Some Day We Will Beat The Blacks - I Hope It Is Soon

I MIGHT be running out of time, but, I still believe I will see a Scotland team beat an All Blacks one in a full Test match. That said, I do not think we will have many more chances as good as the one we let slip through our fingers yesterday at BT Murrayfield.

 

However, fair is fair. As I said pre-match, there is no such thing as a poor All Blacks team; the squad which bested us yesterday all had something to prove in the match - not least the pride in that iconic black jersey. Lesser teams would have wilted in the face of the up-tempo aggressive performance which Scotland produced; the Blacks didn't, for all their errors and at times uncertainties - they found a way to win on a bad day - respect.

 

I fancy us to do well in the Six Nations, provided we stick to this Scottish-style pattern of play which BVC is getting the boys to play. I feel he has a bit of tinkering still to do with his back row; I accept, we lack a wee bit of depth in the squad, but, after two Tests, we are in much-stronger place than we were this time last season.

 

We just might, if this squad stays together and avoids too-many injuries, go far in the 2015 World Cup.

 

 

 

PARKING around Murrayfield is a bit of a lottery for even the press. We don't get special parking priveleges - WHY THE FUCK NOT? So, it pays to be early. Having had a go at the SRU for not handing-out car park passes to the Fourth Estate, I must at least praise them for the high quality of the lunch they put on, and for the facilities at the Stadium.

 

Pre-match, I was one of the group watching theSky broadcast of the England v South Africa game, at Twickenham. Another keen observer was an Edinburgh-based South African journalist.

 

At the end, while we shallow Scots were giving it yahoo!! On the age-old grounds that: It matters not who won or lost - provided England got beaten; this Saffer was an unhappy bunny.

 

"That was a terrible display by a poor South African team", he opined.

 

"To only beat such a had England side by a handful of points was a terrible display".

 

I don't think he will be getting a gig in London, covering rugby, any time soon.

 

 

 

IT WILL be interesting to see how BVC utilises his squad against Tonga. I would fancy Ayrshire boy Gordon Reid will get the number one shirt at Kilmarnock. Also, with  Euan Murray picking-up a groin strain against the Blacks, after the excellent shift Dr Cross put-in as replacement, I fancy he will be at three, while, Fraser Brown should perhaps complete an all-new front row, to show what he can do.

 

I also fancy back row changes, but, for me, big Rob Hartley has now claimed the six shirt - Richie McCaw, for one, knows, Gingers from Glasgow are hard nuts.

 

I thought Sean Lamont had a terrific game at 13, once he replaced Mark Bennett. Aye, selection will be interesting.