https://scrummagazine.com/barclay-could ... cockerill/

Bradbury back for the Dragons game and will get plenty of minutes but the France game will be too soon for Watson.

Barclay is also back running

The France game may be a little too soon for Bradbury. Will need to see how he follows up after a game on Friday. He has been out for a while.

On a separate note, the 1014 rugby boys were pretty critical of Laidlaws leadership. Was interesting to see someone totally impartial offer an opinion.

I just watched that and they're not wrong. The only game I can think of where I thought Laidlaw really stood up and "out captained" the opposition was against Italy a few years back. And even then I think it was only because Parisse really pissed the ref off and was told to shut it.

The other bit that really stands out for me is how they point out we have all the ingredients but they haven't been mixed together properly and we are "brittle". Surely that's the coaches job, to blend it all? Is this a coaching failure?

I am aware I have long been a critic of Laidlaw so I have tried to strip it back a bit lately. I understand what he brings to the table but I think Russell is now beginning to try and control games better so is he as needed? Is that because of Laidlaw being a steadying influence or because Finn has finally clicked and knows he is in control? Laidlaw doesn't sweep defensively (game plan or game plan due to his lack of speed?) and it hurts us defensively and he offers no break from 9. So if we accept his limitations the rest of his game needs to be on point including captaincy. Are we getting that?

I think I'd give Horne or Price a go in France or Wales, or wait for it even Pyrgos v France (best box kicker we have and the French struggled). But I am of the opinion better to die trying than dying wondering. I understand why people would be reluctant to try someone other than Laidlaw but Townsends job is safe and lets see how the others go under pressure.

On the coaching, I had one of those time hop thingmys today from 7 years ago:
"The one thing I was disappointed today with was not the 2 sin bins but our inability from the start to handle the Welsh blitz defence. Why didn't Townsend spot this in tapes of the Welsh".

He really needs to show he has learned something from previous games and I think that leads to our away performances in the 6N, if plan A fails where is plans B, C and D? The France and Wales games will be telling, France are beatable and Wales do the same thing in defence and we in the last two games couldn't beat it. Townsend has been involved in the Scotland set up for more 6Ns than he gets credit for and should have been able to learn lessons from before to use now. This is what his 5th or 6th 6N involved in a national position? In those championships against teams not Italy we have 1 away win in Ireland and none elsewhere.

Said as much at the time, POM killing the ball on the line was a bad offence, but almost as bad an offence was the lack of leadership at that moment to press the ref on why the heck Ireland should get away with that at such a crucial place on the pitch. He's not always been like that but Sat was a worrying display of leadership (lack thereof).

https://youtu.be/b6n4ayVWPE4

Staff MacDowall highlights, just showing what a talent he is

If Bradbury, Barclay and (maybe) Watson are back for the Wales game then I think we've got a decent shot (assuming no extra injuries).

I think the most frustrating thing about these Wales game is that they are a team that is so much more the sum of their parts; I don't think many would argue against Edinburgh and Glasgow being better outfits than any of the Welsh regions (particularly since Scarlets have fallen off a cliff this year).

Anyway, France are shambolic at the moment so this is definitely our best chance to rectify this Paris deficit, probably since the advent of the 6N. This is a place even Italy have pushed them all the way in recent years.

If we are not competitive then serious questions need to be asked.

We only need one of those three back. Biggest question is can Toony create a game plan without Hogg? (Certainly didn’t have one for Ireland game)

Watson and Barclay wont make the France game. RC said Watson will miss it and Barclay not due back until late March at the earliest. Barclay thinks 22nd, RC thinks later. Which will mean April as he wont be thrown in v Munster. Barclay isn't even guaranteed to get back into the Edinburgh starting side when he returns. Ritchie, Watson and Mata are a very very good trio.

There is probably a question of whether Bradbury should be playing then too off the back of 1 game in 4 months.

Rob Robertson has Hogg missing the six nations.

Annoying a late dirty hit takes out our best player to absolutely no punishment but here we are.

Ahhh fudge. Kinghorn, Seymour and Maitland for Paris then.

Any word on Jones? The thought of Harris starting for us is almost enough for me to give up and start following football. Mind you, Jones has been pish for months too.

I would go with Kinghorn, Graham and Maitland (although it will be Seymour over Graham). Kinghorn and Graham have a relationship there that could help Graham settle into his game.

I think this is the game to take that wee risk in rather than Wales at home or England away.

I think we'd see Johnson and Horne, Harris benching.

Would like to see Graham and Horne jnr on the bench to bring some impact and pace v the big lumpy French late on.

The same article notes it's a stage three shoulder tear, the worst kind, which means he's out for the season and has a race now to make the world cup.

MOM POM, eh. Just another angry Munster thug.

The laws should change, there's no reason other than to take someone when charging down a kicked ball. Russell did it to Stockdale too - it's just dangerous play and should be a red.

Taken out World Cup and Lions y Munster players!


While the incident was annoying and niggly, in reality It was just pure bad luck it caused an injury. Incidents like that happen multiple times in games all round the world, so I can’t blame POM, though sure others might.

I know, you're right, I'm just annoyed.

Halfpenny is only just coming back from a late hit (entirely unpunished) by an Aussie in November. World Rugby makes a song and a dance about protecting players, but then ignored the opportunity to send a message when it arose. Hardly surprising other players see that as a green light for similar behaviour.

PoM wasn't trying to charge the ball down, he was trying to take Hogg out (not injure him).

As you say he's not the only one who does it. But it's dirty and world rugby should look at these "charge downs" which are usually just an excuse to hit someone.

Agreed. It is the type of cynical thing that isn't dirty but should be spotted. It wasn't so we move on. Certainly isn't a red card offence so no citing required.

Arguably, the darker arts is an area we need to improve on. All the "niggle" our guys do is ineffective and more towards the "bawbaggery" end of the scale than the cynical end. Case in point is how the Ireland second try came about. That hole was "aided" in opening up by players being held back and blocked. Wee bits of perfectly executed cynical play to serve a goal.

Don't think we should be taking more people out off the ball tbh. It's just a recipe to get guys yellow carded.

We need to do what Ireland do. Make less mistakes and when you start to win you get more leniciency from the refs.

Not the way it was done for their second try. Every man knew their job, SOB holding the guy down for a couple of seconds longer, Murray taking a position that mean the Scottish player couldn't react and cover in time. Neither act would be given as a penalty let alone a yellow but has a real impact on the attacking move.

Oh, FFS. That’s all we bloody need. It’s over 7 months to the RWC, at least...

Hold up!!

https://stv.tv/sport/rugby/1435498-scot ... gg-injury/

OK, I'm, interested again.

He's alright that POM

Perhaps reading too much into it (grasping at straws) but interesting he mentions Graham ahead of Maitlnd and Seymour

Probably mate. Delighted to be wrong though. Kinghorn and Graham deserve starts.

French or English are the teams to start him against, they won’t know much of him compared to Italian, Irish or welsh.

Rumour Turner back training and close to return. If Hardie isnt to be fit soon would be happy to see him in the squad.

Scarlets fans on Twitter confirming Chib is still out with concussion and they have real concerns about him now. Don't blame them, he's been out for 3 months now.

Jones out of the 6N.

Probably what he needed TBH.

We are going to be getting a stack of players back pre WC, grin and bear it for this season.

Ahhh balls. However, his form has been poor and he looks like he's lacking confidence. I'd love it if Toony just thought fudge it and chucked Stafford McDowell in.

Can now play cup semis at home grounds.
After silver saturdaygate would be little amusing if there was still 2 Edinburgh v Glasgow games at Murrayfield.

He needs to find some form, not to get injured.

It's a loss. He's not been performing but he plays at a level when on form beyond the others, and again weakens the bench / back ups.

Injury gods have damned us this year. Fingers crossed it clears up in time for the WC.

It’s not just the number of injuries, it’s that they all seem to be affecting the centres and the back row.

Jones hasn’t been on form, but he leaves a hole all the same. Will we now see Horne at 12 with Johnson at 13? As long as we don’t start Harris...

Yeah, you are both right.

I share their concerns. He’s been out for a really long time with few updates.

Sometimes concussion can take years to get better though. You never know. I feared for Russell’s career after his head injury a couple of years ago and he now seems none the worse. I guess we just hope for the best.

They say you can’t miss what you never had - but you can’t help but think that if we were to design a player to be exactly what we currently lack in our back row, Blade Thomson would fit the bill pretty well. (To be fair, so would Bill Mata!)

In a classic Toony shock.....Dunbar in from the freezing cold!!