Scotland World Cup buildup

First topic message reminder :

Scotland v Italy
Saturday 29 July

Scotland v France
Saturday 5 August

France v Scotland
Saturday 12 August

Scotland v Georgia
Saturday 26 August

I think it's only fair to start another thread for this topic because I can see it being a popular topic in terms of discussion .

First things first is that 3 wins from 5 and a 3rd place finish probably exceeded expectations because most would have said 2 wins and the 4th place win, the one that most would have called was England to beat us as they were at home so imho we certainly deserve enormous credit for that one because we played very well against an England team that also had their moments, in fact I could already see improvements from the Eddie Jones era during that game and until DVDM clinched it at the death, I was still pretty worried we wouldn't win so was understandably over the moon that we did win.

The Wales and Italy matches were mixed bags tbh but we did get 5pts from both which was crucial, the Welsh game we didn't really perform first half and were in fact fortunate to go in at half time ahead but second half we were excellent and deserved the bonus point win.  The Italy game was a mixed bag in terms of; we had patches where we did well and others where we were hanging on, such as the last 2mins, I also felt that in that game our top centre pairing of Huwipulotu were quiet in attack though DVDM was a bit more involved that he had been in the previous few weeks before.

The France game was bloody frustrating because we showed glimpses of how well we can play especially in the second half for large parts but we were guilty of missing key opportunities and indiscipline from the captain of all people was our undoing which is where the frustration comes because as fans, we expect our captain to know what the ref will tolerate in terms of backchat!

The Ireland game was a game of 2 halfs, in the first half we were going toe to toe with them, it was probably the best we've played against them in a very long time; second half was a completely different story, we basically just capitalutated and handed the game to them with basic errors and more stupid indiscipline.

In terms of the coach, I have made my feelings known and really hope that the situation is resolved by at least mid to late April as we really need clarity on the situation!

Finally, for the summer warm up matches I'd like to see fringe players like Cameron Henderson, Ben Healy, Stafford McDowall, Kyle Rowe and Ollie Smith get some game time to see what they can offer either at the world cup (unlikely) or next 6N in 2024 .

In Darge and Ritchie we trust

Change to the bench - price for horne, tactical apparently

Well...Tramp right again

Would have preferred the 6:2 bench but it is a strong 23 and we will have decent shot of beating the South Africans.

Tramptastic wrote:Change to the bench - price for horne, tactical apparently

Wonder what kind of tactics involve aimless box kicking and glacial delivery?

That change will have reduced our chance of winning from 30 to 10%.

PJ is running an in-house prediction competition for the world cup if anyone's interested:

https://www.606v2.com/t71211-2023-rugby-world-cup-tipping-competition

Forget the bench. It's not that important.  

It'd be nice to see some of you top quality Scotch posters (or those sharing partial genetic material with Scottish bloodlines) join us on the 2023 RWC tipping competition. I think 2023 really is Scotland's chance to shine on the World Rugby Stage!

We really need some more intelligent and enlightened rugby minds to reach new heights when it comes to speculating outcomes for such important matches. As I can see from the never-ending pages of posts... you guys really do know what you're talking about. Always a great read.  

https://www.606v2.com/t71211-2023-rugby-world-cup-tipping-competition

Hope to see some of you on there. Just whack down the first round of matches (copy Galted's post below)... and simply change his silly predictions to something more likely and sensible.

Hope to see you all soon! Love you all!


Galted's Predictions:

Pool A
France v NZ - Fra C
Italy v Namibia - Ita T

Pool B
Ireland v Romania - Ire T
South Africa v Scotland - SA C (huh?)

Pool C
Australia v Georgia - Aus T
Wales v Fiji - Wal E

Pool D
England v Argentina - D
Japan v Chile - Jap T

Going 5-3 on the bench is bold.

Interesting that Redpath and Smith are in ahead of Steyn, but I like both players, and they are both slightly more heads up than Kyle.
Looks like we will target the breakdown with Darge and Ritchie. Hopefully Gardner is on board with the interpretations.

This could be a definitive game for Townsend. He's had a long time to prepare for this, and he's got to prove he's improved as a man manager since 2019 v Ireland.

Game on

The Horne/Price change has come about due to Horne having concussion apparently. Please note the source for this is facepage so take with a pinch of salt

Apparently Horne and Ashman both got a concussion in training and so both out.

Both fit for next game if they pass their protocols. However as it is a hooker, McInally has been brought to France just in case as they need to have three in squad and he will cover any injuries from this weekends game.

I am about an hour from Marseilles at the end of a long drive through France. We got delayed yesterday when they were searching all the cars and vans at Dover looking for the escaped prisoner!

I am looking forward to a cold beer and we'll watch the game tonight at the campsite bar!

If only we spent as much time looking for people trying to break into the country as we do looking for trying to break out, this county wouldn’t be in the star it’s in

There. Saved FES writing a post.

You'll all be releived to hear I am now sitting in the South of France drinking a cold beer

Life is good!

BigGee wrote:You'll all be releived to hear I am now sitting in the South of France drinking a cold beer

Life is good!

Relieved is one word for it BG!

You lucky bugger, I’m sure you won’t struggle to have a fantastic time regardless but I hope Scotland give you plenty of reason to celebrate!

You'll all be relieved to hear I'm sitting in ac16th century cottage in Cornwall drinking tea. The pub didn't have a telly.Mrs Pip is allowing me to watch the rugby.

BigGee wrote:You'll all be releived to hear I am now sitting in the South of France drinking a cold beer

Life is good!

Sounds lovely. Enjoy!

New plan. Beat SA. Beat Ireland. Breeze passed New Zealand and the sky is the limit.

tigertattie wrote:New plan. Beat SA. Beat Ireland. Breeze passed New Zealand and the sky is the limit.

Beat those two and Tonga and I'd be amazed if our players are still standing by the quarters!

Beautiful weather here in Paris. Stade de France is incredible. I thought Aus looked less organised than us against Georgia so that gave me some more hope for tomorrow but it’s going to be tough. It’s also very hot here so it may work in SA favour.

Tramptastic wrote:Change to the bench - price for horne, tactical apparently

A rubbish player for a good one, eh? Smart.

George Carlin wrote:

Tramptastic wrote:Change to the bench - price for horne, tactical apparently

A rubbish player for a good one, eh? Smart.

Not tactical - Horne is out with a concussion

BigGee wrote:

George Carlin wrote:

Tramptastic wrote:Change to the bench - price for horne, tactical apparently

A rubbish player for a good one, eh? Smart.

Not tactical - Horne is out with a concussion

I guess it's tactical in the sense that we're tactically avoiding brain damage!

Having watched the Engerlund match I'm not sure I haven't avoided brain damage.
Plan for today is breakfast at a local bakery, MrsPip wants to spend a few hours on the beach with books and then a picnic in front of the telly box late afternoon.
Sorrows will be drowned later.
Thought for the day: outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.

I would love to see Scotland beat SA, but then you look at the selections of the two benches..... the SA 6/2 split looks ominous.
Perhaps an opportunity for a Redpath cameo to sneak some points and steal the game at the death ! Going to be a hot game.

So basically after Ireland's rout of Romania I think we need to be keeping tonight as close as possible. I can't imagine us winning really barring an anomaly, the bookies have us down to lose by 10+, but I can imagine us keeping it closer than that.

2 LBPs would be ideal if we can't win, that in itself is a big ask but unfortunately necessary! We've got to then hope that Tonga cause an upset that isn't us!

I think I will do my usual thing of not watching it live, checking the scores frantically on BBC live text throughout and then watching it when I know how much or little to expect. It's better for the old ticker.

Well good luck everyone! You're on your own in afraid - this game is at 01:30 Sydney time on Monday morning which is almost literally the worst time it could possibly be. It's like they didn't even consider the Scottish people living in Australia when scheduling the kick off.

All sensible money points towards SA strangling the life out of us and going on to win with a bit to spare. This is sport though and anything can happen - the WC has been pretty underwhelming so far and needs a game to kick it into life. Step forward Scotland!

I have to say as a sort of neutral (I'll actually be supporting Scotland) I'm really looking forwards to this one - has the potential to be a cracker ...

Yeah this will be a monster of a game. I'm kind of rooting for Scotland as to be fair to SA they have won enough of these WC's. I actually really enjoy watching this scotland side.

To be fair I felt a bit for Scotland because had they been in Pool's C or D they would have been a shoe in for the Qtrs based on what i have seen so far.

Good luck for today!

Yes the draw wasn't kind to Scotland - but not the first side to suffer at the hands of the draw being done ridiculously early in the 4 year cycle.

Right. I’ve got my goodies behind the sofa.

Let the praying commence

That must hurt. I hope you're wearing y fronts.

I hate this last couple of hours before kick off.
P.s. Corniche pasties??? Feccin pasties!!! I've tasted better mould in last seasons boots.

The stadium in Marseilles is absolutely fantastic and the atmosphere just building beautifully

Plenty Bok fans here as well and the crack has been good.

Ya know what the worst thing is?

I loved “world in Union” or “Jupiter” by Holst if yer jimbo or FES.

Where has it gone? “Non regrettes” was a hit in its time but now it’s just a french woman with a very wobbly voice warbling away.

Bring back dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Good luck, Scotland. The other Six Nations teams have done their bit, France have toppled NZ and England defeated Argentina, so complete the trio this afternoon.

Duty281 wrote:Good luck, Scotland. The other Six Nations teams have done their bit, France have toppled NZ and England defeated Argentina, so complete the trio this afternoon.

Wales haven't done their bit yet. In the spirit of transparency, I am not sure they will.

The Fiji injuries should help a bit

Scotland by 10

That was a head clash!!! Lucky SA

No penalty for the head on head on dempsey???

Very surprised the TMO didn't pick that up. But that's the TMO lottery.

Bit dodgy that SA have SH refs for both the Sco and Ire games

Come on Blair. Catch them for a change

Argh, this is too much stress already!

Big Jim talking about the smell of a scrum, then saying keep your studs in the ground. The quality of punditry thus far in this tournament has been diabolical. 

king_carlos wrote:Big Jim talking about the smell of a scrum, then saying keep your studs in the ground. The quality of punditry thus far in this tournament has been diabolical. 

It makes the old BBC 6Ns team look like punditry genius.

Still would take anyone over Andrew Nicol though.

tigertattie wrote:No penalty for the head on head on dempsey???

Possible red card offence? Only England do that.

Holy crap. He’s finally given an offside against the bokke

Scotland can't win a collision at the moment and it's making everything look panicked. The SA blitz is brutal when it gets on top.

tigertattie wrote:Holy crap. He’s finally given an offside against the bokke

He isnt a great ref, tends to favour SH sides in my view.

NeilyBroon wrote:Argh, this is too much stress already!

As your physician, I prescribe alcohol.
Alcohol: Five millennia of helping people deal with stress.

Only good thing for Scotland after 20 minutes is they're only three down. Poor line-out, getting beaten at the collision and struggling to defend the high kicks.