think a large part of the loss yesterday (apart from re-start ineptitude as usual) has to go down to poor sub selection on Cotter's part. Hardie had a great game off the bench but once he was injured the only replacement left was Gilchrist who offers so little and obviously has no backrow experience unlike Harley. I'm sure that Toolis would have been far more effective as well.

Losing two back row forwards to injury would cause most teams organisation issues. I don't blame Cotter for that but like many folk on here Gilcrest would not be my bench. some fringe players got valuable experience and Scotland were also given a lesson in control and disciplined defence by the Auusies. At 22:13 at 50 mins I said Scotland would have to score another try to win. They didn't.

In the end I can't say it better than

GLove39 wrote:Frak sake.
Frak sake.
Frak sake.
Frak sake.

It's the hope that kills you.
Perpetually brave. Frak.

by cakeordeath Sun 13 Nov 2016, 4:50 pm

Just watching the game again, Visser should have knocked hodge into next week, he had every opportunity to line him up, but decided to do some type of wavy arm thing instead.

by **George Carlin** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 5:10 pm

Cannot wait for the Pumas now. CDP in the mix makes me feel happier again.

Bradbury's time will come. We've waited long enough to see CDP - now time to unleash the big beast and hope that he can be arsed to try his heart out. I think that he might be quite good. Very Happy

by **George Carlin** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 5:36 pm

Onwards and ever sideways lads:
https://www.606v2.com/t64463-scotland-v-argentina-19-november

by **RDW** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 5:56 pm

Don't get me wrong I'm excited to see what CDP can do - and he's certainly served his Scottish rugby apprenticeship - it is just a shame it has come at a time when a young Scottish bloke has been on very good form.

by **George Carlin** Sun 13 Nov 2016, 6:04 pm

RDW_Scotland wrote:Don't get me wrong I'm excited to see what CDP can do - and he's certainly served his Scottish rugby apprenticeship - it is just a shame it has come at a time when a young Scottish bloke has been on very good form.

Scotland v Australia, 12 November - Page 6 Localo10

by funnyExiledScot Mon 14 Nov 2016, 9:25 am

Riskysports wrote:Postivies

Hogg - still terrifying defences
Russel - Very assured and dangerous
Gray Brothers- outstanding from both
Front row - not as bad as some say = the ref was quite random. Not the finished article, but possible future
Jones - a great start - now let him back it up wil some

Negatives

Wilson - will he soon take the tag of the worst Scottish player in history? (currently between NDL* and de Rollo)
Watson - sorry to say, he got a 3 or 4 from me - was caught behind the game line and push back far too often. Looks like a rabbit in the headlights and caused us lots of issues
Barclay - sorry again - too many games he does not adapt to the Ref - again - failed to change his style
Visser = a Pointless waste of space- we know he can not defend (Or will even try), but now his attack is useless. He had a chance to burn forwards down the wing, instead slowly trotted into touch - I think he is useless
Injuries - we just do not get much luck with injuries - especially early ones
Restarts - How can we be so bad at them

* Just for FES :-)

Cheers!

For once I find myself in broad agreement with your analysis. I was encouraged by a lot of what I saw: our very inexperienced front row held up ok, the Grays were both outstanding (Jonny in particular), Russell was very good (although there were a couple of aimless kicks towards the end), Huw Jones had a remarkable debut and Hogg was a constant threat (although towards the end he could have taken a couple of less risky options). I also thought Maitland looked livelier than he's been for Scotland in a while.

I disagree with you on Barclay though. I thought he put in a pretty heroic performance and pulled off some great turnovers. The final penalty against him looked to me to be a bad decision, plain and simple, and very similar to a penalty Pocock won earlier in the match. I'm not for one second saying the ref was against us (as Cotter and Laidlaw have implied), I thought our scrum was favourably treated in the first half, but it was a bad time for a tough call.

On the down side I thought Gilchrist was anonymous, Watson looked out of his depth despite working his socks off, Hardie looked a little short of his best, as did Dunbar, and Reid made a bit of a fool of himself coming off the bench. I'd also suggest that the time has come for Brown to replace Ford. Wilson only played a few minutes and managed to look spectacularly useless. Visser was very poor as well, although he did make a tackle coming fast off his wing. I had to rub my eyes to believe it!

For the next game I'd like to see a ball carrier installed at 8 (Strauss or Bradbury), with Barclay at 6 and Hardie at 7. I'd like Brown to start at hooker and would give Rory Hughes a shot on the left wing.

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