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)

Most of our young players have hardly played for the past couple of years.

No great surprise we are struggling atm.

We has actually got a lot more competitive than we used to be at this level over recent years, but we have gone a long way backwards with the pandemic.

Sadly this was the most relaxing I have been watching a 6 nations. I was totally expecting us to be this bad, and even the lucky win against a woeful England did not raise my sense of optimism. The only bright spark I can see for this 6 nations is we did not lose to Italy (I actually expected us to) and we found a couple of players who could be good, but need consistency

It is much better to accept that we are a 2nd tier nation that will upset a team once in a while - it helps the zen

On Russel - I am actually of the notion that he should be binned and never play for Scotland again. That is twice he has gone against a coach and that sort of disrespect should not be allowed. He also obviously does not give a fig about the Scotland team -there is relaxed and their is down right disrespectful.

On how he plays - I actually think he has done more harm than good for Scotland, as he is so inconsistent that it seems almost impossible for the team to play a consistent game plan..

On Hogg - not seen the interview, but he does sound a little arrogant. That 4 on 1 was shocking, but Hogg has terrible hands and a pass, so I would half expect him to throw it to the other players feet. Might be time to freshen up the Captaincy, but I still think he has a place, but needs to keep earning it.

Townsend - most should know my feelings and the SRU should be hung out to dry for the damage they did getting rid of Cotter...

The best thing Scotland could do is send Hogg and Russell to the naughty step and build a team without them

I've reflected on the 6N results and come to the conclusion that it's better for the SRU to soldier on with Townsend and his relatively new coaching setup heading towards the RWC 2023.

Tandy has provided a really good defence. Even though Ireland cracked it yesterday I thought the aggression and intensity of the Scottish defence is still much better than it was under Matt Taylor. Different styles i know but it seems to suit varied opposition better than the Taylor system did.

? hang over some of the assistant coaches but I think Tandy is a valuable coach for Scotland. Looking ahead I think the Argentina tour will be a good test and will also hopefully allow townsend and his team to make some adjustments to the problems they've encountered this tournament. Namely discipline and accuracy in defence and attack. It was just too loose this 6N and although the attacking endeavour was there vs Ireland they spilled ball and wasted chances. Ireland didn't when it mattered and they didn't look like they would either.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60815273


Does not sound like a ringing endorsement of Hogg's captaincy.

It might well suit both parties if it was to be moved on now.

Nobody has highlighted Bkairhorn's "tackle" technique. It could be called the Salmond method: attempted sleepy cuddles to stop Dan Sheehan's try and James Lowe in the build up to Murray's try are things of beauty if you don't enjoy contact sport.
These two defensive masterpieces were supported by his attempt to run as close to the wing as possible to avoiding having to defend in the build up to Van Der Flier's try.
If Tandy had a pair he would tell Townsend that there is no way Kinghorn should play again if he cannot tackle. Of course he doesn't, so he won't.
Scotland have officially descended into farce with the selection of BK at 10.
Toonie should fall on his sword, if he knew where it was kept.

https://www.ruck.co.uk/three-six-nations-bosses-under-pressure-and-who-could-replace-them/

Have a look on page 3 of this article and tell me any of them are any better than Gregor!!

The first name isn't even going to consider the job and 3 of the others already have job, one not even on the touchline due to being BANNED!!

HS
I don't actually expect Toonie to resign from his 400 k job, why would you? I also know it is too close to the WC to bring in anyone else, even if the funds were available, which their not, and if the SRU were to admit management wasn't working, which they won't.
Townsend has always been the chosen one and will remain untouchable until the final whistle in whichever is the latter if our WC matches against the Boks and Ireland
Then, and only then, will the SRU tell us it's time for a change of management.

Highland Shaun wrote:https://www.ruck.co.uk/three-six-nations-bosses-under-pressure-and-who-could-replace-them/

Have a look on page 3 of this article and tell me any of them are any better than Gregor!!

The first name isn't even going to consider the job and 3 of the others already have job, one not even on the touchline due to being BANNED!!

If he's lost the changing room and the SRU decide he has to go then better to punt him. If players don't trust the coach and the coach can't manage the players then there's no point in persisting. What's the definition of madness again...?

Looking at the lists of possible replacements, for any of the 3 posts, none of them are realistic.

The big coaching changes with genuinely good candidates will all happen post WC.

Scott Roberstson is the one eveyone will want, if he does not get the All Blacks gig. A lot of the others mentioned are all done with international rugby.

Mark Palmer, writing in the Sunday Times and giving his take on the beergate fiasco and it's aftermath.




Stuart Hogg, for now still the Scotland captain, is fond of lamenting the effect of “compound errors”.

The theory goes that while mistakes are inevitable, the real damage is done when they are immediately followed by more avoidable mishaps that serve to accentuate and deepen the damage of the original one.

In this light, it would be fascinating to discover what the 93-cap full back makes of the chain of events that leads from the foyer of the team hotel late last Saturday night to the festering muddle of intrigue and innuendo which will now be the lasting image — the bitter aftertaste — of a depressing Six Nations campaign.

The truth is we still don’t really know what Hogg thinks — or even what exactly he and his fellow miscreants really did — and that is the result of a series of poor decisions made by various people in positions of power within the Scottish Rugby Union since the incident itself occurred.

It was, clearly, bad enough that a group of six senior players apparently chose to go against an agreement/rule/instruction/protocol (accounts vary wildly) not to hit the town in the wake of the team’s return from Rome. Yet curiously, head coach Gregor Townsend twice refused to confirm whether such an instruction had indeed been broken when asked directly during his Zoom press conference after the Ireland game.


If the drinking had been an embarrassment, that session was little better. Both Hogg and Townsend, the two most senior spokespeople in the Scotland set-up and two of those right at the heart of the matter in question, were by turns nippy and evasive when asked exactly the sort of basic questions it was any serious journalist’s duty to pose. What happened? Why? What were the consequences, and what might those still be, particularly with regards to the captaincy?

You can bet your very last Guinness-soaked euro that a large number of the supporters who spent hundreds to witness yet another Dublin hammering will have been pondering those very questions as they tried to work out quite how such a tawdry episode had been allowed to overshadow preparations for such an important fixture.


At one point, Townsend dismissed reporting of the matter as “gossip”, conveniently ignoring that the SRU, while declining to engage with any other media organisation, had confirmed the basic facts to their preferred outlet, the BBC. If it was all just “gossip”, the union themselves had been whispering it in selected ears.

Hogg, meanwhile, dismissed as “irrelevant” the opinions of anyone beyond “players, coaches and management”, and although the Exeter Chief confirmed that he had said sorry, he emphasised the strictly “in-house” nature of the apology. He then bit one reporter’s head off for asking if he had been concerned, or was still concerned, about losing the captaincy — another perfectly reasonable, nay essential, line of inquiry.

It was all very tense and terse and did not exactly scream “contrition”. That, alas, has been the SRU’s playbook in virtually all the myriad scandals which have enveloped Murrayfield in recent years; double down, shoot the messenger, and view any nod to contrition as an admission of weakness.

Mark Dodson, the chief executive, displayed all these hallmarks in both word and deed during the lamentable Keith Russell affair, when a genuine apology and holding up of hands would have gone a huge way to restoring the faith of the rugby community after the SRU’s HR practices were torn apart by a senior judge in an employment tribunal.

A similar pattern surrounded the hamfisted introduction of the Super6 competition, the executive pay scandal, and the Finn Russell debacle two years ago, where instead of trying to mend fences with the team’s best player after another ill-judged late-night episode, senior SRU figures elected to brief media that he was effectively an alcoholic.

On Saturday night in the Aviva, how much better would it have been for all concerned had Hogg and Townsend shed a bit more light on the whole affair, said sorry to the rugby community for the damage done to the team’s reputation, and vowed to build back better?

"When asked about concerns over the team's culture after the disciplinary breach, Townsend said: "Your culture is a response to a challenge, that's what we said to our players.

"If our culture was getting questioned then the best way to respond is going out and taking the game to the opposition. Our players did that yesterday [against Ireland] and they did that in training during the week."

After starting with a good win at home to England, Scotland's momentum stalled in Cardiff as they were edged out by Wales.

"We feel as coaches honestly that we improved over the last three games," Townsend added. "France was better than Wales, Italy had some really good moments and yesterday [against Ireland] was arguably our best performance.

Now does it seem to anyone else, that they were watching a completely different 6 nations to me

It seems they are in cloud cookcoo land - none of the above is remotely true

He may be a blawbag but at least EJ admitted his faults with England.

All of this stinks of SRU nepotism. No-one is accountable at the top table, including the coaching staff and "leader group".

And predictably, the Irish view on it, by Patrick Mccarry in Sports Joe.

We are all a bit fed up with the Irish pundits, but it is hard to argue with most of this!


"I won't miss this."
So groused Stuart Hogg as he wrapped up another underwhelming Six Nations campaign with his final press commitment. One wondered whether the fullback was referring to the Scotland captaincy or the championship itself.

The 2021 Lions Tour to South Africa was the launchpad, we were told. Buoyed by a record inclusion of players in a professional Lions squad, the Scots spoke of how they were on the up. They had seen how Finn Russell had caused the Springboks some wobbles and convinced themselves that he, Ali Price, Hamish Watson, Duhan van der Merwe & Co. would take the next step.

Last November, they beat Tonga and Australia and it felt as if they could finally be turning the corner. Scotland could be a competitive, consistent beast. Not everyone was convinced, though. Sean O'Brien was one of them.

"Do you know what I find frustrating about the Scottish team?" he asked.

"They win a turnover in the middle of the field and they're all celebrating and going absolutely crazy. What they need to do is get on with it and focus on the next job. Go and beat these teams, rather than jumping around and shouting at lads... You're looking at them going, 'You haven't won anything major in the last while. Go on to the next job and go win these games'."

In the next game, South Africa cantered to a 30-15 win.

On to the Six Nations and Scotland started off with a home win over England to retain the Calcutta Cup for the first time in 38 years. After the first round of the championship, they were one of three teams still left hunting the Grand Slam.

They arguably played better in their next game, against Wales, but lost that in Cardiff. In the following match, France tore strips off them while Stuart Hogg was left cursing a knock-on after an overly ambitious Chris Harris pass. Championship gone, but a win in Rome over the Italians to ensure mid-table anonymity. There was no trophy up for grabs, in the final game, but they could prove many wrong in their final game against Ireland.

Instead, they proved many right. They scrapped, they really did, but they were completely outclassed. The same could be said for the truculent post-match interviews with Stuart Hogg and head coach Gregor Townsend.


Starting off with the game, the likes of Pierre Schoemann, George Turner, Rory Darge and Hamish Watson all played really well. Ireland were disrupted at the breakdown and their vaunted ruck speed was slowed down.

The Scots forced a heap of turnovers and disrupted the Ireland rolling maul, as well as making big plays inside their red zone that saved lots of points. They were bright in attack in the opening 15 minutes, without scoring, and could have made it 14-12, in the second half, if Hogg had passed to teammate Sam Johnson instead of going hero-ball for the corner.

For all of that, Ireland won with ease, and without being anywhere near their best, or most clinical. Johnny Sexton kept kicking for the corner and the Ireland forwards kept at them inside the 22. Put simply, they fancied their chances. They did not rate Scotland.

And yet, after his side's 26-5 defeat, both Stuart Hogg and Gregor Townsend were insisting this was a week, and a performance, full of positives.

When Scottish reporters tried to point at flaws in their game or in that preparation - six players were disciplined for a breach of team guidelines after a night out in Edinburgh - they were met with sniffs, snorts, sighs and dismissive comments. It was pitiful stuff.

Asked about his crucial decision not to pass inside to an open teammate, before Hugo Keenan bundled him out of play, Hogg replied:

"There was a lot of good stuff that happened in that game but, unfortunately - classic move - we've picked out the negatives to look at, and I'm disappointed by that. If I get down on my belly, I probably score that. On another day, I probably do. And we're looking at five seconds of an 80-minute performance. So, yeah, fair play."

As the captain of Scotland, this was the first press briefing Hogg - one of the six players disciplined - had to answer questions on that matter, and the Edinburgh night out. After making a flat apology and providing no further details on it, Hogg expected the matter to be dropped and got frustrated when there were follow-up questions.

"What's out there is out there," he said, after shaking his head disdainfully.

"I don't know how many times I have to say I've apologised and put my hands up. I made a mistake... I can't sit here and say I'm not disappointed... but I can't go back and change anything. I'm not going to be developing [that story]. I know exactly what you're after here, and you're not going to get it."

His head coach took the seat Hogg had just vacated as the Scotland captain got up, exclaiming he would not miss those sort of post-match Q&As.

Townsend was equally sullen and short on details when he was asked about a big decision to discipline six players, as well as dropping his outhalf [Finn Russell] and the impactful Sione Tuipulotou. Players nipping out for post-match pints is hardly earth-shattering, but the moment the story leaked out, it grew legs. Many that reported on it were just stating the facts, as they had them.

"Things happen," Townsend reflected on his players breaking team "guidelines", before talking of 'learning from it' and lads that 'fronted up'. Again, pressed for more on this exact breach of discipline - to counter or confirm the rumours, hearsay and voice-notes doing the rounds - Townsend was not a happy man.

One Scottish reporter put it well, when he told Townsend that fans of the team, who pay so much to get along to games and support them, deserve to know exactly what is going on.

"We’ve put a statement out already about this," he said. "It's a private matter and private discussions and decisions have been made within the group. Anything on the back of that is just gossip.

"We’ve moved on from that and there’s nothing more to say. Nobody was ejected from the squad. We dealt with it in-house and had our best training week of the championship."

Yes, tell us more about the training.

You wondered, looking on, where these lads get off.

Thick egos. Thin skin. Now wonder Ireland fancied it so much.

Spot on really. All of our problems summarised in one press conference. Toonie and Hogg are the wrong men to lead for varying reasons and they've long been indulged by fans and protected by the SRU. Happy for Hogg to compete for his place again but for me his captaincy is done permanently.

Wow.

When you listen to the podcast of Tom English, Peter Wright and Colin Gregor, it really sounds awful. They are even more downbeat than we are and I’d like to think that they at least know what they are talking about.

Tom English is almost writing a eulogy for the death of Scottish rugby.

tigertattie wrote:Wow.

When you listen to the podcast of Tom English, Peter Wright and Colin Gregor, it really sounds awful. They are even more downbeat than we are and I’d like to think that they at least know what they are talking about.

Tom English is almost writing a eulogy for the death of Scottish rugby.  

It's fair enough really. After looking like we were finally on the road to professionalism just under 10 years ago the rug was pulled out through some bad decisions for the national team from a coaching perspective, and stripping the funding floor of the pro clubs (in particular Glasgow), alternating depending on who looked like they might do better.

Toonie should have been allowed to leave to coach elsewhere, regardless of whether cotter had been kept on, to prove his pro credentials beyond Scotland. The super6 or whatever it's called has been an unmitigated disaster from the start. Our youth has gone backwards after a huge amount of progress.

It is looking grim.

tigertattie wrote:Wow.

When you listen to the podcast of Tom English, Peter Wright and Colin Gregor, it really sounds awful. They are even more downbeat than we are and I’d like to think that they at least know what they are talking about.

Tom English is almost writing a eulogy for the death of Scottish rugby.  

Those 3 do love a good moan though. I actually think they're happier when we lose than win so he can have a good old whinge!

There is an absolute pile on going on at the moment, probably no great surprise.

Mark Palmer sounded pretty measured in the Times, whereas Roberston in the Daily Fail just went for the throat and called for Toonie's head! Cosy and complacent was his description!

Some uncomfortable reading for the SRU this morning, I don't remember this much vitriol even when we were getting stuffed on a regular basis!

I actually think it's all become a bit much, particularly remembering that we came in as the 2nd bottom ranked team and finished 4th, so did better than the odds.

It's a sign of how the expectations are now that 2 wins are seen as such a disaster!

RDW wrote:I actually think it's all become a bit much, particularly remembering that we came in as the 2nd bottom ranked team and finished 4th, so did better than the odds.

It's a sign of how the expectations are now that 2 wins are seen as such a disaster!

It's not the losses, but the performances. Ireland and France are better teams than us atm, no shame in losing those games but there is in handing them on a plate and let's not even mention the Welsh game!

I think its the manner in those defeats though that grates. How we lost to Wales hurts, we'd of lost to france and ireland regardless but in yesteryear we'd have converted the few chances we got. We've become SO wasteful.

I think Tramp and I agree on that one

I don't think it's the losses that are the problem, it's the manner in which we played which is definitely enough reason to slate the leadership on all levels.

That's me told!

FWIW I do agree, I just think it's become a bit OTT and turned into a witch hunt.

Well perhaps they need to feel a bit of heat and not take us long sufferring fans for granted. God knows, we have supported Scotland through thin and thin but for me this is one of the lowest points in my 50 plus years following the team.

Woah easy there Gee

Frank Hadden
Andy Robinson
Matt Williams!!!!!

We’ve deffo been worse than this. Wayyyyyy worse. There’s been times we’ve had the wooden spoon. Even with Italy in the competition.

I think the public at large got a bit carried away with the hype train after beating England first and then it’s been hard landing back to earth.

Look, we were utterly mince against wales. I fully accept that and agree. But had we won that game which we narrowly lost even while playing badly, then we’d have had three wins which no one would be able to argue about as being a decent tournament.

We didn’t win though. But then again we usually don’t.

Think we need to take a bit of a reality check while we’re being so angry about the team currently

To be fair I think most of us on here recognised that we needed to improve after the England game and that we weren't world beaters by any stretch. The difference is with the previous eras of Scottish disappointment is that we didn't have as many players available to us and to be playing like this when we know they're capable of better performances is galling.

No I don't deny we have been worse. You had to be realistic when we were Poopie, a win was always a pleasant surprise.

I personally find it far more frustrating watching this talented, but pretty clueless bunch throwing opportunities away.

Despite all our ralk of much improved depth, which is true. There are several players in the team who feel they are undroppable, to the extent that they can ignore the coach and choose to go out on the lash.

That just reeks of self entitlement to me and that is where we are going wrong.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60820568

Well I was waiting for the Tom English version and here it is, nor is it pretty.

Interestingly, he goes after the players a lot more than some of the other commentators (I expect he knows a lot more about what really has been going on than we do).

I am actually pleased someone is actively calling out Russell and Hogg (in particular) but not letting the others off the hook either. Binning them all for that game was the right thing to have done and might have got the right message over. Instead, Tonnie, by trying to be the peacemaker, has made himself look impotent and at the mercy of his prima donna stars.

You know what Gatland, Jones, Rennie, Cockerill or Cotter would have done in those circumstances but then again, with those guys in charge, it is unlikely that the 6 of them would have chanced their arms.

Of his suggestions, surely Ritchie is the man for the captaincy longer term, but with Watson in sore need of a rest this summer, it may well be GG for this tour.

It's a fair point that the SRU really should have broken the news themselves earlier in the week, probably Monday night once the squad had resolved it internally. Let all the press distraction get out the way before they even set foot in Ireland.

It was remarkably naive to think it wouldn't get out. It's not like they went to a private member's club!

BigGee wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60820568

Well I was waiting for the Tom English version and here it is, nor is it pretty.

Interestingly, he goes after the players a lot more than some of the other commentators (I expect he knows a lot more about what really has been going on than we do).

I am actually pleased someone is actively calling out Russell and Hogg (in particular) but not letting the others off the hook either. Binning them all for that game was the right thing to have done and might have got the right message over. Instead, Tonnie, by trying to be the peacemaker, has made himself look impotent and at the mercy of his prima donna stars.

You know what Gatland, Jones, Rennie, Cockerill or Cotter would have done in those circumstances but then again, with those guys in charge, it is unlikely that the 6 of them would have chanced their arms.

Of his suggestions, surely Ritchie is the man for the captaincy longer term, but with Watson in sore need of a rest this summer, it may well be GG for this tour.

Tom English wrote:They've gone from winning away in Wales, winning home and away against France and England, and running Ireland close on two straight occasions to taking solace from trying hard in adversity that they helped create for themselves in the first place.
...
And, just when his last shot at redemption in this Six Nations presents itself, he breaks management orders and hits the town. Russell has been love-bombed by various cheerleaders for too long. He needs to engage with some harsh reality and some humility wouldn't go amiss. That goes for all six of them.

It's hard to know what Townsend is thinking, but he's at a crossroads with this project. Two years of growth and now a major regression and rancour in the squad. He baulked at some questions on Saturday and Sunday, but it would be a shock if he wasn't asking some of the same questions of himself in the privacy of his own place.

It's look-in-the-mirror time for him, his captain, his chief playmaker and the other players who behaved like amateurs last week.

Brilliant and spot on as usual.

Don’t think Tom English is going to be invited to the SRU Christmas party this year. Probably just as well cause Hogg, Russell at al will have quaffed all the booze before he gets there.

I think there are issues all round, and I have said this a few times over the last 12 months.
Problem is, the issues appear to be growing in category - player attitude and EJ style selections combined with revisiting recent historic issues - poor realisation of taking points when we're in the red zone, sloppy stupid lazy penalties, handling errors, and leaky defence.
It's like let's combine the ills of the last decade, with some new ones, and bring them all back at once.
A lot of sense being extolled above; rest the Lions, change of captaincy, blood some youngsters over the summer, sort out discipline.
I think to take steps towards improvement, and let's face it, the attitude and quality of play stinks, we need some or all of the following:
A different attack coach- this one isn't working.
A sports and discipline psychologist.
Better fitness.
MUCH BETTER core skills.
At least 1 flair centre each match.
A new captain.
To just get on with it.
Hard work followed by more of the same.
A couple of nuggetty, hard forwards.
Don't come out with drivell of winning the tournament to the press, until we have, and even then just be humble about it.

Anglo, lots of common semse there

I'll just add two of my favourite quotes from football coaches;

"The really good thing about football is there isn't a problem on the pitch that can't be solved by working harder" Jurgen Klopp

and

"Say nowt before the tournament, win it, and then shout your bloody mouths off all you want." Brian Clough.

https://news.stv.tv/sport/six-nations-questions-for-scotland-gregor-townsend-and-stuart-hogg

You can add Jamie Borthwick of STV to the "Townsend out" camp by the sounds of this!!

FFS, maybe we will be looking for a new head coach soon but hopefully Mr Dodson ignores all these articles etc

But the question is: how does he view the "incident "after the Italy game? That may tell us something about his opinions on Gregor plus he's not exactly put out a statement backing him like the RFU did regarding Jones.

I'm very worried if Gregor does go because I really don't see what that will achieve!

Highland Shaun wrote:https://news.stv.tv/sport/six-nations-questions-for-scotland-gregor-townsend-and-stuart-hogg

You can add Jamie Borthwick of STV to the "Townsend out" camp by the sounds of this!!

FFS, maybe we will be looking for a new head coach soon but hopefully Mr Dodson ignores all these articles etc

But the question is: how does he view the "incident "after the Italy game? That may tell us something about his opinions on Gregor plus he's not exactly put out a statement backing him like the RFU did regarding Jones.

I'm very worried if Gregor does go because I really don't see what that will achieve!

I'm not worried either way. We're in pretty dire straits as it is. If Gregor stays we go out at the group stages next year. If Gregor goes we go out at the group stages next year but possibly play a bit better.

Someone needs to keep those egos in check and Toonie won't be the one to do it, so either we bite the bullet now or wait until we're on the world cup post mortem. Either way his time with Scotland is limited. I think at this point it has to be damage limitation. If a good coach is willing to come in, do it now. The SRU should be putting feelers out regardless and start doing it now whether it's after the WC or not.

Dan McFarland seems to be the obvious choice. Been in the setup when Scotland were going well, so should be able to hit the ground running. That cannot be a coincidence. Has done a great job so far with ulster. Should be the cost effective candidate. I also think he’s the nuggety type of coach who would not stand for the current BS from the players and would demand higher standards from everyone. Only issue is that he really should have got the Glasgow job, so might hold a grudge.
No way we would get Scott Robertson as it stands. Could not afford him anyway. None of the other established coaches are available/ interested I would imagine.

Heuer27 wrote:Dan McFarland seems to be the obvious choice. Been in the setup when Scotland were going well, so should be able to hit the ground running. That cannot be a coincidence. Has done a great job so far with ulster. Should be the cost effective candidate. I also think he’s the nuggety type of coach who would not stand for the current BS from the players and would demand higher standards from everyone. Only issue is that he really should have got the Glasgow job, so might hold a grudge.
No way we would get Scott Robertson as it stands. Could not afford him anyway. None of the other established coaches are available/ interested I would imagine.

I agree but there's definitely too many bridges burnt there, he'd be daft to give up a nice post with Ulster for a union that essentially fobbed him off in an expensive game of musical chairs.

I think McFarland is a possibility, but not now. He would be setting himself up to fail at the moment and would want a decent run at the job, as would any decent coach, which would mean a full WC cycle.

I don't think he holds any grudge about the mo e from Scotland to Ulster, it was just business and got sorted when some compensation got paid.

A lot will depend on whether he really fancies being an international coach or not. If he does, then the Irish gig seems a long way off, with Farrell going no-where and OGara waiting in the wings.

Scotland may well be a good fit for him.

I've said this before but my view is why does a team like Scotland target the WC as the pinnacle of their cycle? Especially this one where we have near zero chance of getting through the group stage....

Hands of McFarland.

He is contracted till 2024 and Ulster would resists big time.

RDW wrote:I've said this before but my view is why does a team like Scotland target the WC as the pinnacle of their cycle? Especially this one where we have near zero chance of getting through the group stage....

In terms of employing international coaches pretty much everyone is tied into that cycle, like it or not.

geoff999rugby wrote:Hands of McFarland.

He is contracted till 2024 and Ulster would resists big time.

He may have a release clause for an international job. A lot of head coach contracts do!

My feeling is that we may see toonie move on and Tandy step up as "interim" head coach...

https://www.scottishrugbyblog.co.uk/2022/03/18200/


This is probably the best article of the lot!

I can't see Toonie leaving. I also don't think it's as bad as is being made out (unless he has lost the dressing room, in which case he should go). It's certainly not good by any stretch but it's not like we finished bottom! He has shown he can fix the major issues that have come up in his tenure, but this is certainly his biggest challenge yet and one he may not be able to resolve without moving on

As has been said, there's not exactly a strong contender to replace him right now either.

BigGee wrote:https://www.scottishrugbyblog.co.uk/2022/03/18200/


This is probably the best article of the lot!

Kudos to the writer, that hits the nail on the head completely.

If toonie and the players were admitting fault and weakness, the backlash post 6Ns would be considerably less. If they're not holding themselves to professional standards then they rightfully should face public criticism and scrutiny.

NeilyBroon wrote:

BigGee wrote:https://www.scottishrugbyblog.co.uk/2022/03/18200/


This is probably the best article of the lot!

Kudos to the writer, that hits the nail on the head completely.

If toonie and the players were admitting fault and weakness, the backlash post 6Ns would be considerably less. If they're not holding themselves to professional standards then they rightfully should face public criticism and scrutiny.

Completely, to solve a problem, you have got to realise that you have a problem and nothing from Toonie or Hoggy (and by implication the whole squad) in their post game press, gave you the impression that there was anything wrong.

BigGee wrote:https://www.scottishrugbyblog.co.uk/2022/03/18200/


This is probably the best article of the lot!

That's an excellent article!