Ireland v Scotland Autumn nations Cup Saturday 5th December 2020

Ireland v Scotland
Autumn Nations Cup 3rd/4th Playoff

Saturday 5th December 2020
Aviva Stadium
Dublin

KO 14.15
Live on Amazon Prime

Well the last weekend of the Autunm Nations Cup and this looks like the best looking of the fixtures now that the final has been largely devalued by the French being unable to put out their strongest side.

Neither Scotland nor Ireland have looked great this autumn, defensively solid, but pretty stodgy in attack. Both teams will be keen to end the competition on a higher note than they have shown so far. Scotland, having put the Welsh hoodoo to be finally this autumn, will be keen to do the same in Dublin, where they have not won for 10 years either.

Both sides are still fiddling around trying to find their best teams ands develop new styles of play. Ireland in particular seem to be struggling to evolve under Farrell's stewardship, while Townsend was left admitting after the France game where we struggled to score a try, that Scotland need to be more than a team that are hard to beat. That might have been necessary in the post WC period where we had to restore some cre4dibility as a team, but it will only get us so far. Maybe we will be a bit happier to cut loose a little this weekend, though it will be difficult without our 2 FHs.

I think we might see a scotland team something along these lines:

1. Keeble
2. Brown - Turners awful throwing against France may have cost him a starting spot
3. Fagerson Z
4. Gray J - solely because Cummings has played a lot of minutes
5. Skinner
6. Ritchie
7. Watson
8. Fagerson M
9. Price
10. Weir
11. VDM
12. Taylor
13. Harris
14. Graham
15. Hogg

Sutherland - seems to be fit again
Turner - impact sub may be his status in life
Nel
Cummings
CDP
SHC - Horne just not played for a while
VDW
Jones H - I can only hope!

Thanks for setting this up BigGee

I reckon this will be Ireland's team:
Healy, Kelleher, Porter, Henderson, Ryan, Stander, POM, Doris, Gibson Park, Sexton, Earls, Aki, Farrell, Keenan, Stockdale.

Not sure what to make of this game. It could be a very defensive based game with lots of huff and puff but little to excite the fans

tigertattie wrote:Not sure what to make of this game. It could be a very defensive based game with lots of huff and puff but little to excite the fans

I must admit (although it could just also be our track record talking) but I definitely look forward to playing Ireland least. Our last interesting game against Ireland was probably 2016 where we still lost but at least both teams played some exciting stuff. Otherwise it's just been an utter grind.

I was at the game in Dublin in 2016 Nelly. Great weekend away - excuse me sirs, we can only serve you drinks with your food, and the restaurant doesn't open until 12. But would you like a drink whilst you wait? -
It was a good match, but we were way too powder puff in defence. And too many yellow cards.
The following year was better, with Hogg scoring 2 tries, and the incredible backs lineout with Alex Dunbar scoring from it. A game of 2 halves, nearly, with Ireland choking at the end of the game as Wee Greig kicked us to victory after the visitors I'll discipline.
Give me the first 35 mins and last 10 of that game please!

Anglobraveheart wrote:I was at the game in Dublin in 2016 Nelly. Great weekend away - excuse me sirs, we can only serve you drinks with your food, and the restaurant doesn't open until 12. But would you like a drink whilst you wait? -
It was a good match, but we were way too powder puff in defence. And too many yellow cards.
The following year was better, with Hogg scoring 2 tries, and the incredible backs lineout with Alex Dunbar scoring from it. A game of 2 halves, nearly, with Ireland choking at the end of the game as Wee Greig kicked us to victory after the visitors I'll discipline.
Give me the first 35 mins and last 10 of that game please!

The first game I saw at Murrayfield was Ireland in 2005 and it was great craic and fun! We got absolutely pasted of course by about 50 points to 13, it was peak Matt Williams. Lovely try scored by Shlong though in his orange gloves and yellow hair!

I think my first game at Murrayfield was 1979 v All Blacks. I remember nothing. But that is wholly to do with the passage of time as opposed to alcohol. I was only a schoolboy at the time. My first 5N game was the following year, a few months later against Ireland.
Again, I remember little, apart from the trip up the Scott Monument before the game!
My earliest recollection of a game is the Grand Slam decider v France in 1984. I had played for my then home club against an Edinburgh side in the morning before the match.
France with a tricky quick throw in at the half way line to steal a score by Gallion before anyone was awake.
Then David Leslie smashed Gallion I think in the second half, and the French fell to bits. Happy days.

Mine was Scotland vs Australia in 2000. Dad drove me down from deeside and we had a brilliant bacon roll on the way and Parkes up at Murrayfield for lunch out the back of the car. I remember on the loudspeaker pre match someone bellowed out that Famous Grouse would donate £100 to charity for every point Scotland scored. They scored 9 to Australia’s 30 points. I only remember paterson missing a tackle near us and then stretching out his leg immediately afterwards. An older gent near us said something along the line of "Oh yes that’s why you missed that tackle isn’t it?" Made me laugh and a brilliant insight to the impending future of Scottish rugby.

I'm going to go with the following team for Ireland

Kebble
McInally
Fagerson
Cummings
Gray
Ritchie
Watson
Thomson
Price
Weir
DVDM
Johnson
Jones
Maitland
Hogg

Brown, Sutherland, Berghan, Skinner, CDP, SHC, VDW, Graham (if fit, Kinghorn if not)

bsando wrote:I'm going to go with the following team for Ireland

Kebble
McInally
Fagerson
Cummings
Gray
Ritchie
Watson
Thomson
Price
Weir
DVDM
Johnson
Jones
Maitland
Hogg

Brown, Sutherland, Berghan, Skinner, CDP, SHC, VDW, Graham (if fit, Kinghorn if not)

I like the optimism that Jones will be there! Any idea what the weather is going to be like on Saturday?

7 degrees in a moderate north east breeze with chances of showers.

So pretty bloody grim

plenty dropped balls from a greasy ball and cold fingers I think!

tigertattie wrote:7 degrees in a moderate north east breeze with chances of showers.

So pretty bloody grim

plenty dropped balls from a greasy ball and cold fingers I think!

Another one for the purists then. Also likely another Irish win!

Definitely agree with starting nomaits for this one, we need someone with safe hands.

Captain Stuart Hogg is in line to win his 80th Scotland cap, moving him into 7th position on the list of Scotland male internationalists immediately behind Gregor Townsend in 6th on 82 appearances and current assistant coach, Mike Blair 5th, who finished his Scotland career with 85 caps.

Duncan Taylor has been selected at inside centre and the Saracen will makes his first Scotland start since the defeat of Russia at Rugby World Cup 2019 in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup tie to determine which team finishes in third and fourth positions respectively.

Taylor partners Chris Harris in the centres, who along with Glasgow Warriors’ scrum-half Ali Price and lock Scott Cummings, is one of three Scotland players to have started every match in the 2020 autumn campaign.

Edinburgh winger Darcy Graham returns to the side and lines up with fellow Edinburgh flyer Duhan van de Merwe to complete the back line with full-back Stuart Hogg.




Edinburgh's Jaco van de Walt will make his Scotland debut against Ireland, this weekend.

The core of the pack who faced France in the previous ANC round are retained with Fraser Brown at hooker, lock pairing Scott Cummings and Jonny Gray and number 8 Matt Fagerson all in the starting line up.

Edinburgh loosehead prop Rory Sutherland returns to front row duties, packing down with tighthead Zander Fagerson alongside Brown.

The back row sees a positional change and a new combination with Edinburgh flanker Jamie Ritchie moving to the openside and Scarlets’ Blade Thomson on the blindside at number 6.

Glasgow back Huw Jones and London Irish flanker Blair Cowan are set to make their first appearances of the autumn campaign from the bench.

Winger Sean Maitland will win his 50th cap should he be called upon to feature.

Three new front row replacements are named from the France fixture with Glasgow Warrior Oli Kebble joining up with Edinburgh pair hooker Stuart McInally and tighthead WP Nel.

Exeter players Sam Skinner and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne complete the matchday 23.

Head Coach Gregor Townsend said: “We’ve been together for the past two months and from a coaching perspective it has been a real joy seeing the group come together and work so hard to improve both individually and collectively. We are looking forward to facing Ireland in what will be an opportunity to continue our progress away from home once again.”

“We have been impressed with Jaco over the time he has trained with us and we’re excited to see him take the next step into international test match rugby. It will be a tough challenge over in Ireland, given the quality of our opposition and how they will be looking to end 2020 on a positive note.

“Being able to bring back Rory Sutherland after his recent injury is a real boost, and it’s great to involve Blair and Huw for the first time this season. If they get on the field, 39 players will have had opportunities to play over the past 5 games, which underlines the current player depth throughout Scottish rugby and shows the competition there is for places now in this Scotland team.”

Scotland team to play Ireland at Aviva Stadium
Saturday 6 December (kick-off 2.15pm) – live on Amazon Prime Video

15. Stuart Hogg CAPTAIN (Exeter Chiefs) – 79 caps

14. Darcy Graham (Edinburgh) – 14 caps
13. Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 22 caps
12. Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 27 caps
11. Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh) – 4 caps

10. Jaco van der Walt (Edinburgh) – 0 caps
9. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) – 36 caps

1. Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh) – 10 caps
2. Fraser Brown VICE CAPTAIN (Glasgow Warriors) – 53 caps
3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 33 caps
4. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) – 16 caps
5. Jonny Gray (Exeter Chiefs) – 60 caps
6. Blade Thomson (Scarlets) – 8 caps
7. Jamie Ritchie VICE CAPTAIN (Edinburgh) – 22 caps
8. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) – 8 caps

Substitutes:
16. Stuart McInally (Edinburgh) – 40 caps
17. Oli Kebble (Glasgow Warriors) – 4 caps
18. Willem Nel (Edinburgh) – 39 caps
19. Sam Skinner (Exeter Chiefs) – 9 caps
20. Blair Cowan (London Irish) – 17 caps
21. Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Exeter Chiefs) – 13 caps
22. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) – 25 caps
23. Sean Maitland (Saracens) – 49 caps

Knew he'd drop Weir for VdW. Was always going to be unfairly the fall guy for our attack, like Jones was for our defence in 2018. Harsh but at least he's finally got Jones in the squad. I hope he actually gets decent time on the park if any!

Not too shabby a lineup, and think Taylor better compliments Harris than Johnson. I wonder how Blair Cowan will fare.

Well Toonie has rolled the dice a little bit.

Taylor and VDW start, Duncky does not even make the bench.

The lesser spotted Huw Jones does finally get his chance and with Sleepy Sean on the bench, you would imagine that he is covering the centres. No FH cover again presumably means that Hoggy moves up if he needs to.

Toonie has clearly seen something in VDW that he likes, hard to know just how good a FH he could be playing in the Edinburgh back line, he may be allowed more licence in this game.

The major omission is Watson, who you can only imagine is injured or getting a rest. At least Edinburgh may well get a few players back for the first euro game.

George horne hopefully goes back to Glasgow and gets some game time there.

NeilyBroon wrote:Knew he'd drop Weir for VdW. Was always going to be unfairly the fall guy for our attack, like Jones was for our defence in 2018. Harsh but at least he's finally got Jones in the squad. I hope he actually gets decent time on the park if any!

Not too shabby a lineup, and think Taylor better compliments Harris than Johnson. I wonder how Blair Cowan will fare.

I watch the Leicester v London Irish game last weekend and Cowan had another solid game, he is still a very good player. Hard to see him featuring to much going forward, but he will be a good hand to play in a likely dogfight on saturday afternoon.

Its tough on Weir, but truth is, he has not got the backs moving and still plays to deep for an international FH and that is never likely to change.

We have got another option now, so I guess we need to try him out.

BigGee wrote:Its tough on Weir, but truth is, he has not got the backs moving and still plays to deep for an international FH and that is never likely to change.

We have got another option now, so I guess we need to try him out.

Agreed, I guess that leaves us with Hogg/HC covering, which isn't ideal but I wouldn't be too worried about. Will be interesting to see how VDW gets on. Hopefully the time away from Edinburgh has given him a chance to shake off his poor form this season.

I'm not sure how successful Finn would've been at getting the treacle centre partnership that wee Dunky has had to work with moving to be fair. I thought he did a fairly decent job all told, but he's not a player who is likely to help push Scotland to another level so I totally agree with giving VDW an opportunity.

Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 22 caps
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 27 caps

I can't get my head around these numbers to be honest! But it probably says everything about Taylor's struggles to put in runs of consistent fitness. Hoping this partnership is an improvement on our centres so far this Autumn

I'll take that.

VDW straight into it then. My only grievance is giving Maitland a bench spot for his 50th cap but if Toonie thinks Graham is fit and ready to go that is no bad thing. I am a big fan of both players.

We established that Weir / Johnson / Harris were the bluntest attacking combination Scotland have had for a long time. Adding VDW and Taylor should hopefully retain that defence but add a little more dynamism. Taylor in particular is a genuine utility backline player who could provide a real boost for Scotland if he has an excellent game. This is his best chance at nabbing that 12 jersey again.

I thought Kebble might start but Sutherland must be fit and good to go. Nel will earn his 40th cap which is great going for him too, he seems to be in good shape. Cowan must be excited to be getting a chance to play for Scotland again, he deserves it as he's an experienced player to be bring onto the field.

It's an exciting team sheet! I just hope they can get a result on the road to improve that record. Silverware up for grabs too I believe

TheMildlyFranticLlama wrote:I'm not sure how successful Finn would've been at getting the treacle centre partnership that wee Dunky has had to work with moving to be fair. I thought he did a fairly decent job all told, but he's not a player who is likely to help push Scotland to another level so I totally agree with giving VDW an opportunity.

Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 22 caps
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 27 caps

I can't get my head around these numbers to be honest! But it probably says everything about Taylor's struggles to put in runs of consistent fitness. Hoping this partnership is an improvement on our centres so far this Autumn

There was a good article on Taylor on the offside line. He's literally been injured every season since debuting for Scotland. The list is quite horrific. Amazed he can still run. I do worry for his head injuries though...

TheMildlyFranticLlama wrote:I'm not sure how successful Finn would've been at getting the treacle centre partnership that wee Dunky has had to work with moving to be fair. I thought he did a fairly decent job all told, but he's not a player who is likely to help push Scotland to another level so I totally agree with giving VDW an opportunity.

Chris Harris (Gloucester) – 22 caps
Duncan Taylor (Saracens) – 27 caps

I can't get my head around these numbers to be honest! But it probably says everything about Taylor's struggles to put in runs of consistent fitness. Hoping this partnership is an improvement on our centres so far this Autumn

Duncan Taylor would have had 50 plus caps had he not had such an awful time with injuries, he is a player we really have missed. He is only 31 and is certainly not done yet, paradoxically the time he has had off may actually prolong his career as it may have resulted in less general wear and tear and will keep him motivated.

It is a bot hard for me to call this one to be honest. Bith teams are good enough to win, this game, but none really on fire right now. If it was this time last year i wold say Ireland by at leats 20 points. I think Ireland have the edge now Sexton is back. Scotland without Finn Russell to pull the strings.

majesticimperialman wrote:It is a bot hard for me to call this one to be honest. Bith teams are good enough to win, this game, but none really on fire right now. If it was this time last year i wold say Ireland by at leats 20 points. I think Ireland have the edge now Sexton is back. Scotland without Finn Russell to pull the strings.

Hard to disagree with that, would definitely be an upset if we turned over Ireland in Dublin, even with their current form.

NeilyBroon wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:It is a bot hard for me to call this one to be honest. Bith teams are good enough to win, this game, but none really on fire right now. If it was this time last year i wold say Ireland by at leats 20 points. I think Ireland have the edge now Sexton is back. Scotland without Finn Russell to pull the strings.

Hard to disagree with that, would definitely be an upset if we turned over Ireland in Dublin, even with their current form.

Don't underestimate us we are capable of winning when the odds are against us and this time we have King Duhan :-P.


I have one question though, who is going to take the kicks to goal, we have 3 options; Hogg, Price and JVDW?

VDW almost certainly with Hoggy having a crzck at any long ones we fancy.

Hoggy likely to take over if VDW goes off

Does Price kick for goal? I can't recall seeing that. SHC does though and he could take over later kn i guess

"Scotland’s Duhan van der Merwe has gained more metres (186) than any other player in the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup, he has also beaten more defenders (12) than anyone else."

From the Autumn Nations Cup website. He's barely had the ball!! Pretty impressive stats for him. Hope he gets more ball on Saturday.

Jaco takes most with Hogg taking the longer pops

also no Blairhorn

Shame on wee Weir but we needed to see what Jaco can do. I'd have had Weir on the bench though.

Hopefully Jones can get more than 20 mins of gametime and put his hand up for a more permanant selection. Oh and it needs to be at 13. Dont swap Taylor out for him for crying out loud!

Highland Shaun wrote:

NeilyBroon wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:It is a bot hard for me to call this one to be honest. Bith teams are good enough to win, this game, but none really on fire right now. If it was this time last year i wold say Ireland by at leats 20 points. I think Ireland have the edge now Sexton is back. Scotland without Finn Russell to pull the strings.

Hard to disagree with that, would definitely be an upset if we turned over Ireland in Dublin, even with their current form.

Don't underestimate us we are capable of winning when the odds are against us and this time we have King Duhan :-P.


I have one question though, who is going to take the kicks to goal, we have 3 options; Hogg, Price and JVDW?

Ireland have been pretty poor this autumn; Scotland should be confident of overturning them, even if it is in Dublin.

tigertattie wrote:Jaco takes most with Hogg taking the longer pops

also no Blairhorn

Shame on wee Weir but we needed to see what Jaco can do. I'd have had Weir on the bench though.

Hopefully Jones can get more than 20 mins of gametime and put his hand up for a more permanant selection. Oh and it needs to be at 13. Dont swap Taylor out for him for crying out loud!

The danger in this selection is that Jones could be forced to IC if Taylor gets injured. It is always a bit of a risk not having a 10/12 on the subs bench, as both those positions get bashed about a bit and are prone to injury

Would like to think that Jones may be alright in the 12 channel. His tackling is fine, the positioning at 13 was always seen as a problem. He seemed to improve in that element after being dropped from Scotland. An alternative would be to swap Harris and Jones at the set piece to defend and attack from the 13 position respectively.

S Johnson probably would have made more sense than Maitland as cover for 10/12 but Maitland needs the playing time more.

I like that lineup for Scotland.

Taylor is a really good centre if he can stay fit, I think he could complement Harris well. As discussed in most Scotland threads Harris has become integral to the defensive system.

The back three of Hogg, Graham and Duhan should be electric to watch ball in hand.

A shame that the mullet isn't there but Fagerson is in good form and Thomson hasn't let anyone down. Cowan has been good for London Irish too, just consistently doing the things Cowan has always done well.

I'd prefer McInally starting ahead of Brown but that's always been a close call with most fans verging slightly one way or the other.

I like the balance in this team. I'm both gob-smacked and delighted that we have Taylor at 12, and Jones to come on if required. Which I hope he gets a good opportunity to do.
Also great to see Sutherland back fit again. I hope he is used sensibly, so I would be happy to see him and Kebble get a half each. Hopefully Hamish is just being rested.
Overall I am pretty pleased all round, and am really looking forwards to the 3 games on Saturday. It's great that the Fiji game is back on, I'm now looking forwards to our game, and the Wales game could be a bit edgy too.
The forecast is wet in Edinburgh and Dublin, but Cardiff is dry but quite cold. I hope that the conditions don't spoil the games. Fingers crossed.

Taylor starting and Jones on the bench?

Christmas has come early for 606V2!

That's probably our established front 5 now, but the back row is much more experimental. There's plenty athleticism in there but concerns remain abut the lack of physicality, especially going up against the Irish. They've not going for an overlay subtle pairing on the flanks.

Ireland's halfbacks and midfields have won 6N, european cups, league titles galore whereas ours is very much in the experimental bracket. Going to be a huge test for Price, VDW, Taylor and Harris playing together as a unit for the first time. I expect rust.

Back 3 is probably my first choice, and hopefully they can actually see some ball as this I feel is where we have an advantage. VDM needs to be brought in the game, and Darcy will do that anyway without being asked!.

I like the impact our brench will bring, with plenty oompth up front, Cowan targeting the breakdown and backs who can add a bit of class if we need it. Ireland's by contrast is physically brutal.

If the game is played in the style we've seen across the tournament this should be a clear win for Ireland - they're far more suited to this style of play. We need to bring some pace! We need to vary our attack too - if we run headfirst into that Irish defence there's only going to be one winner. Chips over the top, cross fields to Duhan, bringing wingers into midfield etc - we need variety.

In terms of head to heads I'd say

Front row - Evens
second row - Evens
Back row - Ireland
Half backs - Ireland
Midfield - Ireland
Back 3 - Scotland

I think Ireland will be favourites to win but Scotland will hopefully make it a contest until the end. Prior to this year Scotland haven't been within touching distance of winning at the Aviva come the final 10 minutes. That has to be the goal tomorrow, as it has been for all of this year.

Scotland's backline has developed somewhat since this fixture in 2016 when Hogg scored arguably his best try for Scotland.

Hogg, Seymour, Taylor, Dunbar, Visser, Weir, Laidlaw (2016 6N)

Hogg, Graham, Harris, Taylor, VDM, VDW, Price (2020 ANC)

Hogg is a very different player now and it is funny that Taylor is starting his first game in the midfield at the Aviva since that game back in 2016. Which of these two do you think looks best? I'd say now rather than then, although I'd love a 2016 Hogg who was capable of scoring from anywhere.

It's a big game for Farrell and he's shown that by selecting his strongest side. The media knives are being sharpened and all the coaching team are getting it.


Townsend will be quirky fancying his chances. If Georgia can limit ireland to 2 tries to their 1..

Ireland need a big performance partly for the development of the squad, including the coaches, but also to keep the media off their back.
i am still not convinced about Stockdale's defense at 15. It is certainly an area that Scotland need to try to test to breaking point on Saturday.

As identified by BigGee above, I'm concerned about the lack of 10/12 cover on the bench. I'm delighted about Huw Jones being back in the squad, but Maitland is the wrong bench partner for him. If Taylor gets injured I seriously hope they shunt Harris to 12 and let Jones attack the wider channels. Huw Jones at 12 would be a waste.

I'd have preferred Weir starting with VDW on the bench in place of Maitland.

Interesting to see Blade at 6 with Fagerson at 8. Ritchie will be fine at 7, but the other two have a point to prove at this level. Like the front row impact on the bench.

.

As any one seen this Van der vault play? is he any thing like Finn Russell in the way he plays?
Can he pull plays out of the bag, little chips kicks, etc etc,

I mean, he's been first choice at Edinburgh for 3 years so certainly isn't a random!

He's closer to the Weir type of 10 than the Finn. He's definitely a controlling 10 but has an eye for a gap too. Very brave in defence - Townsend called him one of the best defending 10s in world rugby which is a bit much, but gives an idea of what he's like.

Basically a Duncan Weir who stands a bit closer to the gainline. And less hair.

As any one seen this Van der vault play? is he any thing like Finn Russell in the way he plays?
Can he pull plays out of the bag, little chips kicks, etc etc,

IMO just a bout pro 14 level. I'd put him well behind weir.

He has improved but is horribly inconsistent

Going slightly off topic :-P but, talking of Weir, I see he's back at Worcester along with Du Preez abd straight into the starting 15 for tomorrow :O.

Also, I see Craig Chalmers is weighing in on the Non Scots debate.

https://amp.rugbypass.com/news/desperate-scotland-are-devaluing-the-jersey-with-project-players-craig-chalmers/?__twitter_impression=true.

Chambers would do better to get behind the team rather than be the rent a mouth he has become.

The fact that the game has changed massively since he played seems to have passed him by!

Yeah he does seem to be part of the Jim telfer school of PR. That being said, he does make a fair point about the lost young players of the Scottish clubs, with the Glasgow reference particularly on point, although we knew this with the collective wisdom of the Scottish posters here anyway.

If we can score a couple of nice tries today I think that will show some progress from the stodge we've seen. I hope VDW has a good solid debut. Probably our best chance to beat Ireland in a while, so would be good to grab the opportunity!

I would be happy to agree with him if he was to concentrate his wisdom on talking about opportunities for young players, which we do know is a problem in Scotland.

Unfortunately he choice to go for the rabble rousing, true blood, headline grabber.

Chic always had the ability to fail to engage brsin prior to opening mouth.

Those playets are entitled to play for Scotland and that is why Toonie picks them. Just as any other international coach would do so.

RDW wrote:
In terms of head to heads I'd say

Front row - Evens
second row - Evens
Back row - Ireland
Half backs - Ireland
Midfield - Ireland
Back 3 - Scotland

Colour coding?

Away with your new found antipodean show off ways.

I think our front five is possibly as strong as we can put out. If the ref is consistent at scrum time we could come out on top here.

Back row; the search for Toonie's Lost Balance continues. I'm not sure Cowan makes a significant improvement when he comes on. If we lose Mbawza early and Matt F goes to 7, Thompson to 8 then we could struggle at the breakdown. Again the ref's interpretation of the laws will go a long way to deciding the outcome of this battle.

Half backs Are Murray and Sexton past their best? Probably. Will they still be to smart for Aldi Price and The Novice? Possibly. You could say that the opposing 9's are playing for a place on the Lions tour.... except one of them is Scottish so he is automatically disqualified. I think if Mbawza clatters Sexton early on he might get rattled....but he still should run rings round VDW.

Midfield. Ireland's gameplan against England was woefully predictable. If they do the same against Spacey-James Brown will they have more success? But given the 10-13 selection for Scotland I can't see our centres doing much more than running straight and hard. Penalties at the breakdown to decide the game???

Back three. I think Ireland will kick a lot. Murray will be box kicking all day actually. Let's hope ADHD Kid and VDM punish him.

Someone needs to tell Ritchie that penalties aren’t a good thing

If Healy stayed straight he may not have crumpled in there

High shot from Ireland followed up by a low shot from Scotland. Some careless attempts at tackling in the space of 10 seconds