Scotland WC Chat

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FORWARDS (23)

John Barclay (Edinburgh) – 71 caps; Rugby World Cup 2007 and 2011
Simon Berghan (Edinburgh) – 19 caps
Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) – 13 caps
Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh) – 7 caps
Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors) – 42 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Allan Dell (Edinburgh) – 22 caps
Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 3 caps
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 19 caps
Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh) – 33 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Gary Graham (Newcastle Falcons) – 2 caps
Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors) – 51 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 27 caps
Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 29 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Gordon Reid (London Irish) – 34 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh) – 10 caps
Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 5 caps
Grant Stewart (Glasgow Warriors) – uncapped
Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks) – 22 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Blade Thomson (Scarlets) – uncapped
Ben Toolis (Edinburgh) – 18 caps
George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) – 5 caps
Hamish Watson (Edinburgh) – 25 caps
Ryan Wilson (Glasgow Warriors) – 43 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015

BACKS (19)

Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 4 caps
Nick Grigg (Glasgow Warriors) – 9 caps
Chris Harris (Newcastle Falcons) – 8 caps
Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors) – 11 caps
Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) – 67 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps
Pete Horne (Glasgow Warriors) – 41 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints) – uncapped
Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 21 caps
Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps
Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh) – 11 caps
Greig Laidlaw (Clermont Auvergne) – 71 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 40 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks) – 8 caps
Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 24 caps
Henry Pyrgos (Edinburgh) – 27 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Finn Russell (Racing 92) – 44 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors) – 50 caps; Rugby World Cup 2015
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 21 caps



World Cup Warmups

France V Scotland
Scotland V France
Georgia V Scotland
Scotland V Georgia

World Cup Fixtures

Ireland v Scotland
International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Sunday 22nd September 2019
Kick Off: 8:45am

Scotland v Samoa
Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
Monday 30th September 2019
Kick Off: 11:15am

Scotland v Russia
Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka
Wednesday 9th October 2019
Kick Off: 8:15am

Japan v Scotland
International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama
Sunday 13th October 2019
Kick Off: 11:45am

Young Pipetto will be studying Sports Science at Chelmsford college this year, they have a tie in with Heybridge Swifts so they run three football sides in local semi pro/amateur leagues. It's the first training session this morning and Pippetto lasted ten minutes before up chucking his scrambled eggs and bacon panini. I must talk to herself about overloading him before training.

RDW wrote:
That's good to hear! As always the challenge is to keep those numbers when the season starts, especially the students when coursework and nights out take precedence.

My mate's getting married in Sydney - we only just went to Sydney and Melbourne last year so wanted to make a different trip given how far away it is and how expensive it is. So we're going to stop at Singapore on the way there for a few days, head to Sydney for the wedding then back via Perth to break up the journey. Sydney and Perth will involve lots of day trips, especially wine country! Looking forward to Singapore too - as a structural engineer it does look like heaven.

We'll find out who's a keeper when the weather turns and it's lashing it down on a tuesday night in late november!

I liked Sydney but being a country bumpkin I enjoyed the countryside in Australia more than the cities. Are you going up in to the blue mountains? Scenic world is touristy but you can split off from the tourists and walk down in to the rainforest which is quite pleasant and the views are great!

Surely he said "no" in a sarcastic manner and walked off while swishing his hair?

It's that you were actually speaking to Claire Balding instead!

Tramptastic wrote:

RDW wrote:
That's good to hear! As always the challenge is to keep those numbers when the season starts, especially the students when coursework and nights out take precedence.

My mate's getting married in Sydney - we only just went to Sydney and Melbourne last year so wanted to make a different trip given how far away it is and how expensive it is. So we're going to stop at Singapore on the way there for a few days, head to Sydney for the wedding then back via Perth to break up the journey. Sydney and Perth will involve lots of day trips, especially wine country! Looking forward to Singapore too - as a structural engineer it does look like heaven.

We'll find out who's a keeper when the weather turns and it's lashing it down on a tuesday night in late november!

I liked Sydney but being a country bumpkin I enjoyed the countryside in Australia more than the cities. Are you going up in to the blue mountains? Scenic world is touristy but you can split off from the tourists and walk down in to the rainforest which is quite pleasant and the views are great!

Yeah we did that last time - spectacular scenery. We made the mistake of going to Scenic world in the afternoon where it was mobbed with numerous bus fulls of Chinese tourists. All they were interested in was doing the 'rides' down to the rainforest floor so as you say once you wandered away from them it was nice and relaxing!

We did the Jenolan Caves too which were cool - pretty terrifying drive down a mountain on a single track 2 way road to get there though!

The wedding is at Balmoral beech which is going to be pretty spectacular.

tigertattie wrote:Surely he said "no" in a sarcastic manner and walked off while swishing his hair?

It's that you were actually speaking to Claire Balding instead!

This was in his initial swish hair years so there was an arrogant flick of the hair

My initial (internal) response was "well if you aren't here for the fringe then what are you here for?? The overpriced alcohol and mediocre burgers???".

I've also been ignored by Nick de Luca, despite my dad (also called Nik) shouting "HELLO NICK" 10 feet away from him. He promptly ran off and knocked on his coffee (typical).

Also got coached by Tim Visser at our club for 1 session where he did tackle drills with us which we all found hilarious

Sam Hidalgo Clyne was at the same session but spent the entire session not doing anything and looking very surly.

Also met Shade Munro at an ACDC gig at Hampden Park!

All these famous people eh!

Well all I can say in response to that is that I once sat on Ronnie Browne's knee!

but all so disappointing! (apart from shade munro who was nice enough)

I had to google ronnie browne there and initially I thought you'd sat on NFL Ronnie Brown's knee!

Tramptastic wrote: but all so disappointing! (apart from shade munro who was nice enough)

I had to google ronnie browne there and initially I thought you'd sat on NFL Ronnie Brown's knee!

Aye not many folk know who he is these days. More still remember Roy Williamson

If I was sitting on NFL Brown's knee it would look most odd given that I'm a month older than him I've also got 4 inches on him in height! (and more than 4 inches in waist circumference)

The journos are obviously trying to fill the rugby void and have been going round half the Scotland squad for interviews. Most of them are the same 'I need to work hard and there's so much competition chat', but today's was Huw Jones who opened up a bit about his last season at Glasgow.

Apparently Dave Rennie has highlighted his lack of aggression on the pitch as an issue that he needed to work on. He also paid the price from the likes of Steyn playing so well during the 6N.

He's certainly not an aggressive player but that's not his game - there's no point having a prime thoroughbred 13 like Jones at the bottom of lots of rucks because he's spending more time smashing into people to show he's aggressive! Hopefully he had more specific advice than 'be more aggressive'.

He also said he was very close to moving to Leicester but was pursuaded by Townsend and SJ to stay for his Scotland career. I do get the impression Townsend rates him much higher than Rennie does, and that's why I think Jones is guaranteed to travel to the world cup.

I don't think it's aggression, it just seems to be lack of interest or drive at club level so perhaps that's what Rennie was getting at. Certainly I don't see a problem with Jones' physicality, he's proven to be very good at breaking tackles anyway which is what you want in a centre. Maybe it's also aggression in defence. Would be good to see controlled aggression and not getting caught out flying out of the line, he'd do well to learn off of DT about the defensive stuff and the Sarries structures.

Good thing he didn't move to Leicester, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole at the moment, if he's going to make a move it's got to be worthwhile.

It was one of the more interesting articles doing the rounds recently. Slightly surprisiing that Rennie would single out aggression as the thing that Jones is lacking. I always thought his overall skill set needed a bit of work - he isn't a great passer of the ball and I definitely wouldn't call him a defensive leader.

I think Jones will be on the plane, unless one of Steyn or Hutch has a blinder in the warm ups and Jones does something terrible.

EST wrote:It was one of the more interesting articles doing the rounds recently. Slightly surprisiing that Rennie would single out aggression as the thing that Jones is lacking.  I always thought his overall skill set needed a bit of work - he isn't a great passer of the ball and I definitely wouldn't call him a defensive leader.  

I think  Jones will be on the plane, unless one of Steyn or Hutch has a blinder in the warm ups and Jones does something terrible.

This.

He could be the best centre we've ever had but he needs to do the groundwork, which is something that DR is big on and is why he's a great player coach.

Similar kind of situation to Kinghorn, another hugely naturally talented player who admittedly upped his game the last two seasons and is getting closer to being a complete player but still could use a bit of refining in the nitty gritty.

Agree he'll probably be on the plane, and I hope we see the best of him this WC. I think having Taylor back works well for us as his strengths are Jones' weaknesses so gives us some variety.

Was thinking about this the other day, could Taylor be our missing link in defence? Would we then have a complete game (not just all out bats**t crazy attack) with a more structured defence? Taylor has also shown he's more than capable of attacking rugby too. This is also assuming that Wilson will have had enough time to sort out our lineout and set piece issues.

NeilyBroon wrote:

EST wrote:It was one of the more interesting articles doing the rounds recently. Slightly surprisiing that Rennie would single out aggression as the thing that Jones is lacking.  I always thought his overall skill set needed a bit of work - he isn't a great passer of the ball and I definitely wouldn't call him a defensive leader.  

I think  Jones will be on the plane, unless one of Steyn or Hutch has a blinder in the warm ups and Jones does something terrible.

This.

He could be the best centre we've ever had but he needs to do the groundwork, which is something that DR is big on and is why he's a great player coach.

Similar kind of situation to Kinghorn, another hugely naturally talented player who admittedly upped his game the last two seasons and is getting closer to being a complete player but still could use a bit of refining in the nitty gritty.

Agree he'll probably be on the plane, and I hope we see the best of him this WC. I think having Taylor back works well for us as his strengths are Jones' weaknesses so gives us some variety.

Was thinking about this the other day, could Taylor be our missing link in defence? Would we then have a complete game (not just all out bats**t crazy attack) with a more structured defence? Taylor has also shown he's more than capable of attacking rugby too. This is also assuming that Wilson will have had enough time to sort out our lineout and set piece issues.

I think this is the most important thing that Taylor could bring if he can get himself fit enough - whether he plays at 12 or 13, I would ask him to manage the defence to try and bring some solidity to our midfield.

Johnson/Taylor
Taylor/Jones

Both of those look pretty good to me.

I think Taylor's best position as 13 - it is probably the hardest position to defend (not sure why I play 13 as my defence is rubbish!) and that is one of his strengths. Combining him with SJ would be tasty.

Saying that, after SJ I'd much rather a fit Taylor at 12 than Horne!

The only problem here is that we're talking about going into a WC with a completely untested centre combo....

RDW wrote:I think Taylor's best position as 13 - it is probably the hardest position to defend (not sure why I play 13 as my defence is rubbish!) and that is one of his strengths. Combining him with SJ would be tasty.

Saying that, after SJ I'd much rather a fit Taylor at 12 than Horne!

The only problem here is that we're talking about going into a WC with a completely untested centre combo....

Johnson at 12, Taylor at 13 with Jones to come on when the game breaks up is an exciting prospect. Taylor has the advantage that he can stay on if needs be, shifting to 12. I guess we'll see in Nice. I wouldn't be surprised to see Taylor in the starting 15.

NeilyBroon wrote:

RDW wrote:I think Taylor's best position as 13 - it is probably the hardest position to defend (not sure why I play 13 as my defence is rubbish!) and that is one of his strengths. Combining him with SJ would be tasty.

Saying that, after SJ I'd much rather a fit Taylor at 12 than Horne!

The only problem here is that we're talking about going into a WC with a completely untested centre combo....

Johnson at 12, Taylor at 13 with Jones to come on when the game breaks up is an exciting prospect. Taylor has the advantage that he can stay on if needs be, shifting to 12. I guess we'll see in Nice. I wouldn't be surprised to see Taylor in the starting 15.

If he's fit that's probably a certainly given how little he's played in 2 years. If Toonie sees him as a key player in the team ideally he would be involved in every warmup game! He needs the gametime.

Grigg and Harris can carry the water bottles.

RDW wrote:

NeilyBroon wrote:

RDW wrote:I think Taylor's best position as 13 - it is probably the hardest position to defend (not sure why I play 13 as my defence is rubbish!) and that is one of his strengths. Combining him with SJ would be tasty.

Saying that, after SJ I'd much rather a fit Taylor at 12 than Horne!

The only problem here is that we're talking about going into a WC with a completely untested centre combo....

Johnson at 12, Taylor at 13 with Jones to come on when the game breaks up is an exciting prospect. Taylor has the advantage that he can stay on if needs be, shifting to 12. I guess we'll see in Nice. I wouldn't be surprised to see Taylor in the starting 15.

If he's fit that's probably a certainly given how little he's played in 2 years. If Toonie sees him as a key player in the team ideally he would be involved in every warmup game! He needs the gametime.

Grigg and Harris can carry the water bottles.

Quite how Harris still made the squad staggers me. I think we'd have been better off calling up McDowall for squad experience than taking someone who I'm fairly certain will not be on the plane and has proven mediocre at best during his appearances (although I'll say that now and the toonbola will throw him in the 31 covering wing).

I'm sure I read somewhere Townsend said not everyone in the squad will play the warmup games.

I know we need to get our reserve options up to speed just in case but it would be a wasted space to play Harris over the likes of Taylor or Hutchinson.

Something like this:

Game 1
Taylor - Jones (Hutchinson bench)

Game 2
Horne - Hutchinson (Grigg bench)

Game 3
SJ - Taylor (Jones bench)

Game 4

SJ - Taylor/Jones (Jones/Taylor bench) - depending on who is viewed as first choice by this point


I'm assuming as these are proper test matches you can't have a larger bench, which would have been handy..

RDW wrote:I'm sure I read somewhere Townsend said not everyone in the squad will play the warmup games.

I know we need to get our reserve options up to speed just in case but it would be a wasted space to play Harris over the likes of Taylor or Hutchinson.

Something like this:

Game 1
Taylor - Jones (Hutchinson bench)

Game 2
Horne - Hutchinson (Grigg bench)

Game 3
SJ - Taylor (Jones bench)

Game 4

SJ - Taylor/Jones (Jones/Taylor bench) - depending on who is viewed as first choice by this point


I'm assuming as these are proper test matches you can't have a larger bench, which would have been handy..

I expect Taylor will cover FB with Kinghorn (and possibly Hastings) too as I can't imagine Hogg playing all the games, especially against Georgia.

RDW wrote:I think Taylor's best position as 13 - it is probably the hardest position to defend (not sure why I play 13 as my defence is rubbish!) and that is one of his strengths. Combining him with SJ would be tasty.

Saying that, after SJ I'd much rather a fit Taylor at 12 than Horne!

The only problem here is that we're talking about going into a WC with a completely untested centre combo....

I think that's where he has played the majority of his rugby for Sarries as well?

You know lads, no matter how often you shuffle the pack Taylor is the wild card.

If he travels then the other three centres are pretty straightforward. Smiling Sam and Not A Pony, based on the excellent performances they have shown so far for Scotland.
The last spot is almost certainly one of; Furra Linee, Seaman or Clint Eastwood (The Man With No NickName). But only for aficionados of Spaghetti westerns. The fourth centre will depend on whether Toonie wants to cover 10 (Furra) ,wing (Seaman) or have a Joker in the deck (Clint).

Taylor's versatility allows him to cover 12 & 13 which takes a lot of pressure off Toonie in terms of that fourth spot.

IF, DT is not fit to travel then the nightmare scenario is Smiling Sam and Not A Pony pull up against France or Georgia. Horne-Steyn would make a decent fist of it, arguably there is not too much of a drop off there BUT Harris-Grigg as the back up is almost vertiginous in term of falling off.

There are whispers (screams of delight, actually) that the Shrek is about to re-sign for The Once And Future Champeeeons

I would suggest that this means he is going to be available for September and November.

Grigg, Steyn, Pyrgos and Gary Graham released from the squad.

No real surprise there - Steyn maybe but on reflection he was always likely going to be a long shot given he's pretty much just had 3 months of experience with Glasgow! It was a very impressive 3 months to be fair. If this was just a normal summer tour he probably would have been in the squad.

That narrows down the centre options certainly.

No surprises, as stated, but disappointment. Harris over Steyn?

A bit gutted for Gary Graham who looked useful during the six nations

Probably a bit soon for Steyn and Grigg is only one notch in quality above Harris

Not surprised above Pyrgos

Harris still in ‍� I hope this isnt a "versatility" pick and he will be dropped next.
Shame we have so much depth at the moment in the back row as G graham is a handy player, any other time he'd be competing for a bench spot at least

Actually with regards to Harris, it would be good to see him have a full 80 minutes at 13 with a proper 12 playing at 12, I feel his disaster game against Wales was a new partnership with a 13 playing at 12 and the whole team having a moment of implosion

One more chance and if he continues to be bang average - dump him

Also good news from the SRU as a whole

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/49287709

It states that the record debt was 23m but doesn't state what kind of debt the SRU has now/how close they are to eradicating it

Some good turnover profits there though!

The problem i have is he's been bang average for most of the season at newcastle and hasn't even been in the starting 15. I'd sooner have an out of form Scott over Harris, I just don't see what he adds. We need excellent players in key positions if we want to make progress. Harris is ok as a squaddie but not much more. For me he's shown next to nothing for Scotland, our defence doesn't change with his addition, and is solid for Newcastle. We have better options and we should be pursuing a positive selection policy, we're not a team that can afford conservatism.

I'd agree, Scott might have defensive shortcomings in terms of position but he carries the ball hard at good angles and his hands are really underrated.

Just on that alone he contributes far more than Harris ever does

Exactly, this is why I see little point in retaining him over Steyn who could genuinely be a decent option given the chance.

Who knows maybe he'll prove me wrong but I'm still waiting! Our loss count with him in at centre is pretty high.

I sm not sure comparing Scott snd Harris is fair though, they are not competiting for the same position.

Harris is a 13 who can play wing

Scott is s 12, who used to be able to play 13 until he put on 2 stone. He is way to slow to play there now. I don't think he has ever been in contention this season, he never looked back up to speed after the concussion. He needs s good pre sesson and thd chance to reset himself if hd is ever going to get bsck into the Scotland set up. It won't be easy now, there are a lot of good centres.

Toonie likes Harris, he always has and sees something there that others don't. I still think he will struggle to make the final cut though.

Msy be good news for Blairhorn though with Grigg snd Steyn standing down.

Steyn over Harris is a puzzler, I know Toonie rates him but I have never seen anything that would indicate that Harris has what it takes to make an impact at international level. Steyn on the other hand was bang in form last season and seemed to take every jump in level in his stride, and he is physically much stronger than Harris.

Like BigGee, I can't seem him making the final cut.

Aye it could well depend now if Toonie takes Taylor as the wing/centre instead though. Blair should definitely have his passport ready but still think he's the most likely back to miss out. That being said, who knows what the squad plan is? Toonie could take an extra centre and wing, or even two fullbacks.

Stoked for murrayfield in a couple of weeks now, 4 years since I last went!

NeilyBroon wrote:Aye it could well depend now if Toonie takes Taylor as the wing/centre instead though. Blair should definitely have his passport ready but still think he's the most likely back to miss out. That being said, who knows what the squad plan is? Toonie could take an extra centre and wing, or even two fullbacks.

Stoked for murrayfield in a couple of weeks now, 4 years since I last went!

Just think how much things have changed in that time!

I've been living in London for almost 3 years - I moved just before the amazing 13 games in a row were won or whatever it was.

One injury to Hutchy or Jonesy and you could easily see Steyn coming back in.

Maybe having seen him up close and personal now, Toonie does not see him as having the pace to play on the wing, so he loses his versatility card.

The other two may still be the best options as out and out 13s.

There is no way we will get through 4 warm up gsmes without losing someone. If i was Steyn, i would keep the mobile phone handy for the rest of the summer.

One person who will be pleased about this though is DR. At the moment, he gets 2 experienced centres back.

Aye its a rare treat for me! I remember my first visit was when Matt Williams was in charge against Ireland and Gordon Bulloch was capt. That was a hideous game bar a try from Shlong when he was in the padding and gloves complete with bleached blonde hair (which seems to be the latest thing in the Scotland camp funnily enough!)

Mark Palmer just tweeted that Harris has been very impressive in the training camp and the coaches have noticed.

These international coaches, what do they know!

Yeah, it's easy to see how Harris could be a training hero - I've yet to see any of that translate to the field though.

Well they said that before about Harris when he trained with Scotland. I couldnt care less if he did 50 more burpees than everyone else, unless it translates to the field it's a moot point.

But yes true I am not qualified to comment!

Is the France v Scots WC warmup next Saturday going to be on TV?

Premier sports online stream

Great thanks

Tramptastic wrote:Also good news from the SRU as a whole

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/49287709

It states that the record debt was 23m but doesn't state what kind of debt the SRU has now/how close they are to eradicating it

Some good turnover profits there though!

I could be wrong but I think the news is that the SRU are now debt free (they have been since 2017 I beleive) and that this is the largest profit they have earned in a year.

*by debt free, I mean they still have debts but money coming in is greater than the money going out.

The players released today raise one or two important points;

Barry McGuigan is still there In what universe is he a better centre than Seaman? Or a better winger than D'Arcy, or Blarehorn? If he's still there then he must be considered as a potential squad member and it's most likely as a wing. Seymour, No Maits, D'Arcy, Blarehorn, Barry. Spot the odd one out?

Secondly, the departure of Henners means that Aldi Price , Wee George and Frodo will all travel. I hope Toonie sees Horne the Faster as his benching 9 so that we step up the pace later on in games rather than "see the game out" by being glacially slow.

Thirdly, the two centres who have left are both thirteens: this would suggest to me that Not A Pony is back in favour. So, I'll put this week's pocket money on it: Johnson-Furra-Not A Pony-SuperDunc.

jimbopip wrote:The players released today raise one or two important points;

Barry McGuigan is still there In what universe is he a better centre than Seaman? Or a better winger than D'Arcy, or Blarehorn? If he's still there then he must be considered as a potential squad member and it's most likely as a wing. Seymour, No Maits, D'Arcy, Blarehorn, Barry. Spot the odd one out?

Secondly, the departure of Henners means that Aldi Price , Wee George and Frodo will all travel. I hope Toonie sees Horne the Faster as his benching 9 so that we step up the pace later on in games rather than "see the game out" by being glacially slow.

Thirdly, the two centres who have left are both thirteens: this would suggest to me that Not A Pony is back in favour. So, I'll put this week's pocket money on it: Johnson-Furra-Not A Pony-SuperDunc.

McGuigan is an out and out winger Jim, he was never in the reckoning as a 13. He is good there but probably not as good as some of the other choices. Toonie also did say when he brought Seaman into the squad that he was thinking about him as a winger who could play 13.

Unfortunately he was not a good enough winger and we may have better options at 13. Barry Mac is unfortunately also going to struggle to make the final cut but may well get a shot in the warm ups to present his case.

You still don't rate Hutchy then Jim?

Could of course be hutch.

The only trend I've noticed is that gregors going in favour of caps in the backs, which to me suggests he's considering throwing in a newbie into the squad. Given graham has about 5 caps to his name and superdunc has been out for 2 years, maybe recent squad experience is what he's looking for. Not that I think it's right but we already have a very green backline. Throw george horne in there and our backline could have less caps than some of the countries' front rows.

Gee, I think Hutchy looks like he could be a special player. However, the AB's always say that a centre needs somewhere in the region of 30 caps before they really get to grips with international rugby. I'm not sure that Jones-Johnson- Taylor and Hutchy have 30 between them. Also, I think Hotchy has played mostly at 13 for Northampton this season so if he's back-up to Huw Jones then it's Johnson-Taylor for 12. I just can't see Toonie leaving Furra out of it. he embodies the high tempo game Toonie aspires to, he can cover 10 and he has plenty of experience to hold things together when the Tory manifesto hits the fan.

Maybe Hutchy will be Toonie's left field selection but I'm not convinced.

I actually think that Steyn missing out means it is more likely that Horne P will go.

One of the reasons for not taking PH, would have been to have squeezed an extra winger/centre into the mix. I guess the same thing could happen with Harris if he really has been ripping it up in training and manages to translate that into a performance on the pitch in one of the warm up games.

Who he picks in the starting positions for those first two games is going to be fascinating. Both Hutchy and Harris really need a chance to show themselves and to be fair to them, probably deserve a start. One of them will surely start in that first game against France.

I think I can feel a match thread coming on!