Ireland v Scotland: Saturday 19th March @ 1645.

I thought I'd be the one to start the match thread this week seeing as I haven't started one in a while and I'm trying to contribute to the forum more I'm future .

Before this test, there is a massive Scottish Derby in the URC which I'm definitely going to watch, let's hope these pesky train drivers aren't causing mischief again lol.

Regarding Saturday, everyone knows we will need to be MUCH BETTER than we have been this tournament to have any chance so hopefully Stuart and Gregor are rallying the troops all week in training etc.

I keep saying this as its true but, our rough record HAS to come to an end one day so why can't this weekend be that day just as last year were the days our rotten record was finally broken at Twickenham and Stade Francais.

As for the team I'd go:

Schoeman
Turner
Z. Fagerson
Gray
Gilchrist
Darge
Watson
M. Fagerson
Price
Hastings
Graham
Johnson (though GT won't drop Harris as he's our best defender)
Bennett
Kinghorn
Hogg

I am struggling to pick the bench so I'll let you guys help me out there, I would put Harris there but that means dropping Steyn completely and expecting BK to go the full 80mins. The other thing I'm struggling with is, do I put in Nel or Dell and Christie or Bayliss because my plan was to go with the 5:3 split.

Anyway, I'm expecting a good, tight and open game , hopefully with less errors from both than we saw from the round 4 matches.

My prediction: Ever the optimist and bearing in mind my original point regarding hoodoos eventually being broken, I say Scotland by 2, coming from behind .

Uncapped Ross Molony and Joseph McCarthy called up. McCarthy made his leinster debut last month.

Shaun, I hate to do this but Dell is a loosehead and Nel is a tight head. You can have both of them on the bench if you want. as a matter of fact one of each is usually considered a good thing.

Ireland will have to pick themselves up from struggling to beat a 14 man England side. No doubt their pack will be getting beasted in training every day this week after struggling in the scrum against seven English forwards and Cap'n Jack Sparrow. Still a powder puff Scotland side is just what they need to exorcize those demons.

I thought Furlong and Healey looked....human and fallible against Genge and Sinkler. Perhaps Shooey and Ragnar might get some joy in the scrums. Turner, however, is one fire and should be looking forward to Saturday.

Ryan (if fit) and Beirne have a distinct advantage in terms of mobility and dynamism over GG and Principal. Although GG has the edge in as much as he has that bit of "edge" that you want your second row to have.
Hopefully Toonie will continue with the Damish pairing: the back row contest should be "lively" and "keenly contested". Or to put it another way: there's four mad ferrets there and two other blokes who look like the world owes them a fiver and they're fed up waiting.
Aldi Price versus Jamieson Highland Park   that'll be worth watching. Price seems to be finding his form so he might just edge it.
Dancer versus The Graduate from the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts. Dancer has been below par so far, Sextoy has been his usual, efficient controlling model of a 10. I expect Dancer to have a blinder, just to fecc off all his critics.
Bundee v Johnson? very little in it.
Ringrose V Harris??? Dear god no! One of the most talented attacking players in the northern hemisphere against the man who looked embarrassed when he actually scored a try against Italy. I'd rather see Seaman Steyn at 13. Or Shona. Or Mark Bennett.
Or Jordan Edmunds and I have no idea who he is. Like most Scotland fans if truth be told.
ADHD Kid is my winger of the tournament so far but Hansen looks like he knows where the try line is.
King Blarehorn V James Lowe?  Big advantage to Ireland. Like Boris Johnson explaining his economic policy to the CBI Blarehorn will be reduced to making motor car noises and asking people if they've been to Peppa Pig World.
Keenan v Hogg. I think Hogg wins that. All day.
So in summary; Ireland by 23 points.

Ireland should be hammering us. Ireland have done well against us whenever we are in form and I can't see it changing by the performances in the last few games. All we can do is hope we show up with a point to prove and everything sticks.

Don't mind the side too much HS except you have included my pet peeve. J Gray and Gilchrist do similar things and are less than the sum of their parts in combination. I would prefer to see Cummings - Skinner with J Gray/GG to come off the bench and tackle anything that moves. For whatever reason, Skinner always seems to be better starting and having a dynamic second row to take on Henderson - Beirne may be required. Not fussed on whether it is JG or Gilchrist off the bench.

I fear Darge and Watson are similar to JG and GG. I would like to see Bayliss come into the BS spot with Darge to come on when the game opens up in the second half.

Kinghorn on the wing...he has not played there all season. I can see why but I would rather see Steyn or Rowe in that spot.

Happy with the rest. A bench of Ashman, Dell, Nel, JG, Darge, Vellacott, Hastings, Harris would work well offering impact in the loose (Ashman, Darge, Vellacott, Hastings) and at the set piece (Nel, JG).

Top work Shaun, and some very witty early posts Jimbo and Hazel.
I've read that JG is injured, so he won't be anywhere near the 23. I suspect we'll have either Sykes or Cummings on the bench.
I think that the bench should be Del, McInally, Nel, Sykes, Darge, Vellacot, Russell, Harris.

Skinner in the 2nd row with Gilco, and a big lump at 6. In reality it'll be Darge, Watson , Fagerson to start in the back row.
We need to be as disruptive as possible and not let Ireland settle. If we can avoid cards, it'll be interesting to see how Ireland play against a full 15 for a change.

I am actually going to predict that Scotland will shock a lot of people and go and win this one.

Ireland want to play a faster brand of rugby and throw the ball around more. We saw against England that it wasn't all that accurate at times and they were missing passes and getting a bit tangled up. This Scottish side are probably the one team you really don't want to do that against. Price showed just how careful you need to be with the ball with his wonderful intercept against Italy. There are plenty of other players who will punish Ireland if they are not accurate in attack. Then there is Watson and Darge as well as a host of other Scotland players who regularly win turnovers at rucks in open play.

I think we need to try and Ireland Ireland for this one. By which I mean sort out the defence and hold players up in the tackle and to get Darge and Watson poaching as much ball as possible. Skinner would be a start for me because he has shown throughout this tournament he can win turnovers from mauls, rucks and tackles. He may not be lighting it up but he's done a solid job for Scotland with Gray injured.

The biggest worry is that Ireland will simply revert to route one rugby and smash Scotland into the Dublin turf. Then there is the worry that Scotland may actually do well to begin with and lose their shape later in the match as the 3rd/4th choice subs come on in the front row. Then there is the penalty issue, the fact Ireland have POM, the winning away from home issue and the habit of shrinking into their shells against physical teams like Ireland problem. So about that prediction I made earlier..

Team for Ireland

Schoeman
Turner
Fagerson
Skinner
Gilchrist
Darge
Watson
Fagerson
Price
Russell
Steyn
Johnson
Harris
Graham
Hogg

McInally, Dell, Nel, Gray or Cummings, Bradbury, Vellacott, Hastings, Kinghorn

Don't you think for this game start with Hasting and put Russel on the bench?

majesticimperialman wrote:Don't you think for this game start with Hasting and put Russel on the bench?

I think that has got to happen. If Russell is left to perform to his current standard, we'll get absolutely horsed.
I fear that if we persevere with him he will play as  badly as in the last 3 games.
If he's dropped, he might take his ball home. But in all honesty, what's to lose if he does?
He needs to sort himself out.
If he's benched, he may just smarten his act up a bit if he does get on.

Are we underdogs again? We always play better when we are the underdog.

We’re a box of bloody frogs. That’s what we are. It’s not “which french team will turn up” anymore. It’s “which Scottish team will turn up”. Sadly we’re usually honking when playing away so it doesn’t bode well.

Some points to pick up. I believe JG is “healthy” again so can be considered. He’s been off the boil this tournament though so hopefully he is 100% now.
I believe Ryan is out for Ireland so probably Henderson coming in to replace him? Personally I don’t see any drop off in quality there.

I’m stuck with Russell. Play him and he’ll either have a stormer or be utter mince as he has been of late. What do we have to lose though? All he can do is decide he doesn’t want to play for Scotland ever again and books his ego into a forever home in sunny France. If that is his attitude then we’re better off without him. I am leaning towards dropping him, at least to the bench.

For me there’s only 4 players who are 100% nailed on starters. Shoe, GG, mish and Darcy. There’s then a case for a.n. Other in in every other position. Sadly that’s quite a scary place to be in.

tigertattie wrote:

For me there’s only 4 players who are 100% nailed on starters. Shoe, GG, mish and Darcy. There’s then a case for a.n. Other in in every other position. Sadly that’s quite a scary place to be in.

I think Ali Price is nailed on after that performance in Italy, he has not been at his best this 6N, but did rise to the challenge in Rome. We just need Hoggy and Russell to come back into form as well now and maybe we have a chance!

BigGee wrote:

tigertattie wrote:

For me there’s only 4 players who are 100% nailed on starters. Shoe, GG, mish and Darcy. There’s then a case for a.n. Other in in every other position. Sadly that’s quite a scary place to be in.

I think Ali Price is nailed on after that performance in Italy, he has not been at his best this 6N, but did rise to the challenge in Rome. We just need Hoggy and Russell to come back into form as well now and maybe we have a chance!

He’s managed to top up his credit but his total lack of consistency is frustrating. Mish and Darcy have been great all tournament. Price has been crap other than last week. Last week showed he is capable of playing well, he’s not injured for example. So why has been so knickers in previous weeks. If he has another stinker (forward platform allowing) on Saturday then he’s another than needs a good long hard look at himself.

Hogg hasn’t been woeful, he’s just not been great. Dancer though. Wow!!!

Still predicting a Scottish win that will save everyone in the set up their jobs.

That is probably harsh TT and in a months time I see that changing completely as players return to form/get healthy. At the moment, Toonie probably has penned in for Ireland:

Schoe - Turner - Zander
? - ?
? - M Fagerson - Watson

Price - ?
? - Harris
? - Hogg - Graham

It is not a great place to be in but the issues at lock, BS and wing are due to injury/suspension. At 10, Russell is out of sorts whilst IC is arguably injury if you believe Redpath is the real deal.

Our problems is that we are finding out that the Tombola failed last year as we have not developed proper back-ups at TH, BS, no. 8, SH, FH (though everyone has Hastings pencilled in or at least Thompson, not Kinghorn), IC and wing. This is where we missed the summer tour and we have to give some of the Lions a break this summer to see what we have in Ashman, Berghan/Sebastian/AN Other, Sykes/Hodgson/Hunter-Hill, Bayliss, Christie, Dobie/Vellacott/White, Thompson, Tuipulotu, Steyn, Rowe.

jimbopip wrote: Keenan v Hogg. I think Hogg wins that. All day.

Keenan might be the outstanding full back in Europe this season for me. Outside of the English front row he was the best player on the pitch at Twickenham.

But quite happy for him to remain incredibly underrated.

theslosty wrote:

jimbopip wrote: Keenan v Hogg. I think Hogg wins that. All day.

Keenan might be the outstanding full back in Europe this season for me. Outside of the English front row he was the best player on the pitch at Twickenham.

But quite happy for him to remain incredibly underrated.

Have to say I agree. Keenan has made very few errors since he broke into the Ireland team. Hogg is an amazing player but does make some poor mistakes. They do have different strengths though.

Hogg probably had his best game of the tournament as well against Italy, he seems to be coming back into some kind of form now, but he started from a low bar this 6N.

As is often the case, the Lions test players often are a bit flat the following season.

Hazel Sapling wrote:That is probably harsh TT and in a months time I see that changing completely as players return to form/get healthy. At the moment, Toonie probably has penned in for Ireland:

Schoe - Turner - Zander
? - ?
? - M Fagerson - Watson

Price - ?
? - Harris
? - Hogg - Graham

It is not a great place to be in but the issues at lock, BS and wing are due to injury/suspension. At 10, Russell is out of sorts whilst IC is arguably injury if you believe Redpath is the real deal.

Our problems is that we are finding out that the Tombola failed last year as we have not developed proper back-ups at TH, BS, no. 8, SH, FH (though everyone has Hastings pencilled in or at least Thompson, not Kinghorn), IC and wing. This is where we missed the summer tour and we have to give some of the Lions a break this summer to see what we have in Ashman, Berghan/Sebastian/AN Other, Sykes/Hodgson/Hunter-Hill, Bayliss, Christie, Dobie/Vellacott/White, Thompson, Tuipulotu, Steyn, Rowe.

Good of you to start mentioning who you'd like to see in July as I will start a 6N review thread on Sunday or Monday which will also look at potential players that could be looked at . I'd add Roebuck, Arundell and Chapman to your list .

Oh and regarding the comments about Keenan just above this reply to Hazel, your both wrong, Lowry is the man :P.

Have we really not beaten our paddy brothers on the road in 23 years? That's not very good.

Just in case Ireland fans are wondering why Scotland fans are more upset than normal this year, this sets it out quite nicely:
https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/60729871

jimbopip wrote:Shaun, I hate to do this but Dell is a loosehead and Nel is a tight head. You can have both of them on the bench if you want. as a matter of fact one of each is usually considered a good thing.

Ireland will have to pick themselves up from struggling to beat a 14 man England side. No doubt their pack will be getting beasted in training every day this week after struggling in the scrum against seven English forwards and Cap'n Jack Sparrow. Still a powder puff Scotland side is just what they need to exorcize those demons.

I thought Furlong and Healey looked....human and fallible against Genge and Sinkler. Perhaps Shooey and Ragnar might get some joy in the scrums. Turner, however, is one fire and should be looking forward to Saturday.

Ryan (if fit) and Beirne have a distinct advantage in terms of mobility and dynamism over GG and Principal. Although GG has the edge in as much as he has that bit of "edge" that you want your second row to have.
Hopefully Toonie will continue with the Damish pairing: the back row contest should be "lively" and "keenly contested". Or to put it another way: there's four mad ferrets there and two other blokes who look like the world owes them a fiver and they're fed up waiting.
Aldi Price versus Jamieson Highland Park   that'll be worth watching. Price seems to be finding his form so he might just edge it.
Dancer versus The Graduate from the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts. Dancer has been below par so far, Sextoy has been his usual, efficient controlling model of a 10. I expect Dancer to have a blinder, just to fecc off all his critics.
Bundee v Johnson? very little in it.
Ringrose V Harris??? Dear god no! One of the most talented attacking players in the northern hemisphere against the man who looked embarrassed when he actually scored a try against Italy. I'd rather see Seaman Steyn at 13. Or Shona. Or Mark Bennett.
Or Jordan Edmunds and I have no idea who he is. Like most Scotland fans if truth be told.
ADHD Kid is my winger of the tournament so far but Hansen looks like he knows where the try line is.
King Blarehorn V James Lowe?  Big advantage to Ireland. Like Boris Johnson explaining his economic policy to the CBI Blarehorn will be reduced to making motor car noises and asking people if they've been to Peppa Pig World.
Keenan v Hogg. I think Hogg wins that. All day.
So in summary; Ireland by 23 points.

Agree with all of that, young James.

I would really like to see Cummings back with Mr Granty McPotato Head because Skinner has hardly shown up for me.

The Darge and the Mish Experiment should continue - we held onto our ball against Italians in comparison to the France game where we gift wrapped it and sent it to the French backs with some Laduree macaroons.

I was very interested to see the Irish scrum get into trouble against England, particularly as the Scottish scrum has been one of the few good points for us this year.

I love the Irish team but the Irish rugby press seems to have become insufferably arrogant over the past year or so and I find it hard to read the Times and the Independent now, which is a shame as I used to love to.

George Carlin wrote:

jimbopip wrote:Shaun, I hate to do this but Dell is a loosehead and Nel is a tight head. You can have both of them on the bench if you want. as a matter of fact one of each is usually considered a good thing.

Ireland will have to pick themselves up from struggling to beat a 14 man England side. No doubt their pack will be getting beasted in training every day this week after struggling in the scrum against seven English forwards and Cap'n Jack Sparrow. Still a powder puff Scotland side is just what they need to exorcize those demons.

I thought Furlong and Healey looked....human and fallible against Genge and Sinkler. Perhaps Shooey and Ragnar might get some joy in the scrums. Turner, however, is one fire and should be looking forward to Saturday.

Ryan (if fit) and Beirne have a distinct advantage in terms of mobility and dynamism over GG and Principal. Although GG has the edge in as much as he has that bit of "edge" that you want your second row to have.
Hopefully Toonie will continue with the Damish pairing: the back row contest should be "lively" and "keenly contested". Or to put it another way: there's four mad ferrets there and two other blokes who look like the world owes them a fiver and they're fed up waiting.
Aldi Price versus Jamieson Highland Park   that'll be worth watching. Price seems to be finding his form so he might just edge it.
Dancer versus The Graduate from the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts. Dancer has been below par so far, Sextoy has been his usual, efficient controlling model of a 10. I expect Dancer to have a blinder, just to fecc off all his critics.
Bundee v Johnson? very little in it.
Ringrose V Harris??? Dear god no! One of the most talented attacking players in the northern hemisphere against the man who looked embarrassed when he actually scored a try against Italy. I'd rather see Seaman Steyn at 13. Or Shona. Or Mark Bennett.
Or Jordan Edmunds and I have no idea who he is. Like most Scotland fans if truth be told.
ADHD Kid is my winger of the tournament so far but Hansen looks like he knows where the try line is.
King Blarehorn V James Lowe?  Big advantage to Ireland. Like Boris Johnson explaining his economic policy to the CBI Blarehorn will be reduced to making motor car noises and asking people if they've been to Peppa Pig World.
Keenan v Hogg. I think Hogg wins that. All day.
So in summary; Ireland by 23 points.

Agree with all of that, young James.

I would really like to see Cummings back with Mr Granty McPotato Head because Skinner has hardly shown up for me.

The Darge and the Mish Experiment should continue - we held onto our ball against Italians in comparison to the France game where we gift wrapped it and sent it to the French backs with some Laduree macaroons.

I was very interested to see the Irish scrum get into trouble against England, particularly as the Scottish scrum has been one of the few good points for us this year.

I love the Irish team but the Irish rugby press seems to have become insufferably arrogant over the past year or so and I find it hard to read the Times and the Independent now, which is a shame as I used to love to.

Same, I find the animosity they seem to have against us bizarre.

Not confirmed, but from a reliable source, Finn’s out (not sure if that means totally out, or benched) and Gray is in. Those two events are obviously not linked, unless Toonie has gone full tombola

EWT Spoons wrote:Not confirmed, but from  a reliable source, Finn’s out (not sure if that means totally out, or benched) and Gray is in.  Those two events are obviously not linked, unless Toonie has gone full tombola

That would be odd, unless he got injured, or maybe Toonie just lost patience if he went off script again.

Who plays FH then, Blairhorn, Hastings or Thompson?

My money would be Hastings. With BK on the wing and also covering FH.

Might allow a more adventurous bench.

Would probably allow a 6/2 bench.
Replacement front row, Cummings and two big back rows; Bradbury and Christie?

BigGee wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Not confirmed, but from  a reliable source, Finn’s out (not sure if that means totally out, or benched) and Gray is in.  Those two events are obviously not linked, unless Toonie has gone full tombola

That would be odd, unless he got injured, or maybe Toonie just lost patience if he went off script again.

Who plays FH then, Blairhorn, Hastings or Thompson?

My money would be Hastings. With BK on the wing and also covering FH.

Might allow a more adventurous  bench.

It's based on form apparently. At least that's the word coming out the camp.

EWT Spoons wrote:

BigGee wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Not confirmed, but from  a reliable source, Finn’s out (not sure if that means totally out, or benched) and Gray is in.  Those two events are obviously not linked, unless Toonie has gone full tombola

That would be odd, unless he got injured, or maybe Toonie just lost patience if he went off script again.

Who plays FH then, Blairhorn, Hastings or Thompson?

My money would be Hastings. With BK on the wing and also covering FH.

Might allow a more adventurous  bench.

It's based on form apparently.  At least that's the word coming out the camp.

That would be a fair call, but why make it this weekend, when he could have given any of the others a run out against Italy to feel their way into the role.

EWT Spoons wrote:

BigGee wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Not confirmed, but from  a reliable source, Finn’s out (not sure if that means totally out, or benched) and Gray is in.  Those two events are obviously not linked, unless Toonie has gone full tombola

That would be odd, unless he got injured, or maybe Toonie just lost patience if he went off script again.

Who plays FH then, Blairhorn, Hastings or Thompson?

My money would be Hastings. With BK on the wing and also covering FH.

Might allow a more adventurous  bench.

It's based on form apparently.  At least that's the word coming out the camp.

Well Kinghorn would have to start considering Hastings has approximately 5 mins international game time under his belt in 2022. You couldn’t make this up, what a shambles if true.

BigGee wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:

BigGee wrote:

EWT Spoons wrote:Not confirmed, but from  a reliable source, Finn’s out (not sure if that means totally out, or benched) and Gray is in.  Those two events are obviously not linked, unless Toonie has gone full tombola

That would be odd, unless he got injured, or maybe Toonie just lost patience if he went off script again.

Who plays FH then, Blairhorn, Hastings or Thompson?

My money would be Hastings. With BK on the wing and also covering FH.

Might allow a more adventurous  bench.

It's based on form apparently.  At least that's the word coming out the camp.

That would be a fair call, but why make it this weekend, when he could have given any of the others a run out against Italy to feel their way into the role.

Not for one second going to suggest I can guess what goes on in Toonie's head, but if it was me, I'd have used the Italy game to get Finn and co back into the groove, to work as a confidence builder. If Finn had found his form and played like he can against Italy, then there is no chance he would have been dropped for this game (again just rumours), but because he didn't and in general had a poor game, then Toonie's hand has been forced.

I would have no issue with Hastings starting with Finn benching.
Give him a half and let's see how he goes.

We aren't going to win the tournament so let's develop the players.

Irish supporter coming in peace(ish). I may be insufferable, but hopefully not arrogant. I'm sure you lot will tell me if I am.

The scrum didn't go well against England, but to write it off as all down to the ref is indeed arrogant. The English front row definitely had the upper hand, aided to some extent by poor refereeing (yes I have some bias and a lack of front row knowledge). I think the problem was mainly with Healy and Sheahan, not Furlong. Healy was never a particularly good scrummager, and I think the years have caught up with him. Sheahan is still very inexperienced and so should not be expected to sort out major issues during a game.

Overall the Irish scrum has be efficient rather than dominant at best, and I'm sure Scotland will be looking to make a statement on Saturday. I doubt things will be as one sided this time, as various pundits who know about these things say there are some straightforward fixes. And hopefully Kilcoyne starts this time. Would be very happy to see Herring starting as well (stand up for the Ulstermen) but can see the benefits getting Sheahan some more experience.

I expect an Irish win and hope for the bonus point. We need to embrace the position as favourites even as we embrace our (losing) Celtic cousins.

The insufferable and arrogant comment, I am sure is directed at certain Irish pundits and journalists, one in particular who was a very failed international coach and is extremely bitter about it!


The Irish posters on this forum certainly don't come into that category!

For me I'd make a few changes. Kilcoyne for Healy, Henderson for Ryan as he's injured, Conan in for POM and Henshaw for Aki.
Treadwell comes on the bench for 2nd row cover.

Whatever team Ireland put out, such is their depth, it is going to be strong.

If whoever plays FH for Scotland on saturday kicks as loosely as Finn has been doing all season, we will be toast, pure and simple!

Unclear wrote:Irish supporter coming in peace(ish).  I may be insufferable, but hopefully not arrogant.  I'm sure you lot will tell me if I am.

Apologies not adding the after this! The Scottish threads provide no end of entertainment without the infighting prevalent on so many others. I will crack Jimbo's carefully selected code on who is who eventually ...

If you can guarantee Russell and Hogg are going to kick poorly then we need to give young Michael Lowry another run out. Keenan has been excellent, but he doesn't have the attacking flair of Lowry. I suppose the security under the high ball, positioning, tackling, etc will have to do though.

You think you'll crack my code!!!
How insufferably arrogant. Tigertattie has spent years wondering what those little dots . And squiggles , ; really mean.
I'll take a punt here; GG and Ickle Jonny to provide grunt allowing Bayliss and Damish to give a very mobile back row.
6/2 bench with Cummings Skinner and Bradbury.

Well our man with inside track reckons that Russell is dropped for this one.

Hoggy had a better game last weekend, so i live in hope that his form has turned a corner. I would not be betting my mortgage on it though!

jimbopip wrote:You think you'll crack my code!!!
How insufferably arrogant. Tigertattie has spent years wondering what those little dots . And squiggles ,  ; really mean.
I'll take a punt here; GG and Ickle Jonny to provide grunt allowing Bayliss and Damish to give a very mobile back row.
6/2 bench with Cummings Skinner and Bradbury.

There’s code and then there’s ramblings of senility

I’ll let the voting public choose which is in play here

Does anyone know if Finn has been fully dropped or dropped to the bench?

If he’s fully dropped then I can see blairhorn starting with Hastings on the bench. If he’s dropped to the bench I see blairhorn starting and Hastings returned to Gloucester which if I were him I’d be absolutely raging about.

Also if Finn is dropped to the bench it gives him the chance to come on for the last 20 and play a blinder after getting a much needed kick up the jacksie. If he’s dropped entirely, it could be the last we see of Finn in the Townsend era.

The Guinness powered super-computer is onto a second run Jimbo, unfortunately the first answer was Simon Danielli in place of D'arcy Graham, so I think the programming may be wrong

I would bloody luv it if Blairhorn starts at 10. We are going to be beaten we might as well go down without firing a shot with the best player of his generation attempting to pull the strings.
Am so tired of Toonies excuses eg. After France crushed us he said " the team are disappointed and would love to play the game again"
Of course the slight problem is that isn't how sport works.

Scottish Thistle Rurgby Podcast suggesting it's going to be Blairhorn for the FH shirt.

Part of me thinks it's an itch that has to be scratched!

Since Russell came back in to the squad after that spat he had with Townsend. I get a feeling that Townsend dare not drop out if the squad no matter how bad he is playing.

To be honest I do blame the ref, to some extent, for the scrum against England.
For at least two scrums Genge was going sideways faster than a crab on a beach.

Having said that Healy was minced by Sinckler and is clearly well passed his best.
I would also start with Kilcoyne who offers far more around the park.
Ireland though are dangerously dependant on Porter at LH

Cummings and Tuipolotu both in the Glasgow squad for tomorrow night, but Fraser Brown is not.

Definitely some changes in the backs you would think!

Well the team will be announced in an hour.
Here's my stab at it
1. Shooey /Kebble
2. Turner/Chuckles just to fecc off the crowd
3. Ragnar/Nel
4.GG
5.Cummings/Ickle Jonny
6. Darge
7.Hamish
8.Bayliss/Fagerson
9. Aldi Price/Vellacot
10. Blarehorn (possibly for the first and lat time) / Haircut
11.ADHDKid
12. Johnson
13 Shona
14.Seaman
15 Hogg/Ollie Smith
Toonie might go 6/2 with the Principal covering second row and bs. However with Seaman covering 12&13 Smith could cover wing and full back.

Damn Cummings and Shona! Damn the Tombola

Bradbury, Vellacott and Hodgson all playing for Edinburgh as well.

Looks like Toonie is ringing the changes.


Vellacott a bit unlucky I think, he looked pretty lively in his 5 mins and could not have done much more really. Hopefully he will get another crack over the summer.

Scotland team to face Ireland in the 2022 Guinness Six Nations at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin, live on ITV, Saturday, 19 March – kick-off 4.45pm.



15. Stuart Hogg - Exeter Chiefs - (Captain) - 92 caps
14. Darcy Graham - Edinburgh Rugby - 26 caps
13. Chris Harris - Gloucester Rugby - (Vice-Captain) - 35 caps
12. Sam Johnson - Glasgow Warriors - 23 caps
11. Kyle Steyn - Glasgow Warriors - 4 caps
10. Blair Kinghorn - Edinburgh Rugby - 30 caps
9. Ali Price - Glasgow Warriors - 50 caps


1. Pierre Schoeman - Edinburgh Rugby - 8 caps
2. George Turner - Glasgow Warriors - 24 caps
3. Zander Fagerson - Glasgow Warriors - 46 caps
4. Jonny Gray - Exeter Chiefs - 66 caps
5. Grant Gilchrist - Edinburgh Rugby - (Vice-Captain) - 52 caps
6. Rory Darge - Glasgow Warriors - 3 caps
7. Hamish Watson - Edinburgh Rugby - 48 caps
8. Matt Fagerson - Glasgow Warriors - 20 caps



Replacements

16. Fraser Brown - Glasgow Warriors - 54 caps
17. Allan Dell - London Irish - 33 caps
18. WP Nel - Edinburgh Rugby - 47 caps
19. Sam Skinner - Exeter Chiefs - 19 caps
20. Josh Bayliss - Bath Rugby - 2 caps
21. Ben White - London Irish - 3 caps
22. Finn Russell – Racing 92 – 62 caps
23. Mark Bennett - Edinburgh Rugby - 23 caps

Oh dear lord.. let’s see how this goes!

Oh god toonie has gone down the blairehorn route. I hope this game doesn't scar him in the same way it did Pete Horne

So our spy in the camp was correct, Kinghorn to start at FH, JG comes straight back into the row.

Bennett, White, Bayliss and Brown onto the bench, which will certainly improve it from last week.


Dropping Russell to the bench is of course the big call and one that could be career defining for Toonie. He clearly sees something that most fans don't with BK at 10, but pretty much everyone is also in agreement that Finn is not playing well atm and we are not even very sure if he is particularly bothered or even fit atm.

I guess it has got to be tried, if nothing else, Finn will now know he is not undroppable.

If it comes off, then Toonie is a coaching genius!

FFS Gregor just start Bennett already will you. That backline fills me with no confidence that it can match anything Ireland have to offer

An SRU statement said: “Edinburgh stand-off Kinghorn is rewarded for some impressive performances, including his starring role in the recent United Rugby Championship victory against Connacht two weeks ago... ".

I’m an Edinburgh fan and enjoyed that victory but it by no means made me think Connacht are a similar team to the Irish XXIII. Feels like a mega roll of the dice. It’ll be entertaining one way if another I imagine. What do Ireland fans think of that match up? Blairhorn vs Sexton.

At least there are good players around Kinghorn and Russell can always come onto the field if it gets way too loose (which I think it will). A very strange 6N for us though and it leads me to believe that the World Cup prep has been a big factor in the selections.