IRELAND: No Backspace
A brief, incomprehensive preview of Ireland’s Six Nations 2020, written fast
Having muffed the entire last calendar year, Irish rugby returns to Europe feeling sorry for itself. The normal provincial success continues, but means nothing come the bitter dawn of the first weekend of February. It’s Six Nations time.
Daddy Faz is our new leader and he’s talked a lot of fan-service shite about how we’ll be a pure-running Irish team, ferocious and feral and flames for eyes. His actual vision for the side will get its first public airing this weekend. Many of the personnel are the same as the World Cup – too many, in a particular rather than strategic sense – but this still represents a period of major change.
Yet change is not to be feared. The history of Ireland at Rugby World Cups shows that a constant state of flux is, paradoxically, needed to maintain standards as well as develop them. 2019 was as clear an example as 2007 of the desiccated horror of trying to take a successful side that has just hit a peak and shield it from the passage of time. The only ways to stop a tiger changing daily are death and taxidermy.
And, so, we come to another paradox. Minimal changes of personnel at this time are not necessarily expressions of fear of that which is new. We could have bucked out everyone over the age of 30 – but we’re not picking the 2023 World Cup team in January 2020. We must be prepared to keep evolving in perpetuity. No need for do-something panic now.
This weekend’s team:
Spuds: Healy, Herring, Furlong, Henderson, Ryan, Stander, van der Flier, Doris
Gravy: Murray, Sexton, Stockdale, Aki, Ringrose, Conway, Larmour
Seconds: Kelleher, Kilcoyne, Porter, Toner, O’Mahony, Cooney, Ross Byrne, Henshaw
Johnny Sexton is the captain, and this is OK. He remains our best ten by a way and is one of a handful of nailed-on starters. If there is an issue with his captaincy, it’s not his age or his ability – it’s his captaincy. The key part of the job is dealing with the ref and, while he seems a charming and self-effacing man when in his civvies, game-day Johnny Sexton is an insufferable wanker. He makes enemies of the whistlers and, while recently he has tried smiling and coercion (and looked unnatural doing so), he’s only one perceived affront away from calling Romain Poîte a brainless snaildick. Contrast with your memories of perfect-son-in-law Sam Warburton and the issue is clear.
Conor Murray’s selection is a poor call. Conor of the past 12 months or so is not the champion player of the years prior. He’s not been bad, per se, and his imperiousness may still return. The issue is alternatives. John Cooney has been the most influential player in Europe this year.
Peter O’Mahony has been unshovellable shite for a year and the fact he made the Six Nations squad at all should have been questioned. Overall, his previous body of work makes that the right call – but picking him in a match-day 23 is frankly the wrong choice. The starting back row looks well-balanced, and chucking 21-year-old Doris straight in barely feels like a risk. However, Max Deegan or Jack O’Donoghue should be on the bench – with the choice of which made on a tactical and stylistic basis rather than trying to decide which of the two great athletes in great form best deserve the number 20 shirt.
Anyway, it’s just one weekend. The variable calls:
- which of four centres gets to play beside Ringrose?
- Larmour or Addison, or maybe both?
- the selected front rows look like our best six, but each of the calls could go either way – do we have a best front row, and do we even need a clear starting trio?
And so we will have room to breathe over the course of the tournament. A tournament we can win (we won’t, England will).
Now is the time for experimentation, to a point. But Andy Farrell does not get a free hit. Anything less than three wins is failure and, ultimately, we’re in it to win it.
Scotland by 50.
ENDS
Preview courtesy of EnzoM
WALES: The Dog That Didn’t Know Whether to be Under or Over
With apologies to Edmund Spenser:
One day they wrote his name upon the sheet,
But at night I came and washed it all away.
Again they wrote it in media and tweet
But in I crept, and made the twittering my prey.
Vain man! cried they, to wipe his name away
A frightening act, a cruel spine-tingler
To ensure Wayne Pivac forgets Aaron Shingler
Link to Squad for the 2020 Guinness Six Nations
Team to play Italy in Cardiff:
Leigh Halfpenny; Johnny McNicholl, George North, Hadleigh Parkes, Josh Adams; Dan Biggar, Tomos Williams; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Dillon Lewis, Jake Ball, Alun Wyn Jones (capt), Aaron Wainwright, Justin Tipuric, Taulupe Faletau.
Replacements: Ryan Elias, Rob Evans, Leon Brown, Cory Hill, Ross Moriarty, Rhys Webb, Jarrod Evans, Nick Tompkins.
Endings & Beginnings
As Wales sings Po Atarau / Now is the Hour to bid a fond farewell to Warren Gatland and Shaun Edwards, and a jauntier ‘I’ll Bet you a Kangaroo’ to help Howley hop off, the mood in the Heimat is unexpectedly optimistic.
Wayne Pivac seems to have seamlessly sewn himself into Warren’s catsuit, sorry tracksuit, and the players have gone through the four stages of post-RWC grief faster than a Greased-Zammit down a slippurly slurp℠.
Rather than the sour reek of sweaty anxiety, there’s the fresh morning air of new dawns and bright horizons. Players appear well-rested and happy to be in the new coaching set-up, and the injuries are not casting long shadows over the squad, even though some top players and Handsome Legends are missing.
But…
It’s in times like these that Wales can turn in some honking performances, especially in their opening 6N encounters at home, when all the optimism and expectation dissolves into blunt, turgid attack and weak, chaotic defence. Home cheers fade into murmurings about the bloody roof being open. Or closed.
But fair’s fair, a good old underdogging seems inappropriate, so like a Frankfurter in a bap I will settle for some in-between dogging followed by complete fantasy with my forecasts.
Saturday’s Match vs Italy
Wales have opted for a solid start, fielding an experienced line-up and just one new cap. We’ve flirted with North at 13 before and not much happened, good or bad. These days George is a more seasoned and moderate player, no longer the impetuous young buck throwing homophobes over his shoulder for fun. George has never been great positionally, but I hope his experience and maturity nails the position down for the duration of the Championship.
McNicholl is the only first-capper and Halfpenny’s selection at 15 is a wise move, so we should see some exciting counterattacking running from our Welsh Johnny. Let’s hope it doesn’t lead to a lot of turnovers because his teammates can’t keep up.
Wales are likely to creak in the scrum, but lineouts should be efficient enough with Tipuric and Wainwright doing a lot of the leaping at the tail. As great as it is to see Faletau back, I’m not getting carried away as it is still a long way back to his 2015 Lions Tour form and fitness.
Ball will no doubt go about his ball-carrying like a pig snouts truffle, but he makes some hard yards and plenty of tackles. AWJ will hopefully be his niggly, majestic self and lead from the front.
Prediction: a stuttering 23-11 Wales victory.
Round 2. Away to Ireland
Our first away match is against Ireland, and the Irish look like tournament favourites with both a strong team littered with in-form players, and the desire to lay to rest their World Cup ghosts and memories.
Unfortunately, Scotland seem determined to undermine their own chances in the opener against Ireland, so Wales will be up against a green wave of Grand Slam expectation.
Prediction: a brave effort but a narrow 29-23 Welsh defeat.
Fantasy Rugby 1. Home to France
I think France are really fed-up of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory against Wales, and this will be a big match for them. Time to unburden some true Welsh pessimism and imagine the worst.
After a bruising encounter in Dublin, Faletau leaves for an early Bath with another broken arm-bone. North and Halfpenny haven’t recovered from their HIAs and Greased-Zammit starts on the wing with Welsh Johnny switching to full back. Pivac has his full ‘Welsh Way’ moment and picks Willowy Shingler at 6, drafts Owen Williams into inside centre to replace a stolid Mr. Glue, with Bury my Heart at Watkin’s Knee selected at OC.
Big Dan Biggar spends the entire match kicking grubbers into the French in-goal area for Zammit to chase like a spaniel. France score five breakaway tries and Owen Williams reveals his wonky temperament by being red carded for scramming Fickou in the face during a touchline tussle.
Prediction: Wales lose 13-49 and Barry John calls for Pivac to be replaced by Rob Howley
Fantasy Rugby 2. The Miracle in Twickenham
After the madness in Cardiff, normal service is resumed and Wales return to full strength, except for Faletau. Halfpenny and North are recalled, and Liam starts on the wing. Wainwright replaces Shingles, and a fired-up Moriarty comes in at 8.
England are marching towards a Slam after victories over France, Scotland, and the BIG ONE against Ireland. Eddie is basking in a contract extension until 2027, making him the best paid coach in RU history.
After 60 minutes England are winning comfortably without stretching away. Pivac plays his joker and turns to his Dragons on the bench. Dee for Owens, Brown for Lewis, Hill for Ball, and squad replacement Tyler Morgan for wee Georgie North.
My-oh-my, what a comeback. A brace from Brown and a classic outside break from Morgan brings the score back to within one point. Greased-Zammit enters the fray while England are camped on the Welsh 5-metre line with 5 minutes to go.
A re-set scrum and Dee strikes against the head! Tomos feeds Biggar who feigns a touch-kick but slips a pass to Morgan. A step sends Billy V into Row C, creating space to free Zammit! Zammit scorches the length of the field to score like a Welsh Andy Hancock – in half the time.
Prediction: England 21-25 Wales
Fantasy Rugby 3. Highland Flings in Cardiff
After their surprise win against France, new Scottish Player-Coach Finn Russell selects the same team while captaining the side for the second time. Wales are also unchanged.
Both sides are committed to playing high-risk running rugby under a closed roof. Madness ensues, and the game ends 49-all, while breaking all records for the highest number of knock-ons ever recorded in an international rugby match. Finn invites both sides for a celebratory night out in Newport, where more pints are spilled than consumed. News comes in from Scotland that Toony and Hoggy have eloped. Jim Telfer’s neck explodes.
Preview courtesy of MisterIks
On the telly this week (SIX NATIONS!!!)
Friday 31st January
| Blues v Chiefs | 06:05 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Brumbies v Reds | 08:15 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Sharks v Bulls | 17:10 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Ireland U20 v Scotland U20 | 19:15 | YouTube / RTÉ TWO |
| Wales U20 v Italy U20 | 19:35 | S4C |
Saturday 1st February
| Sunwolves v Melbourne Rebels | 03:45 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Crusaders v Waratahs | 06:05 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Stormers v Hurricanes | 13:05 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Wales v Italy | 14:15 | BBC One / S4C |
| Cheetahs v Southern Kings | 15:00 | Freesports |
| Ireland v Scotland | 16:45 | ITV |
| France U20 v England U20 | 20:00 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Los Jaguares v Lions | 23:00 | Sky Sports Mix |
Sunday 2nd February
| France v England (women) | 12:30 | Sky Sports Mix |
| Exeter v Harlequins | 13:00 | BT Sport 2 |
| Wales v Italy (women) | 13:00 | BBC Two Wales |
| Ireland v Scotland (women) | 13:00 | BBC Alba / red button |
| France v England | 15:00 | BBC One |
Ovally Balls 
@slade
Something wasn’t right. Sinkler constantly took the ball when stood still. Farrell could hardly catch the ball. The defence was all dog legged.
They looked like they’d never played together before. Just like the world cup final. I honestly think they have problems responding to pressure and panic.
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Marler and Sinckler (big money contract gone to his head?) looked disinterested all game
Marler has issues already with his willingness to be away from his family – maybe post-World Cup, that’s coming back? Maybe Sinck isn’t mentally over being KO’d in the WCF? Both very good players, I wouldn’t ditch them just yet.
Turns out Eddie hasn’t learnt any lessons from 2018 – if you pick a good flanker at 8, he’s shit, if you pick a lock at flanker he’s shit and without ball carriers the whole pack and therefore backs look shit.
PS du Toit is a retreaded lock and is current World Player of the Year – but not before he was crucified by being played at openside. It can be done. but Lawes is maybe not the right player.
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Nige, bringing the bantz to twitter.
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The tweet he’s replying to.
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Pretty good but with a huge amount to work on still. The set piece was honking but that’ll come in time. They’ve got plenty of talent, though.
It’s still a work-on and will be for a few years. That said, they could win a Slam this year and it wouldn’t surprise me.
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I think the bit around Eddie losing the lads is a fair one – I think everything was built around getting to that final and after we got beaten the motivation on both sides has gone.
I think the best thing could be a new coach and some fresh blood in the team, not because they’ve all become bad overnight but need that fresh impetus to refocus minds and give a new vision to work towards – no point changing mid tournament but even if we win I’d like to see a change of coach. Part of leadership is knowing when to move on (quitting while you’re ahead and all that – although clearly not ahead at the moment).
Think this could be like the 2004 6N for Woodward (although we’re not champions obvs!) – few key injuries, few players who have hit their peak and won’t get there again but need a tournament of middling performances for everyone to realise it’s time for change*
* although if we can not have 10 years of shite afterwards like last time that would be grand.
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I did find that attempted maul set up by England in open play in the middle of the pitch near the start of the game a little odd.
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Straight copy of what the Boks did in the World Cup final. It’s a good ploy if done properly.
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Chimpie, that was comically badly done.
Its very hard to say anything about France really, they weren’t really tested. The defence looked better but we made it very easy for them (May’s couple of runs aside). We dropped off a lot of tackles. They could have been playing Italy. The half backs look excellent and that was all they needed to keep us at bay and pounce on our mistakes. We’ll know more when they have a bigger test.
If we don’t improve Scotland will put a lot of points on us. We’ll have to improve massively to get a win up there.
Any word on how bad Manu is done in?
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Maybe it was just the execution
However, a sizeable pffft needs to be aimed at this:
‘If we don’t improve Scotland will put a lot of points on us’
We’ve only scored in multiples of 3. A load of close quarters biffing near the line with no result. and if we do get over the line we’ll probably drop it.
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Still can’t believe Hogg did that.
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Worrying comments in the Times that Eddie intends to stick with Curry at 8.
If we see basically the same team, I’m actually going to start hoping we get pummeled so there’s no choice but to replace Eddie – if he can’t see the need for change and admit he got it wrong again then he needs to go as we’ll never progress with his ego getting in the way.
Isn’t this basically what happened when he got sacked by Aussie? Kept making the same selection errors and too proud to change, until he lost the team and fans and they had to get rid of him (kind of like Mourinho in football – the management style just isn’t sustainable long term).
Of course the question is who we would replace him with?
Could see us trying to tempt Mark McCall given the mess at Sarries (although as a Sarries fan I’d really rather he was there next year) and that he may feel he’s done all he can there.
Cheika (please God no!)?
Not many other options – I know the preference was for an English coach, I actually wouldn’t mind Cockers being considered, think he’s shown he can do long term and short term equally well between Leicester and Edinburgh and seems able to adapt his tactics too. Edinburgh also seem to play pretty good heads up rugby from what I’ve seen, so might help overcome some of the over coached issues we seem to have currently.
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@Chimpie – given we did the same other than two bits of May genius, next week could be a real dirge particularly if the weather is bad.
2 teams blindly hammering away at each other without any forward momentum being generated. Has an 8-6 written all over it.
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or 6-3. A proper classic. Possible even 3-0
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And you’re not having cockers. bog off.
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Think he’s contracted for the next couple of years anyhoo.
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FF, the main criticism I have of Cockers as Edinburgh coach is that he has his first choice XV in his head and flogs them, at the end of last season we were playing for the knock out stages but the players were burnt out.
Rory Sutherland was probably Scotland’s best player on Saturday but Schoeman will still play 70-75 minutes per game for Edinburgh.
The SRU would let Cockers go, but it wouldn’t be cheap, he has at least three years on his contract, so they’d have to buy that out as well as paying Eddie off, and the RFU laid off a whole load of people last year due to finances, iirc
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@Ticht. Rotation is a bit better at embra this year. the likes of Schoemann & mata still need to be given a bit less of a flogging though.
McCallum seems to have vanished to the super 6 which is concerning though.
Also, needs to play Shiel more. And Baggot. Either that or ditch him as he’s not making the grade and get another academy kid in.
So, generally a good job from Cockers but more player development would be good. Especially at half back.
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I’m exasperated at the lack of time Charlie Shiel is getting, Chimpie, he should be pushing Horne and Price for the Scotland jersey but Cockers likes Pyrgos’s and Groome’s Steady Eddie approach at scrum half.
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I expect to see McCallum in the next few games, we’ve lost three tight heads to the 6N. It’s one of the things about having only two teams, I guess, Ceccerelli has been a huge bonus for us this season and his improvement has obviously been noticed by Italy .
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How do we think France are looking after yesterday?
Souffle scrum, Lait ribot line out, but a defensive effort that reminded me of the Boks in the WC Final: England were almost better off without the ball for the first 50 minutes such was the French dominance in contact. England were back-peddling for phase after phase, losing large amount of ground in the process. It was a supreme effort. Add in some great play by the loose trio on the deck and with ball in hand, combined with a 9-10 axis that purred and they were very good going forward too, until they switched off with 20 to go.
I do think they’ll struggle against Ireland, who will monster them up front, the match against Scotland could be a cracker given the similar strengths and weaknesses of the sides and Wales will tackle all day, so should be three excellent matches in all in all.
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Ticht/Chimpie – is that a consistent issue with Cockers or more him not trusting the players? Guess it’s less of an issue at international level anyway.
You’re right, the RFU is somehow broke so in reality we’re stuck with Eddie for another 2 years unless he falls on his sword. If Cockers has a couple of years on his contract maybe the timing might work out in a couple of years then (and I’ll just lower my expectations in the interim for us to be keep making the same mistakes with the occasional big performance when Billy and Manu are both fit and the game plan actually works).
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I find it slightly baffling that Wales last year, South Africa in the final and France yesterday all defend the same way and we still don’t seem to have worked out a way of playing around it – no chips in behind or anything like that. Surely we know what’s coming and it’s just arrogant to think we can smash through it.
Made all the more confusing by the fact we run a blitz ourselves – if you’re literally coming up against it in training, how can we be so inept against it
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Eddie intends to stick with Curry
And look where that got him:
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Haven’t been massively whelmed by Groom since he arrived TBH.
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Anyway, enough post-mortem!
Team of the weekend?
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Bouthier – Halfpenny was better but lower standard match + THAT kick was awesome
May – Freaky good. England wouldn’t have got close to a BP without him
Rattez – Also really good as a late call up. Tempted to give it to Adams who can’t stop scoring but I’ll give him a week off
Tompkins – Best player ever. No other contender is even close
Fickou – Big shift in defence. He’s going to be a really important player for them over the next few years. Still only 26 as well
Sexton – Any other Irish 10 plays and they don’t win that one. I thought all the 10s were good this week and you could make a case for any of them
Dupont – Amazing. Tomos also good
Scottish front row – because they shoved it up Ireland’s hole
Le Roux – not close to the best lock in the tournament but worked his bollocks off yesterday
Ryan – always good, hopefully not this week though
Ollivon & Alldritt – both excellent. Alldritt was hitting a huge amount of rucks and would win the tackle area twat of the week if there was such an award
Polledri – token selection in some ways, but he’s a good player. Equally I could have selected Ritchie or Tipuric or Stander etc. Lots of decent performances from backrowers
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I’ll tell you what’s really grinding my gears at the moment, the more I think about it: We haven’t played a specialist inside centre at inside centre since the days of DCB. Wales turn Topmkins’ head after we ignore him and the lad plays an absolute blinder!!
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Chimpie’s Team of the weekend
Sutherland
Marchand (or Owens)
Zilocchi (Z-Fags had a decent game too)
AWJ
Ryan
Stander
Ollivon (Tipuric, VDF & Watson also good)
Aldritt (Faletau as ever v good, decent debut for Haining)
Dupont
Ntamack
Adams
Fickou
Tompkins
May
Larmour
There we have it.
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Thoughts on the weekend…
Only watched about 30-40% of Wales-Italy. Seemed to be mainly Italy going over and back across the field with no go-forward. Bit like U12 or U13s when you try to show them there’s alternatives to a big lad running with the ball…and then trying to please you they do nothing but shovel it sideways from a static position
Ireland-Scotland. I suppose after the limp affair in Yokohama Scotland would be fired up. Ireland looked a bit a like a team trying new things and trying not to fall back into old habits – which we did when it got tight. Shame Doris had to leave so soon – nothing much to be learned from playing the O’Mahony-Stander-van der Flier combo. That said – they were best part of our game. Healy looked shot – you want to look at McGrath returning or switching Porter back to LH. Cooney seemed to give us the hurry up on arrival – passing much flatter.
Scotland – didn’t watch as closely…. but the front row had the more than the edge. Watson was a nuisance – nothing new there. Obviously need to look closely at what they are trying to do in the 22 – worked the once but was ruined (I’ll not add anything to private grief)
France – England. Edwards seems to have had an effect – though to be fair I recall France can always be terrifically obstinate in defence if they want (thinking of 2018 vs Ireland – we should have been “outtasight”.. as it was needed a once in a lifetime drop). Every time I see Ollivon I’ve thought ‘great player’ – so was surprised to see it was his first 6N start. England back-row … didn’t seem to work. Moving a flanker to 8 and a lock to 6…. too many changes. Might have gotten away with one or the other.
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I heard that Tompkins was VERY bad at rugby until Alun Wyn touched his forehead last week.
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Any points Tompkins scores for Wales shouldn’t count because Saracens breached the salary cap.
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Shaun Wayne oot from High Performance guru with SRU, in as head coach at England Rugby League
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Something for the England RL fans to look forward to, then
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@ticht
I expect his appointment will not be universally welcomed.
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What happened to the player, the thug? The first punch was bad enough, but to cheap shot a guy lying unconscious is as bad as it gets
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Robshaw to leave Quins at the end of the season.
There’s got to be a South African team that’ll pick him up at his age. Maybe even the Kingz.
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@ticht
Ben Flower (the puncher) was banned for 6 months .
Lance Hohaia (the punchee) retired the next season due to recurring concussion problems.
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Acts like that should carry a much more severe penalty, and to be honest the coach should also have been given an extended rest.
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TEAM:
1. Sutherland – fine performance from feisty Scotland, big showing from the front row (although scrum damage came on the other side). Also a mention for Poirot, top player, dominant off the pine.
2. Marchand – French set piece was muck but I’m still picking this guy, looked really good (although I’d still bring Chat in asap). Nod to Herring who was one of Ireland’s big performers.
3. Fagerson – has to be. Left side of Ireland’s scrum collapsed. Nods to dynamic Welsh tight heads (a whole new thing) and Furlong who played 78 minutes until he had to be carried off, because we had to use our reserve TH on the LH side because of said collapse.
4. Le Roux – see what yos said. Nod to James Ryan and Jonny Gray, both industrious.
5. Henderson – I see JR getting a few default picks but Hendo was much better on Saturday. Lots of hard stuff and excellent in the line out. Nod to Lord AWJ.
Back row – Stander, Ollivon, Alldrit. March winning performances from all three. Galthie is dragging France into the future with a pack like this. Scary. Nod to the Welsh and Scottish back rows, all played well.
Scrum half – Dupont. By miles. Nod to Tomos W and Price, in that order. Taxi for Youngs.
Out half – Sexton. Lots of good stuff and we’d have lost with anyone else. The miss pass to Conway was my favourite bit. Nod to Ntamack (although could have done better getting France some breathing space in the final quarter).
Centres – Fickou and Tomkins. The latter looked determined to be his best self, very impressive. Nods to Johnson (handful), Ringrose (injury is bad news for Ireland) and Jones (mixed bag but dangerous). Taxi for North. Bullet for Farrell.
Wings – May and Adams. Electric and nails, respectively. Incroyable from May, and I love how Adams does everything as hard as possible. Nods to Maitland, Rattez and Thomas, all looked positive.
Full back – Bouthier. Stinky weather but didn’t matter to him. Nods to Halfpenny, Hogg (very good apart from that thing). Larmour and Minozzi both dangerous but undermined this with errors. Furbank had a tough time.
Coach of the weekend. You’d think it’d be Galthie but he is runner up to Shaun Edwards.
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Seven frogs.
Three spuds.
Two leeks.
Two deep-fried haggis.
One chlorinated chicken.
Italy fucking awful. Come on, Franco.
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No Dacry Graham this week, nor Sam Skinner (which was always less likley)
and no Finn.
Rumour has it there will be some sort of announcement this afternoon on the matter, which is just fuckin great.
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37 – man squad for next weekend
FORWARDS (21)
Allan Dell (London Irish), Jamie Bhatti (Edinburgh), Rory Sutherland (Edinburgh)
Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), George Turner (Glasgow Warriors)
Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors), Simon Berghan (Edinburgh), Willem Nel (Edinburgh)
Alex Craig (Gloucester),Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh), Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors)
Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors), Ben Toolis (Edinburgh)
Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh), Luke Crosbie (Edinburgh), Cornell du Preez (Worcester Warriors), Tom Gordon (Glasgow Warriors), Nick Haining (Edinburgh), Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh)
BACKS (16)
George Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors), Henry Pyrgos (Edinburgh)
Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors), Duncan Weir (Worcester Warriors)
Rory Hutchinson (Northampton Saints), Sam Johnson (Glasgow Warriors), Chris Harris (Gloucester), Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors), Matt Scott (Edinburgh)
Sean Maitland (Saracens), Byron McGuigan (Sale Sharks), Kyle Steyn (Glasgow Warriors), Ratu Tagive (Glasgow Warriors)
Stuart Hogg (Exeter Chiefs) CAPTAIN, Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh)
Same as last week. Finn still oot, Graham still injured (boo). Would expect same starting line up, maybe swap Bradbury to the pine instead of CDP.
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So slow. The ol’ knee
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Johnson has been taking pelters in some quarters for not being faster than Johnny May. Thought he had a good game, also much as I’d like to see Scott given a go johnson is better defensively. Some people are just never happy with anything.
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“chlorinated chicken”
cruel to kick people when they’re down Lazza.
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Toonie did already say he wouldn’t be picking anyone who’d missed more than a day of so’s training.
Finn never had a chance.
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Chimpie, I heard yesterday that Berghan and a few of the others got “Suzied” and had an attack of the screaming abdabs, including a few who played.
Bergs will come back in to the pine, Finn’s continued absence means Johnson will probably start alongside him, I really want Matt Scott back in the side, he’s back to his very best and covers 12 and 13, but not 10, which is where Hutchinson scores.
It all depends what we want in terms of the backrow, I can see a point for starting Bradbury, Watson and Haining, but Ritchie is the sort of player you hate going up against, he’s like the POM of a few years ago.
Luke Crosbie is a wrecking ball and a terrific lineout operator, so there are options if Toonie wants to explore them
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“Finn’s continued absence means Johnson will probably start alongside him”
Alongside Hastings, obvs
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