Glasgow and Edinburgh - Unceasing Banter Thread 27

[George Carlin]

First topic message reminder :

For those Scottish and Scottish-rugby interested posters who just cannot seem to shut the feic up about it.

26,000 posts of abject nonsense and incorrect usage of the quote function (and counting).

We should be proud.

[jimbopip]

Form is temporay. Class is permanent.

Enjoy your brief sojourn at the top of the pile. we're coming to get you. Ya bass.

[tigertattie]

Glasgow. A team that hold Al Kellock as the pinnacle of 2nd row play!

[jimbopip]

Big Al
Wee Jonny
Ritchie
Scott Cummings
We've been starved of decent second rows.

[demosthenes]

George Taylor. Due to "a history of head injuries". Hope there are no long term effects, and wish him well.

From the BBC : https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/59984300

[Hazel Sapling]

Shame, but health comes first. Taylor looked well on his way to becoming a more than solid IC/OC and a potential 10 - 30 cap player.

[RDW]

Real shame for him. When he had his run of games in 2020 he definitely looked ready to make the next step to international. The horrendous facial injury was probably the beginning of the end - he didn't manage a run of games since and that's perhaps where the concusssed issues really began.

[BigGee]

Mike Coman, one of Solly's better overseas signings, talks to mark Palmer in the Times. He played for London Irish after leaving Edinburgh, so has a foot i both camps prior to this weekends game.




Mike Coman will be more than 11,000 miles away from the Brentford Community Stadium this weekend, but a piece of the former back-rower’s heart will always reside with each of London Irish and Edinburgh.

The 34-year-old Kiwi, who captained Alan Solomons’ then team to the Challenge Cup final in 2015 before moving to the Exiles the following year, is now back in his native Nelson, but has fond memories of his time in both the Scottish and UK capitals.

“The two clubs were great to me and gave me some of my best moments in the game,” Coman told The Times yesterday. “Whatever happens in this match, I’ll be happy. I’ll be winning either way.”

The former New Zealand under-21 international joined Edinburgh from National Provincial Championship side Hawke’s Bay in 2013 having been on the fringes of the Hurricanes Super Rugby squad for several seasons. That run to the final of the second-tier European competition, which featured a win over Irish in the last eight, saw Edinburgh go up against Gloucester for the silverware. The Scots were well in it, but found themselves kicked to death by one Greig Laidlaw, the man whom Coman had replaced as skipper when the scrum half moved to Kingsholm the previous summer.

“Greig was bloody good to me when I first got over there,” he recalled. “I’ve got huge respect for the way he plays, his rugby knowledge, and I learnt a lot from him in a short space of time. That day, I chucked him a few jibes and he just kept kicking those goals, as he tended to do.

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“Overall, it felt like a missed opportunity — we didn’t play as well as we could have. I felt like if we had played the way we had throughout the Challenge Cup that year, we could have done better. I remember that being a hard pill to swallow.”

Those were otherwise lean times for the club, but Coman is right to flag up the foundations that were put in place for future success by the blooding of talents such as Blair Kinghorn, Jamie Ritchie and even Hamish Watson, who at that time was fighting for game time with John Hardie.

“Jamie was always incredible,” Coman said of the flanker who signed straight out of school at the age of 17. “I remember him coming to train with us before that.

“We were doing a mauling drill and a few of the older guys had a bit of gentleman’s agreement as we tried to recover from the game at the weekend but this young lad was just tearing into us.

“I remember thinking, ‘someone needs to put him in his place’, but he’s proven since then not many people can do that.

“I’ve been sat down more times by Hamish Watson than I care to remember. The first time I came back up to Murrayfield [with Irish in 2017], the very first thing that happened when I came off the bench was Hamish eyeing me up, steaming straight at me and sitting me down. It’s made me feel better seeing him do that to plenty of other people since — it’s not a bad hit-list to be on.

“Edinburgh now have some great experience in guys like Gilco [Grant Gilchrist] and Rambo [Stuart McInally] and a few X-Factor guys we just didn’t have back then. We just didn’t have those game-breakers like Hamish, Blair and Magnus [Bradbury] who can open a game right up.”

With a three-year contract on offer at Irish versus a single-season extension with Edinburgh, Coman headed south in 2016. Irish were in the Championship that first year, which gave him an introduction to some of the more esoteric parts of the English rugby landscape.

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“That first year was one of the most enjoyable I had in my professional career, because it brought you back to why you play rugby in the first place,” he said. “It was very grassroots — you ended up in some interesting places. I remember one game, I think it was at Cornish Pirates, where there was only one toilet that we as the away team could use. Right as it was time to run out, I needed to go. I shot across the pavilion, fully kitted out with my head guard on and everything, and there I was stood at the urinal with a bunch of punters who were on the pints and all chirping away at me just before I ran out.”

Fans voted Coman the club’s player of the season as Irish returned to the top flight but they were straight back down the following year as he suffered the injury that brought a premature end to his career. Coman wrecked his hamstring in an Anglo-Welsh Cup match against Cardiff in February 2018 and after various surgical interventions failed, he was forced to call it a day 13 months later.

“It was a horrible injury, where I damaged a lot of the nerves. It was similar to the Paul O’Connell injury that ended him,” he said. “Irish were fantastic in terms of helping me — I can’t thank them enough. They also let me stay around for the last part of my contract which helped with my transition.”

Coman is back in the north of the South Island, where he has his hands full with the family commercial construction and land development business, not to mention a two-and-a-half year-old son and identical twin girls of eight months. “It’s pretty hectic,” he said. “But this is a great place to raise the kids and we’re all very happy.”

Who is he taking to win tomorrow? “I think possibly Edinburgh,” he said after serious consideration. “I’m going to cop some grief for that one, but as I say, I really can’t lose.”

[EST]

Real shame for him. When he had his run of games in 2020 he definitely looked ready to make the next step to international. The horrendous facial injury was probably the beginning of the end - he didn't manage a run of games since and that's perhaps where the concusssed issues really began.

When I read the news that Taylor was retiring, I went back to look at the tackle which caused the injuries you mention above - it really was horrific. Amazingly (but perhaps not surprisingly) is that the twitter comments underneath the video show more than a few people defending it and saying it was a harsh red - it was more akin to an assault than a rugby tackle.

A huge shame he has had to retire and I wish him all the best - that's Taylor and Carmichael now both forced out of the game with concussion from this Edinburgh team.

[BigGee]

Glasgow Warriors team to face Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park, Saturday 15 January, kick-off 5.30pm, live on BT Sport 2. You can also follow the action as it happens in our Live Match Centre at glasgowwarriors.org.

1. Jamie Bhatti (56)
2. George Turner (69)
3. Zander Fagerson (106)
4. Scott Cummings (83)
5. Kiran McDonald (41)
6 Matt Fagerson (77)
7. Rory Darge (13)
8. Jack Dempsey (8)

9. Ali Price (C) (102)
10. Ross Thompson (24)
11. Cole Forbes (16)
12. Sam Johnson (81)
13. Sione Tuipulotu (10)
14. Kyle Steyn (40)
15. Josh McKay (4)

16. Fraser Brown (114)
17. Oli Kebble (65)
18. Enrique Pieretto (26)
19. Lewis Bean (13)
20. Ryan Wilson (199)
21. George Horne (73)
22. Duncan Weir (114)
23. Sebastian Cancelliere (2)

Unavailable for selection: Hamish Bain, Richie Gray, Sean Kennedy, Tom Lambert, Ally Miller

[BigGee]

Pretty much our starting team these days. Probably only RG missing and McDonald is not a bad replacement by any means, a run of games is doing him no harm at all.

I like the look of the front row replacements in an area that Exeter seem to be struggling in.

Maybe would like to have seen Dobie on the bench, but you suspect that Price will play most of the game in any case unless he gets injured.

[bsando]

Excited to see how Glasgow go away from home. This really could be a big blow to Exeter’s season if they go down to Glasgow again. Expecting a tight game.

[George Carlin]

Really like that Glasgow team.

[EST]

Glasgow Warriors team to face Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park, Saturday 15 January, kick-off 5.30pm, live on BT Sport 2. You can also follow the action as it happens in our Live Match Centre at glasgowwarriors.org.

1. Jamie Bhatti (56)
2. George Turner (69)
3. Zander Fagerson (106)
4. Scott Cummings (83)
5. Kiran McDonald (41)
6 Matt Fagerson (77)
7. Rory Darge (13)
8. Jack Dempsey (8)

9. Ali Price (C) (102)
10. Ross Thompson (24)
11. Cole Forbes (16)
12. Sam Johnson (81)
13. Sione Tuipulotu (10)
14. Kyle Steyn (40)
15. Josh McKay (4)

16. Fraser Brown (114)
17. Oli Kebble (65)
18. Enrique Pieretto (26)
19. Lewis Bean (13)
20. Ryan Wilson (199)
21. George Horne (73)
22. Duncan Weir (114)
23. Sebastian Cancelliere (2)

Unavailable for selection: Hamish Bain, Richie Gray, Sean Kennedy, Tom Lambert, Ally Miller

An awful lot to like about that selection, a nice balance throughout the team - things are looking pretty settled in terms of the first XV in the West. The bench cover is looking good too, with the possible exception of 2nd row, where we are feeling the loss of Gray a bit.

[BigGee]

https://twitter.com/GlasgowWarriors/status/1481973570725195782


Nice little tribute to the ultimate warrior, Ryan Wilson from his peers, who will gain his 200th cap for the club this weekend.

Every successful club needs a player like him.

[BigGee]

2 Edinburgh old boys, Alan Dell and Kyle Rowe, lining up against them this saturday down in London.

With McClean stuck on the sidelines at the moment, could Rowe, who is playing very well, make a late run for the Scotland squad?

[EST]

https://twitter.com/GlasgowWarriors/status/1481973570725195782


Nice little tribute to the ultimate warrior, Ryan Wilson from his peers, who will gain his 200th cap for the club this weekend.

Every successful club needs a player like him.

That was a good watch - i've not always been his biggest fan at international level, but there can be no doubt of the hugely positive impact he's had at the Warriors. No more so than last year,  when he seemed to single handedly keep the club moving forward when things were not going the best - he put in some huge shifts in that period.

[Hazel Sapling]

Exeter side up

Moon - Cowan Dickie - Iosefa Scott (Kenny - Innard - Schickerling)
Skinner - Lonsdale (Jenkins)
Ewers - Simmonds - Kirsten (Armand)

J Maunder - J Simmonds (S Maunder - H Skinner)
Whitten - Slade
O'Flaherty - Hogg - Nowell (Hendrickson)

The front five starting and on the bench is looking quite weak (No Hepburn (ban), no Yeandle, no Williams, Street or Nixon, no Gray or Hill)

[EST]

Exeter side up

Moon - Cowan Dickie - Iosefa Scott (Kenny - Innard - Schickerling)
Skinner - Lonsdale (Jenkins)
Ewers - Simmonds - Kirsten (Armand)

J Maunder - J Simmonds (S Maunder - H Skinner)
Whitten - Slade
O'Flaherty - Hogg - Nowell (Hendrickson)

The front five starting and on the bench is looking quite weak (No Hepburn (ban), no Yeandle, no Williams, Street or Nixon, no Gray or Hill)

Brilliant back line, but as you say that has to be one of the weakest tight 5's i've seen Exeter put out - Glasgow will definitely think they can get the upper hand in that department.

[Hazel Sapling]

Edinburgh side up

15. Henry Immelman (6)

14. Emiliano Boffelli (4)
13. Matt Currie (5)
12. James Lang (8)
11. Ramiro Moyano (4)

10. Blair Kinghorn (107) VICE-CAPTAIN
9. Ben Vellacott (9)

1. Boan Venter (16)
2. Adam McBurney (1)
3. WP Nel (163)
4. Jamie Hodgson (31)
5. Grant Gilchrist (166) CAPTAIN
6. Nick Haining (23)
7. Jamie Ritchie (83) VICE-CAPTAIN
8. Magnus Bradbury (102)

Replacements:

16. Patrick Harrison (3)
17. Pierre Schoeman (73)
18. Lee-Roy Atalifo (15)
19. Marshall Sykes (13)
20. Connor Boyle (11)
21. Charlie Shiel (40)
22. Jaco Van der Walt (76)
23. Chris Dean (111)

Unavailable: Luan de Bruin, Dave Cherry, Darcy Graham, Damien Hoyland, James Johnstone, Viliame Mata, Stuart McInally, Ben Toolis

[BigGee]

Agree with Hazel

With a stronger bench, we should be able to go toe to toe with that Exeter pack

[BigGee]

It's not been publicised, but Mata seems to have had knee surgery and may well miss the rest of the season.

It's a credit to Edinburgh that they are doing so well without him.

[jimbopip]

I'm trying to remember if Execeterr have a large screen telly in the beer tent.

I remember some very drunk Glasgow fans, some excellent beer (Otter is very good) friendly locals but I can't remember a big telly.
It would be good to watch the Luvvies before the real rugby started.

I think the Execeterr front five gives Glasgow a good chance, not too convince by the bench for Glasgow. I think Dobie is on better form and Cancilliere hasn't really made an impact yet. Maybe DW thinks by the time Hornito comes on the home pack will be tiring. Also DW seems to prefer big units on the wing who can defend.

[Hazel Sapling]

It's not been publicised,  but Mata seems to have had knee surgery and may well miss the rest of the season.

It's a credit to Edinburgh that they are doing so well without him.

Thought he tore his ACL which means he is definitely out the rest of the season. I am hoping he makes a good, full recovery from that. Mata deserves to be fully fit and in form for the 2023 RWC.

The reason Edinburgh have gotten away without him is the form of Bradbury. I harp on about Muncaster so hopefully he is able to grab some opportunities and allow Mata to used in rotation next Autumn as he builds back up physically.

[Tattie Scones RRN]

I'm trying to remember if Execeterr have a large screen telly in the beer tent.

I remember some very drunk Glasgow fans, some excellent beer (Otter is very good) friendly locals but I can't remember a big telly.
It would be good to watch the Luvvies before the real rugby started.

I think the Execeterr front five gives Glasgow a good chance, not too convince by the bench for Glasgow. I think Dobie is on better form and Cancilliere hasn't really made an impact yet. Maybe DW thinks by the time Hornito comes on the home pack will be tiring. Also DW seems to prefer big units on the wing who can defend.

Don't think there's one in the beer tent Jim, but there's definitely a couple in the bar underneath the main stand.

See you tomorrow pal  

[bsando]

Great start to Exeter vs Glasgow. Seems very even contest so far

[bsando]

Another quick try and Glasgow will be sunk I reckon. They had everything under control but they're imploding after that first excellent Exeter set piece try.

[bsando]

Then just like that Glasgow in ascendancy! What a match

[bsando]

Darge looks unstoppable at the breakdown

[bsando]

Wow what a try by Dempsey! I feel like I'm watching Leinster or Munster not the Glasgow of recent years

[bsando]

Hilarious. Just as Glasgow look like they're about to take control of the match Exeter punish Brown's poor lineout throw and then puish Glasgow again and now again. Seriously impressive from them

[tigertattie]

Then just like that Glasgow in ascendancy! What a match

Well that didn’t last long.

Exeter showing that success needs a full squad

[bsando]

This will go down as a big Exeter win but there was parity between both sides for large parts of the first 3/4. However, Exeter's success and experience of winning big games certainly told when they went behind. None of their star players looked rattled and just when Glasgow went ahead in the second half it ignited them all into action. The forwards started winning scrums and the backs were pin point accurate.

Considering how well Glasgow did to get ahead, messing up a simple midfield line out after winning a penalty, only to hand possession back to Exeter was just terrible game management. From then on it was like watching the England cricket team, total collapse. For all the good play by Glasgow this season so far this will be a huge lesson for them going forwards.

[RDW]

Ooft that's a pumping! Glasgow and the media were really talking the talk but again got a real lesson from the true European big boys. Sounds like they were pretty competitive but then just imploded.

Poor performance from Edinburgh by all accounts but having watched the highlights there were some terrible TMO calls for the LI tries!

[BigGee]

Just watched the Glasgow game when I got home from work.

Bit of a lesson really for this young Glasgow side in European games against the big boys, you have got to play for 80 mins!

Fair play to Exeter, who are clearly coming back into form, but some of our leaders had pretty poor games. Price was poor and Horne was even worse! You can't make all those mistakes and expect to win a big European game.

We are a better team than that scoreline suggests though and they need to use that as a motivation for next weekend, we can still qualify with a win.

[Heaf]

Ooft that's a pumping! Glasgow and the media were really talking the talk but again got a real lesson from the true European big boys. Sounds like they were pretty competitive but then just imploded.

Poor performance from Edinburgh by all accounts but having watched the highlights there were some terrible TMO calls for the LI tries!

Apparently the officials in the LI v Edinburgh match were pretty poor all round ...

[RDW]

I'll say it again - one of the biggest issues with playing Blair at 10 is when he's also covering the outer back positions.

It's so disruptive if one gets injured early, like happened yesterday - Kinghorn moved to the wing after 30 minutes, meaning we lose our shape.

[BigGee]

I see Kyle Rowe scored for LI in that game, he has a pretty good strike rate this season.

[Hazel Sapling]

Disappointed by the results, how quickly things change. Did not see Edinburgh but saw quite a bit of the Glasgow game.

I have slightly more doom mongering on the result than some on here. Glasgow's front five should have pummelled theirs into the ground and yet it felt (and may be the case) that we lost the set-piece battle. Exeter's bench front five replacements had an average age of about 15 whilst ours included an experienced Scottish LH and HK as well as an internationally capped TH. It felt like our pack thought they won the game after getting that try early in the second.

La Rochelle is a big test next week and could set the tone for how the Glasgow players enter the Six Nations.

[tigertattie]

Don’t be too downhearted hazel, although the Glasgow “forwards” are utter powderpuff, the real rugby team over in the east will provide the proper hard nosed forward specimens that Scotland require for the upcoming 6Nations.

[RDW]

Bit of chat on social media about Hoggy's over-exuberent celebration of Exeter's tries (putting it mildly). Obviously a sensitive issue for him as he's actually replied on a few things saying he was given abuse by some Glasgow fans at Scotstoun.

Hoggy is very much an emotional player, there is no doubt, but it did look very OTT for me particularly when Glasgow were getting humped later in the game and he was celebrating like they'd just won the world cup.

Probably for the best that Glasgow and Exeter aren't drawn in the same group again next season!

I wonder what some of his good mates at Glasgow made of that!

[bsando]

I just thought he was showing fans that he is Exeter through and through after the speculation about him moving to a different club. Rugby is so gossipy these days (cheers rugby pass).

The Glasgow set piece was a weird one on Saturday. It was very much an arm wrestle in the first half and Glasgow then started to look like they were pulling ahead after the Fagerson try (I think I wrote Dempsey on the day, whoops!). At that point you felt Glasgow had started to click and were going to win again. That’s fine as a fan but the players clearly thought that too and then totally mucked it up.

I think Wilson make some bad substitutions though. Both Turner and Darge were playing very well.

[RDW]

I just thought he was showing fans that he is Exeter through and through after the speculation about him moving to a different club. Rugby is so gossipy these days (cheers rugby pass).

The Glasgow set piece was a weird one on Saturday. It was very much an arm wrestle in the first half and Glasgow then started to look like they were pulling ahead after the Fagerson try (I think I wrote Dempsey on the day, whoops!). At that point you felt Glasgow had started to click and were going to win again. That’s fine as a fan but the players clearly thought that too and then totally mucked it up.

I think Wilson make some bad substitutions though. Both Turner and Darge were playing very well.

I get that, but even footballers show restraint when celebrating after scoring against their former clubs, as a sign of respect. Hogg was definitely going way OTT.

[BigGee]

Yes, as captain of Scotland, maybe not the best of ideas to maybe annoy some of your team mates come 6N time.

They will likely take it with a pinch of salt but it was not a great look.

[jimbopip]

Mea culpa lads, mea feccin culpa.
As we were walking into Sandy Park Stuart Hogg and parents walked past us on the concourse (yes tigertattie it is a real word and I am allowed to use it). I called out to him, "Stuart, have a good game mate...but obviously not too bloody good!". He did smile.
We were in the bar just after that and the parents and brother were standing just behind us. At this point I was being handed the Hat Of Shame ( I had packed the bright orange Ginger Grouse bobbleless bobble hat and anyone who was deemed to say anything stupid had to wear it until someone else fecced up). I called over the younger Hogg and asked him to speak in my defence. He seemed awfully shy! He muttered sotto voce, "Ach Stuart widnae mind" and scuttled off quickly. I actually felt sorry for putting him on the spot: if he'd been as daft as us it would have been fine, but like Glasgow's performance it fell flat. The slightly awkward moment passed when someone mentioned how well groomed and smartly dressed he was. "Yeah, he looks like he sings in a Gary Barlow tribute band." was Bigson's summation.
The most telling, and honest, verdict on the Glasgow performance came from Wee Dunky himself. i would adopt him in a heartbeat. The Glasgow players, as they always do, came over to say hello to the fans; which took some balls given they had shipped 52 points. I mentioned that it was almost 8 years to the day when we were at Sandy Park and he had come running over to the terracing to thank us for travelling all that way to support them and couldn't stop saying how much it meant to the players. He laughed and said, "That's exactly what I'm saying again!" and he did. He then said "Ach, we were in the game but you make three or four stupid mistakes and your back on your five metre line and you'll never win here if you keep doing that."
Saturday doesn't make us a bad team. It does ask questions, though, and hopefully we'll see some response against La Rochelle.
At least we lost to a very good team...imagine losing to the NotNots.

p.s. I must not forget to say that, as ever, the fans at Sandy Park were welcoming and friendly. At the end of the match the guys sitting behid us were saying that the result in no way reflected the match. After 50 minutes I might have agreed with them but we did deserve a kicking in the last thirty.

[BigGee]

Mark Palmer interview with Ali Price about the match. I was glad to hear him admitting to his own errors! The team definitely needs to be freshened up a bit for next saturday!



Long after the final whistle, Danny Wilson stood alone on the touchline, staring out at the Sandy Park pitch that Glasgow had been trampled into by a rampant Exeter Chiefs.

As the Warriors coach freely admitted in his post-match media duties, it was impossible to overstate the scale of his side’s humiliation. Having led 17-14 when Ross Thompson converted Matt Fagerson’s try six minutes into the second half, the Scots ended up buried alive under a mountain of their own mistakes and Exeter’s relentless intent.

There were so many failings to alight upon: the pathetically soft goalline defence, the lack of a foothold in the set piece, the complete absence of control in the kicking game, not to mention the sudden re-emergence of two fatal flaws we hoped had been consigned to the past, namely a tendency to overplay in the wrong areas of the pitch and the habit of going weak at the knees when faced with physical, direct opponents.



Ali Price, who again skippered Glasgow with the co-captains Ryan Wilson and Fraser Brown on the bench, was in no mood to seek to polish this most rancid of excretions, but did opine that there was a danger of throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

The Scotland and Lions scrum half, who gave one of his poorest individual performances in a Warriors shirt, certainly in the context of the leap he has made in the past 12-18 months, insists that the previous Exeter game (which Glasgow won 22-7 last month at Scotstoun) and the way they had run La Rochelle close in France the week before prove that, however embarrassing, Saturday was an aberration.

“A number of things happened in that last half hour, [starting with] individual mistakes, and I’m included in that,” Price conceded. “It’s a horrid way to finish the last third of that game. We went in at half-time and we probably hadn’t played that well, but we were still within touching distance. We come out and strike first in the second half, so it’s incredibly disappointing.

“The boys are disappointed but it was 30 minutes. I know it’s bad and the final score is what it is, but I still feel like we’ve come quite a long way in terms of our performances over the last couple of months.

“You can look into that last 30 minutes, but at the end of the day that doesn’t suddenly take us back to square one. We have to have a reaction and I know we will have a reaction this week in training and leading into our home game against La Rochelle.

“In terms of Europe, we needed to win two from two, or we needed to definitely win one of the two, so now the pressure is on us. We know what we have to do, and if you get eight, nine, ten points, you’re probably going to still be in the mix. That will be the focus now.”

La Rochelle, last season’s beaten finalists, ran out 20-13 winners in a close contest at the Stade Marcel Deflandre last month, and represent another massive obstacle — in every sense — to Glasgow’s knockout ambitions. Eight sides from each 12-team pool qualify for the last 16, and the Warriors are ranked eighth in their section after the third weekend of matches.

“In that game out in La Rochelle we matched them physically for the first hour especially,” Price said. “They are a big French side; you need to stop them getting gainline, stop them getting momentum and getting on the front foot.

“For most of the time in that game we were right with it, that will obviously be a focus, playing in the right areas. Against Exeter, maybe we were in touch at half-time but for the first 15 minutes of the game we were maybe forcing it and overplaying our hand.”

Rather than focusing on how their Sandy Park experience came apart at the seams, Price said he would be encouraging his team-mates to summon the spirit of Treviso. Glasgow were humbled 46-19 there by Benetton last April but went on to win all their other Rainbow Cup games.


“Everyone makes individual errors, again myself included, and no-one goes out there to make errors so there is no point in coming in and hammering the performance and the last 30 minutes because I don’t think that achieves a lot.

“The boys are disappointed and guys know when they haven’t done the right thing or things haven’t gone right for them, so it is not [about] sweeping it under the carpet but at the same time not forgetting where we have got to.

“We have played some brilliant rugby, we were in the game at 50 minutes, we’re ahead, but they got some momentum off the back of our errors and they ran away with it. It’s tough but we’ll be back.

“I didn’t think we were amazing in the first 50 minutes either, if you compare our performance to the home game against Exeter for example then our stats in that game in terms of turnovers and all the rest of it were up there hence why the result went the way it did.

“This was obviously the opposite of that come the end of the game. It’s about playing how we have played, taking some of the good things out of this game. But it’s 30 minutes so we don’t have to go back to square one and re-invent everything.

“We have to take our medicine and have a good week’s training and keep doing what we have been doing.”

[RDW]

Jimbo if you're talking about Hogg's brother it's his older brother. I know this well as he'd tear us to pieces whenever us city boys travelled down to Hawick to play them. He was on another planet to everyone else on the pitch!

[jimbopip]

Flounder, thanks for clarifying that. Did he ever talk to you after the match? Did we catch him on a bad day?

[BigGee]

I suspect it might be an unpleasant video review back up in Scotstoun this morning before putting it to bed and concentrating on next saturday.

La Rochelle have already qualified so hard to know how seriously they will take this fixture, also hard to know how well they will travel. Either way though, we will have to turn up this time to beat them.

There will likely be a few changes in the Glasgow side, some for injury, some for form:

1. Bhatti - who had the better game of the 2 LHs
2. Turner - who threw better and generally had the better game than FB, maybe was subbed to early
3. Fagerson Z
4. Cummings - who had a quiet game, so maybe Exeter's interest in him is cooling!
5. Gray - hopefully back and in form
6. Fagerson M
7. Darge - also subbed early but more likely to save him for this match
8. Dempsey - Not his best game either but still our best option
9. Price - will start but needs to redeem himself for a poor game
10. Thompson - also needs to play better
11. Mclean - Forbes had a bit of an all round shocker
12. Johnson
13. Steyn - Tuipolotu looked injured when he came off
14. Canciliere
15. McKay

Subs:

16. Keeble - did not make much of an impact when he came on
17. Brown - though I don't think Mathews would let us down
18. Pieretto
19. McDonald
20. Wilson
21. Dobie - He has done nothing wrong and yet is not getting any opportunity
22. Weir
23. Any other fit back who is not Forbes!


Bearing in mind it is La Rochelle, with their monster pack, DW may go 6/2 on the bench then presumably Bean or Harley will come in for the outside back.

[Heaf]

Mea culpa lads, mea feccin culpa.
As we were walking into Sandy Park Stuart Hogg and parents walked past us on the concourse (yes tigertattie it is a real word and I am allowed to use it). I called out to him, "Stuart, have a good game mate...but obviously not too bloody good!". He did smile.
We were in the bar just after that and the parents and brother were standing just behind us. At this point I was being handed the Hat Of Shame ( I had packed the bright orange Ginger Grouse bobbleless bobble hat and anyone who was deemed to say anything stupid had to wear it until someone else fecced up). I called over the younger Hogg and asked him to speak in my defence. He seemed awfully shy! He muttered sotto voce, "Ach Stuart widnae mind" and scuttled off quickly. I actually felt sorry for putting him on the spot: if he'd been as daft as us it would have been fine, but like Glasgow's performance it fell flat. The slightly awkward moment passed when someone mentioned how well groomed and smartly dressed he was. "Yeah, he looks like he sings in a Gary Barlow tribute band." was Bigson's summation.
The most telling, and honest, verdict on the Glasgow performance came from Wee Dunky himself. i would adopt him in a heartbeat. The Glasgow players, as they always do, came over to say hello to the fans; which took some balls given they had shipped 52 points. I mentioned that it was almost 8 years to the day when we were at Sandy Park and he had come running over to the terracing to thank us for travelling all that way to support them and couldn't stop saying how much it meant to the players. He laughed and said, "That's exactly what I'm saying again!" and he did. He then said "Ach, we were in the game but you make three or four stupid mistakes and your back on your five metre line and you'll never win here if you keep doing that."
Saturday doesn't make us a bad team. It does ask questions, though, and hopefully we'll see some response against La Rochelle.
At least we lost to a very good team...imagine losing to the NotNots.

p.s. I must not forget to say that, as ever, the fans at Sandy Park were welcoming and friendly. At the end of the match the guys sitting behid us were saying that the result in no way reflected the match. After 50 minutes I might have agreed with them but we did deserve a kicking in the last thirty.

I know this is just in jest but assuming this means London Irish, for the record they beat Exeter 21-33 the last time they met at Sandy Park

[Hazel Sapling]

BG is right, will depend on what La Rochelle put out or tell the star players to avoid injury.

Generally would like to see some changes. Berghan is off the injury list so would like to see him come in for Pieretto. Actually would not mind giving Kebble and Brown a start to give them a chance to redeem themselves as both may have played their way out of the Six Nations side (Berghan and Bhatti for Kebble, Ashman for Brown).

Bean is a nice, hard working club player for mid-season games. Not for vital games like this. Harley would work though we really need R Gray back.

I would like Tagive in there as a solid player who knows what he is doing otherwise stick with Forbes. Cancelliere and Fifita have not taken the jersey away from what I can see and Forbes has more credit in the bank.

I do want us to experiment a little towards the back end of the season with bringing in some of the youngsters. Bain, Jackson, Brown, Walker, Williamson, Samuels, McCallum, Callaghan and Smith need to be given opportunities as some players just looked tired at the end of the game. Even Gordon, Miller, Dobie, Weir and McDowall can all complain about lack of gametime.

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