Cowboy Dave's Gunslingers V The Culturally Misappropriated Chiefs

Cowboy Dave's Gunslingers V The Culturally Misappropriated Chiefs

Scotstoun Saturday 11/1/20 15:15

T.V. Coverage; well, since Channel 4 have opted to show the Hairsprays V The Cheats From North London this match will be somewhere on Sky....but I don't have that so

Is this Cowboy Dave's last opportunity to lasso some success at Glasgow? If we lose on Saturday we will be out of the tournament before the final group game. This couldn't in any way be considered progress from where the team was when he took over. Similarly, although we are sitting above the Cheetahs in Conference A they have two games in hand, both against the Southern Kings, so we could easily end up in the Diddy Cup next season. Not even Dominic Cummings could sell that as progress.

In contrast Execeterr just keep making steady progress under Rob Baxter. Having visited Sandy Park twice and enjoyed both occasions I must say I like almost everything about the set up there and think Glasgow could learn a lot from the way they run their club. The only thing I find impossible to love is the way they actually play rugby. To my Caledonian eyes it's too English; big forwards smashing it up and lots of tries from pick and goes from less than 5 metres out. I think RB tries to remedy this, by signing the likes of Niko and Hoggy...not to mention the fleet footed wizard that was Moray Low, but the constraints of playing in England mean he has to play in an English style.

So, the Cowboy's Last Stand against The Cheifs.

I think I shall limit my ill-informed and jaundiced ramblings to the stat of Glasgow Warriors and hopefully some equally one-eyed Devonian will weigh in to provide some sense of balance. Or some sense.

So, will Cowboy Dave continue to be the anti-Tombola or will he shake things up a bit?
Who are we kidding? Unless there are injuries he will go with the usual suspects.

1. Kebble/ SueEllen Kebble looked like the second most unfit player on the pitch on Saturday; he was narrowly beaten to it by a 39 year old semi-retired loosehead playing his first game in years who actually scrummaged better than him. SueEllen has played very well in the loose since joining but was caught out by a team who could scrummage. They'll surely share the game.
2. Turner/Brown DR prefers Brown but his throwing this season has been as inaccurate as labour's opinion polls. Turner was excellent against Treviso but will probably warm the bench.
3. Ragnar Here's where the problems start. Nicol had 3 matches in a row where he didn't get off the bench then started in Treviso because Ragnar was Cream Crackered. He was then comprehensively taken apart in the scrums. Is he ready to face Execeterr? D'Arcy Rae is "unavailable" because(a) an arm/hand injury has ruled him out until March, (b) he is still on the run from Police Scotland (allegedly) (c) he is off filming a remake of The Fugitive in which he plays both the eponymous hero and the One Armed Man. This leaves us with Petrus Du Plessis....don't laugh, he rescued our scrum on Saturday. As Schiz once said of a previous prop "he can't run the length of his jersey but by Christ he can push".
4. Ickle Jonny in his last European tie at Scotstoun against his future employers.
5. Cummings. Future Scotland captain and club legend to be.

DR has been as faithful as Adolf Hitler to Eva Braun when it comes to his back row this season; Big bad Bob, Batman, Batman's Husband & Middle Fagerson. Now Batman has just started 9 matches in a row and Flockhart and Gordon were outstanding on Saturday. So, will he make any changes? I predict
6. Big Bad for bulk and aggression against Execeterr's big pack
7. Batman's Husband for brutality at the breakdown
8. Batman just to annoy anyone who lives south of Bristol Middle Fagerson to bench, with Tom Gordon too. Big Bad can cover lock.

9. Aldi Price/ Wee George. If Why is in the 23 the match is lost before it begins.
10. Haircut Furra Linee to provide 10/12 cover

11. Niko
12. Johnson
13. Not A Pony
14. Seymour/DTH depending on fitness one starting one benching.
15. Rhuaridh

Can Glasgow win and give DR a chance of salvaging something from a season which could easily fizzle out like the proverbial damp squib? Possibly, but the smart money must be on Execeterr.

jimbopip wrote:Cowboy Dave's Gunslingers V The Culturally Misappropriated Chiefs

Scotstoun Saturday 11/1/20 15:15

T.V. Coverage; well, since Channel 4 have opted to show the Hairsprays V The Cheats From North London this match will be somewhere on Sky....but I don't have that so

Unlikely to be Sky, being BT Sport has the rights.

LondonTiger wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Cowboy Dave's Gunslingers V The Culturally Misappropriated Chiefs

Scotstoun Saturday 11/1/20 15:15

T.V. Coverage; well, since Channel 4 have opted to show the Hairsprays V The Cheats From North London this match will be somewhere on Sky....but I don't have that so

Unlikely to be Sky, being BT Sport has the rights.

You can prove anything with facts!

It's on a channel I don't have. Yah boo sucks.

A much better performance from Glasgow this weekend, with a few standout performances from some of our young players, who have been left without much gametime to show their wares for much of this season.

So at last we have a few selection dilemmas to ponder and I am going to pick the team that i think DR should pick, which is not necessarily the one that I think he will pick!

Hopefully something like this:

1. Keeble - not as dynamic as Seuili but undoubtably a better scrumager so he starts
2. Brown - has had a few woobly darts, but still nailed on starter
3. Fagerson Z - a weeks rest and raring to go
4. Gray J
5. Cummings
6. Flockhart - tackles as well as Harley and can carry
7. Gordon - again earnt his spot on the strength of the Benetton game
8. Fagerson M - back from the naughty step
9. Horne G - adding some game control to his running game
10. Hastings
11. Steyn - also played really well on saturday
12. Johnson
13. Jones H
14. Niko
15. Seymour - or Jacko if not fit

Subs:

Seuili
Turner
Nicol - we have got to persevere with him and give him some game time
Harley - can cover second or back row
Wilson
Price
Horne P
Whoever of Jacko/Seymour/Niko who does not start


I suspect one of Gibbins or Wilson may be more likely to start and captain the team, which means it is likely that Flockhart or Gordon will bench.

I do think he should reward form though, he might as well roll the dice, we may not even go through, even if we win the next two games, so I don't think we have anything to lose.

Are the games shown by Channel Eurotrash set out way in advance?

Glasgow vs the descendants of sitting bull would be a far better match to watch than the overspending whipping boys of wales playing against the overspending to the extent of cheating but still winning Sarries.

Sarries will put 40 points on the hairsprays in a one sided dull fest while the soap dodging giro collectors vs the Doc Martin first XV could be an entertaining match up

Ospreys V Sarries is definitely a strange one to chose. Although to be fair at the time of scheduling Channel 4 wouldn't have known that Ospreys would be absolutely awful this season and Sarries would be putting out their under 13s ladies team for European fixtures!

I should imagine that at the time the fixtures were chosen the prospect of "the best team in England V the best team in Wales" sounded like good TV. Also the stuff around the Saracens cheating had probably not come out. I also wonder was there some commitment to show a game from Wales as part of the deal for terrestrial TV rather than just show games from England.

Actually from earlier rounds I got the sense that there had to be an English side featured but also that Channel 4 had last pick, BT Sport had the more interesting games.

Every time I get a notification email for this thread it takes me a few seconds to work out what the hell I've been sent 

What did the email say this time ?

RDW wrote:Every time I get a notification email for this thread it takes me a few seconds to work out what the hell I've been sent 

Either; that's the kind of mental gymnastics which will delay your Alzheimer's
OR,
that's evidence that my Alzheimer's has arrived, slightly, earlier than expected.

Look lads there's a pachyderm squatting in the corner of the room.

Let's talk about it.

Will Uncle Big Naks be added to the Euro squad? When can we expect to see him?

Petrus With The Nose was quoted as saying he needs to learn the plays before he gets a start, but otherwise is in really good shape. If memory serves me right Naka made up his own plays as he went along.

I don't think we'll see him till the Six Nations though.

jimbopip wrote: Look lads there's a pachyderm squatting in the corner of the room.

Let's talk about it.

Will Uncle Big Naks be added to the Euro squad? When can we expect to see him?

Petrus With The Nose was quoted as saying he needs to learn the plays before he gets a start, but otherwise is in really good shape. If memory serves me right Naka made up his own plays as he went along.

I don't think we'll see him till the Six Nations though.

I dont think he can be added.

I think the rules are you can only add a player if there is an injury crisis and one (or maybe even more) of your players who was registered is on the long term gubbed list. As Glasgow have fit 2nd rows available, I dont think they can just add Big NakPaddywak to the exisiting squad.

I thought Euro squads can be changed at any time - it's not like the world cup

Glasgow Warriors team to play Exeter Chiefs in the Heineken Champions Cup, Saturday 11 January, kick-off 3.15pm, live on BT Sport 2 and BT Sport Ultimate. You can follow the action in the Live Match Centre on glasgowwarriors.org. Glasgow Warriors appearances in brackets.
1. Oli Kebble (43)
2. Fraser Brown (97)
3. Zander Fagerson (89)
4. Scott Cummings (66)
5. Jonny Gray (108)
6. Ryan Wilson (163)
7. Callum Gibbins (C) (44)
8. Matt Fagerson (58)
9. George Horne (51)
10. Adam Hastings (40)
11. Kyle Steyn (22)
12. Sam Johnson (60)
13. Huw Jones (31)
14. Tommy Seymour (139)
15. Glenn Bryce (25)
Replacements
16. George Turner (43)
17. Aki Seiuli (6)
18. Adam Nicol (16)
19. Rob Harley (225)
20. Chris Fusaro (174)
21. Ali Price (84)
22. Pete Horne (164)
23. Niko Matawalu (123)

Not available due to injury: Andrew Davidson (foot), Bruce Flockhart (back), Tom Gordon (chest), Nick Grigg (head), Siua Halanukonuka (calf), Sean Kennedy (shoulder), Kiran McDonald (hip), Robbie Nairn (knee), D’arcy Rae (hand), Brandon Thomson (calf) and DTH van der Merwe (wrist)
Tags

Well injuries seem to have prevented any selection dilemmas for DR as he goes with the tried and tested (and largely found wanting) choices in the back row. Matt Fagerson returns to partner Wilson and Gibbins.

Other than that, it is a fairly predictable selection. Horne edges Price and Steyn has played his way into the starting team on the strength of last weekend.

We need a 5 point win from this game and given the weather forecast and the opposition, who are very capable of sticking it up the jumper, it seems a very long shot.

CHIEFS SIDE TO FACE GLASGOW WARRIORS

15 Stuart Hogg
14 Jack Nowell
13 Ian Whitten
12 Ollie Devoto
11 Olly Woodburn
10 Joe Simmonds (capt)
9 Nic White
1 Alec Hepburn
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie
3 Enrique Pieretto
4 Jannes Kirsten
5 Sean Lonsdale
6 Dave Ewers
7 Jacques Vermeulen
8 Matt Kvesic

16 Elvis Taione
17 Ben Moon
18 Marcus Street
19 Will Witty
20 Don Armand
21 Jack Maunder
22 Gareth Steenson
23 Sam Hill

Well maybe not quite the strongest team Exeter could put out, but by no means a B team. I thought Jack Nowell might have sat this one out as he does not usually play on artificial pitches.

No Sam Simmonds, Williams (suspended), or Johnny Hill though. I would hope we might be able to hold that pack for a bit longer than we did last time!

Glen Bryce

Both Gee and myself came very close to predicting the Warriors' line up. The inclusion of Bryce was the Tombolaesque surprise. However, neither of us imagined Fozzie on the bench.

Is it purely coincidental that we start a running (well, limping) joke about Bryce being paid handsomely for not playing for Glasgow when we could all do that just as well for half the wages and then he appears in the next two games? I can just see him with his I-pad in hand in DR's office saying, "Look boss they're lampooning us mercilessly on this cutting edge satirical rugby forum. If you don't change your selection policy we'll all end up in the Christmas special Still (hoping for a ) Game with Robbie Nairn and myself as Jack and Victor. Big Naks has already said he'll play Naveed. Mrs Gibbins wants to be Isa."
Seriously, how else did he get selected? At least the Execeterr full back isn't any good.

I guess with Flockhart and Gordon injured, then there probably was not much option other than Fusaro on the bench. DR did talk up their contributions in his interview and hopefully we might see them next weekend in Manchester, especially if it is dead rubber.

I did definitely not see Bryce coming though, nor did I quite agree with DR describing him as having a similar skill set to Hogg!

I am probably being a bit hard on him though, he had more than a few good games for Glasgow in his first stint and has looked handy in the sevens squad as well. He certainly has more pace than Jacko does these days, so I would probably rather have him running the ball back. He would not be the first player who has not really progressed at Edinburgh and he clearly impressed enough to get his contract extended.

Lets see how he gets on, the bar for our FBs this season has been set pretty low so he may even surprise us!

So, if I'm right, which is a rare occurrence, Sale's defeat last night pretty much rules them out of the qualification stakes.

Sale are on 7 points so even if they collected 5 against us they would not have enough.

La Rochelle are on 10 points and a 5 pointer at Sandy Park would only put them on 15 and 19 is the least needed if we're being realistic.

here's the weird bit      

IF, IF we take 5 points today and 5 points away to Sale we'll have 19 points. IF, IF Execeterr get no points from their last two games we could top the group.

The only sensible response to that is                    

However, going into the last two rounds we can realistically come second and possibly qualify.
First up we have to win today.
Five points would be nice.
Nul points for Execeterr would be great.
I may be travelling to Manchester if that happens.

I don't think the weather is going to be our friend unfortunately.

You saw in the derby games and in Treviso, how much better we play on a dry track. Chasing a game in a monsoon is a lottery and definitely suits Exeter's game more than ours unfortunately.

I would be happy with a win and to keep ourselves in the competition for another week at least, not least because I have already got tickets for the Sale match and would prefer it not to be a dead rubber.

So in summary, we need to concentrate on winning the game and not chasing a BP at any time other than a 20 point lead with 5 mins to go.

Easier said than done.

Weather maybe not looking quite as bad as predicted at Scotstoun.

That will be good for us I hope.

Immediate try for Glasgow. a chip over and scores in the corner

Hastings nails the kick

7-0 Glasgow

Wow what a start from Glasgow as Shuggy scores a second

He is definitely back!

14-3 Glasgow

Great to see Jones back into form at long last!

Glasgow surely can't, can they??

RDW wrote:Great to see Jones back into form at long last!

Glasgow surely can't, can they??

Long way to go, but could not have started much better

Exeter go the length from an interception, a silly pass from Johnson

14-10 Glasgow

It is certainly an entertaining game!

A crazy game, we are playing way to loose though and almost got caught again there. We don't need to score 4 by half time

Glasgow need to chill a bit - these forced played could gift them scores

Brown wins a turnover in front of posts and Hastings takes the points

17-10 Glasgow

That is a yellow, not a red, no contact with head

Very, very lucky - that was a clear red. Looked like it hit his head to me

Stupid from Gibbins though, no need for it and lucky to get away with it

Definitely made contact with the head biggee

Glasgow under the cosh now, struggled in that scrum a man down

RDW wrote:Definitely made contact with the head biggee

I saw it on the later replays, it was the guy on the floor. You are right, seen them given for less. I think it was a bit of a glancing blow which is why he got away with it.

And Exeter grind it over from 5m out

17-17

and another one, similar to the last

24-17 Exeter

Gibbins card has cost us 14 points!

Hornito stings again from a great break by Hastings

24 all at HT

What a game!

Cracking game! Cheifs will be raging it wasn't a read card though.

RDW wrote:Cracking game! Cheifs will be raging it wasn't a read card though.

Well they got 14 points out of it, so was not exactly a free lunch!

Huw Jones has missed 2 sitters now, we should have scored that

That was our scrum, Exeter got away with that

Cannae blame shug for that Gee. Low ball skittering along the greasy surface

We manage to stop them on the line this time, but at cost of another YC to Fraser Brown

Glasgow doing remarkably well but the cards are going to cost them
I fear

tigertattie wrote:Cannae blame shug for that Gee. Low ball skittering along the greasy surface

Not bouncing for us today, that is three that have got away

and Exeter score yet another one from 5m out, it is not pretty, but it works