Etzebeth -He'd Be In My Team At Carrick or Cumnock

I WAS delighted to see Eben Etzebeth, the big, nasty, South African lock, being cleared following his citing during last week-end's Murrayfield match.

 

He should never have been cited in the first case, was my view.

 

Now, I look forward to him rampaging around Twickenham, the non-stop booing of the Hooray Henries and Henriettas in the crowd inspiring him to greater heights. For, make no mistake, Etzebeth is the real deal, a worthy successor to the Matfields and Bothas, Andrews, Van Heerdens and Du Preez who have toiled before him in generations of Springbok boiler houses.

 

We rightly rate Richie Gray highly, but, given the choice I'd have Etzebeth first. As we say here in Ayrshire - he'd be in my team at Carrick or Cumnock. Sure, since rugby went professional, we've been able to discover and nurture some seriously big men, which is a bit of a change for Scotland, but, when it comes to using their power and physique,our big men are still a wee bit behind their Southern Hemisphere competition.

 

It was obvious on Saturday, our big impact runners, too often, were knocked backwards in the tackle, or failed to make a dent in the Saffers defence, while, their big men could get up to speed far faster and could regularly breach our first line of defence.

 

That has to be our next priority - getting our big men to accelerate quicker, get their bodies into the correct position and rumble over the top of the first line of tacklers, thereby getting us onto the front foot and able to produce quick, go-forward ball.

 

We also need to be a bit more ruthless at the break-down; if opponents are going to lie there, don't step over them, step on them - they'll soon get the message.

 

 

 

WITH the national side in action at Pittodrie and both the professional sides in Rabo Pro12 action, Scottish resources are stretched pretty thinly this weekend.

 

 

It is noticeable, however, that, for all the suggestions that there are not enough Scottish players good enough to be full-time professionals, we are doing none-too-badly in getting bodies onto the park.

 

For Friday night's meeting with Leinster, Glasgow will have ten home-grown Scots in their starting line-up, with a further six home-grown guys on the bench. Edinburgh's match-day squad for their clash with Ospreys isn't so Tartan-tinted, but, with seven starters and seven-eighths of their bench (plus-Scottish-qualified Greig Tonks) being Scottish, they are holding-up nicely.

 

Add the Scotland squad in Aberdeen, plus by my reckoning 12 capped players - including an entire back division - currently injured, we've got some depth of talent.

That injured back division by the way: say Rory Lamont at full back, a three-quarter line of Jo Ansbro, Graeme Morrison, Ben Cairns, Lee Jones and Chris Cusiter to Duncan Weir at half-back.