Edinburgh and Glasgow – Continuing patter version 22 (it used to be a squad size)

First topic message reminder :

With the woes and injuries in the international camp just depressing us, lets look back to the club game.

Possible areas of discussion:
Edinburgh continue to hold the 1872 trophy
Edinburgh are getting a new ground
Edinburgh have a home Euro Champs cup game to look forward to
Edinburgh have a league fixture against the perpetual point givers, Glasgow, to look forward to
BigGee’s proposed Scotland XV for England has 8 Edinburgh players, 4 exiles and 3 Glasgow players so even the International team is starting to look representative of where rugby in Scotland truly exists.
It’s not all bad for Glasgow though as they sit above Munster in the Pro 14 and have Stafford McDowell on their books
Edinburgh have Hamish Watson though

RDW wrote:Being completely honest we don't deserve to be in the Champions Cup next season based on our league form, although our performances in Europe showed that we can compete at that level.

Cockers has to learn to rotate - all the Scottish journos have a fairly cosy relationship with him so i can't see anyone putting him on the spot about it, but I really wish someone would call him up on it to see what he thinks. Of course he will say that the performances of our B team showed why he couldn't rotate, but that misses the point that the B team had so little gametime that numerous players were thrust into action having barely played.

And it's not just B-team players - I know Schoeman and Nel are first choice, but Dell and Berghan are top class player would be first choice in a lot of other Pro 14 teams so should have had more starts. Hickey's form nosedived this season, and part of that would be due to him sitting on the bench and not playing week in week out.

This is exactly it, unless Cockers learns from this season then I can't see him progressing Edinburgh consistently to the next level (of which they are definitely capable). He only rotated when his hand was forced, leaving a situation in some games where 15 guys who had had virtually no game-time were asked to play together - rather unsurprisingly they lost a lot of those games.

Eejit wrote:

RDW wrote:Our weakest point defensively is out wide - partly due to individuals abilities but also due to our system which is incredibly passive. We basically stand off and let teams run at us which means they make huge ground at ease out wide.

Unfortunately Glagow's biggest strength is their wide attack!

As the Christmas games showed though if we can strangle up front and get in their faces in the midfield Glasgow's attack will be limited. I would bring Dean and JJ back for this one - Scott and Bennett are off the pace just now.

Absolutely agree, both Dean and Johnstone have played a major part in Edinburgh's season and deserve to start. Scott & Bennett look way off the pace, and I can only imagine what Sam Johnson would do them.

Is it just me or have Glasgow's tight five finally come good, minus Oli Kebble the penalty machine?

Glasgow's pack are looking better (apart from the man shaming against Sarries) and will be gunning for Edinburgh - I'm sure their ego's will have dented by what we did to them in the previous 2 games.

Cockers has taken two season and still has not got around to realising that the squad situations are different up in Scotland. None of the English teams lose so many players to international call ups in the same way that the two Scottish pro teams do. It has been further exacerbated this season, now that Edinburgh have improved and are losing more players to Scotland. Squad rotation is therefore much more important up here, which is why the SRU insist on mandatory rest weeks. If they did not get those, then you would imagine Cockers would play them every week.

There are some decent players in the Edinburgh set up, who just have not had much of a look in and it is not surprising that they don't step up when they get their fleeting chances.

It does look like he is trying to build the squad up a bit for next season, so hopefully he is starting to get it.

A few of his players may have played themselves out of the Scotland squad as well, especially with other players coming into form.

I can't see Scott or Bennett going now, they both looked really wooden on Friday and you can't say that they have been overplayed. Hopefully they can get a good pre season in and get back on form next season. Putting some extra beef on just seems to have made MS even slower and he was never that quick off the mark in any case, I am not sure what that is all about?

Bennett is the most worrying for me. If Scott can drop a few kg (apparently due to doing nothing but train and lift weights for months) he should be back to his best which would still be an asset for Scotland going forwards (likely not the WC) noting that there's now much increased competition. Pre-concussion Scott was in great shape and putting in big performances for Edinburgh, and had been playing well for Gloucester before that.

Bennett on the other hand hasn't looked the same player since he did his hammy in that game at Twickers. Now part of this is definitely to do with Edinburgh's tactics - our 13s are pretty much forgotten about in attack - but he does look short a yard of pace and acceleration, which is what his game was all about.

Mark Bennett has had some great moments in his career. He was great in the last WC and has an Olympic silver medal in his locker, which I am sure will always treasure but boy has he had some bad luck with injuries.

Hard to judge where he is at now, though I agree it is hard to see him ever becoming the player he once was again. Being fair to him though, he has hardly had the chance to build any form since his comeback. He spent his first few games warming the pine and getting 5 or 10 mins at the end of the game. Against Scarlets, the ball never got past FH and on Friday, Edinburgh got stuffed up front and they never had any decent ball to play with.

Currently Rory Hutchinson looks like a younger version of MB and he is the one we should be getting excited about.

MB faces a big season next year if he wants to stay relevant as an international centre.

As far as MattScott12 is concerned he seems to have been given Turnstile Tim's locker at the Library; certainly he was wearing the big gloves and waiving traffic through with gay abandon against Ulster. Fair play to him he did stop the midfield from getting too congested.

Flounder, can I use that sentence from now on instead of my "His defensive display at Twickers was the worst...."?

Mark Bennet looks lost and alone in the wide open moors of Murrayfield...Perhaps we should start calling him Heathcliff? I bet he cries himself to sleep every night thinking about all the passes and tries back when he played for a rugby club.


Apparently, since Optima began recording data in the Pro 12/14 Top 14, the Whatever the English are calling it this year and every other pro league the highest tackle count in a single match was 34. Now that is a lot of tackles.


Step forward Jonny Gray versus The Ladyboys.... 43 tackles 0 missed.

On form the upcoming Slaughter Of The Effeminates will be the most one sided contest since I told MrsPip "I am going to the pub and my dinner better be ready whenever I decide to roll back in." It still hurts when I cross my legs.


Our back row of BBB-Arthur-baby Fagerson was superb on Saturday but may be given the day off in favour of Cully-Batman-Fozzie. Either way logic sees only one winner.


N.B. rugby is inherently illogical, form is often irrelevant, Damon Runyon was correct everything in life is 6/4 against. And don't ever TELL MrsPip what you are doing.

RDW wrote:Bennett is the most worrying for me. If Scott can drop a few kg (apparently due to doing nothing but train and lift weights for months) he should be back to his best which would still be an asset for Scotland going forwards (likely not the WC) noting that there's now much increased competition. Pre-concussion Scott was in great shape and putting in big performances for Edinburgh, and had been playing well for Gloucester before that.

Bennett on the other hand hasn't looked the same player since he did his hammy in that game at Twickers. Now part of this is definitely to do with Edinburgh's tactics - our 13s are pretty much forgotten about in attack - but he does look short a yard of pace and acceleration, which is what his game was all about.

I remember when Bennett first burst onto the scene, even before his move to Clermont - he was absolutely electric and was seen as the standout player in his age group/great white hope for Scottish rugby - there were pages of 606v2 devoted to whether or not he should be called up to the full time squad. It's a huge shame, but I just can't ever see him getting back to his former level, and he doesn't have the overall skill-set or size to modify his game.

Sadly Bennett hasn’t kicked on at Edinburgh, he arrived injured, came back was average at best, and got injured again. Now he’s back again and understandably looks even more pedestrian than he did prior to this injury. Sadly for him I think he’s just been victim of too many serious injuries and it’s left him a shadow of the player he once was.

Edinburgh have a big decision now with him. It’s his final year of contract next season (I think) if it was anyone else he’d likely be let go, as I imagine he’s on a decent wage and so far isn’t delivering. It’s probably time Edinburgh cut their losses. However, as we know on his day (whenever that last was) Bennett can be a brilliant player, but I fear he’s not going to get back to that level again.

He signed on a 3 year deal until 2020 so let's see how he gets on next season. He'll have a full pre-season behind him so there will be no excuses really - if he doesn't improve next season I can' imagine he'll get a renewal - Cockers has already shown himself to be not sentimental in the slightest.

You never know, Edinburgh may even have sacked Hodge and brought in a decent attack coach by then!

Scott and Bennet both need a few more games. Scott looked good going into contact against Ulster but he was passing quite early during backline plays I noticed, allowing the Ulster defence to set quite easily. I’m hopeful both will be solid players next season for Edinburgh but yes, as far as international rugby goes a lot to improve on. 

Hutchinson looks an interesting prospect at 13, I hope he gets an opportunity in the World Cup warmups but by the sounds of it it’s inevitable he will. There is gonna be a lot of tough competition for that last spot in the centres for the World Cup.

If Edinburgh don't make the Champions Cup next season I think we need to go hell for leather in the league and really target a home playoff spot. Use the Challenge Cup games as a development opportunity.

The conferences will be different so we'll need to see who we're up against, but with the players at our disposal that is the level we should be aiming for. We're going to have to play a lot of games without our Scotland players though - depending on how far we get in the world cup our internationals will likely only play a handful of games until after the 6N.

[quote="bsando"
Hutchinson looks an interesting prospect at 13, I hope he gets an opportunity in the World Cup warmups but by the sounds of it it’s inevitable he will. There is gonna be a lot of tough competition for that last spot in the centres for the World Cup.[/quote]


I think time has run out for Dunbar and Bennet as far as this World Cup goes. After Saturday the Luvvies might just have the seventh place play off match but that will be it. I'm not sure how many more matches Noocassell have but the chances of Dunbar starting them and giving a good enough account of himself are slim at best.


Duncan Taylor is also fast running out of time.


So,


12  That Try    Furra Linee     Lord Stafford

13  Not A Show Pony   Battleship Griggtempkin   The Man With No Name


If Toonie only takes four centres then Furra Linee's versatility should edge out Lord Stafford. (Furra Linee stood up very well to the Ladyboys' attempts to bulldoze the 10-12 channel at the weekend. BTW, as they say in Drumchapel). The second choice 13 will probably have us arguing for weeks. Harris, Grigg or Hutchieson?

Of course, if Johnson and Jones get injured in the warm up matches then we truly are Donald Ducked.

It’s a weird feeling being able to debate this. Depth is something we haven’t really had before.

RDW wrote:He signed on a 3 year deal until 2020 so let's see how he gets on next season. He'll have a full pre-season behind him so there will be no excuses really - if he doesn't improve next season I can' imagine he'll get a renewal - Cockers has already shown himself to be not sentimental in the slightest.

You never know, Edinburgh may even have sacked Hodge and brought in a decent attack coach by then!

While i'm all in favour of a new attack coach being brought in (either somebody experienced or a Ben Cairns type figure who has looked very promising at Currie), i'm really not sure if they will make a huge amount of difference, unless Cockers changes his outlook.

There is no doubt that its his game plan, and if he continues to tell Pyrgos to box kick 90% of the time, then there is not much that a new attack coach can do about it.

Eejit wrote:It’s a weird feeling being able to debate this. Depth is something we haven’t really had before.

Is it real depth though given Horne is the only player we could class as being experienced, and truth be told he's probably only going to make it on account of his versatility?

It is certainly promising for the future, but depth is going into a world cup with 3-4 centres with 30+ caps all in good form!

jimbopip wrote:[quote="bsando"
Hutchinson looks an interesting prospect at 13, I hope he gets an opportunity in the World Cup warmups but by the sounds of it it’s inevitable he will. There is gonna be a lot of tough competition for that last spot in the centres for the World Cup.

I think time has run out for Dunbar and Bennet as far as this World Cup goes. After Saturday the Luvvies might just have the seventh place play off match but that will be it. I'm not sure how many more matches Noocassell have but the chances of Dunbar starting them and giving a good enough account of himself are slim at best.


Duncan Taylor is also fast running out of time.


So,


12  That Try                    Furra Linee                         Lord Stafford

13  Not A Show Pony       Battleship Griggtempkin       The Man With No Name


If Toonie only takes four centres then Furra Linee's versatility should edge out Lord Stafford. (Furra Linee stood up very well to the Ladyboys' attempts to bulldoze the 10-12 channel at the weekend. BTW, as they say in Drumchapel). The second choice 13 will probably have us arguing for weeks. Harris, Grigg or Hutchieson?

Of course, if Johnson and Jones get injured in the warm up matches then we truly are Donald Ducked.[/quote]

Ouch, you utterly jimbo'ed that quote!

So did you!

Everyone assumes that Horne will go as the centre who can cover FH but I am not so sure. I think he will only go as an IC if he can justify his place in the squad in that position. Laidlaw could just as easily provide the extra FH cover and in many ways is more likely to do it better than Horne. He is certainly a better kicker of the ball from hand and has the better rugby vision.

Ay IC Johnson is now nailed on unless injured. I would say that Duncan Taylor is still very much in Toonie 's thoughts and is meant to be fit again by June, so could join the WC camp which assembles on the 13 June I believe (saw an interview with Toonie at the Melrose sevens)

Those two would definitely be his first choices if they are both fit.

Then we go with Horne P, who has never looked entirely comfortable internationally despite getting plenty of caps; Scott who looks overweight and sluggish still and badly needs some good games; Dean who has had a good season but is untried, McDowell similar to Dean

Then a bit more left field (and it is Toonie selecting so don't discount this) Russell/Hastings who can alternate between 10/12 and Hutchinson, who can also play 12 and was a FH in his junior days.

Dunbar's ship has unfortunately sailed this time around.

I would expect him to try a few combos in the first two warm up games and nail his colours to the mast.

If everyone fit and firing, then I think he will go Johnson and Taylor

At OC, the choices are even better. Huw Jones, Nick Grigg and Harris will surely be in the initial squad and they are likely to be joined by Hutchinson and Steyn, who have both had stellar ends to the season.

Trying to pick two from them is going to be unbelievably hard and I would be reluctant to even hazard a guess. If I am pushed though, I will go Jones, Hutchinson and Steyn on the basis that they are all versatile and cover other positions.

At the moment and baring injuries (which there will inevitably be), I am struggling to see Pete Horne going.

Eejit wrote:So did you!

And I didn't.

Jimbo your post was a quoting nightmare - I suspect you deleted a ] somehow.

Tattie's quoting of your quote was a mess because your original post was a mess!

RDW wrote:Jimbo your post was a quoting nightmare - I suspect you deleted a ] somehow.

Tattie's quoting of your quote was a mess because your original post was a mess!

What he said!

PS, down with the Weegies!

You can always tell when the Annual Slaughter Of The Effeminates is due; the Luvvies all start nit-picking and bunching together like a superfluity of nervous nuns.

It won't make any difference: the storm is coming and it is going to break right over your perfectly coiffured heads.


p.s.


I foresee Cockers' office being inundated with sick-notes and letters from mum asking if young Hamish be excused games this afternoon come Saturday. The Luvvies may well be out of contention for even seventh place play off and several of your players may actually die of shame rather than show up to be thrashed at the home of The Once And Future Champions.

tigertattie wrote:

RDW wrote:Jimbo your post was a quoting nightmare - I suspect you deleted a ] somehow.

Tattie's quoting of your quote was a mess because your original post was a mess!

What he said!

PS, down with the Weegies!

"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

Or, put another way - Luvvies, alway luvvies

Glasgow by 20 (at least)

Eejit wrote:

tigertattie wrote:

RDW wrote:Jimbo your post was a quoting nightmare - I suspect you deleted a ] somehow.

Tattie's quoting of your quote was a mess because your original post was a mess!

What he said!

PS, down with the Weegies!

"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

Or, put another way - Luvvies, alway luvvies

Glasgow by 20 (at least)

Need to be careful quoting bible verses these day - might lose your job!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156058587366954&set=gm.1258279104348785&type=3&eid=ARCrDB4uoIOgxfIOonOo_bdv_J-PPShPP-vp-Eep6Ogwra4eF40WuJM4aTHPg0mCn64WY2xShGqZPcfP&ifg=1


I hope you Luvvies can see this.


Storm Jonny is coming.

jimbopip wrote:https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156058587366954&set=gm.1258279104348785&type=3&eid=ARCrDB4uoIOgxfIOonOo_bdv_J-PPShPP-vp-Eep6Ogwra4eF40WuJM4aTHPg0mCn64WY2xShGqZPcfP&ifg=1


I hope you Luvvies can see this.


Storm Jonny is coming.

Is this another one of these ever exaggerating tackle count claims for Ikkle Johnny?

By the end of the game it was claimed he made "over 30 tackles"

By Sunday morning it was "41"

The Glove got it and it became "43"

Tomorrow it will be "47"

By the end of the season it'll be over 9000 (bonus points to anyone who gets that joke)

In years to come, takes will be told of how a Warrior from Glasgow once destroyed 1,265,478 (and a 1/2) opponents while fending off a pride of hungry lions and solving the problem of world hunger.

Happy to see Young Gray finally starting to get his mojo back though.

Quick, someone (preferrably a butler or at least a footman) fetch me some soap and water so I can clean myself.

I feel dirty siding with an unwashed one.

As a random aside, Ollie Atkins has been getting regular gametime with Exeter cheifs lately. He was a decent player for Edinburgh but found his chances limited due to the other locks we had at the time.

If he's getting picked for one of the best packs in the UK he must be doing something well - I'm sure he's SQ adding a bit of depth to our 2nd row options in case of emergency!

He’s not only SQ but tied in as he played for the old A team back in the day

Oh the A team. Such fond memories

Bring it back I say

It is strange they dumped the A-team, but it's probably to do with money. During the 6N we could have given the likes of these players a game:

1 Allan
2 Kerr
3 Rae
4 CHH
5 Cummings
6 Ashe
7 Fusaro
8 Fagerson

9 Vellacot (get him capped!)
10 Laing
11 Hughes
12 The new
13 Hutchison
14 Brown
15 Jackson

Struggling a bit for back 3 - shows how many injuries we had there this 6N.

I think all the home nations hoofed the A teams. Haven't seen any of them playing games, but maybe they just aren't as publicised as much.

I would assume though it's down to cash and/or player welfare. Adding an extra meaningless set of fixtures probably isn't all that appealing anymore.

i bet the clubs aren't keen either - most of the players above played a lot of gametime for their clubs over that period.

Yeah thats the issue with the A team. If you are struggling across the board with injuries (or decent players) then the A team can be stacked with players who really jsut are not cap worthy (Hughes and Brown for example).

That team could then be on the wrong end of an utter spanking from someone like Ireland or England and it can do damge to some of the individuals playing.

Nah I don’t like the idea of bringing back A teams, particularly when used for capturing players. There’s something nefarious about it that makes me uncomfortable.

In any case, by the time the World Cup rolls around we’ll already have an A team known as Edinburgh Rugby. Where good players go in, get messed around and come out the other side a few years later worse off than they were before.

What do you call a glasgow fan that keeps going on about a fluke one off Pro 12 title win when the SRU poured every single resource into a team that have failed to then kick on since?

Stuck in the past

Nowt wrong with being stuck in the past fella, it’s part of our national psyche. Flower of Scotland itself is about the heroics at the Battle of Bannockburn conveniently forgetting the Scottish invasion of Ireland straight afterwards where we got our butts kicked.

So in the spirit of that hyperbolic, revisionist, hypocritical nonsense I’m going to reiterate the only one stat that really matters.

1-0.

Why ya cheering?

The 1 - 0 stat currently reffers to Edinburgh defeating the unwashed (again)

PS, we didnt need to invade Ireland as Ireland was colonised by Scots before they even knew they were Scots, therefore all Irish are Scots already.

You need proof you say!

Ireland is the only country on earth other than Scotland where the number of parents both carrying the mutated MC1R gene exisits to allow more than 1.5% of the population to be Gingers! (scotland has a 13% Ginger population, Ireland has 10%)

Rumours circulating that Scotland are looking for this lad to come over to play for the national team:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidan_Ross

He's apparently SQ through a grandparent and judging by his brothers names, I reckon there is a good chance he is actually SQ.

Bet he signs for Edinburgh...

He's been playing a lot for the Cheifs this season so good pedigree - loosehead so there is a good change he'll make the world cup squad and do a 'Hardie' (get propelled straight into a world cup, not the other thing...)

Just to clarify the rumour, Toonie is apparently talking to him about playing for Scotland, nothing about actually moving to either pro side, however I'd expect that to be the natural conclusion.

So RDW your suggestion of him going straight into the RWC squad is entirely possible.

It is a good point actually - there's no real reason why he has to sign for a Scottish club to be able to play in the world cup!

Does make his ability to play in the 6N a bit limited though - long commute between games...

Wasn't that a similar situation to Jones, he played for Scotland whilst still over in SA?

Actually this in a way would make sense, he could put himself in the shop window for a move to the NH with his performances in the WC. Also once capped I think players can command a higher wage, so would help him earn a decent contract if he moved over.

I might be getting ahead of myself here.

EWT Spoons wrote:Wasn't that a similar situation to Jones, he played for Scotland whilst still over in SA?

Actually this in a way would make sense, he could put himself in the shop window for a move to the NH with his performances in the WC.  Also once capped I think players can command a higher wage, so would help him earn a decent contract if he moved over.

I might be getting ahead of myself here.

Nah you’re fine.

Also we’re going to win the world and Jonny Gray will get a knighthood for services to tackling.

Eejit wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Wasn't that a similar situation to Jones, he played for Scotland whilst still over in SA?

Actually this in a way would make sense, he could put himself in the shop window for a move to the NH with his performances in the WC.  Also once capped I think players can command a higher wage, so would help him earn a decent contract if he moved over.

I might be getting ahead of myself here.

Nah you’re fine.

Also we’re going to win the world and Jonny Gray will get a knighthood for services to tackling.

He made 186 tackles on Sat now!

tigertattie wrote:

Eejit wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Wasn't that a similar situation to Jones, he played for Scotland whilst still over in SA?

Actually this in a way would make sense, he could put himself in the shop window for a move to the NH with his performances in the WC.  Also once capped I think players can command a higher wage, so would help him earn a decent contract if he moved over.

I might be getting ahead of myself here.

Nah you’re fine.

Also we’re going to win the world and Jonny Gray will get a knighthood for services to tackling.

He made 186 tackles on Sat now!

3792 tackles you say? Gosh that’s a lot.

Eejit wrote:

tigertattie wrote:

Eejit wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Wasn't that a similar situation to Jones, he played for Scotland whilst still over in SA?

Actually this in a way would make sense, he could put himself in the shop window for a move to the NH with his performances in the WC.  Also once capped I think players can command a higher wage, so would help him earn a decent contract if he moved over.

I might be getting ahead of myself here.

Nah you’re fine.

Also we’re going to win the world and Jonny Gray will get a knighthood for services to tackling.

He made 186 tackles on Sat now!

3792 tackles you say? Gosh that’s a lot.

6 million and 4 now, although they missed a few in the video - camera person having a cup of tea

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jonny+gray+tackle&&view=detail&mid=435302765D3BB1675831435302765D3BB1675831&&FORM=VRDGAR

R!skysports wrote:

Eejit wrote:

tigertattie wrote:

Eejit wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Wasn't that a similar situation to Jones, he played for Scotland whilst still over in SA?

Actually this in a way would make sense, he could put himself in the shop window for a move to the NH with his performances in the WC.  Also once capped I think players can command a higher wage, so would help him earn a decent contract if he moved over.

I might be getting ahead of myself here.

Nah you’re fine.

Also we’re going to win the world and Jonny Gray will get a knighthood for services to tackling.

He made 186 tackles on Sat now!

3792 tackles you say? Gosh that’s a lot.

6 million and 4 now, although they missed a few in the video - camera person having a cup of tea

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jonny+gray+tackle&&view=detail&mid=435302765D3BB1675831435302765D3BB1675831&&FORM=VRDGAR

Right I'm calling it.

He never made 43!!!

The first one in the video, SJ half tackles Tomane who trips and falls, JG then falls on top of Tomane. This is not a tackle, this falling onto someone!!!

The truth is that Stafford made all 300 or so Glasgow tackles. He was just too quick to be seen by the naked eye.

When players look to the sky for answers he's always there.

Speaking of "truth" and people that come up with large numbers out of thin air, where is GC? Not seen him on. Holidya perhaps?

We know FES is 9 10ths retired from the site so we need our other resident blow hard ambulance chaser to be around!

tigertattie wrote:

R!skysports wrote:

Eejit wrote:

tigertattie wrote:

Eejit wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Wasn't that a similar situation to Jones, he played for Scotland whilst still over in SA?

Actually this in a way would make sense, he could put himself in the shop window for a move to the NH with his performances in the WC.  Also once capped I think players can command a higher wage, so would help him earn a decent contract if he moved over.

I might be getting ahead of myself here.

Nah you’re fine.

Also we’re going to win the world and Jonny Gray will get a knighthood for services to tackling.

He made 186 tackles on Sat now!

3792 tackles you say? Gosh that’s a lot.

6 million and 4 now, although they missed a few in the video - camera person having a cup of tea

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jonny+gray+tackle&&view=detail&mid=435302765D3BB1675831435302765D3BB1675831&&FORM=VRDGAR

Right I'm calling it.

He never made 43!!!

The first one in the video, SJ half tackles Tomane who trips and falls, JG then falls on top of Tomane. This is not a tackle, this falling onto someone!!!

So when Glove gets the contract for the remake of Toy Story it will have a Sheriff Tattie, "That's not tackling: that's falling with style."