This Is A Good Day To Be A Scottish Rugby Supporter

THIS post is being written mid-morning on Sunday, 26 February, and, it's a great time to be alive, if you are a Scottish rugby supporter. We live off the occasional crumbs of comfort we get from results such as yesterday's defeat of Wales. For once, cautious optimism rather than dread will be our mindset as we head for Twickenham in two weeks' time.

Of course, in my 70-years on this Earth, I have only seen us win twice at the headquarters of English rugby; thus, I lang syne learned never to be too-confident going there, but, we have a chance this year.

Any way, that's to come. I have long been an advocate of Willie-John McBride's mantra of not looking back at history; we've played Wales and beaten them, finished, move-on. But, before we go, some observations.

I have long held the Welsh squad to be over-rated, the Taffia of Welsh rugby writers in “Fleet Street” have long talked-up their heroes. We Scots see the bulk of their squad close-up in the Guinness PRO12 – we know they are not that good. Yesterday, the team remembered this and beat them.

But, our performance was not perfect. There is still work to be done on our props. Zander Fagerson is still making technical mistakes; he was found-out against France, but, the Welsh props were not good enough to exploit this. I am, of course, biased in favour of Mark Bennett, but, I feel his greater pace and sharper running lines, not to say his familiarity with Alex Dunbar, should earn him a start ahead of Huw Jones at Twickenham.

 Mark Bennett - would be in my Twickenham team

I always felt, Wales would lift their game against England, and come down a shade against us. If we can harness “the England effect” - the harder desire to defeat the common enemy, then we can beat an English team which, while it has been winning, has not been winning well.

At Twickenham, we will be playing for the Calcutta Cup, the Triple Crown and, a first win there for 34-years, we will also be seeking to deny England a Tier One, world record-equalling 18^th win. What more inspiration do we need to finally post that elusive Twickenham win?

Peter Dods - 11 points the last time we won at Twickenham

OUR joy at the Murrayfield win should be tempered, however, by the realisation, we still lack depth in Scottish rugby. A huge well-done by the way to our Women, who scraped past Wales to post their first Women's Six Nations win since 2011. The Welsh were, apparently incandescent with rage at losing to Scotland. Maybe over-confidence got to them.

Every journey begins with a first step, so, hopefully this first win will see big Shade Munro lead our Women to better days.

Our Under-20 team lost heavily to their Welsh opponents on Friday night, while our Club XV lost to England at Moseley. Can I make another plea for more Club XV games, our play for fun club guys deserve this.

Proud Scots, But, That's The SRU

RICHARD Cockerill is to be the new Edinburgh Head Coach. I heard that rumour on Saturday at Millbrae, my first thought was: “Surely not – the SRU must have more ambition than that”. But, apparently they don't. I am not impressed.

Cockerill is yesterday's man. His coaching style is passe, his day is done. Appointing him makes no sense. Now, had the SRU gone for another Englishman – Stuart Lancaster, I would have jumped for joy. OK, he lost the England Head Coach's job, but, being Head Coach of any of the three major English national sides, the cricket, football or rugby ones is by its very nature, Mission Impossible.

In all three sports whoever gets the top job is hamstrung by the Old Fart mindset of the governing bodies on one hand and the mantra of: “England expects” from the fans and, more-imrtantly, the thickest, most-myopic sports media in the Northern Hemisphere (perhaps the world but, the Aussies might have something to say about that).

Meeting English expectations and actually winning a World Cup does not guarantee survival. They sacked Sir Alf Ramsey and pushed Sir Clive Woodward out the door.

Sorry, got diverted there. Lancaster is a very good coach, as he is demonstrating at Leinster, he also has a Scottish connection. Cockerill isn't in the same class as a coach, and, as far as I now doesn't have a Scottish connection.

It's a bad appointment, and, in more ways than one. What does this appointment say to the young, ambitious and good Scottish coaches who are making a name for themselves in the BT Premiership, or in assistant roles with our professional or age group sides. To me the message is: “Forget promotion, when we have a big job to fill, we will look beyond Scotland.”

If the SRU is unwilling or unable to set-up the third professional side we need, if they are unwilling to give young Scottish coaches a chance at the top level, what does that say about their attitude to the principle of growing the game in Scotland?

I don't think Cockerill is the right man for the job, I foresee disaster, but, I hope I am wrong and wish him well. Mind you, and this is the only plus I can see from the appointment – he might sort-out our perceived scrum weaknesses. He certainly has some good raw material to work with at Edinburgh.

THIS could be a fraught week for Vern Cotter and his backroom team, as they ponder selection for Saturday's BT Murrayfield meeting with Wales.

We already know Scotland will be without skipper Greig Laidlaw and Josh Strauss. But, there are also injury concerns regarding Sean Maitland, Mark Bennett, Duncan Taylor, John Barclay, John Hardie and Ryan Wilson and form concerns regarding Henry Pyrgos and maybe a couple of other fringe players. We hear they might try to rush Alasdair Dickinson back to shore-up the scrum, while WP Nel is still out.

Then there is the captaincy question – who will lead us in the absence of Greig Laidlaw and the concerns over Barclay? I understand there will be a reluctance to lumber Jonny Gray with the job, given his other duties as line-out caller and defensive fulcrum. Decisions, decisions.

Back To Real Rugby Of The Club Variety

WITH this being a fallow week in the 2017 Six Nations, we can concentrate on real rugby, of the club variety.

The club festival kicks-off tonight with the Guinness PRO12 clash between Leinster v Edinburgh at the RDS. With so-many front-line Leinster players in the Irish squad, this should be one away game Edinburgh can target for a win. They certainly need to pick-up unexpected points somewhere this season, so why not tonight? Mind you, I am not at all confident in their ability to win this one.

Similarly, I can foresee a hard afternoon for Glasgow, in the Kingspan in Belfast. Mark Bennett being released from the national squad, plus the return of Peter Horne, should give Glasgow the cutting edge they lacked last week, but, here again, I am not all confident of their chances.

Tomorrow we will see most of the BT Premiership clubs finish their league campaigns. Of course, with some outstanding games still to be played-off, the final running order in the regular season campaign will not be known for a week or two yet.

Game of the day looks like being the basement battle between relegated Gala and Boroughmuir, who are second-bottom, but have a game in hand over third-bottom Hawick. 'Muir really need to win this one to avoid the promotion/relegation play-off. The Edinburgh side have had a funny season, capable of terrific results such as beating Ayr, but, just as liable to lose a game where they are expected to win. I reckon they will deeped the Netherdale gloom in this one.

Another interesting game will be the Malleny Park clash between Currie and Glasgow Hawks. These are two of the most attack-minded sides in the division, so the crowd could well be in for a high-scoring game. Currie's need for the points is greater. They did well to make the top four last season, but, they need to win this one and their outstanding fixture at Boroughmuir, if they are to overhaul Heriot's and deny the Goldenacre gang a top four finish and a chance to retain their title.

Down at Millbrae, Ayr will have revenge on their mind. Their shock loss at Myreside earlier this season will, if Melrose win their last two games, be the main reason why Ayr failed to top the table at the end of the regular season. With second spot at least guaranteed, the league leaders can go out for a bonus-point win to set the record straight, pile a wee bit of added pressure on Melrose and give the home support a reason to smile.

This match will be the final league game in charge for Marcus di Rollo and Simon Taylor, so, they will want to end with a win, should be a good game.

Melrose will entertain Hawick at the Greenyards. Well, this is a Border battle, so, nobody with any sense will attempt to forecast how it will pan out, but, you have to fancy the 'Rose to bloom.

THE make-ups of the two professional squads for next season is starting to become a wee bit clearer. I must admit, I am surprised that the rumour linking Mark Bennett with a move along the M8 to Edinburgh proved to be true. I would have put money on him going back to France for next season. I reckon he must have been offered a big pay rise to stay in Scotland, if so, good on you Marko boy.

 Mark Bennett at the Olympics

I am surprised, but not shocked, at Glasgow allowing Gordon Reid and Josh Strauss to leave at the end of the season. These guys have been very-important pillars of Warriors' rise; neither is exactly over the hill and, losing them in favour of relatively-unproven younger players might yet be a mistake.

BY THE WAY, I am becoming heartily sick of various pundits, even some who should know better, coming out with their Lions Test XV after each round of the Six Nations.

The first Lions squad which I ever bothered about was the 1959 party in Australia and New Zealand. Now, right up until they got to Australia, the informed speculators had it that the full-back's shirt would be worn by Terry Davies of Wales. Even Ken Scotland, who was the other full-back on the tour accepted, he was going as back-up to the Welshman.

 Ken Scotland - the back-up who became first-up

The party arrived in Australia and, when the Test team for the first of the two Tests in that country was named, Scotland and not Davies was named at full-back. He went on to play there in four of the six Tests, was injured for the second Test in New Zealand and played centre in the final Test.

Let's look at the 1971 Immortals in New Zealand, Ray McLoughlin and Sandy Carmichael were pencilled-in as the Test props, but, were punched out of the tour in the Battle of Canterbury, with Ian McLauchlan and Sean Lynch stepping in. On the same tour, Gordon Brown was only supposed to be there to make up the numbers, but, he fought his way into the Test team and a legend was born.

Broon Frae Troon - Lions' Legend

OK, making-up a Lions Test XV is an easy pot-boiler for any journalist who is short of ideas, but, remember, reality always gets in the way of such pieces. And, I deplore the way football-style puff pieces are increasingly finding their way onto the rugby pages.

We now have Gavin Hastings & Co telling us that Stuart Hogg HAS to be the Lions' Test full-back. OK, IF he maintains his current form through the remainder of the Six Nations and on into the Tour, I am fairly confident, Hoggie will wear 15 in the first Test. But, I don't need big Gav to tell me this. Gavin Hastings might be a past Lions' captain, but, his thoughts on Hogg add little to the debate.

Also, I would expect the last Scot to wear 15 for the Lions in a Test to be boosting the favourite to be the next Scot to do this. I would like to see his views on which as yet untipped Scots can make it onto the Tour and perhaps into the Test side.

Sent Homeward Tae Think Again - I Want To Hear A New Song

SCOTLAND'S Paris hoodoo continues, after Sunday's disappointing defeat. We travelled, so full of hope, but, once Greig Laidlaw limped off, I could only see it going one way – a French victory. So, it was another case of “Scotland the Brave” in a losing cause – I want a new song, soon.

We knew we might struggle in the scrums, but, I am so-sorry it all went pear-shaped once Zander Fagerson departed. I, and one or two other rugby writers who had seen him being ripped a new one by club props in the BT Premiership, knew poor Simon Berghan wasn't Scotland class. I said he should be nowhere near the squad and, if he got on, he would be exposed.

 Simon Berghan - exposed in Paris

I feel sorry for the big lad, having his short-comings so demonstrated, but, I don't blame him, I blame the numpties who recruited him and who, in spite of overwhelming evidence he wasn't good enough, promoted him.

Finn Russell too, has copped some stick for that fluffed conversion. But, that's Finn for you; you know you will get genius, mixed with the occasional cock-up. Good though Tim Swinson's try was to see, I honestly felt Finn's marvellous off-load to Tommy Seymour looked a tad forward, but, we'll take that.

I still reckon we will beat Wales, next time out. They cannot possibly summon-up the passion they showed against England.

THE Paris defeat completed a miserable weekend for the professional arm of Scottish Rugby. Edinburgh were never in the hunt against Ulster in Belfast, while Glasgow produced one of their worst-ever displays to lose to Scarlets at Scotstoun.

I never expected Edinburgh to win in the Kingspan, but, even with a full team of internationalists either on Scotland duty or injured, I thought Glasgow had enough in reserve to avoid a dose of Scarlets fever at home.

At Old Anniesland on Saturday, everyone who had been at Scotstoun the previous night was in agreement – Glasgow were mince.

Warriors are currently carrying a squad of some 55 players, Edinburgh has a squad of around 45 – that's a lot of guys to keep ticking over. Some of the guys who were on-duty on Friday night have played very little rugby this season and, clearly, not even the draft system which has the fringe guys turning-out in the BT Premiership (of which more later) isn't keeping them all up to match-sharpness for when they are needed.

This is clearly causing some concern. I hear there are suggestions floating around BT Murrayfield that B teams be formed, to keep the fringe players active. A good idea, but, where would these teams play?

Might we see a Guinness PRO12 Reserve League, similar to the Aviva Premiership A League which operates in England? That would work. Could we maybe see these B teams playing friendlies against the English A League teams? The Aviva A League operates via Northern and Southern Conferences, of six teams each. Maybe getting our two sides into the Northern Conference would be acceptable.

I have heard it said, the two B teams could be shoe-horned into the BT Premiership, making it a 12-club league, as it used to be. That would certainly mean an end to the unsatisfactory draft system currently in use, but, would the clubs buy into it?

Also, the “suits” at BT Murrayfield have never paid all that much attention to the club game – I mean, has anyone ever seen “The Lesser-Spotted Johnson” at a club game? Would their approach, on a matter which clearly helps HQ more than it helps the clubs be welcomed? Although, I have to say, thus far since professionalism the clubs, who we are repeatedly told are the SRU, have seldom, if ever, stood-up to the “suits” in any meaningful way.

Have you seen this man at a club game? If you have, let us know

How this one pans-out will be indeed interesting.

I SAID above, I would return to the question of game time for fringe professionals. This I now do. At Old Anniesland on Saturday, for the Glasgow Hawks v Ayr BT Premiership fixture, the team lines made interesting reading.

Once James Malcolm was sent-on for Pat McArthur, early in the second half on Friday night, it was obvious, he would not be hooking for Ayr on Saturday afternoon. This left the Millbrae Men without a drafted professional in their match-day squad.

Hawks on the other hand, fielded what some called a “Warriors Reserve XV”. Junior Bulumakau, Hagen Schulte, Cammy Fenton, “TJ” Uanivi and Matt Smith of the starting XV are all full-timers, even if most have worn Hawks' rather than Warriors' colours more this season. The Hawks' squad also contained Paddy Kelly, certainly a young man who has come through the Hawks' ranks but, this season more-often seen at 12 for London Scottish, alongside former Ayr man Robbie Fergusson. Kelly is currently with Warriors as “international window” cover.

Paddy Kelly - a stand-out for Hawks when he came on on Saturday

Now, when young Paddy came on at half-time, he provided Hawks with the sort of go-forward ball which, hitherto, only the mercurial Kerr Gossman had provided. Maybe it is the fact, he has been playing regularly – 12 starts plus several appearances off the bench for Scottish – but, he was the only one of the full-time players who looked as if he was playing at a lower level and therefore standing-out.

I have seen this before with professionals drafted into Premiership teams, one or two – the likes of Al Kellock, Dougie Hall and James Eddie when they were active, Finn Russell for Ayr earlier this season – bought into the club game and really gave it 100%. Others, including, sadly, one or two Scotland caps I could name, simply went through the motions, almost as if playing at this level was beneath them.

Maybe, if the SRU does form professional reserve teams, things will improve, but, clearly, the current system isn't serving the professional or amateur clubs well, we have to do something.

And, that's another thing. We have guys playing week-in, week-out, in the Premiership, who are continually showing, they could perhaps do a job in the professional ranks, but, until we have at least one more professional side, this isn't going to happen.

A Great Start, The Task Now Is To Kick-On From Here

HEY! We won our opening fixture in the RBS Six Nations, who'd have thunked it. This welcome victory was a long time coming, and the fact it immediately put the kibosh on the Murphyia's Grand Slam hopes was a wee bonus.

I've always had a lot of time for Paddy. In a former life, I spent a lot of long days and hilarious nights in the company of various Paddies, and, Paddy and Jock always, in my experience, got on well. But, in recent years, as Irish Rugby has had some unexpected successes, some of the lads have began to aspire to Welsh and English levels of arrogance. This was evident from the howls of complaint about how Glasgow set about controlling Munster – by handing Conor Murray an uncomfortable afternoon. Cue howls of outrage from a club who has made systematic cheating and stretching the laws an art form.

 Gregor Townsend - quickly shut-up O'Gara

Then, just before Saturday's game, Ronan O'Gara pile into the controversy with an ill-judged tweet about Scotland, which received a well-timed and succinct put-down from Gregor Townsend. If ROG is all that concerned about Munster and Ireland, he should maybe jack-in his lucrative contract with Racing 92 and persuade Munster, or the IRFU to give him a job. Mind you, with the problems Racing are having, he would maybe be better-off looking after his current contract and getting some improved results for his club side.

Any way. At half-time on Saturday at BT Murrayfield, I was if not shock, in a sort of stunned disbelief. “Not even Scotland can lose from this position”, was my thinking – which is a long way from wondering just how we were going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, my default position of recent years.

Pluses from the win:

Our defence was again marvellous, I hope the SRU has Matt Taylor on a good, long-term contract, the way he has tightened-up our defence has been worthy of greater honours.

Our strike runners are getting better and better. It's not just Stuart Hogg, who was again on-fire, we have genuine threats right across the back line.

The Irish back row is good, but, we matched them. Hamish Watson put in a great shift, then gave way to John Barclay, who was even better. While Josh Strauss and Ryan Wilson matched their distinguished individual opponents.

The Grays just get better and better. Both should go on the Lions' tour.

We looked fitter.

The minuses:

We feared our front row might struggle. Admirer though I am of the way he has come-on in leaps and bounds since joining Edinburgh, I don't think Allan Dell is an international-class prop. There is no way a club third-choice should be starting for his country. I don't know what Gordy Reid has to do to convince BVC and Jonathan Humphries he is a class act, but, in the absence of Dicko, he should start at one. I also think Alex Allan is a better prop than Dell, while, there is no way Simon Berghan should be anywhere near the Scotland squad. There are better tight-heads in the BT Premiership.

We only played for 60-minutes on Saturday. We must sort-out our failure to maintain first half impetus into the third quarter.

I might have my doubts about Dell, but, I have to say, I thought he got a couple of bum calls from Raymond Poite on Saturday. Mr Poite has never, to my mind, been a good referee of the scrum, he got a few wrong on Saturday.

Well, one down, four to go – onwards and upwards.

The winning Scotland team with the Centenary Quaich on Saturday

It All Gets Interesting This Weekend

FOR all the excitement we have had since the 2016-17 rugby season kicked-off back in August – between the Guinness PRO12 and European club games, not forgetting the joys of the under-appreciated BT Premiership, plus the Autumn Tests, only this weekend, with the start of the Six Nations, does the rugby season truly catch fire.

As ever for the rugby division of the Tartan Army, we set-off on the annual journey, more in hope than expectation. That said, expectations are somewhat greater this season than they have been in the past.

For the first time, both our professional sides have qualified for the knock-out stages of the European competitions; Scotland had a good, indeed promising Autumn internationals series, which might have been better and, our promising young players are becoming more-experienced and better. There is a Lions tour at the end of the season, and, for the first time in yonks, there are hopes of more than a token Scottish representation on the tour.

But, for everything to come together, Scotland MUST get off to a good start, when we entertain the Irish at BT Murrayfield on Saturday in the opening match of this season's Six Nations.

Once upon a time, we owned the Irish whose bi-annual visits to Murrayfield always seemed to end in a Scotland win. These days are long gone, and, it is long past the time we started making home advantage pay again.

If you can ignore the sounds of: “Why are we so good”, coming from the white-shirted Common Enemy, you would not be mocked for making the Irish the favourites for this season's 6N, after all, if they can beat the All Blacks, who in Europe need they fear?

But, for all their good players, their confidence and their form, the Irish are not markedly better than the Scots. Home advantage just might be enough to bring the Scots home on Saturday.

Vern Cotter named his match-day 23 this lunch time, and the Scotland team and replacements are:

15. Stuart Hogg; 14, Sean Maitland, 13, Huw Jones, 12 Alex Dunbar, 11. Tommy Seymour; 10, Finn Russell, 9. Greig Laidlaw (capt); 1 Allan Dell, 2, Fraser Brown, 3. Zander Fagerson; 4, Richie Gray, 5. Jonny Gray; 6. Ryan Wilson, 7. Hamish Watson, 8. Josh Strauss. 

Replacements: 16. Ross Ford, 17. Gordon Reid, 18. Simon Berghan, 19. Tim Swinson, 20. John Barclay; 21. Ali Price, 22. Duncan Weir, 23. Mark Bennett.

It is difficult to find fault with the 23 men BVC has chosen. Some might have found a place somewhere in the squad for either or both of Duncan Taylor and Matt Scott. However, we have such strength-in-depth battling for the 12 and 13 jerseys, it was always a close call as to who would miss out.

The other disputed area of the team is the back row, where, again, BVC has an embarrassment of riches from which to choose. Some will question the absence of John Barclay from the starting XV. However, as arguably our most-versatile back rower, JB will provide across the line cover off the bench and, when he is deployed in the second half, he could be a game changer.

The three designated back division replacements will also give Cotter the luxury of being able to change the game plan if he wishes. My only reservation about the squad is the decision to give the uncapped Simon Berghan the back-up tight-head role. To me, he has never shown that he is international quality and,while, should be get on, I wish him all the best, I'd rather have seen Jon Welsh of Newcastle Falcons wearing the 18 shirt. In fact, I'd rather have seen Glasgow's under-rated Darcy Rae in the squad before Berghan.

The Irish squad is:

15. R Kearney; 14. K Earls, 13.G Ringrose, 12. R Henshaw, 11.S Zebo; 10.P Jackson, 9. C Murray; 1. J McGrath, 2. R Best, 3.T Furlong; 4. I Henderson, 5.D Toner; 6. CJ Stander, 7. S O'Brien, 8. J Heaslip. 

Replacements: 16. N Scannell, 17. C Healy, 18. U Dillane, 19. J Ryan, 20. J van der Flier, 21. K Marmion, 22. I Keatley, 23. T Bowe.

It is, naturally, a strong Irish squad, but, while we will be without Alasair Dickinson and WP Nel, Messrs Dell and Fagerson have coped well, so far, with the demands of international rugby, the Irish too are missing some big names, and, certainly they will miss Johnny Sexton far more than we will miss our absentees.

It may well be a tight game, but, we can win it and get off to a great start.

 

In the other two internationals, I am sitting firmly on the fence when it comes to England v France. With home advantage, one would expect the English to win, however, if the old France turns up, who knows what might happen.

 

The final game, in Rome on Sunday, ought to be a win for Wales, but, this Welsh side is, I feel, on the slide and if there is a shock this weekend, this is where it will happen.