Glasgow and Edinburgh: Ongoing Banter Thread XV Men Chasing An Egg?!

[A Simply Mesmeric Try]

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Edinburgh & Glasgow Warriors

http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/
http://www.edinburghrugby.org/

A NOT SO BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME-WASTING   (CLICK TO SHOW/HIDE):

1872 Cup

Champions                Runner up
Edinburgh                  Glasgow Warriors
 

1872 CUP - PAST RESULTS   (CLICK TO SHOW/HIDE):

Guinness Pro12

Guinness Pro12 Website
Edinburgh Rugby (Pro12 Website)
Glasgow Warriors (Pro12 Website)
Guinness Pro12 2016/17 Overview (Ultimate Rugby)



Playlist of all of Edinburgh's Pro12 highlights here.
Playlist of all of Glasgow's Pro12 highlights here.

Europe

European Rugby Website

CHAMPIONS CUP
QUARTER FINAL
SARACENS v GLASGOW WARRIORS
Sun, Apr 2, 13:00, Allianz Park

CHALLENGE CUP
QUARTER FINAL
EDINBURGH v LA ROCHELLE
Fri, March 31, 19:00, Murrayfield Stadium

Both European Finals are at Murrayfield.

[BigGee]

Well any questions why Hodge was not offered the full time job are well and truly answered now. Edinburgh just seem to be going from bad to worse at the moment.

Once again it was completely obvious why CDP did not get picked for Scotland, he is just not at the races just now. Unless Cockerill can revive him next season, then maybe he never will, which would be a shame. Bradbury as well clearly is not ready and has lost all his spark. Ritchie is the one if the back rowers who really put in a shift, as did Carmichael.

I would not want to know where to start with the backs who were collectively pretty awful. The only one to emerge with any real credit was Scholes, who clearly had a point to prove. He is certainly deserving of a few more chances to prove himself.

You do have to ask yourself if any of the current coaching staff should be staying at the club, maybe they should just let Cockerill bring in some of his own people.

[EWT Spoons]

Have to agree Hodge seems to have no place at Edinburgh, if he is our backs coach, then they have continually shown they have no idea what they should be doing. Especially at the end of that game, they looked lost and devoid of ideas.

I'm pretty sure the players are massively de-motivated, I'm not making excuses for them as there was some poor performances out there, but if you don't rate your coach, or he's not giving you clear instructions then morale is probably low and performances will drop. Hopefully Cockerill can get them back to the some level

[RDW]

Well any questions why Hodge was not offered the full time job are well and truly answered now. Edinburgh just seem to be going from bad to worse at the moment.

Once again it was completely obvious why CDP did not get picked for Scotland, he is just not at the races just now. Unless Cockerill can revive him next season, then maybe he never will, which would be a shame. Bradbury as well clearly is not ready and has lost all his spark. Ritchie is the one if the back rowers who really put in a shift, as did Carmichael.

I would not want to know where to start with the backs who were collectively pretty awful. The only one to emerge with any real credit was Scholes, who clearly had a point to prove. He is certainly deserving of a few more chances to prove himself.

You do have to ask yourself if any of the current coaching staff should be staying at the club, maybe they should just let Cockerill bring in some of his own people.

I thought CDP was one of our better players - he was throwing himself about with ball in hand and put some big hits in.

[tigertattie]

Thing I don't get is why the bench wasn't used? Bradbury was goosed, why not bring on former captain gilco and put Carmichael on the blindside?

Why not bring on appiah?

Why not bring on some kid in the stands in this place of Bryce who was truly awful?

[XR]

happy with the win but that referee was shameful. Talking disrespectfully to cardiff captain, giving penalties for nothing and basically holding Edinburgh's hand the entire game. Hope we don't have that shower of sh.t again.

[RDW]

happy with the win but that referee was shameful.  Talking disrespectfully to cardiff captain, giving penalties for nothing and basically holding Edinburgh's hand the entire game.  Hope we don't have that shower of sh.t again.

He really had something against you guys yet we still didn't win!

[George Carlin]

Jaysus on a Sedgeway, I hope that Cockerill clears the dead wood out of this club quickly. 

It must be OBVIOUS that certain players cannot cut it at this level. The axe has to swing at the end of this season.

[Eejit]

Ospreys just secured the bonus point against Glasgow.

Utter joke.

[A Simply Mesmeric Try]

Rory Hughes absolutely smashed his opposite man in the lead up to Murchie's try. Quite a hit!

Glasgow are having a tough time without their top players. There was some new blood in the team that lost to Ospreys, but not too much. Although, not enough experience. The other top Pro12 teams seem to have stronger depth this year  

Matt Smith started over Fusaro which was interesting, and Bhatti over Allen too. There was even a rare sighting of Ratu Tagive on the bench (which he kept warm for the whole game).

15 Peter Murchie; 14 Junior Bulumakau, 13 Nick Grigg, 12 Peter Horne (capt), 11 Rory Hughes; 10 Brandon Thomson, 9 Grayson Hart; 1 Jamie Bhatti, 2 Corey Flynn, 3 Sila Puafisi, 4 Brian Alainu'uese, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Rob Harley, 7 Matt Smith, 8 Lewis Wynne

Subs: 16 Pat MacArthur, 17 Alex Allan, 18 D'arcy Rae, 19 Tjiuee Uanivi, 20 Chris Fusaro, 21 Nemia Kenatale, 22 Richie Vernon, 23 Ratu Tagive

[George Carlin]

Yes, the Glasgow strength in depth is not good enough this year. In fact, we should call it something else.

Our first XXIII can beat absolutely anyone but we may not get to the playoffs this year to let that happen.

[funnyExiledScot]

Yes, the Glasgow strength in depth is not good enough this year. In fact, we should call it something else.

Our first XXIII can beat absolutely anyone but we may not get to the playoffs this year to let that happen.

Edinburgh-esque?

I did catch pieces of the Edinburgh game on my laptop, but the bits I saw were of Edinburgh building a solid lead. I missed the inevitable collapse.

What does seem likely is that our "so-called coaches" (thanks to D Trump for "so-called") have gotten Rory Scholes completely wrong this season. I suspect he's a fine player, but that our coaches couldn't spot talent if it was staring them in the face.

Hodge has presided over a complete melt-down. Cockerill should bring in his own coaches.

[tigertattie]

Holy bajeesus on a bright pink unicorn

Can I hide in here until England stop moaning about Italy not "playing rugby"?

They won with a bonus point so why are they still jabbering on? Also, can we use that tactic in a fortnight? Not all the time, but a few times, just to confuse the hell out of the English again!

[funnyExiledScot]

Holy bajeesus on a bright pink unicorn

Can I hide in here until England stop moaning about Italy not "playing rugby"?

They won with a bonus point so why are they still jabbering on? Also, can we use that tactic in a fortnight? Not all the time, but a few times, just to confuse the hell out of the English again!

I think we'd be fools not to try it at least once, if for no other reason that to wind them up. We should put a Gray brother a metre either side of Danny Care.....

[tigertattie]

Holy bajeesus on a bright pink unicorn

Can I hide in here until England stop moaning about Italy not "playing rugby"?

They won with a bonus point so why are they still jabbering on? Also, can we use that tactic in a fortnight? Not all the time, but a few times, just to confuse the hell out of the English again!

I think we'd be fools not to try it at least once, if for no other reason that to wind them up. We should put a Gray brother a metre either side of Danny Care.....

I'd play "conventionally" for the first 10 mins then after a line out or scrum near the England 22, put the call out to play "the Italian way" for the next few phases. If England are bamboozled again then LOL! They strike me as an over-coached team and if their system breaks down then they go into headless chicken mode!

[EWT Spoons]

I suspect Jones will spend the next fortnight drilling into them how to cope when teams don't engage in the ruck. I think play to our strengths, and with Barclay and Watson we're pretty decent at competing in the ruck.

[tigertattie]

I'm all for playing to our strengths, but we don't want to get into a forward based arm wrestle of a battle with England!

England have also shown that they play to a system and if you mess with it, they're not very good at adapting!

Imagine how annoyed and frustrated they'd get if at one tackle we stood off while they threw numbers into the tackle area looking for a ruck for the Gray's to stand either side of Care and block out the sunlight from him to then not committing any men at the next breakdown and Watson or Barclay latching onto the ball! Hartley and Haskell would start arguing with each other on what to do, Eddie Jones would self combust with rage and Vern Cotter would raise a rye smile!

[BigGee]

I watched the Glasgow game yesterday evening. Our playoff hopes, which in all honesty had already dissapeared, are clearly no longer.

The result again was poor, but some of the play was not that bad. They were definitely trying to play the Glasgow style, just not looking after the ball well enough and not quite having the game breakers to take advantage when the space did appear. It won't have done the youngsters playing any harm at all and they will hoipefully be better for the experience.

Some of the tries we let in were quite soft, with some poor tackling the cause. That is definitely something that drops off when Matt taylor is away. I think next season he is going to just be doing Scotland, so Glasgow will have to find there own solutions to this problem.

Anyway the decks are now cleared and it is Europe or nothing for the Warriors now. It is not going to be easy though. Virtually all of them will need a rest after the last international and will then go into the Sarries game without having played togehter in Glasgow colours for quite some time. The only saving grace is that most of them will have been playing together for Scotland and so hopefully the familiarity will still be there.

I do hope Strauss makes it back though, despite the initail prognosis not being positive.

[EWT Spoons]

Don’t know if it’s been mentioned here, but have you all seen the latest controversy around our beloved DoR?

Basically if you’ve not seen it, around 7-9 (I forget the exact number, it’s either 7 or 9) of the coaches employed by the SRU, who Johnson’s appointed, have the same agent as him.

Now there could be nothing in this, in that there are only so many coaches/agents, or  it might be entirely innocent and Johnson is using his agent to help him get coaches he wants, but the suggestion is he’s doing this the other way round and his agent is using him.

Looking at the list of coaches, Rennie, Townsend, O’Halloran and Taylor are some of the ones who share the same agent.  If there is corruption here then delighted it seems to be working in our favour.  That said apparently Solly is in there as well, so it would seem Edinburgh take the hit whilst Scotland & Glasgow prosper. ;-)

[BigGee]

Don’t know if it’s been mentioned here, but have you all seen the latest controversy around our beloved DoR?

Basically if you’ve not seen it, around 7-9 (I forget the exact number, it’s either 7 or 9) of the coaches employed by the SRU, who Johnson’s appointed, have the same agent as him.

Now there could be nothing in this, in that there are only so many coaches/agents, or  it might be entirely innocent and Johnson is using his agent to help him get coaches he wants, but the suggestion is he’s doing this the other way round and his agent is using him.

Looking at the list of coaches, Rennie, Townsend, O’Halloran and Taylor are some of the ones who share the same agent.  If there is corruption here then delighted it seems to be working in our favour.  That said apparently Solly is in there as well, so it would seem Edinburgh take the hit whilst Scotland & Glasgow prosper. ;-)

calling this a controvesy is probably pushing it a little bit.

As you said, there are not actually that many agents who deal with rugby players out there and probably even less for coaches, so it is not surprising that they are sharing the same pool. As long as he has declared his interest, there should be no problem with this. None of the above are duds and even Solly was not considered a bad appointment at the time and may even have served a purpose at Edinburgh, though clearly Hodge was not the man to succeed him.

[EWT Spoons]

Aye, it was badged in the times as a controversy and a conflict of interests.

If it was a load of duds then I could see them having a point, but the ones I've listed are pretty decent (or in some cases very good) then really it doesn't seem to be an issue.

[EWT Spoons]

I've just realised with that 2nd paragraph I'm basically saying the same thing you just did.

[RDW]

Strauss to Sale Sharks

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39109485

[InjuredYetAgain]

Does that free up the ££££££ to re-sign Nel????? Joking aside, it is about time Edinburgh got a good new signing or re-signing as Glasgow seem to have the monopoly on them these days

[IanBru]

I had a weird dream last night that Ali Price had signed a new contract during half-time against Wales. It then transpired that he had accidentally signed a contract provided by Allan Dell's agent, and now Price would be playing for Edinburgh for the rest of the season.

Even worse, the dream concluded with my boss asking me to do some legal research on whatever remedies Price might have against the agent for inducing him into the contract without explaining its terms.

F*** me, even my dreams are monotonous.

[tigertattie]

dude you need to get out more!

I had a dream last night that I was the captain of a space ship that crash landed on a far off world. After the whole team working together to try and fix the ship, we had to abandon hope as each member of the crew was bumped off one by one by a different far fetched incident until only myself and my second in command (seven of nine from star trek) were left so we decided to just stay on the planet and populate it

Had nothing to do with rugby, but hey, was a good dream none the less!

[George Carlin]

I had a weird dream last night that Ali Price had signed a new contract during half-time against Wales. It then transpired that he had accidentally signed a contract provided by Allan Dell's agent, and now Price would be playing for Edinburgh for the rest of the season.

Even worse, the dream concluded with my boss asking me to do some legal research on whatever remedies Price might have against the agent for inducing him into the contract without explaining its terms.

F*** me, even my dreams are monotonous.

Jaysus son. Even in my worst days getting beasted as a mid level associate, I never dreamed about work.

On the other hand, my favourite dream about being selected by Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang to join them in propagating a new master species in a luxury pagoda with views of Mount Fuji is one that I have always been able to reach for. Happily.

[RDW]

Strauss to Sale Sharks

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39109485

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet...are the Glasgow fans in mourning?

[BigGee]

No surprise really, we knew it was coming. Probably the only real surprise is that he choose Sale rather than a big French club.

I exprect he is being well rewarded for his pains and has got a three year contract out of the deal as well, which is no bad thing for a 30 year old with plenty hard miles on the clock and a bit of an injury history.

JS has been a great player for Glasgow no doubt about it, but as ever in professional sport, we need to move on.

[IanBru]

JS has been a great player for Glasgow no doubt about it, but as ever in professional sport, we need to move on.

It would be interesting to do a study of these high-profile players at Scottish professional clubs, marking their varying success and effectiveness (and the overall effectiveness of the team, which they facilitate) over their time playing here.

Of course, it's almost impossible to quantify, but looking at Matawalu for example, his first six months were pretty ordinary, then he was incredible for about a year, then good but inconsistent for the remaining 18 months.

My point, and I do have one, is to question whether Strauss would continue to be as effective for Glasgow (as a function of wage investment) in the next three years as he has been in the last five.

[jimbopip]

JS has been a great player for Glasgow no doubt about it, but as ever in professional sport, we need to move on.

It would be interesting to do a study of these high-profile players at Scottish professional clubs, marking their varying success and effectiveness (and the overall effectiveness of the team, which they facilitate) over their time playing here.

Of course, it's almost impossible to quantify, but looking at Matawalu for example, his first six months were pretty ordinary, then he was incredible for about a year, then good but inconsistent for the remaining 18 months.

My point, and I do have one, is to question whether Strauss would continue to be as effective for Glasgow (as a function of wage investment) in the next three years as he has been in the last five.

Indeed, I had quite a heated discussion with Schiz about this after one match (actually quite tepid by his standards). His take on it was that Bluto was far and away the best "import" Glasgow have ever signed. He based this mainly on the bearded one's consistency, courage and cussedness. Schiz argued he led by example and single handedly dragged the team over the winning line on more than one occasion. We could all see that spirit in Paris recently when he looked absolutely dead at each stop in play but then picked himself off the floor and took the battle to the French forwards with undiminished ferocity. he is a true Warrior and will be sadly missed.

p.s. I argued in favour of Sleepy Sean, in case anyone cares. He made the Glasgow backs a lot more "streetwise" in defence and confident and clinical in attack.

[funnyExiledScot]

I think I'd side with Schiz on Strauss being the best import for the Weegies, although Nakarawa and Matawalu were both absolutely inspired at times. Bluto has been relentlessly consistent, and has typified the team work ethic upon which the Warriors have been built.

Best import for Edinburgh in my opinion would be WP Nel, albeit there's a case to be made for Tim Visser.

[tigertattie]

but more importantly, who is hotter, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang or Seven of Nine?

[RDW]

but more importantly, who is hotter, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang or Seven of Nine?

Absolutely no debate required.

Next?

[jimbopip]

I think I'd side with Schiz on Strauss being the best import for the Weegies, although Nakarawa and Matawalu were both absolutely inspired at times. Bluto has been relentlessly consistent, and has typified the team work ethic upon which the Warriors have been built.

Best import for Edinburgh in my opinion would be WP Nel, albeit there's a case to be made for Tim Visser.

In my defence, that was before Big Leone came into his own. However, I'm not sure that you can compare him with anyone else. Players like him take their magic with them and it's debatable as to what lasting effect they have on the club. For instance Cap'n Kellock wasn't half the player that Leone is, but has had a much greater and longer lasting impact on the Warriors.

[IanBru]

but more importantly, who is hotter, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang or Seven of Nine?

Absolutely no debate required.

Next?

Hmm... I was more into Jadzia Dax, and maybe Caprica Six from Battlestar Galactica.

[tigertattie]

Ooooo. Caprica Six is a shout! Only issue is she can't populate a planet with you!

Dax is a no no coz she was man in a previous life!

Seven of Nine though! Yummy

[George Carlin]

You're all completely ruining my favourite dream. #WhenNerdsGoOffPiste

[tigertattie]

You're all completely ruining my favourite dream. #WhenNerdsGoOffPiste

Bet you wanted to pork Janeway!

[funnyExiledScot]

I think I'd side with Schiz on Strauss being the best import for the Weegies, although Nakarawa and Matawalu were both absolutely inspired at times. Bluto has been relentlessly consistent, and has typified the team work ethic upon which the Warriors have been built.

Best import for Edinburgh in my opinion would be WP Nel, albeit there's a case to be made for Tim Visser.

Cap'n Kellock wasn't half the player that Leone is.

Agree 100%

[RuggerRadge2611]

You're all completely ruining my favourite dream. #WhenNerdsGoOffPiste

Bet you wanted to pork Janeway!

Seven of nine is by far my favourite. She could assimilate any part of me she wanted.

[funnyExiledScot]

Does it make me cool that I haven't got the faintest idea what any of you are talking about?

[bsando]

According to an article I read in the Guardian James O'connor is not going to get his Toulon contract extended. If he were keen to stick around in Europe I think he would be an incredible signing for Glasgow Warriors. The clubs culture is probably exactly what would benefit his style of play. Long shot perhaps and maybe too expensive to attract but you never know, I would love to see him turn his career around at Glasgow.

[RDW]

According to an article I read in the Guardian James O'connor is not going to get his Toulon contract extended. If he were keen to stick around in Europe I think he would be an incredible signing for Glasgow Warriors. The clubs culture is probably exactly what would benefit his style of play. Long shot perhaps and maybe too expensive to attract but you never know, I would love to see him turn his career around at Glasgow.

Given his previous history of off the field incidents - and his latest run in with the police over drugs charges - I don't think he's the kind of player Glasgow should be targeting. Could be more hassle than it is worth!

[funnyExiledScot]

According to an article I read in the Guardian James O'connor is not going to get his Toulon contract extended. If he were keen to stick around in Europe I think he would be an incredible signing for Glasgow Warriors. The clubs culture is probably exactly what would benefit his style of play. Long shot perhaps and maybe too expensive to attract but you never know, I would love to see him turn his career around at Glasgow.

Given his previous history of off the field incidents - and his latest run in with the police over drugs charges - I don't think he's the kind of player Glasgow should be targeting. Could be more hassle than it is worth!

If it's drugs he's after than surely Edinburgh would make more sense. You could inject JOC with horse tranquillizer and he'd still play better than Bryce.

[RDW]

Interesting 7s squad - Tom Brown and Sean Kennedy involved and Hugh Blake is back!

Calum MacRae has made five changes to his squad as Scotland 7s look to continue their encouraging start to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Las Vegas this weekend.

Edinburgh Rugby’s Sean Kennedy and Tom Brown are included for the first time this series after impressive performances in the Guinness PRO12 while Hugh Blake also travels with the team for the first time this year.



London Scottish’s Ally Miller is in line to make his Scotland 7s debut, the former Scotland U20s man included in a World Series squad for the first time.

Elsewhere Dougie Fife and captain Scott Riddell have overcome injuries to be included having missed out in Sydney while Joe Nayacavou returns having spent time with the Army team.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that James Johnstone (shoulder), Gavin Lowe (shoulder) and Nick McLennan (knee) have all successfully undergone surgery and are likely to miss the rest of the series.

Scotland have been drawn in Pool D alongside Australia, Fiji and Japan.

Scotland 7s head coach Calum MacRae said: “Having reviewed our performances in Wellington and Sydney, it was apparent that in certain areas of our game, we didn't deliver accurately enough.

“This week is an opportunity for us to get back to the high standards set so far this year and play to our strengths as a team.

“Even with the challenges to the squad, Sean (Kennedy) and Tom (Brown) are experienced players coming in who will add our team and have been in the Sevens environment before.

“Hugh (Blake) was one of the teams most influencial and consistent performers last series and its great to welcome him back into the group for the rest of the series.

“Ally Miller is a bright prospect and like others before him, will use the Sevens programme as a pathway to accelerate his development for his back row position in fifteens. He is another exciting talent who will gain a huge amount from the challenging World Series competition.

“We will have to be at our best to progress from this pool and are looking forward what lies ahead."

Scotland 7s captain Scott Riddell said: “From our review of Sydney, we have worked on a couple of specific areas and made strides forward in each of these.

“Collectively, we were disappointed with the overall performance in Sydney and Vegas is a massive opportunity for us to move forward.

“Our initial goal for any tournament we play in is to get into the Cup Quarter Finals and Vegas is no different, to do this we need to improve on our individual and collective performance from Sydney.”



Scotland 7s fixtures in the fifth leg of the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series in Las Vegas, Saturday 4 March & Sunday 5 March (Kick-off times in GMT)


4 March

00.31am - Scotland 7s v Australia 7s

3.08am - Scotland 7s vs Fiji 7s

9.28pm - Scotland 7s vs Japan 7s



5 March

Fixtures TBC



Scotland 7s squad to compete in Las Vegas (World Series tournaments in brackets)


1. Scott Riddell (53) – Captain

2. Dougie Fife (10)

3. Ally Miller (0)

4. Gregor Hunter (1)

5. Tom Brown (2)

6. Mark Robertson (51)

7. Jamie Farndale (15)

8. Joseva Nayacavou (21)

9. Sean Kennedy (6)

10. Scott Wight (24)

11. James Fleming (37)

12. Fraser Lyle (11)

13. Hugh Blake (10)

[funnyExiledScot]

I'm delighted to see Blake back. He's 24, and could still have a big future in Scottish rugby. I'm also pleased that we've found a home for Dougie Fife.

[BigGee]

Well sending Tom Brown off to play sevens presumably means that Hodge has eventually worked out that Scholes is a pretty decent winger. Something that most other people could probably have told him anyway. After his performance last weekend, one of the few highlights from an Edinburgh perspective, you would expect him to get a couple of games now to see if he can back it up.

Good to see Blake back. It was all a bit odd him going back to NZ to play XVs like that, maybe he just wanted to get back up to speed and then challenge for the Glasgow spot? With Favaro off next year, there may well be room for another back row player at Glasgow. Matt Smith and Fargerson are still young with plenty to learn and won't be first choice picks for some time. Chris Fusaro seems to be struggling a bit now and may never have been go enough in any case.

Good to see Aly Miller getting a chance as well. He really has been playing well for LS this year and must be in with a shout of a pro contract.

[funnyExiledScot]

Well sending Tom Brown off to play sevens presumably means that Hodge has eventually worked out that Scholes is a pretty decent winger. Something that most other people could probably have told him anyway. After his performance last weekend, one of the few highlights from an Edinburgh perspective, you would expect him to get a couple of games now to see if he can back it up.

Good to see Blake back. It was all a bit odd him going back to NZ to play XVs like that, maybe he just wanted to get back up to speed and then challenge for the Glasgow spot? With Favaro off next year, there may well be room for another back row player at Glasgow. Matt Smith and Fargerson are still young with plenty to learn and won't be first choice picks for some time. Chris Fusaro seems to be struggling a bit now and may never have been go enough in any case.

Good to see Aly Miller getting a chance as well. He really has been playing well for LS this year and must be in with a shout of a pro contract.

Well in that case we can expect to welcome him at Edinburgh in the summer.....

[EWT Spoons]

Well sending Tom Brown off to play sevens presumably means that Hodge has eventually worked out that Scholes is a pretty decent winger. Something that most other people could probably have told him anyway. After his performance last weekend, one of the few highlights from an Edinburgh perspective, you would expect him to get a couple of games now to see if he can back it up.

Good to see Blake back. It was all a bit odd him going back to NZ to play XVs like that, maybe he just wanted to get back up to speed and then challenge for the Glasgow spot? With Favaro off next year, there may well be room for another back row player at Glasgow. Matt Smith and Fargerson are still young with plenty to learn and won't be first choice picks for some time. Chris Fusaro seems to be struggling a bit now and may never have been go enough in any case.

Good to see Aly Miller getting a chance as well. He really has been playing well for LS this year and must be in with a shout of a pro contract.

Well in that case we can expect to welcome him at Edinburgh in the summer.....

....at tight head

[George Carlin]

I'm delighted to see Blake back. He's 24, and could still have a big future in Scottish rugby. I'm also pleased that we've found a home for Dougie Fife.

Dougie Fife can dine out on scoring the winning try at the Twickers 7s for quite some time yet.

James Johnstone being out for the whole season is really not good news, but getting Huge back is, well, huge.

Funny to not see Colin Gregor in there - I can only assume with that haircut and slightly louche sneer he will transition quickly and successfully to the adult film business.

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