What does this beauty spot have in common with the England 23 selected to play Ireland on Sunday?
The only other exciting news to report is that Ticht found an old version of AoD still extant.
On the telly this week
Friday 21st February
| Crusaders 33 – 13 Highlanders | 06:05 | Sky Sports Action |
| Wales U20 14 – 11 France U20 | 19:35 | BBC Two Wales / BBC Sport website/ BBC red button |
| Zebre 0 – 28 Munster | 19:35 | FreeSports |
| Edinburgh 41 – 14 Connacht | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
| Ospreys 13 – 21 Leinster | 19:35 | TG4 / Premier Sports 1 |
| England U20 21 – 39 Ireland U20 | 19:45 | RTÉ Two / YouTube / Sky Sports Mix |
| Sale 36 – 3 Leicester | 19:45 | BT Sport 1 |
Saturday 22nd February
| Rebels 34 – 26 Sharks | 03:45 | Sky Sports Action |
| Chiefs 14 – 26 Brumbies | 06:05 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Reds 64 – 5 Sunwolves | 08:15 | Sky Sports Arena |
| Stormers v Los Jaguares | 13:05 | Sky Sports Action |
| Italy v Scotland | 14:15 | ITV |
| Bulls v Blues | 15:15 | Sky Sports Action |
| Wales v France | 16:45 | BBC One / S4C |
| Glasgow v Dragons | 19:35 | Premier Sports 1 |
| Ulster v Cheetahs | 19:35 | Premier Sports 2 |
Sunday 23rd February
| Wales v France (women) | 12:00 | BBC Two Wales / S4C |
| England v Ireland (women) | 12:45 | RTÉ Two / BBC Sport website / Sky Sports Action |
| Exeter v Northampton | 13:00 | BT Sport 1 |
| England v Ireland | 15:00 | ITV |
| Italy v Scotland (women) | 16:10 | BBC Alba / website / red button |
| Cardiff v Treviso | 17:15 | S4C / Premier Sports 2 |
| Scarlets v Southern Kings | 17:15 | Premier Sports 1 |
Ovally Balls 
“Heyward put the pedal to the metal”
Rory Lawson not quite with the gift for an image his grandfather had.
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I’m a fan of giving jackals leeway in terms of body weight as long as the intention is honest, but the ref today is probably too relaxed for my tastes. Really suits Scotland as they have so many lads capable of getting over the ball.
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Error tastic
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Ticht-pleasing Horne The Younger on. That should slow the play up a bit…
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Sutherland didn’t want to come off there
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Good defence by Heyward but Harris left Horne with nowhere else to go.
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Hogg should have passed that. Had 2 men outside but him going himself allowed the sole Italian defender to drift and the cover had the angle on him.
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Both sides are so wasteful of chances.
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Is it Pollideri who is doing this top defensive maul work?
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Italy are reminding me of watching a competitive Drags performance. Plucky, but the front 5 are weak and there’s a general lack of quality behind the effort being put it.
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Dreadful skip pass by Johnson took everything out of that attack.
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Gone a bit honky
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I can understand why Scotland can pull off performances like the 2nd half v England last year and they might still do it against France or Wales but jeez they’re frustrating.
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Could that be Hoggy’s Big Mistake for this match?
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Honking harder than a cabbie inna traffic jam
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Jeez Scotland make it hard for fans
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Ffs Hogg
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I really fancy a pizza.
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Motm performance from Cummins, imho
Ritchie and Harris more visible, but Cummins has been at the heart of everything good Scotland have done
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Ooh a Scotsman’s arse.
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That should be a penalty to Scotland?
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Yeah, Cummings very good.
Sutherland, Mish and Ritchie all good too.
Plus Hogg scored a magic try.
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Dumb by zanni
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Italian reserve hooker in trouble here
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Yellow card fine, but Scottish number 20 with a no arms shoulder into someone’s back didn’t look too good!
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Still 10 minutes to go. Come on, Scotland/Italy.
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This match is sucking all the joy out of the day.
If Wales capitulate then a throwing myself off the sink is a-beckoning.
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This could have been a fine game but actually it’s been bad. Bit smelly overall. Both sides so frustrating.
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This hasn’t been a very entertaining game, aside from a few exciting moments. Ref allowing too much leeway to defences at breakdown. Not enough quick ball.
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Also not enough variety from either team. Both so predictable. e.g. Italy have mauled every single lineout.
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Honky honk
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A lot of depth on the back lines in attack, which is good to see. Reminds me of those French sides of the 80s. Then the ball is passed from the scrum half and it reminds me of Scotland and Italy in 2020.
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Honky tonk
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Watson’s mullet is an outrage.
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Mish gets motm. Fair enough.
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He knew it was coming so made sure the head strapping was off for the close up. Let that mullet run free.
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And that’s the game
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That score sums up the match. Pure mess.
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At last.
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@tomp, these days that depth is pointless on its own. That’s where your second line should be. If you don’t have a first line – one pod can be enough – you’re just haemorrhaging territory.
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Dunno, Scotland should be happy. Got their win, defence excellent, as it was against England and Ireland, breakdown work too. Set piece solid.
Ok, lots of stupid errors and some poor decisions on attack, but those should be relatively easy fixes.
Should be disappointed not to get the BP, (if a last min miracle try doesnt come) but always looked in control
Build bridges with Finn, start G Horne, work out how they want the centres to align on attack, and they have a decent chance in the 2 games to come
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Italy are more frustrating than Scotland.
Failure to adapt to the ref biggest issue today. Needed to focus on their clear outs more. And, more importantly, needed to realise that if the ref is letting jackals go big then you have to jackal jackal jackal. If the ref decides it’s the Wild West then put on your Stetson.
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Right. I was thinking more of how they’ve been doing it from set-piece play when it’s ok.
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George Horne’ s problem is that, while he is probably Scotland’s best nine in the first hour, he is definitely their best in the last 20 minutes.
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@Enzo
On fire with your analysis today. Good comment after good comment. Chapeau
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That was fugly but I’ll take it
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Heyward’s a smart footie player. Not enough gas but no mug.
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Hastings grinning like the Cheshire Cat with his walk-in try after wearing clown shoes for most of the game sums up this most peculiar contest.
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One of the major complaints over the last couple of years has been our defence being weak. Apart from one break in the second half and that penalty near the end, Italy were nowhere near our try line because of our defence. Too bad if it wasn’t exciting – I want us to play exciting rugby, but I want us to win more. That’s what Ireland do, that’s what Wales did last year, maybe (just maybe) Toonie’s finally figured it out.
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Jonny Bairstow, Cardiff legend.
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