6N 2017: Scotland vs Wales, 25th Feb

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Scotland vs Wales


Date: Saturday 25th February 2017
Venue: BT Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Kick Off: 2:25pm
Referee: John Lacey (Ireland)
TV Coverage: Live on BBC

Weather Update


Teams

Scotland

1. Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors)
2. Faiser Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors)
4. Richie Gray (Toulouse)
5. Johnny Gray (Glasgow Warriors)
6. John Barclay (C) (Scarlets)
7. John Hardie (Edinburgh)
8. Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors)

9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors)
10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors)
11. Tim Visser (Harlequins)
12. Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors)
13. Huw Jones (Stormers)
14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors)
15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors)

Replacements

16 Ross Ford (Edinburgh)
17 Allan Dell (Edinburgh)
18 Simon Berghan (Edinburgh)
19 Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors)
20 Hamish Watson (Edinburgh)
21 Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors)
22 Duncan Weir (Edinburgh)
23 Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors)


Wales

1 Rob Evans (Scarlets)
2 Ken Owens (Scarlets)
3 Tomas Francis (Exeter Chiefs)
4 Jake Ball (Scarlets)
5 Alun Wyn Jones (C) (Ospreys)
6 Sam Warburton (Cardiff Blues)
7 Justin Tipuric (Ospreys)
8 Ross Moriarty (Gloucester)

9 Rhys Webb (Ospreys)
10 Dan Biggar (Ospreys)
11 Liam Williams (Scarlets)
12 Scott Williams (Scarlets)
13 Jonathan Davies (Scarlets)
14 George North (Northampton)
15 Leigh Halfpenny (Toulon)

Replacements

16 Scott Baldwin (Ospreys)
17 Nicky Smith (Ospreys)
18 Samson Lee (Scarlets)
19 Luke Charteris (Bath)
20 Taulupe Faletau (Dragons)
21 Gareth Davies (Scarlets)
22 Sam Davies (Ospreys)
23 Jamie Roberts (Harlequins)

R!skysports wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

Cyril wrote:Scotland like to drip-feed their squad announcements don't they?

15   h

o

g

g

Turnstile Tim

For me, it's not even the drip-feeding that's annoying, it's that when they release the subs first, it makes the rest of the team fairly obvious - as soon as we saw Dell, Watson and Pyrgos and Bennett on the bench, we basically knew 90% of the starting team by elimination! Which again makes the subsequent drip-feeding particularly pointless!

Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

Head Coach Vern Cotter today confirmed back-row John Barclay will captain Scotland against Wales this Saturday in the RBS 6 Nations at BT Murrayfield (25 February, kick-off 2.25pm) – live on BBC.

The 30-year-old Scarlets loose forward takes on the mantle from scrum-half Greig Laidlaw, who was ruled out of the championship after sustaining an ankle injury in the previous round against France in Paris.

Barclay took on the captaincy that day, though the experience was short-lived, as he too left the field – with a shoulder and head injury – from which he recovered during the recent fallow week in the competition.

It will be the second time that the former Scotland U19 and U21 captain has led the senior side, the first being in similar circumstances in the 2010 autumn test against New Zealand, when he took on the role from injured captain and scrum-half, Mike Blair.

Scotland Head Coach Vern Cotter, said: “John has played a vital role in our leadership group and has led by example throughout this and previous campaigns.

“It was disappointing to lose Greig [Laidlaw] however we continue to develop a system of shared leadership in this squad, which has supported this transition.

“It’ll be a proud moment for John and one which he thoroughly deserves.”

The absence of the injured Laidlaw prompts one of three injury-enforced changes to the side, with Glasgow Warriors’ Ali Price set to make his first start for the national team.

Back-row Ryan Wilson has long-since recovered from the elbow infection that kept him out of the France game and replaces the injured Josh Strauss (kidney), while Harlequins wing Tim Visser gets his first opportunity of the championship as a straight swap for Sean Maitland, who has failed to recover sufficiently from the rib injury sustained representing Saracens last weekend.

A further two tactical changes see Gordon Reid and John Hardie get their first start of the campaign, trading places with their respective compatriots Allan Dell and Hamish Watson, who have been named on the bench after starting the opening two games.

The rest of the squad is unchanged, meaning Price will partner clubmate Finn Russell at half-back, centres Alex Dunbar and Huw Jones start their fifth match in six tests, while Tommy Seymour and Stuart Hogg start out wide once more.

Reid will be joined by fellow Warriors Fraser Brown (hooker) and Zander Fagerson in the front-row, with the pack completed by brothers Jonny and Richie Gray at lock.

Cotter added: “We’ve now had two weeks to recover, reflect and prepare a new game plan for Wales. “We know the Welsh will throw everything at us but we will keep our attacking mind-set and look to convert pressure to points as often as possible.

“The players have worked hard to prepare for this game and are really looking forward to putting in a top performance. “It’s a huge weekend in the championship and we’re still right in the mix.”

Scotland team to play Wales at BT Murrayfield in the RBS 6 Nations
Saturday 25 February (kick-off 2.25pm) – live on BBC

15. Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 50 caps; 16 tries, 3 pens, 89 points

14. Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 33 caps; 14 tries, 70 points
13. Huw Jones (Stormers) – 5 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
12. Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps; 6 tries, 30 points
11. Tim Visser (Harlequins) – 28 caps; 11 tries, 55 points

10. Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps; 2 tries, 3 cons, 3 pens, 25 points
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 2 caps

1. Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps
2. Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 22 caps
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 6 caps
4. Richie Gray (Toulouse) – 62 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
5. Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 30 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
6. John Barclay CAPTAIN (Scarlets) – 57 caps; 4 tries, 20 points
7. John Hardie (Edinburgh Rugby) – 14 caps; 3 tries, 15 points
8. Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps

Substitutes:
16. Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) – 104 caps; 2 tries, 10 points
17. Allan Dell (Edinburgh Rugby) – 5 caps
18. Simon Berghan (Edinburgh Rugby) – 1 cap
19. Tim Swinson (Glasgow Warriors) – 27 caps; 1 try, 5 points
20. Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Rugby) – 7 caps; 1 try, 5 points
21. Henry Pyrgos (Glasgow Warriors) – 18 caps; 4 tries, 3 pens, 29 points
22. Duncan Weir (Edinburgh Rugby) – 25 caps; 2 tries, 7 cons, 10 pens, 1 drop, 57 points
23. Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps; 6 tries, 30 points

13 of the starting 15 are former, current or future Glasgow players!

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

Strange Watson has dropped to the bench. He's possibly been one of our standout players so far, and Hardie got 10-15mins before getting knocked out. Not really sure what Watson has done to justify losing his starting place or what Hardie has done to justify starting.

Unless it's because Vern thinks Watson will offer more coming off the bench than Hardie.

R!skysports wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

He only played because Duncan Taylor failed a late fitness test. Sarries were well within their rights to pick him.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

He only played because Duncan Taylor failed a late fitness test.  Sarries were well within their rights to pick him.

There must be restrictions in place

Can you imagine if Farrel was forced to play and got injured

R!sky, have you always had an exclamation mark in your name or is it a new feature? Noticed it the other day but not before!

R!skysports wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

Yeah, Maitland has been consistently good for us this 6Ns, defensively vital contribution and doesn't make many mistakes. I assume Sarries must have the contractual right to play him when they want otherwise no way the SRU should have allowed it. I think Taylor would have been worth playing on the wing instead of Visser in this instance, replace one strong defender with another and help protect Hogg who can be equally Visser-esque in his tackling efforts.

R!skysports wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

He only played because Duncan Taylor failed a late fitness test.  Sarries were well within their rights to pick him.

There must be restrictions in place

Can you imagine if Farrel was forced to play and got injured

Farrell is part of the RFU Elite Playing Squad so is protected.

Scottish players playing outside of Scotland have to play for their clubs on rest weeks if they are picked.

The Scarlets could have picked Barclay if he wasn't injured and luckily RIchie Gray wasn't picked by Toulouse as he would have had to play for them too.

I'm really delighted JB has been made captain, he is a quality player - his prolonged exclusion by the muppet Johnson is looking more ridiculous by the game.

I'm quite happy with Hardie on from the start, we will need Watson's energy in the last 30 and he is player who can really up the tempo. Overall, I have big concerns that we won't be able to deal with the Welsh packs experience and power off the bench...if we can somehow get parity upfront then we can cause them problems.

Is this the game that Finn Russell shows that he can manage a game on the back foot? I have my doubts, but I am looking for a mature performance from him, it's absolutely crucial we don't spend as often in our own half as we did against France. He and Price need to show nouse and game management skills they possibly don't possess yet.

Griff wrote:R!sky, have you always had an exclamation mark in your name or is it a new feature?  Noticed it the other day but not before!

It's to help me, to cut a long story short my work internet blocked the word RSports, I'm not typing it here because it will almost certaily lock me out of this thread for the remainder of the day.

He changed his name to be accommodating to me. Which was jolly nice of him.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Griff wrote:R!sky, have you always had an exclamation mark in your name or is it a new feature?  Noticed it the other day but not before!

It's to help me, to cut a long story short my work internet blocked the word RSports, I'm not typing it here because it will almost certaily lock me out of this thread for the remainder of the day.

He changed his name to be accommodating to me. Which was jolly nice of him.

And it makes me look cool

MacKnocked-on wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

Yeah, Maitland has been consistently good for us this 6Ns, defensively vital contribution and doesn't make many mistakes. I assume Sarries must have the contractual right to play him when they want otherwise no way the SRU should have allowed it. I think Taylor would have been worth playing on the wing instead of Visser in this instance, replace one strong defender with another and help protect Hogg who can be equally Visser-esque in his tackling efforts.  

Taylor wasn't deemed fit for Sarries game at at the weekend, so I assume wouldn't be fit for an international game. Also I don't think he's played much (or at all) for several months. Asking him to step up to this game, having not played in months, would be tough going even if he was 100% fit.

Visser has looked dangerous all season for Quins and been better in the air than he used to be.

I would have preferred to see Scott at 23 than Bennett but that is picking at flies. If the scrums get parity, Scotland will have a good chance. Almost beat France away giving up 50m per scrum.

Hazel Sapling wrote:Visser has looked dangerous all season for Quins and been better in the air than he used to be.  

I would have preferred to see Scott at 23 than Bennett but that is picking at flies. If the scrums get parity, Scotland will have a good chance. Almost beat France away giving up 50m per scrum.

But for some reason he always looks disinterested when playing for Scotland. Hopefully he will bring Quins form rather than old Scotland form to the table

Time for Tim to step up or ship off!

If he mucks up on Saturday then I can't see him getting further games for Scotland.

Personally I'd have put Jones on the wing and Scott or Bennett at 13 with the other on the bench!

EWT Spoons wrote:

MacKnocked-on wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

Yeah, Maitland has been consistently good for us this 6Ns, defensively vital contribution and doesn't make many mistakes. I assume Sarries must have the contractual right to play him when they want otherwise no way the SRU should have allowed it. I think Taylor would have been worth playing on the wing instead of Visser in this instance, replace one strong defender with another and help protect Hogg who can be equally Visser-esque in his tackling efforts.  

Taylor wasn't deemed fit for Sarries game at at the weekend, so I assume wouldn't be fit for an international game.  Also I don't think he's played much (or at all) for several months.  Asking him to step up to this game, having not played in months, would be tough going even if he was 100% fit.

I hadn't realised he didn't play at the weekend, I had seen his name at 15 in the Sarries team sheet but didn't know he hadn't played. Still a big blow to us having Maitland out, as I say, Hogg isn't the strongest defender so hopefully Visser can up that aspect of his own game.

R!skysports wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:

Griff wrote:R!sky, have you always had an exclamation mark in your name or is it a new feature?  Noticed it the other day but not before!

It's to help me, to cut a long story short my work internet blocked the word RSports, I'm not typing it here because it will almost certaily lock me out of this thread for the remainder of the day.

He changed his name to be accommodating to me. Which was jolly nice of him.

And it makes me look cool

Edgy, I'd say. Whatever that means A lovely gesture though.

MacKnocked-on wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:

MacKnocked-on wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Oh god, Visser against North could be a long afternoon

was fuming when I saw Maitland was playing at the weekend - how the f was that allowed to happen?

Yeah, Maitland has been consistently good for us this 6Ns, defensively vital contribution and doesn't make many mistakes. I assume Sarries must have the contractual right to play him when they want otherwise no way the SRU should have allowed it. I think Taylor would have been worth playing on the wing instead of Visser in this instance, replace one strong defender with another and help protect Hogg who can be equally Visser-esque in his tackling efforts.  

Taylor wasn't deemed fit for Sarries game at at the weekend, so I assume wouldn't be fit for an international game.  Also I don't think he's played much (or at all) for several months.  Asking him to step up to this game, having not played in months, would be tough going even if he was 100% fit.

I hadn't realised he didn't play at the weekend, I had seen his name at 15 in the Sarries team sheet but didn't know he hadn't played. Still a big blow to us having Maitland out, as I say, Hogg isn't the strongest defender so hopefully Visser can up that aspect of his own game.

Aye it's why Maitland played. He wasn't due to, but Taylor dropped out at the last min.

Visser is good, I'm confident he will do well replacing Maitland who is obviously still a big loss. If Scoland get on the front foot more this weekend then it will be good having a devastating finisher like Visser on the wing.

If Moriarty decides to have a similar 50 minutes to the last time out then Hardie is probably better equipped to deal with it than Watson, providing he can stay conscious. Watson will come on and up the tempo towards the end. Hardie possibly more of a leader on the field than Watson given he's more experienced? That may also be a consideration given Laidlaw is out

Don't mind Visser replacing Maitland, he's been a stand-out for Quins this year.

Got a serious problem with Hardie starting ahead of Watson though, that just reeks of favouritism.

Hardie has done nothing to deserve a start ahead of one of our best performers.

Hardie offers less in attack and at the breakdown.

bsando wrote:Visser is good, I'm confident he will do well replacing Maitland who is obviously still a big loss. If Scoland get on the front foot more this weekend then it will be good having a devastating finisher like Visser on the wing.

Equally if anyone in a green shirt happens to find themselves strolling down his wing holding ball they'll be 5 points to the good.

Gooseberry wrote:

bsando wrote:Visser is good, I'm confident he will do well replacing Maitland who is obviously still a big loss. If Scoland get on the front foot more this weekend then it will be good having a devastating finisher like Visser on the wing.

Equally if anyone in a green shirt happens to find themselves strolling down his wing holding ball they'll be 5 points to the good.

Green ?

munkian wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:

bsando wrote:Visser is good, I'm confident he will do well replacing Maitland who is obviously still a big loss. If Scoland get on the front foot more this weekend then it will be good having a devastating finisher like Visser on the wing.

Equally if anyone in a green shirt happens to find themselves strolling down his wing holding ball they'll be 5 points to the good.

Green ?

Or red

Colour blind

munkian wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:

bsando wrote:Visser is good, I'm confident he will do well replacing Maitland who is obviously still a big loss. If Scoland get on the front foot more this weekend then it will be good having a devastating finisher like Visser on the wing.

Equally if anyone in a green shirt happens to find themselves strolling down his wing holding ball they'll be 5 points to the good.

Green ?

Bloody cheating teams, have 2 squads on the pitch against us........

We must be be less naive

I suggest we had NZ on the pitch with us. We can use the 2007 strips - as they were the same anyway

It's a good effort from Cotter in terms of team selection, and is all perfectly justifiable. Our bench isn't nearly as good as the Welsh bench, so we'll need to be ahead going into the last 20 minutes in my view.

Huge game for Ali Price and Ryan Wilson at the back of the scrum, which I think will struggle again. Two hot headed players with everything to prove at this level. Both are also talented and handy players to have in a fast and open game, let's hope we can engineer one!

funnyExiledScot wrote:It's a good effort from Cotter in terms of team selection, and is all perfectly justifiable. Our bench isn't nearly as good as the Welsh bench, so we'll need to be ahead going into the last 20 minutes in my view.

Huge game for Ali Price and Ryan Wilson at the back of the scrum, which I think will struggle again. Two hot headed players with everything to prove at this level. Both are also talented and handy players to have in a fast and open game, let's hope we can engineer one!

Rubbish, there are holes all over this selection and I can not believe some of these players are still being picked
..


Sorry, not used to a sensible team selection for our coaches and seem to slip back to a few years ago (In essense Pre ! R!isky)

Like this team selection

Bench a bit weak, but that due to lack of depth in Scottish Rugby

A bit worried about Timmy Turnstyle - but lets see

The thing with Timmy is he needs to score more tries than he lets in - against France last year he did, and against Australia this year he didn't. It's painfully simple.

My hope, as ever, is that he'll bring his club form to the international table.

Despite being a bit of a saloon door in defence Tim Visser is an absolute lethal finisher.

Visser is an absolute conundrum though, how is a 6ft 5 17st winger such a wuss in defence?

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Despite being a bit of a saloon door in defence Tim Visser is an absolute lethal finisher.

Visser is an absolute conundrum though, how is a 6ft 5 17st winger such a wuss in defence?

Dutch Cuthbert

Cuthbert scores tries?

Tim does need to work on his finishing, in that he makes zero attempt to get closer to the posts.  He will literally put the ball down wherever he crosses the line, which in some cases is fine, get the ball down and happy days, but where possible get near the posts. It used to frustrate me no end watching him at Edinburgh put the ball down in the corner when he could easily jog a wee bit further round and make it easier for the kicker.

With Laidlaw that wasn't so much of an issue as his kicking is superb, but Russell isn't at the same level, so if Tim does get over the try line, he needs to help Russell out a bit.

IanBru wrote:The thing with Timmy is he needs to score more tries than he lets in - against France last year he did, and against Australia tlhis year he didn't. It's painfully simple.

My hope, as ever, is that he'll bring his club form to the international table.

I hate to contradict my esteemed friend but.... Turnstile Tim's display against the Wallabies was one of the most inept and embarrassing I have witnessed on a rugby field. And I include young Pipetto's frequent impersonations of a traffic policeman at rush hour on the Via Gran. It's not that he can't tackle it's that he actively gets out of the way of opposing players, or "Those nasty, brutish big boys" as he calls them.

I like to think that I'm slightly less choleric than GC's Mildly Racist Uncle Dougie, but McMisser's performance that day verged on cowardice in the face of the enemy. I say "verged on" because he only sporadically got close enough to the action to qualify as a coward: the rest of the time he was well and truly MIA.

He really needs to show some backbone on Saturday; fecc it, if he gets a red for chinning Dan Biggar (as in my petted lip is biggar than yours) I'll forgive him.

I believe the u20 game is being streamed on the SRU website on Friday night, if anyone is interested.

EWT Spoons wrote:I believe the u20 game is being streamed on the SRU website on Friday night, if anyone is interested.

It is. You often get a good game out of the U20s too!

I think the womans game is being streamed also but I'd suggest you give that a wide berth!

Looks like it's on BBC red button too. Guessing BBC Wales though. But if you have Sky then it should be on one of the regional channels. Up in the 900s somewhere.

Griff wrote:Looks like it's on BBC red button too. Guessing BBC Wales though. But if you have Sky then it should be on one of the regional channels. Up in the 900s somewhere.

Be careful when you get into the 900s....or so I've been told.

Griff wrote:Looks like it's on BBC red button too. Guessing BBC Wales though. But if you have Sky then it should be on one of the regional channels. Up in the 900s somewhere.

BBC Wales is just the Blouse, I think.

I've noticed that Cuthbert has been released back to the Blues whereas Steff Evans hasn't for the Scarlets.

Does this show that Evans is the reserve back for Saturday? If so, it's a couple of weeks late!

RiscaGame wrote:

Griff wrote:Looks like it's on BBC red button too. Guessing BBC Wales though. But if you have Sky then it should be on one of the regional channels. Up in the 900s somewhere.

BBC Wales is just the Blouse, I think.

I was going by this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08h3fws

Edit: they usually show all of the Welsh u20s games on BBC Wales or S4C, and I don't usually have to press no damn red button!

I've just been on the Sky TV guide and rather confusingly BBC2 Wales says that they are showing Blues v Edinburgh from 7pm. It says 'we will then be joining live coverage of Scotland v Wales u20 from Glasgow'. So missing some/most of the match?!

I've heard that the second half of Scotland U20 v Wales U20 will be shown on BBC 2 Wales tomorrow night.

RDW_Scotland wrote:

Griff wrote:Looks like it's on BBC red button too. Guessing BBC Wales though. But if you have Sky then it should be on one of the regional channels. Up in the 900s somewhere.

Be careful when you get into the 900s....or so I've been told.

Yeah GC told me that as well

RDW_Scotland wrote:

Griff wrote:Looks like it's on BBC red button too. Guessing BBC Wales though. But if you have Sky then it should be on one of the regional channels. Up in the 900s somewhere.

Be careful when you get into the 900s....or so I've been told.

It's a minefield when you're 'innocently' flicking through the 900s: BBC2 Wales, BBC2 Norfolk, BBC2 Some Village in Middle England, Television X.... Whoops!

international198 wrote:I've heard that the second half of Scotland U20 v Wales U20 will be shown on BBC 2 Wales tomorrow night.

But why only half a game?! They ALWAYS show all of the Wales u20 games. They showed all of the Itlay game and that was in Italy. You'd think they would manage to show all of the Scotland one. Nothing of note on S4C in that time slot, probably.