Scotland Autumn Fixtures

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Scotland Autumn 2024 Fixtures

Moving on from the Summer development tour, here are this years AI fixtures which will include a Scotland A vs Chile fixture on the final weekend. Plenty to be excited about as the new club season begins this weekend and depth is steadily improving.

Week 1
Scotland v Fiji
Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Saturday 2nd November 2024
Kick-off: 5:40pm

Week 2
Scotland v South Africa
Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Sunday 10th November 2024
Kick-off: 4:10pm

Week 3
Scotland v Portugal
Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Saturday 16th November 2024
Kick-off: 3:10pm

Week 4
Scotland A vs Chile
Hive Stadium Edinburgh
Saturday 23rd November 2024
Kick-off: 6:00pm

Scotland v Australia
Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Sunday 24th November 2024
Kick-off: 1:40pm

https://www.606v2.com/t71738-scotland-vs-the-springboks

Was wondering why it was so quiet on here!

A reasonably insightful article about the Stuart Hogg situation from someone who know him quite well, Mark Palmer in the Sunday Timed.




Condemnation is the natural — and obligatory — response when assessing Stuart Hogg’s conviction for a five-year campaign of domestic abuse towards his estranged wife, Gill.

The behaviour detailed in Selkirk sheriff court on Monday — obsessive, controlling, intimidating — sent a shiver down the spine.

The court was told that his drinking had left his former wife scared of his behaviour and wishing for morning to come so he would sober up. Prosecutors recounted his coming home after a drinking session, shouting and swearing at his estranged wife and accusing her of “not being fun” for choosing to stay upstairs with their children.

• Stuart Hogg admits campaign of domestic abuse against wife

There was also the matter of sending her 200 texts in the hours after the end of their marriage and tracking her location via phone apps.


Hogg’s behaviour became “problematic” while playing for Glasgow Warriors but “deteriorated further” when he moved south to Exeter.

Yet for those who have known the former Scotland rugby captain over a much longer piece, there were a couple of other emotions.

First, an immense sadness that he has allowed his life to unravel so spectacularly while causing such psychological harm to those in the immediate vicinity.

There then came some kind of perverse — and doubtless forlorn — hope that this might finally be the moment when the penny drops. When a man who for so long has appeared hell-bent on self-destruction, while blaming anything and anyone but the root cause, will own the situation and start putting the pieces back together.

Hogg is, of course, back playing, having emerged from a year-long retirement to sign a contract with the French club Montpellier. Any custodial element to the punishment that will be meted out at Jedburgh sheriff court next month would have significant ramifications for an arrangement which, from the off, had the air of the 100 times-capped full back trying to rediscover some sense of a long-lost normality.


Even before he had to come to terms with the (albeit temporary) end of a glittering playing career — a painful break for even the most well-adjusted people — Hogg had been struggling to navigate the pitfalls of existing as public property.

There is a horrible irony in the sordid detail of his private life pouring onto our screens at the same time that he himself was attempting to forge a new career in broadcast media, primarily with TNT Sports.

None of what we have seen or heard about him in recent times suggests a happy or clear-thinking individual, and family and friends have long been deeply concerned about the endgame.

I first encountered Hogg in a previous life as media manager of Glasgow Warriors when the then 19-year-old was taking his first steps in the professional game.


Before a match against the artists formerly known as Benetton Treviso, I distinctly recall his excitement at not only being asked to front a photoshoot at an Italian restaurant, but being told that he could take home the pizza we had used as a prop.



There was a certain homespun quality to Hogg back then. He had had trouble settling when he first moved up from his native Hawick to join the Warriors academy, a situation not helped by a string of injuries in those initial years.

His big break came during the 2011 World Cup, when a host of senior players were with Scotland in New Zealand and Hogg — like Ryan Wilson, Peter Horne and Duncan Weir — set the wheels in motion on a fine career.

Having been backed by the then head coach Sean Lineen in first the No 13 then the 15 shirt in which he would come to settle, Hogg enjoyed an excellent breakout campaign.


Even at this early stage, there were hints of a forceful, sometimes petulant, personality beginning to form or reveal itself. He was dropped by Gregor Townsend for Glasgow’s 2014 league semi-final and final after being spotted in a Belfast hotel discussing a mid-contract move to Ulster, and he later spoke of how a fondness for Guinness had led him to make poor decisions.

Back in March 2022, in the immediate aftermath of what turned out to be his penultimate game as Scotland captain, Hogg led an apparently unauthorised expedition of senior players to a late-night bar when the team returned on a charter flight having beaten Italy in Rome.



By this time, the nature of our relationship had changed, given that I was back working as a journalist. We still interacted regularly, both in formal media activity and in the knockabout stuff that surrounds it.

Hogg would always return a message or call, happy to take part in the sort of transactional chats from which reporter and player both benefit, but he would also take an interest in you as a person.

When talking about our respective families, I always appreciated him making a point of bringing up my first son, Ruaridh, who arrived during our shared time at the Warriors but who had passed away at barely a month old. Most people steer well clear of these subjects, for any number of reasons, but there was an empathy and a warmth to Hogg which meant that if you breached that often brash, sometimes belligerent, exterior, you would be taken into his trust.

Hogg’s own first child, Archie, arrived in November 2015. Olivia and George would join him and Gill as Hogg established himself as one of the finest attacking full backs in the European game, and as one of two generational talents who transformed Scottish back play.


The other, of course, is Finn Russell, and while the pair share several rugby and personal qualities — a willingness to dare, an easy wit that masks a fierce drive to win — they are fundamentally different personalities.


Both on and off the pitch, the effervescent fly half Russell often ends up being the centre of attention, but he doesn’t need to be. Hogg invariably does. His is a dominant, sometimes domineering personality, that by the end of his time with both Exeter Chiefs and Scotland last year had some team-mates glad to be rid of him.

Speak to any number of those involved in Scotland’s lengthy pre-World Cup camp last summer and they all tell you that the air cleared, the mood lifted, when Hogg brought forward his retirement to early July. His original intention had been to finish up after the global tournament, but it had become increasingly apparent that neither his fitness or his form were in any place for him to be selected as the first-choice full back he had been almost from day one of his Scotland career.

Speculation has been rife ever since that off-field misdemeanours had played their part in Hogg’s decision to call time when he did. Only he and, perhaps, those closest to him know the exact truth, but it could very well be one of those situations where it is possible for more than one thing to be simultaneously true.


It was absolutely the case that Hogg’s body was failing him, and could no longer support the electric burst of pace and jack-knife footwork that had always been his hallmark. Hogg needed extensive daily physiotherapy to even make it onto the training field, acute patellar tendonitis leaving his knee in near-constant pain. He said that he was often too sore to even contemplate garden football with Archie after a day’s training, something that made his abrupt U-turn with Montpellier all the more surprising.

It is also undoubtedly true that the Scottish Rugby Union felt that Hogg had contributed enough over the years to be able to manage his own departure from centre-stage. It would have been ignominious in the extreme for his career to end with Townsend not even including him in the 33-man squad for the World Cup in France — something which had become a distinct possibility given the presence of the likes of Blair Kinghorn, Ollie Smith and Kyle Steyn.

Then there was the “other” stuff, the whispers about Hogg’s off-field activities that had long surrounded him not just in Scotland but in the tight-knit Devon community in which the Chiefs are based.

This speculation came to a head when it was revealed in the pages of The Scottish Sun last November that he had been pictured with a new girlfriend on social media mere days after Gill had given birth to their fourth child, Phoebe Ann.

It emerged that Gill and the children had moved out of the family home in Hawick amid a breakdown in marital relations, with Gill said to have been left “heartbroken” by Hogg “flaunting” his new romance with Leonna Mayor — a former jockey turned racing presenter who herself is now pregnant with his child.


Further drama was reported in January, with police said to have been called to the house of Hogg’s elder brother, Graham, late on New Year’s Day. The Scottish Sun reported that the pair had clashed during a day out at Musselburgh Races with their parents, Margaret and John, as well as Mayor. A police spokesman stated: “Around 9pm on Monday, January 1, 2024, police were called to a report of a disturbance at a property in Heronhill Bank, Hawick. Officers attended and no criminality was established.”

Hogg was due to speak at the famous local club’s 100th anniversary dinner this month, but pulled out at short notice, while graffiti criticising his alleged behaviour was daubed on the town’s Hornshole Monument, which commemorates a 1514 battle with English cross-border raiders.

Perhaps the central paradox to Hogg is that he craves attention, but is utterly incapable of dealing with it when it comes. He wants it right up until he doesn’t. Having frequently spoken of the online flak he has taken on account of the cosmetic work he has had done on his hair and teeth, Hogg is also said to have been taken aback by the nature and level of the coverage of the end of his marriage.

Yet with so much rumour and innuendo having been floating around for years, it was only a matter of time before some of it hardened to the point that it could and would be reported.

And Hogg, let us not forget, is one of only four men to have reached a century of Scotland appearances and until four months ago was his country’s all-time leading try-scorer too. Whether he likes it or not, Hogg has a profile.

Hogg announced his retirement last year but brought the date forward to before the World Cup — a decision said to have prompted relief among his team-mates
Hogg announced his retirement last year but brought the date forward to before the World Cup — a decision said to have prompted relief among his team-mates

Frequently he has liked it and exploited it to the full, as is entirely his right. But there was always going to be a flipside, at least when there became such an obvious disparity between the public persona which Hogg himself tried to promote and some of his other behaviour.

During his playing career, he went out of his way to position himself as a family man, becoming the face of a Dove Men+Care skincare advertising campaign with his children before the 2021 Lions tour and always ensuring that mentions of them and Gill were front and centre in interviews.

On March 12 last year, before what turned out to be Hogg’s 100th and final game for Scotland, against Ireland, Archie delivered the match ball out onto the Murrayfield pitch. George and Olivia were there too, with Hogg comforting his daughter when she appeared to take fright at the noise of the capacity crowd.

We should not lose sight of the fact that four — soon to be five — completely innocent young children are at the heart of the tale. But Hogg can only hope to regain some degree of control over the narrative — of his story, of his life — by taking responsibility for his actions. There is no use in him imagining that external forces, or some kind of media vendetta, has delivered him to this point.

I love to think that that bashful Borders kid is still in there somewhere, buried beneath the bravado, the insecurity and the poor decisions which have built up over the years. If Hogg is to find some kind of peace with the outside world, a clear idea of what he wants his future to be, he must look inwards for the answers.

Good article. He stopped short of fully detailing all his infractions, but plenty hints in there. Interesting to note that Exeter and Scotland players were glad to see the back of him by the time it all ended.

And very clear that he needs to actually take some responsibility and not just blame everyone else!

Any idea when the "A" squad will be announced because England's came out earlier and they play their match in a fortnight ? In fact who do you guys think will be in the squad, anyone fancy taking a stab at predicting the squad ?

The A match is not until a week after the England A match. Our playing pool is also much smaller so would expect a number of the players for Portugal to stay on to play Chile. Complete stab in the dark sort of 23

McBeth - Hiddleston - Hurd (Hislop/M Jones - Harrison - Sebastian)
Samuel - Johnson (Sykes)
Ferrie - Muncaster - Douglas (Boyle)

Afshar - Thompson (Vellacott - Healy)
Hutchinson - Currie (Munn)
Henry - Paterson - McCann

RDW wrote:Good article. He stopped short of fully detailing all his infractions, but plenty hints in there. Interesting to note that Exeter and Scotland players were glad to see the back of him by the time it all ended.

And very clear that he needs to actually take some responsibility and not just blame everyone else!

There was a video floating around last year (maybe some other people saw it?) of some English bloke at a wedding filming himself saying he’d just been talking to Magnus Bradbury who said Hogg had been hammered at the Hawick races, cheating on his wife etc but also that none of the players liked him.

I didn’t share it on here because it’s total gossip, but it was shocking to hear all of that. After the events of the past year it sounds a little truer in part. I’m sure not everyone hates him but there must be a huge sense of disappointment at his actions.

bsando wrote:

RDW wrote:Good article. He stopped short of fully detailing all his infractions, but plenty hints in there. Interesting to note that Exeter and Scotland players were glad to see the back of him by the time it all ended.

And very clear that he needs to actually take some responsibility and not just blame everyone else!

There was a video floating around last year (maybe some other people saw it?) of some English bloke at a wedding filming himself saying he’d just been talking to Magnus Bradbury who said Hogg had been hammered at the Hawick races, cheating on his wife etc but also that none of the players liked him.

I didn’t share it on here because it’s total gossip, but it was shocking to hear all of that. After the events of the past year it sounds a little truer in part. I’m sure not everyone hates him but there must be a huge sense of disappointment at his actions.

I can imagine he'd be a potentially unpleasant team mate too if his intensity in interviews is anything to go by. I can imagine him lambasting others for mistakes during games while failing to acknowledge his.

Like Rufus McLean, it's a crying shame, even moreso with kids involved but I am glad to see the last of him in a Scotland shirt after all of these revelations. Cheating on your pregnant wife is bad enough but abusing her is unforgivable. I hope the family get the help they need, maybe we'll eventually see a true display of remorse from Hogg.

Objectively a supremely talented player but clearly wrong in the head, shame this will be remembered rather than his qualities as a player.

Williamson, Brown & Dempsey out of the squad due to injury. Mathews and Hepburn called up

Thoughts on teams for this weekend?

Can see all of the starting 15 swapped out for Portugal - plenty other players wanting their shot, and that SA Test was brutal.

A-team will very much be testing the depths!

I think they’ll retain a few players for Portugal as the Chile A Team game is up the following weekend, so perhaps a few fringe squad members will get a crack at that one rather than Portugal. I see this one as a chance for some players to be involved against Australia.

At a guess,

Bhatti, Richardson, Millar-Mills
Williamson, Craig
Ritchie, Darge (Captain)
Bayliss
Horne, Jordan
Hutchinson, McDowall
Reed, Kinghorn
Paterson

Ashman, Sutherland, Fagerson, Gilchrist, Muncaster, White, Hastings, Jones

Williamson was dropped from the squad due to a hand injury Bsando and Matthews was supposedly called up in case Richardson can't go so he may be rested as well

I think for Portugal we will/should have a "reserve squad. I'd suggest this:
Bhatti-Richardson-Rae (McBeth-Harrison-Hurd)
Craig-Johnson (Samuels?)
Crosbie-Ritchie-Muncaster (Bayliss)
Horne-Hastings (Price)
Hutchison-McDowell (Jordan)
Reed-Kinghorn-Graham (Patterson)

Following this we can establish availability for Australia and A squads.
Rae and Hurd (or Millar-Mills) need to be given 40 mins each to stake their claim for the TH bench spot v Aus.
Johnny Matthews to lead the A squad.

We need to establish our hooking future, JM is not the future and is unlikely to be around/good enough for the next WC, so we need to get the likes of Harrison and Richardson as much exposure as we can with the Portugal and Chile games.

I would also like to see the Blyth-Rafferty brothers, Freddie Douglas and Tuipulotu Junior get a chance in the A squad.

Whoops I thought A game was this weekend. Glad it's not makes a lot more sense given the Portugal game will be more of an experimental team as well.

Anglobraveheart wrote:I think for Portugal we will/should have a "reserve squad. I'd suggest this:
Bhatti-Richardson-Rae (McBeth-Harrison-Hurd)
Craig-Johnson (Samuels?)
Crosbie-Ritchie-Muncaster (Bayliss)
Horne-Hastings (Price)
Hutchison-McDowell (Jordan)
Reed-Kinghorn-Graham (Patterson)

Following this we can establish availability for Australia and A squads.
Rae and Hurd (or Millar-Mills) need to be given 40 mins each to stake their claim for the TH bench spot v Aus.
Johnny Matthews to lead the A squad.

We need to establish our hooking future, JM is not the future and is unlikely to be around/good enough for the next WC, so we need to get the likes of Harrison and Richardson as much exposure as we can with the Portugal and Chile games.

I would also like to see the Blyth-Rafferty brothers, Freddie Douglas and Tuipulotu Junior get a chance in the A squad.

From the quotes from John Dalziel (posted in an article in the offside line site), it seems Freddie Douglas is almost certain to get a shot this Saturday or next Saturday against Chile .  I also agree that we need to have a look at the Blyth-Rafferty boys because I've seen good reports on these lads, I think from posters on this site in fact .  I presume we'll get the official 23/24 man squad (Englands is 24) announced at the start of next week so we'll have a better idea on the likely starting 15 etc .

Dalziel called him World Class which is a big claim given he's not played a game of proper pro rugby yet!

They've certainly got high hopes for him.

Who are these youngfellers?

Only one week off for Scott Cummings.

He would have sat out the Portugal game in any case I am sure, but good that he will be back for Australia

George Carlin wrote:Who are these youngfellers?

Good players from the u20s GC.
There are a few of the lads that look very promising from the u20s.
Ollie Blythe-Rafferty is a big tighthead, who only just turned 18 after the u20 six nations. They wouldn't let him play in the u20 tournament, as they rules don't allow 17yo.
His brother Jerry is a good hooker.
Other players to look out for are Tom Currie, Liam McConnell, Andrew Mclean.

Freddy Douglas is still only 19 and is a turnover monster. I think he topped the chart for turnovers in the u20 6N this year. I would leave giving him full cap until he's finished his u20 age grade. Why rush hi through? - it's not like we are desperately short of senior back row players.

BigGee wrote:Only one week off for Scott Cummings.

He would have sat out the Portugal game in any case I am sure, but good that he will be back for Australia

It would be nice to assume that they recognise what a ludicrous decision it was.

Anglobraveheart wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Who are these youngfellers?

I would leave giving him full cap until he's finished his u20 age grade. Why rush hi through? - it's not like we are desperately short of senior back row players.

He is dual qualified for Ireland and Scotland. His father is from Belfast. So it may be a case of locking him in.

I assume if Douglas gets a full cap against Portugal, he is still eligible for the u20s?

If so, I don't mind it. Portugal lost to the USA and I don't see us struggling too much to carry him and still win. Everitt is currently fighting for his job so Douglas is not going to get chances for Edinburgh over Crosbie, Watson and Boyle. Even moving him to Glasgow does not work as Franco does not like a traditional OS unless the player is Darge-level. Capping him and then maybe allowing him to move to a non-Scots club may be his best path.

It is the problem of not having a third team. Glasgow and Edinburgh have too much proven talent even considering that Edinburgh is a paper tiger.

cakeordeath wrote:

Anglobraveheart wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Who are these youngfellers?

I would leave giving him full cap until he's finished his u20 age grade. Why rush hi through? - it's not like we are desperately short of senior back row players.

He is dual qualified for Ireland and Scotland. His father is from Belfast. So it may be a case of locking him in.

Ouch. I didn't realise he is dual qualified.
I really believe that these potential bright lights of the future should be managed carefully - I've mentioned before that I think it messed up Adam Ashe by pushing him to play away against South Africa when he was only 20. It was just too soon imo - Irthington that Freddie should be given a chance in the A game, keep him as part of the squad, but look to introduce him in the future once he's had the chance to play his last u20 6N and u20 championship next summer.

Do Ireland really need one of our u20s, given their vast stock of senior and age grade players?

They’ve got to approach Portugal with caution, they played some excellent rugby last season plus there are a lot of Portuguese and Brazilian citizens living and working in the UK so I’m expecting a strong showing from their fans this weekend.

https://scottishrugby.org/about/annual-reports/

Annual report is out. A bigger loss, however the SRU seems to have things on track to turn a profit in the near future. Also, considering there were no AI's last year and only two home games that is pretty good going. Just need them to keep growing the women's game and sort out Edinburgh!

bsando wrote:https://scottishrugby.org/about/annual-reports/

Annual report is out. A bigger loss, however the SRU seems to have things on track to turn a profit in the near future. Also, considering there were no AI's last year and only two home games that is pretty good going. Just need them to keep growing the women's game and sort out Edinburgh!

How can Dodson justify  885k in total comp when the union lost so much money. There is also a 250k single payment to an individual who was leaving anyway

From the TOL

"Meanwhile, Hilary Spence, the former Chief Financial Officer, who left the business in March “to focus on health issues”, received a severance payment of £262k."

Which is certainly a golden parachute!!

Scotland team to face Portugal

Scotland to face Portugal at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Saturday 16 November, kick-off 3.10pm, live on TNT Sports

15. Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (2)
14. Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (40)
13. Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints (7)
12. Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (7) CAPTAIN
11. Arron Reed – Sale Sharks (2)

10. Adam Hastings – Glasgow Warriors (31)
9. George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (32) VICE-CAPTAIN

1. Jamie Bhatti – Glasgow Warriors (34)
2. Patrick Harrison – Edinburgh Rugby (2)
3. Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (2)
4. Alex Craig – Scarlets (4)
5. Alex Samuel – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped)
6. Luke Crosbie – Edinburgh Rugby (11) VICE-CAPTAIN
7. Ben Muncaster – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
8. Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby (8)

Replacements

16. Johnny Matthews – Glasgow Warriors (1)
17. Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (35)
18. Elliot Millar Mills – Northampton Saints (6)
19. Ewan Johnson – Oyonnax (3)
20. Freddy Douglas – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
21. Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (8)
22. Matt Currie – Edinburgh Rugby (3)
23. Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (8)

Scotland to face Portugal at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Saturday 16 November, kick-off 3.10pm, live on TNT Sports

15. Tom Jordan – Glasgow Warriors (2)
14. Darcy Graham – Edinburgh Rugby (40)
13. Rory Hutchinson – Northampton Saints (7)
12. Stafford McDowall – Glasgow Warriors (7) CAPTAIN
11. Arron Reed – Sale Sharks (2)

10. Adam Hastings – Glasgow Warriors (31)
9. George Horne – Glasgow Warriors (32) VICE-CAPTAIN

1. Jamie Bhatti – Glasgow Warriors (34)
2. Patrick Harrison – Edinburgh Rugby (2)
3. Will Hurd – Leicester Tigers (2)
4. Alex Craig – Scarlets (4)
5. Alex Samuel – Glasgow Warriors (uncapped)
6. Luke Crosbie – Edinburgh Rugby (11) VICE-CAPTAIN
7. Ben Muncaster – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
8. Josh Bayliss – Bath Rugby (8)

Replacements

16. Johnny Matthews – Glasgow Warriors (1)
17. Rory Sutherland – Glasgow Warriors (35)
18. Elliot Millar Mills – Northampton Saints (6)
19. Ewan Johnson – Oyonnax (3)
20. Freddy Douglas – Edinburgh Rugby (uncapped)
21. Jamie Dobie – Glasgow Warriors (8)
22. Matt Currie – Edinburgh Rugby (3)
23. Kyle Rowe – Glasgow Warriors (8)

Tags

If you ignore the Wombat then the pack have 27 caps between them. hat's less than 4 each.
Still, we should be far too strong for Portugal.

I think that this will be a pretty high tempo game. I'm really looking forwards to see the youngsters express themselves
Hutchison normally plays 12 doesn't he? I wonder if the centres will swap places, depending on whether it is attack/defence.
I can also see the back row creating havoc ready for George Horne to do his stuff

I wonder if the Tadjer is still representing the Wolves?

That’s a pretty green side. Darcy with the most caps makes for an amusing sight. Can’t wait to get down to auld reekie for this one.

Interesting he's keeping Jordan at 15. Maybe he just wants him to get gametime regardless of where.

No sign of Price since Fiji having supposedly been the most in form 9...!

RDW wrote:Interesting he's keeping Jordan at 15. Maybe he just wants him to get gametime regardless of where.

No sign of Price since Fiji having supposedly been the most in form 9...!

TJ only in because Patterson got injured during training yesterday (Wednesday), that is mentioned in the offside line article on the team to face Portugal .

Highland Shaun wrote:

RDW wrote:Interesting he's keeping Jordan at 15. Maybe he just wants him to get gametime regardless of where.

No sign of Price since Fiji having supposedly been the most in form 9...!

TJ only in because Patterson got injured during training yesterday (Wednesday), that is mentioned in the offside line article on the team to face Portugal .

Young Patterson does seem to get injured a lot!

So is Freddy Douglas the new messiah Jimbo?

bsando wrote:So is Freddy Douglas the new messiah Jimbo?

Is Tom Jordan the new Judas?

To be fair to him, if Brizzle offered him loadsamunny then we can't blame him. In retrospect it makes the signing of Haircut, and retention of Meatball, easier to understand.
Freddie Douglas? He's really being talked up by the coaches and might impress us all on Saturday with a ten minute cameo....but... he's over young to be carrying an underperformimg Luvvies side. That really will be his biggest problem.

jimbopip wrote:

bsando wrote:So is Freddy Douglas the new messiah Jimbo?

Is Tom Jordan the new Judas?

To be fair to him, if Brizzle offered him loadsamunny then we can't blame him. In retrospect it makes the signing of Haircut, and retention of Meatball, easier to understand.
Freddie Douglas? He's really being talked up by the coaches and might impress us all on Saturday with a ten minute cameo....but... he's over young to be carrying an underperformimg Luvvies side. That really will be his biggest problem.

I hope that he does just get an end of game cameo, 10 - 20 mins will be fine. He can then play the A team game next week and focus on the u20 6N, where we should be pretty competitive this year.

I'm pretty sure that given previous player management finesse, Edinburgh won't let him train with them or pick him, Glasgow will sign him over and he'll become the next Rory Darge.

We don't have nicknames for the new players yet - over to you, Jim.

Freddy the Foetus? My haircut is older than him.

Portugal showing that they are worthy of this game. They are defending extremely well and are making life difficult for us.

Scotland guilty of trying a bit to hard as well. They would be better trying to wear them down a bit more and let the space come.

Horne passing still a bit wild at times, which is not helping

Great feet from Darcy, who climbs back to the top of the try scoring list, equal with Duhy

Best try yet as Scotland put some good moves together at last

Fabulous offload from Hutch puts Bayliss in the corner

33-0 Scotland

Not for the first time, Portugal do a decent maul and this time they go over in the corner

33-7 Scotland at HT

Why didn’t take to half time before the touches realised their jackets clashed with the Scotland kit???

Slightly worrying when our scrum gets basted by the Portugal pack

38-14 Scotland

Dobie showing the value of a long accurate pass, opening up the space for a Read try in the corner

I didn't hear the commentary how did the Scottish 9 get away with head contact for the second Portugal try?

Read then scorches in for a second in a couple of minutes

52-14 Scotland

formerly known as Sam wrote:I didn't hear the commentary how did the Scottish 9 get away with head contact for the second Portugal try?

It was not really mentioned, I did not notice it either

Here comes Freddy the wonder boy!

Wow. Johnny Matthews with two howlers in 5 seconds. Clearly not wanting to be out there

BigGee wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:I didn't hear the commentary how did the Scottish 9 get away with head contact for the second Portugal try?

It was not really mentioned, I did not notice it either

Scottish 9 upright bounced off the Portugal 9. Scottish 9 came off worse but looked like head contact of the mild variety.

We'll comfortable for Scotland but Portugal certainly came to play.

They were particularly impressive in their set piece.

Not sure what Toonie takes from that?

Darcy looked sharp and will surely start next week.

Bayliss had a decent game as did Hutch, who unfortunately does not have much chance of usurping Huwipoloti.

Dobie had a decent cameo when he came on and likely keeps the bench spot over Horne, who left with a HIA in any case.

Craig was the pick of the second rows and will likely bench next week as well.