Glasgow and The Disapproving Neighbours 18 At Last! Whose Round is it?

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Insert funny image here, probably of a genuine Glaswegian; none of your See-an Canary nonsense here.

Insert an image summing up the pretentiousness of Luvviedom. Grant Gilchrist in a kilt eating shortbread?

Add some statistics; time elapsed, in decades, since Ickle Jonny missed a tackle. Time elapsed, in eons, since someone stayed awake for the whole 80 minutes at the Library.

Make some witty banterish comment to start the ball rolling.

See! How hard was that?

BigGee wrote:Bradbury been stripped of Edinburgh captaincy apparently, McKenzie taking over.

Waiting for the whole report to come out but that probably sounds fair enough. It did not seem to be sitting to easily on him in any case, maybe it was just to soon.

I can see the sense in McKenzie. He's a workhorse and won't be distracted by Scotland duties. An underrated player.

A few more details of the Bradbury incident - apparently the internal disciplinary review came to the conclusion that he was under the influence of alcohol, had fallen and knocked himself out and an ambulance was called to treat him.

So on the stupid drunken behaviour scale that is quite high for a professional rugby player (Andy Powell with the golf cart driving and traffic cone on his head being top of the scale), so Cockerill didn't really have much choice!

RDW_Scotland wrote:A few more details of the Bradbury incident - apparently the internal disciplinary review came to the conclusion that he was under the influence of alcohol, had fallen and knocked himself out and an ambulance was called to treat him.

So on the stupid drunken behaviour scale that is quite high for a professional rugby player (Andy Powell with the golf cart driving and traffic cone on his head being top of the scale), so Cockerill didn't really have much choice!

Hopefully he learns his lesson!

This is mildly interesting in regard to the doomed "u20s as a second national team" qualification law.

Excerpt from The Scotsman wrote:Gregor Townsend has assured Scotland supporters that there will be no repeat of the Steven Shingler fiasco after naming a former Wales Under-20 international in his 36-man squad for next month’s autumn Test series.

Pembroke-born 25-year-old Luke Hamilton, whose father was born in Stirling, turned out for Wales Under-20s in the 2012 Junior World Cup, playing in a historic 9-6 win over the Baby Blacks of New Zealand while he was with Cardiff Blues.

In the same year, Scotland coach Andy Robinson and the SRU were left with egg on their faces when they called up Scarlets utility back Shingler, whose mother was born in Dumfries, only for the then IRB, now World Rugby, to rule that he was only eligible to play for Wales after also representing their Under-20 side which, as was the case with Hamilton, was the Welsh union’s designated “second” team in terms of international eligibility.

The World Rugby Regulation 8 states that a player is not allowed to switch nationalities if he has represented a “National Representative Team, the next senior 15-a-side National Representative Team and the senior National Representative Sevens Team”.

The difference with the Shingler case was that his game was against France, who were the only other major nation to have the Under-20 team as their second designated “capture team” at the time. Hamilton never played against France.

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby-union/scotland/scotland-insist-luke-hamilton-call-up-is-no-shingler-mark-2-1-4595534

This is news to me, so if I get this right; if a nation's u20s side is "the next senior 15-a-side National Representative Team" a player is only tied to that country if they play against another u20s side that is also a "next senior 15-a-side National Representative Team", like France or South Africa?

Off the top of my head it's quite literally only France and South Africa that had/have the same policy as Wales, so only matches between these three sides would tie a player to a nation, and not any u20s match.

I suddenly had a vain hope that is was the same case for Brandon Thomson (Scottish father) as it is for Hamilton. As we know, Thomson played for SA u20s and, unfortunately, he did play against France u20s at the 2015 WC. So that puts that to bed.

Makes me wonder who else could be lurking in the shadows that could win the toonie tombola. To be fair, I can't see too many unfamiliar faces arriving after the current crop, because to 2019 WC kicks off in less than 2 years time

George Horne and Adam Hastings make their first starts for the Warriors as the Southern Kings come to Glasgow for the first time.

A sold-out Scotstoun Stadium will witness the South African side playing their first game on Scottish soil and the game will be broadcast live on BBC ALBA, (kick-off 7.35pm).

Fresh from signing a new two-year contract this week, Nick Grigg starts outside of the half backs and is joined by Sam Johnson in midfield.

At full-back, Stuart Hogg retains his place and Lee Jones and Niko Matawalu start outside of him, the Fijian making his first start of the season.

Rob Harley captains the side and is joined in the back-row by Matt Smith and Matt Fagerson.

The number 8’s older brother Zander starts in the front-row alongside Alex Allan and Pat MacArthur, while Scott Cummings and Jonny Gray pack down behind them.

On the bench BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy player Stafford McDowall could make his Warriors debut and Lelia Masaga is also in line to play his first game at Scotstoun having recovered from a calf injury.

Ryan Grant is involved for the first time since returning to the club, while Greg Peterson and Lewis Wynne also feature for the first time this season.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Adam Ashe will undergo surgery on an ankle injury sustained in last week's game against Leinster and is expected to be out of action for 10-12 weeks.

Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: "The previous couple of weeks in Europe have been good for us. It has highlighted the shifts we need to make in our game and the importance of accuracy and the patience to build pressure. We’ve been working hard on that part of the game.

"The Kings provide a similar challenge, an imposing set piece and an ability to hurt you deep in your territory. We see this game as a chance for redemption and have prepared well. There is a fresh look about our side which is exciting."

Glasgow Warriors team to play the Southern Kings in the Guinness PRO14 on BBC ALBA (kick-off 7.35pm). You can also follow the action on Twitter @GlasgowWarriors. Glasgow Warriors appearances in brackets:


15. Stuart Hogg (101)

14. Lee Jones (61)

13. Nick Grigg (28)

12. Sam Johnson (30)

11. Niko Matawalu (78)

10. Adam Hastings (1)

9. George Horne (4)



1. Alex Allan (57)

2. Pat MacArthur (159)

3. Zander Fagerson (57)

4. Scott Cummings (24)

5. Jonny Gray (76)

6. Robert Harley (168) CAPTAIN

7. Matt Smith (4)

8. Matt Fagerson (13)



Replacements:



16. George Turner (7)

17. Ryan Grant (109)

18. Adam Nicol (2)

19. Greg Peterson (22)

20. Lewis Wynne (15)

21. Ruaridh Jackson (120)

22. Stafford McDowall (0)

23. Lelia Masaga (1)



Unavailable players: Adam Ashe (ankle), Brian Alanu’uise (knee), Fraser Brown (knee), Alex Dunbar (knee), Callum Gibbins (head), Pete Horne (head), Rory Hughes (shoulder), Oli Kebble (foot), Paddy Kelly (ankle), Kiran McDonald (thigh), Henry Pyrgos (neck), Ratu Tagive (achilles), Richie Vernon (achilles), Samuela Vunisa (knee) and Ryan Wilson (head).

The average age of that team would be interesting

EDIT - It's not that interesting:

Avg. age first XV - 24
Avg. age bench - 25
Avg. age team - 24.4

Adam Ashe ruled out for 10-12 weeks due to ankle surgery. Real shame for him after a barnstorming start to the season but he definitely faded recently - I think he was overplayed as (from memory) he has played all but one game this season for Glasgow.

That's an "interesting" selection.
The return of Bane! (Not one of my favourite Movies That Were Never Made).
A 7 8 9 of Smith Fagerson.2 Horne Jr.
Finishing with Nikon Hogg Masaga as a back three.

I like Rennie's strategy of moving on by giving us a glimpse of the future.

realistically the unwashed ones should be winning this convincingly even with their very young team.

Lots of promise in some of these youngsters so they need to start getting games under their belts and there's really no better time that rocking up at home against the team that's points for and against tally makes Edinburgh look like world beaters!

Strong Edinburgh team with Scotland players getting a much needed run out. SHC starting even though Fowles was picked for Scotland ahead of him! Going to be a tough game against a much improved Treviso - a win would be a huge boost.

Head coach Richard Cockerill has named his side for tomorrow’s Guinness PRO14 clash against Benetton Rugby at Stadio Comunale di Monigo (Saturday 28 October, kick-off 3pm).

The team selection includes eight changes to the side who claimed a bonus point victory away to Krasny Yar in the European Challenge Cup last weekend. At full-back, Blair Kinghorn makes his 50th start for the club after scoring 16 of Edinburgh’s 73 points last weekend. A revamped wing pairing sees Dougie Fife and Jason Harries return to the starting XV for the trip to Italy.

In the midfield, James Johnstone continues at outside centre following his impressive outing against Krasny Yar. The Scotland Sevens man is joined by Phil Burleigh, who returns to the side after missing Edinburgh’s last two fixtures. Jason Tovey and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne once again link up at half-back.

In the front-row, WP Nel continues at tight-head as Edinburgh search for their fourth win on the bounce. The experienced internationalist will pack down alongside Stuart McInally and Darryl Marfo; both recent inclusions in Scotland’s Autumn Test squad. In the second-row, Fraser McKenzie skippers the side on his first outing as club captain. He is joined by Ben Toolis who returns to the fray after missing the trip to Moscow.

The only alteration to an otherwise unchanged back-row sees Hamish Watson return to the starting XV following a three-week layoff due to injury. The Scottish internationalist is joined by Cornell du Preez and Luke Crosbie, who makes his second consecutive start in the black and red.



Edinburgh team to face Benetton Rugby at Stadio Comunale di Monigo in the Guinness PRO14 on Saturday 28 October (kick-off 3pm)



15 Blair Kinghorn (49)



14 Dougie Fife (89)

13 James Johnstone (6)

12 Phil Burleigh (63)

11 Jason Harries (5)



10 Jason Tovey (30)

9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (90)



1 Darryl Marfo (8)

2 Stuart McInally (109)

3 WP Nel (110)

4 Fraser McKenzie CAPTAIN (86)

5 Ben Toolis (75)

6 Luke Crosbie (3)

7 Hamish Watson (76)

8 Cornell du Preez (88)



Replacements



16 Neil Cochrane (57)

17 Michele Rizzo (4)

18 Murray McCallum (22)

19 Grant Gilchrist (105)

20 Lewis Carmichael (16)

21 Nathan Fowles (40)

22 Glenn Bryce (27)

23 Chris Dean (48)

Quite a strong team all things considered.

Glad Tovey is back and fit, didn’t think that was going to be likely after his injury last week.

On paper should do well, but no idea how things will actually pan out, especially as Benetton have beaten us once already and look a far tougher side than previously. Bookies should have them as favourites for this game, but weirdly Edinburgh are…might be worth a punt.

Someone pressed the frantic button!

Niko started it! He's half brilliant. Half liability

We're certainly not a boring side...

Emptied. Well in Ragnar.

Munster dropping points means Glasgow will finish the weekend 12 points ahead in conference A.

Pleased to see James Johnstone continuing his run at outside centre, handy turn of place. Didn't see the Soap Dodgers last night but apparently George Horne was impressive which is very pleasing. Fingers and toes crossed for Edinburgh this afternoon. We owe Treviso a beating, but they're no pushovers these days (at least for us).

Is it not on telly? I can't find a stream ( edinburgh)

Eurosport apparently (not the one you get on sky)

Edinburgh scored 2 nice back line tries apparently!

Great result for Edinburgh 24-13. Big win given all that's been going on lately and Treviso being much improved this season.

If we can beat the ospreys next week it won't be too bad a first part of the season.

Great result, and what a U-turn Dougie Fife's career has made this season. He really deserves his place in Gregor's squad with the way he's been playing this season, great to see after it looked like his 15s career was fizzling out not so long ago

Good result for Edinburgh. I was following it on Twitter out here in Rome.

Dougie F looks like a man reborn. 2 years ago he was washed up and lucky to get a sevens contract. Scoring that try to win the London Sevens seems to have turned him around. You could easily see him getting capped again in 15s now. No-One else really making a compelling case for the second wingers spot.

Lee Jones would likely be the other option. His career was resurrected in sevens as well. Must be something to be said for the short form game.

http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41775695

Some nice tries by Edinburgh - all backs! The Burleigh-johnson-kinghorne axis linking up well. Nice line by Chris Dean for one try too.

Watching the scotland v tonga leauge game and its pretty shameful, scotland looking knackered after 20 minutes and just not doing anything with their possesion. I thought the scotland team was better than this. Think i will just stick to the union.

Just gone 28:0 at 26 minutes in, although the tongan player was in touch clearly but tmo awarded it

there is almost no league played in Scotland and the "scottish" league team really has very little to do with Scotland

TJ wrote:there is almost no league played in Scotland and the "scottish" league team really has very little to do with Scotland

Isn't the Scotland RL team just made up of a few aussie backpackers, some northern englishmen [who woke up with a hangover on the wrong side of the border] and Matty Russell?

EDIT

We have a whopping two Scots in the WC squad.

Is the qualification rule something like just turn up with some boots?

15 English
4 Aus
3 NZ
2 Sco

"Scottish" RL WC Squad:

RDW_Scotland wrote:http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/41775695

Some nice tries by Edinburgh - all backs! The Burleigh-johnson-kinghorne axis linking up well. Nice line by Chris Dean for one try too.

Amazing to see Edinburgh have the ball in the red zone and look like they actually might score with it. Intentionally. With some sort of plan involved.

I can't figure out if Hodge is genuinely behind these improvements or whether this is player driven, but as you say, the backs finally look like they've been subjected to a degree of professional coaching. Long may it continue!

A Simply Mesmeric Try wrote:Isn't the Scotland RL team just made up of a few aussie backpackers, some northern englishmen [who woke up with a hangover on the wrong side of the border] and Matty Russell?

EDIT

We have a whopping two Scots in the WC squad.

Is the qualification rule something like just turn up with some boots?

My older brother had a hilariously posh friend at university who occasionally played league. He was called up to the Scotland Universities Rugby League team because, I s*** you not, his last name started with ‘Mc’. That was the sole criterion.

This friend was so southern, he actually knows people who were in Made in Chelsea.

funnyExiledScot wrote:I can't figure out if Hodge is genuinely behind these improvements or whether this is player driven, but as you say, the backs finally look like they've been subjected to a degree of professional coaching. Long may it continue!

And all it took was a Welsh 10, kiwi 12, English coach and two specialist 7s players!

I thought the team was a bit more Scottish from memory but i suppose with no leauge teams in Scotland we cant expect much. Think i will be staying quiet at work today as i live in aus and will be reminded of this one for sure

The sad thing is Scotland are the 4th ranked team in League. It was an utter pumping by anyone's standard.

In regards to qualification, for international rugby league, you do need to have some qualifying criteria to represent a country. Born, parent, grandparent, residency (five years)

Danny Brough for example has a Scottish Grandfather.

What makes things complicated is that as an idea to grow the code internationally, players who are "dual qualified" can nominate two teams to play for. A tier one team (Eng, Aus or NZ) and a tier two team (anyone else who is not one of the big three)

Brough again is dual qualified and after not getting picked for England, aligned with Scotland. He then played a game for England but was dropped soon after so came back to Scotland.

That's why Lebanon have so many ozzies in their squad

tigertattie wrote:The sad thing is Scotland are the 4th ranked team in League. It was an utter pumping by anyone's standard.  

In regards to qualification, for international rugby league, you do need to have some qualifying criteria to represent a country. Born, parent, grandparent, residency (five years)

Danny Brough for example has a Scottish Grandfather.

What makes things complicated is that as an idea to grow the code internationally, players who are "dual qualified" can nominate two teams to play for. A tier one team (Eng, Aus or NZ) and a tier two team (anyone else who is not one of the big three)

Brough again is dual qualified and after not getting picked for England, aligned with Scotland. He then played a game for England but was dropped soon after so came back to Scotland.

That's why Lebanon have so many ozzies in their squad  

Absolutely loads of Lebanese in Australia. That's why you can get a decent zaater with cheese in Sydney if you know where to go.

Can anyone give my bleeding typing fingers a rest and do a Soapdodger/Ladyboy thread?

It's going to be a battle of the reserves as Leinster apparently contributed 18 players to the 38 man Irish squad for the AIs and expect to be without most of them.

Hope to hell the Mighty Mullet is back as we really need him.

What's going on at Glasgow these days - special hospitality area for landrover owners??

http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/17/10/30/discover-land-rover-weekend-scotstoun

RDW_Scotland wrote:What's going on at Glasgow these days - special hospitality area for landrover owners??

http://www.glasgowwarriors.org/news/17/10/30/discover-land-rover-weekend-scotstoun

Apparently there was a second photograph taken 10 minutes later of that Land Rover where the tyres were missing.

I mean it is great to see Glasgow getting so much sponsorship but the line is becoming very blurry between the posh Edinburgh and jakey Glasgow stereotypes. Next they'll be putting soap I'm the toilets!

Someone fancy doing an Edinburgh v Ospreys thread?

Some good news for Glasgow fans is that Huw Jones is arriving in fine fettle. He scored two lovely tries, playing at 12, for Western Province in their convincing win over the Sharks in the Currie cup final. Just a pity he wasn't available for the first two rounds in Europe. Dunbar and Jones will make a great midfield, assuming they can both stay fit enough to get some game time together.

Dunbar 12, Bennett 13

Now that could be a tasty midfield!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Someone fancy doing an Edinburgh v Ospreys thread?

I'll do one for the giggles

Great article from Blood and Mud here about average Scottish backs

http://www.bloodandmud.com/2017/10/average-scotland-backs-mid-2000s-now.html

I really feel his pain - I was also an aspiring young rugby player in the 00s and it really was depressing having Graeme Morrison and Hugo Southwell as role models!

While we're at it I think we need to add Andy Henderson, Andy Craig, Di rollo, Ben MacDougall, Rob Dewey, Ben Hinshlewood (19 caps??), Simon Danielli, Nikki Walker, Brendan Laney etc to the list.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Great article from Blood and Mud here about average Scottish backs

http://www.bloodandmud.com/2017/10/average-scotland-backs-mid-2000s-now.html

I really feel his pain - I was also an aspiring young rugby player in the 00s and it really was depressing having Graeme Morrison and Hugo Southwell as role models!

While we're at it I think we need to add Andy Henderson, Andy Craig, Di rollo, Ben MacDougall, Rob Dewey, Ben Hinshlewood (19 caps??), Simon Danielli, Nikki Walker, Brendan Laney etc to the list.

Some excellent quotes here:

A pungently average player, Graeme Morrison won thirty-five caps in the centre for Scotland, scoring three tries, all of which probably by accident.

A versatile back able to play wing, fullback or centre, yet the position in which Simon Webster was most frequently found over the course of his playing days was the recovery position.

Godman is now PE teacher at a posh school in Scotland, which is probably where he should have been all of this time anyway.

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Great article from Blood and Mud here about average Scottish backs

http://www.bloodandmud.com/2017/10/average-scotland-backs-mid-2000s-now.html

I really feel his pain - I was also an aspiring young rugby player in the 00s and it really was depressing having Graeme Morrison and Hugo Southwell as role models!

While we're at it I think we need to add Andy Henderson, Andy Craig, Di rollo, Ben MacDougall, Rob Dewey, Ben Hinshlewood (19 caps??), Simon Danielli, Nikki Walker, Brendan Laney etc to the list.

Some excellent quotes here:

A pungently average player, Graeme Morrison won thirty-five caps in the centre for Scotland, scoring three tries, all of which probably by accident.

A versatile back able to play wing, fullback or centre, yet the position in which Simon Webster was most frequently found over the course of his playing days was the recovery position.

Godman is now PE teacher at a posh school in Scotland, which is probably where he should have been all of this time anyway.

Thats just brutal!

"If they gave Oscars for hitting a good angle but knocking the ball on in the process, Nick de Luca would be considered an artist on par with Daniel Day Lewis. "


FES will not like this one

In other news, apparently Max Evans has signed up to appear on Dancing on Ice, following in the dancing footsteps of Thom who appeared on Strictly.

Will that make me watch it? No.

RDW_Scotland wrote:In other news, apparently Max Evans has signed up to appear on Dancing on Ice, following in the footsteps of Thom who appeared on Strictly.

Will that make me watch it? No.

Well, at least he won't fall on his arse any more than he did on a rugby pitch.

Just ruminating on past players, wasn't Max (the original Squashed Goblin as I recall) quite good? Why did he never really seem that good in a Scotland shirt? Presumably it was the crushing mediocrity of his colleagues? I'm serious. How good was he?

I think Max was viewed as a better player than he actually was, mainly due to the lack of quality in his position at the time. He had good acceleration and step but IMO was lacking in his basic skills and top end speed to be really useful at that level.

He didn't have much end product either - he has 3 tries in 44 caps which really sums up our problems in his era! He would regularly make a half break or good side step then lose the ball in contact or not have the pace to turn it into something more dangerous. He was also a midget.

I seem to remember him having a bit of a shocker in the 2011 World Cup game against the argies (I was there!)