Scotland 2022 summer tour

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Scotland 2022 Six Nations Lookahead

A place to discuss the rollercoaster of dark horse conversation and sheer despair. Somewhere in-between, someone will go off on a mild tangent.

Schedule
5th Feb - England (H)
12th Feb - Wales (A)
26th Feb - France (H)
12th March - Italy (A)
19th March - Ireland (A)

Scotland's recent performances
2021: 4th (3 wins, same as 2nd)
2020: 4th (3 wins, same points as 3rd)
2019: 5th (1 win, 1 draw)
2018: 3rd (3 wins, same as 2nd)
2017: 4th (3 wins, same points as 2nd)

Watching it now - good first few minutes, pretty much gone downhill from the moment Darcy get turned over in the Welsh 22. From what I've read, it's not going to get much better!

NeilyBroon wrote:I think the final straw was that stupid, stupid fagerson penalty. His record in that department is pretty poor. That was not the time to be standing offside flapping your arms around.

That frustrated me even more as Fagerson had done the same routine a few times already. Come round the ruck, wave his arms for the refs attention to see if he could play the ball and subsequently be told to get back onside. Given it hadn't worked once yet I've no comprehension of why he'd go again in that moment. Just staggeringly frustrating.

So last week we didn't play great and won a game we could have lost, then this week we didn't play great and lost a game we never looked like winning really.

Not a good trajectory! And then we have France coming next...

I can't see many changes other than injury enforced. Sutherland looked to have had a serious injury which really isn't good given he's barely got going this season. We're starting to look very thin at LH now with Bhatti also injured - the thought of Dell facing Bamba....

Fagerson took a knock too but didn't look as serious.

You need power against France so I'd not promote Redpath into starting - I would give him more than 8 minutes though!

Lots of regrouping to be done by Scotland. Losing in Cardiff by a few points used to be seen as a good result - not any more.

Definitely give Redpath a half. I agree there's no point in making wholesale changes. I'd also bring Hastings into the squad as we need an alternative to Finn if he's having a mare, and kinghorn just isn't it. Didn't do much wrong on Saturday but Hastings is on great form for Gloucester and is an out and out flyhalf as opposed to recent convert.

Bring kebble in on the bench and drop fagerson. A little crazy I know but his discipline issues need to be sorted and I think he needs to be dropped for that incident, it wasn't as if it was just a mistake, it was pure stupidity and arguably was the moment the game was made unwinnable. It's not the first time he's changed key moments in games through stupid penalties that are easily avoidable.

Other than that I think Tuipolotu did okay but as said earlier I'd give him and Redpath a half each, so maybe swap them around. I think having a flyer on from the start to get us going then Tuipolotu to batter them later may work well. Harris I think actually had a reasonably decent game and showed some nice attacks.

Rest of the team stays the same for me. I think it was mostly a collective bad performance rather than any players in particular. We need to sort our attack, and make the most of the 50:22, Finn and Hogg are capable of putting some belters into the corners, made me wonder why we didn't use that against Wales, especially in the second half.

I'd forgotten about Kebble - he's been out of sorts this year but is better than Dell!

Yeah, I think the transition to tighthead hasn't been the easiest.

I'm now dreading the France game a little. Could be a drubbing a la South Africa style. Love to see France doing well but preferably not against us! It'll be a big test of the players and coaches resolve. My only reassurance is that France is the only other team with deep seated psychological issues so an implosion wouldn't be out of character!

If we play badly against France I think Italy will have a target on our backs as their first upset in a few years. I don't even want to think about Dublin...

Keeble played the whole 80 mins for Glasgow v Munster on friday and the scrum went very well.

He would certsinly be a better option at LH than Dell against a mo ster pack like the French.

We have got a week off now. So the squad may be freshened up a little bit if ghere are some more injuries.

Sutherland and Fagerson, who was playing well again likely to miss out.

We may see Christie coming into the mix for this one.

Christie looks a good replacement for Fagerson, shame he’s not been capped in autumn to have some experience but looks a solid ball carrier for Saracens.

Having cooled off a bit after the bitterly disappointing result a few things stick out in that game. We had a what looked to be a dangerous bench that could sway the game in the last part of the match. Yet it was utilised very poorly. Fagerson, Sutherland and Turner should not have been brought on at 44 minute mark. Case and point? Schoemann came back on after Sutherland injury and was ferocious. He could have played at least 60 minutes allowing Sutherland the crucial final twenty to make an impact. Or better yet, play the same front row as the previous week for continuity? Especially for an away game.

Leaving redpath out of the game entirely was a weird decision. For his first cap he was starting and then his second he is getting pulled in when there’s no time left apart from the extra minutes in the red. What’s that all about? Tuipulotu had a solid game but he should have been off at the same time as Price. If redpath is to be wrapped in cotton wool then why not pick Jones and have him covering?

Hastings was hugely missed. Kinghorn came on and did well during his cameo attack wise. Having the influence of Hastings and Redpath to change the dynamic of the backline might have hugely changed the course of that match in the final twenty minutes. Surely he’ll be getting called up for the France game??

Lastly I’m not as scared about the France challenge as others. They’ve had a tough time at Murrayfield in recent years and there was plenty of evidence to suggest they’re still quite a flakey team based on their game management yesterday. Luckily for them Ireland made a lot of errors too. It was a poor result in Wales but I’m expecting a response in two weeks.

To be fair, i think we would likely have seen Redpath on earlier if Finn had not been carded.

Kinghorn had to come on at that point and it would have been bonkers to have subbed Harris off as well.

We can add the lack of Redpath gametime to Finn's list of howlers in that game.

In other more positive notes, Schoeman played well and is certsinly our leading LH now. As Bsando noted, he has got an engine on him and can play way more than a half. He often used to play the whole game for Edinburgh.

Tuipolotu shiwed us what he can do, with one barn storming carry. He just did not get brought into the game as often as he should have.

I have also been quietly impressed with Ben White in both his games. He gives a goid quick service and has looked sharp.

Ali Price still not showing the form of last season, maybe he needs a seat on the bench for the next game.

There could and should be a few changes fir the next game.

We are talking about the depth we have got now. If that is true, then there really does need to be consequences for some players for playing as poorly as that.

I didn't have a chance to watch this. 

What was the problem? It sounds like everyone was just way off. Why the hell did we concede so many penalties? Was our pack really pushed around? Seems bewildering that we lost this.

GC it was rank rotten.

If we got to 3 or 4 phases the ball was kicked away.

We didn’t always get to 3 or 4 phases either due to dropped balls or getting isolated.

Many of the kicks went out on the full. There were
Charge downs. Box kicks too short or too long.

Jonny gray was just a lump. Lumbering around and laying on the floor. He looked utterly knackered. Zander did nothing but give away a silly penalty. Finn Russell had one of his worst ever games for Scotland.

Hamish and Darcy were the only ones I’d say did anything of note. Others like Harris and gilchrist were solid but nothing to write home about

The conditions were a bit manky yesterday. I could not understand the Scottish tactics. We had two big ball carriers in the back with Tuipulotu and VDM why not use them off short ball instead of all the flash floaty passes. We had three locks in the starting 15 along with Fagerson x2 , schoeman . Half the feckin team were big ball carriers . Why not use them . I’m baffled tbh

I am starting to calm down a bit....maybe. In the cold, harsh light of hindsight we entered the game with a defensive minded second row, a defensive stalwart at 13 and lacked a genuine FH on the bench to replace Finsanity. Harris probably was needed for the first half to calm things down but those Welsh centres were not going to pose too many awkward questions. The second row I have been bleating about for a while

TL;DR Add: Kebble, Berghan, Cummings, Christie/Bayliss, Hastings. Drop: Zander, J Gray/Gilchrist, Kinghorn

In the front row, Kebble should come on to the bench. I would be tempted to drop Zander as punishment for his recent bouts of poor discipline. He does not give us enough at the scrum to be a negative in the loose. Berghan had a good game against Munster and could bench to come on with Kebble. It is a shame Ashman is injured as McInally had a poor day at the line-out so he survives another week to play in an Edinburgh front row.

Second row, J Gray looked shattered by minute 55. It is either Gilchrist not pulling his weight or J Gray not in shape. Either way, drop one entirely with Skinner/Cummings taking a starting spot or a bench spot.

Back-row, Bradbury starts with either Christie or Bayliss at 6. Would have liked Crosbie but he is out if memory serves. Darge struggled to make an impact on Saturday so not sure if he will suffer because of it. Losing M Fagerson is actually quite a big blow, he is playing well in recent times.

Half backs, Vellacott should be considered but happy enough with SH's. Call up Hastings so that if Russell has a first 50 like that, we have a genuine alternative.

Centres should be Johnson/Redpath and Harris. Tuipulotu is a good player whose time will come and might merit a spot at 23. I am not sure this is the game for him though. Steyn and Bennett are also reasonable shouts for the 23 spot.

Gilchrist was by far the better lock. More runs more metres. Never missed a tackle. JG missed two. JG also got turned over but I’m always wary of that stat as I feel when folk are exposed it’s because their team mates sometimes haven’t kept up with them.

For France I’d bring Cummings onto the bench, and put skinner in the row with GG. Gray has simply not been at the races. Maybe he needs more games???

We don’t just need call carriers. We need to bloody hold onto the ball. Kick after aimless kick yesterday.

Tricky to suggest personnel changes when so many players were poor on Saturday. I mean Finn, Harris and Duhan were all fairly hopeless, but they are a key trio for the side. We got very little from the bench, so we could make changes there, but the obvious bench player I want to see is Hastings, and he appears persona non grata.

My punt for France would be as follows:

1.Schoeman 2.McInally 3.Nel 4.Cummings 5.Gilchrist 6.Bradbury 7.Watson 8.Haining 9.Price 10.Russell 11.Duhan 12.Redpath 13.Harris 14.Graham 15.Hogg

16.Kebble 17.Brown 18.Fagerson 19.Skinner 20.Bayliss 21.White 22.Hastings 23.Steyn

Obviously a few very lucky players there (and Tuipolotu is unlucky, contributing more than Harris so far). Missing Matt Fagerson and Jamie Ritchie will hurt us. France looked very good indeed. Still, the Murrayfield factor will help and Toonie should get a reaction from the side. We desperately need Finn Russell back to his best to stand any chance.

Yes, JG does not look back to his old form at all yet. It use to be a newsworthy event him missing a tackle.

Cummings had a good game for Glasgow on friday and was MoM, so he seems to have responded well to being dropped.

Ultimately we can't accept a performance like that without some of the players being dropped. We are supposed to have some depth now, lets give some others a chance

I'm not as doom and gloom as others on here (particularly tattie!) As a whole I wouldn't say it was a terrible performance, it was just a lot of average with some poor aspects thrown in. Things juts didn't click and we never really got going without making a mistake or penalty.

Not getting the criticism of Kinghorn - he provided a lot of spark and go forwards, one of the few to actually do so. He's not yet an international class 10, but he served his purpose for what was needed.

I’m not doom and gloom. I just think many go carried away on the hype train beating England up first.

Too many seasons we’ve dug out a win against England and it’s deemed as saving our campaign. I’m just fed up of it. All this talk about this golden generation but they aren’t winning anything. Hard fought wins against England and Oz then mean absolutely nothing when we don’t back it up the following week

RDW wrote:I'm not as doom and gloom as others on here (particularly tattie!) As a whole I wouldn't say it was a terrible performance, it was just a lot of average with some poor aspects thrown in. Things juts didn't click and we never really got going without making a mistake or penalty.

Not getting the criticism of Kinghorn - he provided a lot of spark and go forwards, one of the few to actually do so. He's not yet an international class 10, but he served his purpose for what was needed.

I'm firmly in the doom and gloom camp, RDW! I don't think Scotland have ever won their opening two gams in the 6N, which is a depressingly awful stat when you think about it. We won't often have as good an opportunity to break that record - all the stars were aligning for us to take that next step, and we completely failed to fire a shot.

For the next game, I think we need much more threat in the midfield - for all his defensive nouse, I really think Harris has become something of an attacking roadblock, he is basically bypassed most of the time, instead of offering any sort of threat. If it was up to me it would be a Finn, Redpath, Steyn - young Cam to take some of the pressure of Finn and Steyn to offer a dynamic threat going forward, he's a good defender too. And for the love of the Tombola, lets please get Hasting back on the bench.

EST wrote:

RDW wrote:I'm not as doom and gloom as others on here (particularly tattie!) As a whole I wouldn't say it was a terrible performance, it was just a lot of average with some poor aspects thrown in. Things juts didn't click and we never really got going without making a mistake or penalty.

Not getting the criticism of Kinghorn - he provided a lot of spark and go forwards, one of the few to actually do so. He's not yet an international class 10, but he served his purpose for what was needed.

I'm firmly in the doom and gloom camp, RDW!  I don't think Scotland have ever won their opening two gams in the 6N, which is a depressingly awful stat when you think about it. We won't often have as good an opportunity to break that record - all the stars were aligning for us to take that next step, and we completely failed to fire a shot.

For the next game, I think we need much more threat in the midfield - for all his defensive nouse, I really think Harris has become something of an attacking roadblock, he is basically bypassed most of the time, instead of offering any sort of threat.   If it was up to me it would be a Finn, Redpath, Steyn - young Cam to take some of the pressure of Finn and Steyn to offer a dynamic threat going forward, he's a good defender too. And for the love of the Tombola, lets please get Hasting back on the bench.  

Yeah a good point there. I guess I was saying as a performance it wasn't a disaster, but you're right that the outcome very much is.

The main issues will be up front against France. If we cannot win out scrums and line-outs the game will be over by half time. Stopping the driving maul( not one of our strengths of late) will also be crucial.
The way France stopped Ireland on the gain line in the first half is something no one has been able to do for the last year. Players that normally dominate in the collision were knocked backwards time after time. Yes, the Irish came back well in the second half but the French forwards bench re-established control and they closed the game out , restricting Ireland to 3 points in the final 20.
If they bring close to that game to Murrayfield then I don't see how we beat them. Perhaps a downpour and a howling gale might even up the odds a bit. Man for man I can't see many of our squad making their match day 23.

Gray and Harris named in the Rugbypass team of the weekend....!

Darcy Graham in there too, which is a bit more justified.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/60367487

Another article on the money by Tom English.

We do seem so focused on winning defensively now we've forgotten how to effectively attack.

NeilyBroon wrote:https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/60367487

Another article on the money by Tom English.

A smart man wrote:This was the most troubling Scotland defeat since the 2019 World Cup.

Yes, absolutely it is. This is where coaches earn their corn. Toonie knows his men (or should) and he needs to understand what really happened.

sensisball wrote:The main issues will be up front against France. If we cannot win out scrums and line-outs the game will be over by half time. Stopping the driving maul( not one of our strengths of late) will also be crucial.
The way France stopped Ireland on the gain line in the first half is something no one has been able to do for the last year. Players that normally dominate in the collision were knocked backwards time after time. Yes, the Irish came back well in the second half but the French forwards bench re-established control and they closed the game out , restricting Ireland to 3 points in the final 20.
If they bring close to that game to Murrayfield then I don't see how we beat them. Perhaps a downpour and a howling gale might even up the odds a bit.  Man for man I can't see many of our squad making their match day 23.

They looked pretty formidable, I hope at the very least we see a reaction - but I reckon this France team might have a bit too much for us, no matter what we do.

Formidable or not, it's a home game so we should be targeting it as a must win. If we are simply outclassed then I will have less of a problem with it than the abject performance I saw on Saturday.

At the minimum we should be keeping it within a score. At best we should get the win. We've beaten all these teams at home before, it's not an alien concept.

It's times like these I can't help but yearn for the Vern Cotter era a bit. Our players had a bit more b*stard about them and he seemed to command a lot more respect. We had some bad games sure but not ones like Wales this year or Ireland in 2019 where the players just didn't seem up for it at all. That or when we had McFarland in the background, who again had the forwards pretty well fired up.

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/maitland-told-gregor-townsend-he-prefers-holding-his-kids-not-tackle-bags/

Pretty blunt assessment for Maitland which is fair enough. It's a lot to ask for the exiles on the fringe of the squad to come up knowing they're probably not gonna play, yet if they say no that could be their career over with Scotland.

Been thinking about Rory Hutchinson recently - he's been in so many squads over the last few years but has barely got a look in, and has been playing really well for his club. That's a lot of traveling up and down to hold tackle bags! He's a weird one - on paper he's a prime Toonie 12 yet just doesnt seem to be rated.

Understandable sentiment from Maitland, but in all honesty, we should be looking past a wing of his age heading into the next WC. We do have younger and likely faster options at the end of the day.

You have got to be hungry to succeed at this level. Maitland was once as well, re-locating from the other side of the world. His priorities are changing now and i am sure both he and Toonie understand that.

I am here if you need me, but I am not going to kill myself, id probably a reasonable line for him to take.


For Scotland fans however, we probably are looking for players who will go that extra mile.

R Gray is a pretty similar situation. Can't blame them though in R Gray's case, I think he would have got 15-20 more caps from that moment in 2019 when he said no.

Hutchinson is not quite as elusive as Redpath, lacks the power of Tuipulotu and the defensive work of S Johnson. His special ability at international level is distribution. Combine that with Russell, it may be a case of too many chefs though I would love to see what he could do.

I'd not fully agree on that assessment of Hutchinson - he's got a great running game too and is quite powerful. He had a great assist at the weekend. He's also another kicking option.

I would like to see him more involved - he's never really had a chance. Not necessarily in the 6N but certainly a few starts in the summer tour.

Hutchinson’s issue is he’s not a defensive or crash ball centre which is what Toonie rates at the moment.

You’ve got Finn and his box of tricks so Toonie wants a straight running SJ or Tuipulotu at 12 and a defensive rock like Harris at 13

Say we had a more conservative 10 like VDW the you’d be more likely to see another playmaker at 12 like Hutchinson

If Dunbar was still playing at 12 then hutch, Bennett or even shug would be given the 13 shirt. Right now, no one is taking the 13 shirt off Harris as he’s the linchpin of our backline defence. Tuipulotu could be an option at 12 going forward but I think Redpath will rightfully take that jersey long term. He’s a good runner but also capable of creative play. He’s the perfect foil for Finns madness or Harris’ stodginess. He can float between straight running or distributing depending on which element is required.

Agree with this, I think Redpath is the solution at 12. Hutch could prove a useful utility sub but the likelihood of that happening is low.

The reality is we have Harris in until he's injured which unfortunately limits our choices at centre. I'd love to see Bennett given a rerun at OC for Scotland with Johnson or Tui inside but that won't happen! Therefore the best current solution is for Redpath to be inside centre acting as the creative spark.

NeilyBroon wrote:Agree with this, I think Redpath is the solution at 12. Hutch could prove a useful utility sub but the likelihood of that happening is low.

The reality is we have Harris in until he's injured which unfortunately limits our choices at centre. I'd love to see Bennett given a rerun at OC for Scotland with Johnson or Tui inside but that won't happen! Therefore the best current solution is for Redpath to be inside centre acting as the creative spark.

I don't think it's a healthy place to be to say that Harris is completely un-droppable, yes he is brilliant defensively, but he has been totally anonymous going forward and looks very short of pace. I agree that the obvious step is to include Redpath at 12, and see if that helps improve the attacking shape, but I think we need to move past Harris and have a real attacking threat at 13.

Sadly, I do not think that Scotland has really progressed at all, compared to the other nations. All have improved, but Scotland still seem to be a one win wonder team

We talk about the players of a generation and while I agree we do have some exciting players, we have not really got any better overall (compared to other nations).

We still are mostly a push over in the scrum (bar the odd game)
We get overpowered by most good teams in the loose (bar the odd game)
Our line out struggles (bar the odd game)
We very rarely look to dominate a game (bar the odd game)
We can not win two on the bounce (bar the odd game)
We still look like we want to throw every game away some how (bar the odd game)


We fluked a win against England (playing terribly) and were embarrassed by Wales. I can not see us beating France or Ireland and really look at Italy with a worry this year (as they do seem to have improved a lot this year)

I am not sure what the problem is, but I do wonder if there is a phycological area that needs addressed

And finally........there is Finn

I may be the only person who thinks this, but I actually think he is holding us back. He is so inconsistent for Scotland that I do not think the team are able to really settle into a style and stride. Yes, he can be subline, but the flip of the coin is he can be a disaster - how do you play with someone so inconsistent - how do you know quite were we are going to be going / doing

I would actually prefer a more steady 10 that we can actually build a strategy around. But maybe I am dreaming...

Nice thoughts Risky, I think you sum up thé frustrations with this side very well. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to have a sports psychologist involved (if they are not already). On thé plus side there is definitely without a doubt more depth and talent emerging. Soon those who don’t perform will need to make way for those with a bit more fire in their belly. Boyle had a solid game for Edinburgh at the weekend and several young players who have been in a few camps and haven’t had the chance to get a run of games for Scotland yet will be pushing the established names harder. I’m still feeling optimistic despite the difficult loss at the weekend.

Fans from other nations must get endless entertainment from watching Scotland fans reactions through the 6N. Scrape one win against England at the start and it's suddenly all 'finally we can win these tight games without playing well, we've progressed'. Then into the frankly a bit embarrassing talk of how we've set ourselves up for a real run at the championship (personally with Ireland and France in the form they are I don't get where these noises were coming from). Then we go into an away game with the title of favourites thrust upon us and the team instantly folds like soggy cardboard and the doom and gloom and introspection starts all over again for another year.

Never a dull moment as a Scotland fan (or an outside observer)!

FWIW since I've not moaned on here much yet, that second half was embarrassing and the team need to be asking themselves why they are so ill equipped to be carrying any serious level of expectation

With Sutherland being out, I'm assuming that we will see Kebble come into the squad?
I don't think Sebastian will be brought into the matchday 23, and with Bhatti also injured, the only other option could be to bring Hislop in?
With Schoeman and Kebble, we should be fine though.

The more I was thinking about what happened, the more I think that we just started drinking our own Kool Aid after the England result. My news feed was flooded with 100 pictures of Scotland players holding the Calcutta Cup for a full week afterwards. That's not healthy.

What I would expect from a professional set up is a debrief about what could have been done better and then laser focus on Wales. Now, obviously that's what probably actually happened but if the players' heads remained full of Facebook superlatives and what car they might buy after their grand slam then the coaching team has failed.

I'm not saying that the players shouldn't have enjoyed their victory, but it's obvious that they weren't mentally prepared at all for Wales. I have concerns about the player leadership group too. I think having a Paul O'Connell would make all the difference.

I rewatched the game and one player for Wales who really stood out for me was Liam Williams. He tested Scotland numerous times with the boot and nearly every time he gained Wales territory and recognised that Scotland were pretty hopeless in the air.

Another interesting observation was Biggar and the restarts. Two times he kicked an awkward one for Scotland and both times Scotland failed to deal with that. The first was to an open part of field that caused confusion. If Bradbury had a bit more presence of mind he might have been able to rush up and claim it. With his speed on the ball he would have made some good yardage going into contact. Sadly he was slow to react or call for the ball.

Incidentally, when Russell got charged down that was a well placed restart by Biggar. I was fuming on the day but having rewatched it LRZ was given a free run in to apply pressure. Russell's team mates needed to be protecting him in that situation not just allowing the fastest player in the NH to charge in and force Russell to have to look for another option to boot it clear. Sutherland could have been a bit more vocal in that situation and asked for the ball to carry it up. Overall the Scottish pack seemed to be lacking in awareness at times. Ritchie was certainly missed.

I think my initial observation of Russell being hopeless for that match was quite harsh in reality. The Scottish attack was far too flat at times. Russell's pass to no one was not a bad pass in reality it was just the poor positioning of the backline. His options were severely limited. Early in the second half when Scotland have better shape you can see how much easier it is for him. Russell also made a very good catch in the 22 after it looked like Williams had kicked another beauty of a 50-22. A classy bit of play by him but that has gone a bit unnoticed by the armchair critics.

One opportunity that went begging with the game in the balance was when Scotland won a scrum in their own half at 61.40. The ball goes wide and it really looks like it'll be on! Harris carries it up with VDM to his left. For whatever reason he decides to go into contact rather than pass the ball to VDM. This means he is swallowed up by both Welsh centres, who hold him up easily and it totally sucks the life out of the Scottish attack. Slow ball follows and the next phase is the Gray knock on.  

If Harris had passed it to Duhan there would have been the opportunity to check Watkins and setup a VDM vs Cuthbert scenario.

Didn't specifically notice that but what stands for me is how narrow VDM is! Maybe Harris didn't just want to ship it to someone who would get tackled easily.

I know hee haw about back play. As a forward, even though I could step our centre and fullback in training every single time, my old coach would scream “you’re a forward, run through them”

My lack of back play knowledge aside, looking at the above, isn’t the fault with Duhan for not keeping width? Where is flounder, he’ll know.
Either Duhan needs to keep wide to give room for the pass and his run, or he’s cutting in expecting Harris to either crash into contact (blunt as bsando has pointed out) or he’s looking for a scissors move but wales close down the space and stop it.

Ahhhh. There’s flounder and he seems to agree

And he’s not chosen the nickname Really Daft Winger for nothing. Oh wait………..

It looks like a move on wrong or a miscommunication - VDM is running a crash line. It could also have been to support Harris. Would need to watch the playback!

Actually tiger almost everything is off with that attack.
10-12-13-14 are very flat
There is very little width
The miss pass takes Tuipoluto out of the attack but allows the defence to drift onto Harris
Because they are so flat, and close, Tuipoluto isn't  able to loop
Harris doesn't have time to pass; it would be man and ball
The last two defenders are able to turn to face each other and shepherd Harris into a blind alley...where he gets mugged.
I wonder if Duhan lines up flat and close because Harris has no outside break nor is he an international class distributor?
Our debate about 13 reminds me of the Meatball/ Jacko situation. After Dan Parks we wanted a creative running 10 but Jacko couldn't kick(!) Meatball was a good kicking 10 and a better distributor than Parks but not as creative as Jacko. Then we got Russell, best of both worlds.
Hugh Jones is devastating in attack.
Chris Harris is excellent in defence.
Is there a 13 who is a better attacker than Harris and a better defender than Jones?

jimbopip wrote:.
Hugh Jones is devastating in attack.
Chris Harris is excellent in defence.
Is there a 13 who is a better attacker than Harris and a better defender than Jones?

Mark Bennett

10, 12, 13 axis could be:

Russell, Redpath, Bennett.
Tuipoloto to bench?

Anglobraveheart wrote:

jimbopip wrote:.
Hugh Jones is devastating in attack.
Chris Harris is excellent in defence.
Is there a 13 who is a better attacker than Harris and a better defender than Jones?

Mark Bennett

Was gonna say the same thing!

Saying that, I think we stick with Harris.

RDW, if we stick with Harris, and the lack of attacking flair, and lose, we stagnate.
If we stick with Harris we may defend ourselves to victory, but with an average of 13 penalties conceded per game so far, it is highly unlikely. That strategy failed in Wales.
We need to throw caution to the wind. Surely?

More Importantly Anne Lundon is now Anne Mcalpine. I’ve missed my chance