Scotland V Fiji Saturday 10th November

First topic message reminder :

Scotland v Fiji
Satuyrday 10th November
BT Murrayfield Stadium
Edinburgh

KO 14.30

Well this match has got bannana skin written all over it for Scoltand! A tough , flamboyant opposition in a game that Scotland should be expected to win. What could possibly go wrong?

We lost to the Flying Fijians the last time we meet when we played them at home. The conditions were less than ideal for us, but Toonie was not particularly impressed by the way some of the team played that day. Josh Strauss in particular, has never really come back into contention for the henious crime of not turnng up! Toonie, depite his affiable personality, does have an edge as a coach and will remember these things.

In our favour this time, we will be playing at home in a full stadium in weather conditions that will suit us a lot better than they did in Suvla! We have also got a game under our belt and you would hope that we will not play as sluggishly as we did against wales, particularly in the first half. we will also have our full squad available for this one and we will need them!

It is hard to see that Finn and Greg will not be involved in the squad in some shape or form and will quite likely start. Sean Maitland is also likely to come in.

Our problems are likely to be in the back row and the centres, areas where we thought we were pretty well stocked but injuries have taken some toll in recent weeks.

Blade Thompson was apparently up and about after the match on friday, but as he was out cold it is hard to imagine that he will play this weekend, hopefully he gets back for one of the other games. Matt Fagerson made a pretty good impact from the bench, so he may get the starting spot over Ritchie for this one, giving a back row of Watson, Fagerson and Wilson. Ritchie may well stay on the bench, in the absence of anyone else fit. I suppose there is an argument for bring in Rob Harley for some defensive solidity, but we would then lose other aspects of our game. I think Rob is better off in the second row these days in any case.

Centres is also a conundrum. Huw Jones poor tackling cost us two tries and the fact that he was singled out by Toonie for that suggests he was not pleased and will take some action. The only other obvious 13 in the squad is Chris Harris, probably much better defensively, but we would lose a lot in our attacking shape with him on board. Dunbar could move out, but I think he is better at 12. Matt Scott may also be gunning for that position if he is fit.

There could defiitely be some interesting selections coming up!

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/a-baby-faced-scotsman-versus-a-fijian-colossus-is-one-of-the-weekends-juicest-subplots

a good preview of the game

It's a pretty handy looking Scotland side. Certainly the backs could, arguably, consider themselves first choice. And before you start howling your derision at me let me say that any arguments will be from the position of Toonie having a wealth of Test quality backs to choose from. By which I mean that we aren't arguing that soandso is rubbish and we'd be better with thisotherfella who isn't rubbish but has achieved the dizzy heights of dross.
Consider;

Scrummie, Frodo is first choice. Deservedly so. He has proved himself a leader and a tenacious battler who will give it all he has every time he pulls on the jersey. OK he has as much pace and mobility as the concrete cows on yon roundabout in Milton Keynes and a second class letter gets there before his bullet pass but sometimes you need a 9 who will fight first and foremost.
Horne jr is, arguably, the most exciting 9 I have ever seen in a Scotland jersey. Bearing in mind that he is just a baby he really is something special: probably not our starting 9 just yet though.
Aldi Price is faster with ball in hand and quicker to pass than Frodo but doesn't seem to impose himself on games the way Frodo can.

So actually all three are easily good enough to be playing and the argument will be about tacics/form/fitness.


Centres;

I don't buy that Jones has been dropped. No-one will play all four matches, according to Toonie. Jones will be relishing the prospect of playing the Boks, so why risk him tomorrow? However, many people feel that Alex Dunbar at 13 is in some ways a better option than Jones. It does allow a second playmaker at 12. If we're being hypercritical of Eck then his distribution is not his strongest suit. He's still light years ahead of a G-Dog or Jamie Roberts type 12, mind. Furra Linee is a better distributor than Eck. Again, both of them are good enough to start: they both offer different strengths which must mean Toonie can spin his Tombola until even he is dizzy. Is Matt Scott a better attacking option than either of them? Fit and on form, possibly. Is Sam Johnson a better distributor than Eck and a better defender than Scott and Horne? I think so. Is Duncan Taylor the pick of them at 12? Possibly. So, while there are plenty of alternatives, when everyone is fit, I still think Horne-Dunbar is a pairing which is good enough to be considered a first choice pick.NB we could have an endless debate going into the World Cup if, miraculously, all our centres are fit. Jones is our best attacking Centre but Dunbar has a better all round game while Battleship Potemkgrigg is like a stiletto in a pub fight:small but deadly.The choices at 12 are even more perplexing.

Back Three; Maitland-Hogg-Seymour has been our go to back three for a while now but King Blarehorn is almost impossible to ignore and Darcy Graham seems intent on forcing his way in.

So, probably as good a set of backs as we could have. Let's not forget the colossus that is Chris Harris on the bench.

So, what's to worry about?

Anyone got a season pass? Presume this game is same seats as for the rest of the season?

I have memories of picking a different seat but thinking that was probably for the Samoa game last year as I haven't seen any other tickets!

I think if Scotland are to win here, we need exert our superiority in two areas - the front row and the halfbacks. Outside of those two groups, I think there is a pretty strong argument that Fiji have parity and/or an advantage.

So, I want to see wee Grieg and Russell making good choices about when to kick, and apply pressure through or set piece - the maul could be a big weapon tomorrow. Yes, not particularly exciting, but a really solid win like that would show we can change the way we play to acknowledge our opponents strengths.

EST wrote:I think if Scotland are to win here, we need exert our superiority in two areas - the front row and the halfbacks.  Outside of those two groups, I think there is a pretty strong argument that Fiji have parity and/or an advantage.  

So, I want to see wee Grieg and Russell making good choices about when to kick, and apply pressure through or set piece -  the maul could be a big weapon tomorrow.  Yes, not particularly exciting, but a really solid win like that would show we can change the way we play to acknowledge our opponents strengths.

Agree entirely. Set piece, maul and breakdown will be crucial tomorrow. If we get it right we will score quite a few as Fiji are going to score tries too. We need to be far better at converting chances this time around because if we don't we may find ourselves chasing the game, and playing fast and loose against Fiji is suicide.

A pity Barclay is injured because he's exactly who we'd like to combat Bill Mata. In saying that our backrow to end the game will likely be Wilson Strauss and Skinner which is fairly solid.

jimbopip wrote:
It's a pretty handy looking Scotland side. Certainly the backs could, arguably, consider themselves first choice.  And before you start howling your derision at me let me say that any arguments will be from the position of Toonie having a wealth of Test quality backs to choose from. By which I mean that we aren't arguing that soandso is rubbish and we'd be better with thisotherfella who isn't rubbish but has achieved the dizzy heights of dross.
Consider;

Scrummie,  Frodo is first choice. Deservedly so. He has proved himself a leader and a tenacious battler who will give it all he has every time he pulls on the jersey. OK he has as much pace and mobility as the concrete cows on yon roundabout in Milton Keynes and a second class letter gets there before his bullet pass but sometimes you need a 9 who will fight first and foremost.
Horne jr is, arguably, the most exciting 9 I have ever seen in a Scotland jersey. Bearing in mind that he is just a baby he really is something special: probably not our starting 9 just yet though.
Aldi Price is faster with ball in hand and quicker to pass than Frodo but doesn't seem to impose himself on games the way Frodo can.

So actually all three are easily good enough to be playing and the argument will be about tacics/form/fitness.


Centres;

I don't buy that Jones has been dropped. No-one will play all four matches, according to Toonie. Jones will be relishing the prospect of playing the Boks, so why risk him tomorrow? However, many people feel that Alex Dunbar at 13 is in some ways a better option than Jones. It does allow a second playmaker at 12. If we're being hypercritical of Eck then his distribution is not his strongest suit. He's still light years ahead of a G-Dog or Jamie Roberts type 12, mind. Furra Linee is a better distributor than Eck. Again, both of them are good enough to start: they both offer different strengths which must mean Toonie can spin his Tombola until even he is dizzy. Is Matt Scott a better attacking option than either of them? Fit and on form, possibly. Is Sam Johnson a better distributor than Eck and a better defender than Scott and Horne? I think so. Is Duncan Taylor the pick of them at 12? Possibly. So, while there are plenty of alternatives, when everyone is fit, I still think Horne-Dunbar is a pairing which is good enough to be considered a first choice pick.NB we could have an endless debate going into the World Cup if, miraculously, all our centres are fit. Jones is our best attacking Centre but Dunbar has a better all round game while Battleship Potemkgrigg is like a stiletto in a pub fight:small but deadly.The choices at 12 are even more perplexing.

Back Three; Maitland-Hogg-Seymour has been our go to back three for a while now but King Blarehorn is almost impossible to ignore and Darcy Graham seems intent on forcing his way in.

So, probably as good a set of backs as we could have. Let's not forget the colossus that is Chris Harris on the bench.

So, what's to worry about?

Thoroughly enjoyed this post, anyone who thinks Jones has been dropped has no understanding of the way Townsend works. If we want to be considered a team at the top of the international table then we have to be able to dispatch a team like Fiji without a couple of our best players. Huw Jones should take it as a compliment that of Wales, Fiji, South Africa and Argentina it is Fiji he is missing. I hope to goodness that Duncan Taylor is the same player he once was when he gets back but I would be surprised. That being said, if he can get back to his best, a pairing of him and Jones would be frightening. In fact, I can't help but feel that is we played with a backline of Horne, Russell, Maitland, Taylor, Jones, Kinghorn, Hogg then we could really really tear teams to shreds.

I read an interesting article that actually Jones has the best tackle completion rate of any centre in International (might be European) rugby, however our defensive system doesn't afford any cover. So whereas when Dunbar makes a line break against Wales there's men there to cover him and so a missed tackle is not highlighted so much, whereas when Davies goes through he scores and Jones looks silly. The thing is Rugby players miss tackles (Jonny Gray aside), as long as Jones is scoring more than he's responsible for conceding then he's our first choice.

Regarding the above, Toonie definitely said no player will start every game and from our fixture list this autumn Fiji is the lowest ranked side. So for Jones to be dropped makes sense if he is pegged on to start against SA and Arg. It’s just unfortunate he’ll be starting against SA with his most recent performance being one he was quite disappointed with. I’m sure it’s water off a ducks back for him though, but I think if I were Townsend I would want my first choice 13 to be building his confidence and performances for the biggest fixture. Also, perhaps Townsend is undecided who he wants at 12? I’d be very surprised if neither Horne or Dunbar start at 12 next week. That would be a bit reckless in my opinion.

We desperately need Dunbar fit for South Africa - hope he survives today!

Why do each of the Fiji players look like they have 5x more muscle mass than our boys?

We really need to play a fast game and run round these guys. Running into them would be very inadvisable.

What's with the silence at Murrayfield?

RDW_Scotland wrote:What's with the silence at Murrayfield?

You're not allowed to talk in a library?

Dunbar keeping up the strong defence in the 13 channel...

We're so flat as a team - need a spark. Going to be a long 80 minutes!

Hopefully thats the spark!

That's more like it! 

Jamie Ritchie has started well - some really good carries

Hopefully that settles us down

There's a bit too much forward tip ons for my liking - I want to see someone just smash it up and give us a platform

The problem is you'd be smashing it up into someone like Yato or Mata and you aren't likely to come off too well!

Horne should have given it!!!

Oh Horne why couldn't you just pass that?!

Pete Horne. Great run but why didn’t he give the pass??

If we had not scored that try, Peter Horne should have been shot!

Try all day

Before anyone cries, TMO is as completely right to take 30 secs to check that

BigGee wrote:If we had not scored that try, Peter Horne should have been shot!

Folk say he has this great rugby brain. He saw Seymour but didn’t pass. Rugby brain my eye

Shame on you bill. Shame!!!

No-one was stopping Bill from there, scary stuff

Ouch!

Mata not going to miss from there

That's annoying - you can't give Fiji easy tries like that

Again one tip pass too many

The commentators are all saying that Mata has signed on for two more years

Is that the case?

BigGee wrote:The commentators are all saying that Mata has signed on for two more years

Is that the case?

Yup. I believe it’s been declared as cocker’s best bit of business since coming to Edinburgh

Made in Fiji!

Ball was picked up from the ruck in an offside position for the intial break like.

Strauss on for Matt Fagerson

Why is Fagerson off? Must be injured or HIA?

Decent argument for a penalty try there

But we will take the card and the try

We just going to maul our way through this game?

That is a bit harsh

Ehhhh didn’t we have a penalty advantage ???

Need to be ahead going into halftime.

Finn has definitely been more mercurial than masterful this game.

That's got to be a yellow!

That was a yellow at least

Naks get 10 mins

Deserved another yellow but why no PT?

Let us play advantage ref!

Desperately need to score here

That's how to exploit 15 v 13

Been a properly odd match this!

and we debate sometimes why Greg Laidlaw should be in the team. What fantastic kicking