England A vs Scotland A - 27/06/21

[Vieux Talonneur]

Rise to what?

I was just surprised he's that tall - always thought he was like 6'2 or something, like regular blindside sized not verging-on-lock sized

Just didn't want to reopen the discussion based on my long held belief that Itoje is minimum size for a lock and should have been a 6. And here we're talking about a similar sized 6 possibly moving to lock who is very good but without the star dust that Itoje sometimes brings.

Hill looks a classic 6 to me, maybe even an 8 in time, but not a lock. That said our lock stocks are not where we'd like them to be, so maybe Jones / Hill spy an opening there rather than in the the highly competitive flanking positions. But that feels like a temporary state of affairs.

 

[Pieter Steph du Teague]

I think Hill could be moulded into being a similar type of lock to Itoje but would never be a good partner for him. Agree with @Old Hooker that Itoje is the minimum size for an international lock; having 2 guys who are only 6'5 and 115 kilos or less just wouldn't cut it against most Tier 1 international sides.

 

[BPM]

Maybe not as a pairing but I still don't think it would be the worst thing in he world to have two mobile locks in the squad. Essentially, if the move worked out well, Hill could become the successor to Lawes. I guess you could say the same about Martin though.

We're lacking big tighthead locks and there isn't anyone obvious coming through.

From a medium term POV, I think Kruis walks back in to the side if he returns to Saracens (or another Premiership side) for the 22/23 season. He'll be 33 by the time the RWC rolls around but that's not particularly old for a lock and a couple of years in a less physical league might help to preserve him a bit.

I'd also like to see Isiekwe focus on lock. He has the size and physicality to be ideal and partnering Itoje at club level would surely be the best platform for advancing his England credentials. Kpoku gets a fair bit of hype, but hasn't lived up to it yet and if we're looking for extra height, he's only marginally bigger than Itoje.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Scotland A
15 Damien Hoyland (Edinburgh Rugby)
14 Rufus McLean (Glasgow Warriors)
13 Matt Scott (Leicester Tigers) (c)
12 Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors)
11 Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby)
10 Ross Thompson (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Charlie Shiel (Edinburgh Rugby)
1 Nick Auterac (Northampton Saints)
2 Ewan Ashman (Sale Sharks)
3 Oli Kebble (Glasgow Warrriors)
4 Cameron Henderson (Leicester Tigers)
5 Kiran McDonald (Glasgow Warriors)
6 Josh Bayliss (Bath Rugby)
7 Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors)
8 Magnus Bradbury (Edinburgh Rugby)

Substitutes
16 Adam McBurney (Ulster Rugby)
17 Robin Hislop (Doncaster Knights)
18 Javan Sebastian (Scarlets)
19 Jamie Hodgson (Edinburgh Rugby)
20 Callum Hunter-Hill (Saracens)
21 Ben Vellacott (Wasps)
22 Adam Hastings (Glasgow Warriors)
23 George Taylor (Edinburgh Rugby)

Evenly matched up teams

 

[BPM]

Isn't Kebble normally a loosehead? He's a big lad, but I wouldn't want to be playing on the opposite side to my usual position and facing off against Genge. It's not like switching from blindside to openside.

As much as it probably is a mismatch in some areas, there are still 5 capped players in that side and I wouldn't have said there's much between Langdon and Ashman or Bayliss and Ludlow for example.

 

[big ginger 8]

McBurney was at best 4th choice hooker at Ulster last season. I know Scotland have a few injuries and probably want to tie him but yeah...I suppose he showed some promise at 20s so maybe the change of scenery helps him.

 

[BPM]

Just looked at the caps.

Scotland: Hoyland (4), Scott (39), Kinghorn (25), Kebble (8), Bradbury (14)

That's 90 caps in Scotland's starting XV plus Hasting's 23 on the bench.

England; Lawrence (6), Malins (7), Genge (28), Ewels (21)

Obano (1), Hill (1), Ludlam (8), Robson (12), Furbank (3), Cokanasiga (9)

62 caps in the starting XV plus 34 on the bench.

Actually pretty even in that sense.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Langdon vs Ashman is gonna be spicy

 

[BiggusLaddus]

Game off due to further covid cases.

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

How did Scotland mess it up so badly?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ffs
This was the game I was most looking forward to

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Hope Scotland get fined.
Tempted to sue for distressed of not having Kelly and Heyes captured.

 

[Reiser99]

FFS, honestly we finally were going to see some exciting young talent. Let's hope EJ sticks with most of them.

 

[Nudger]

I feel bad god knows how the players feel gutted for them

 

[Wasps92]

Aren't these players supposed to be in a bubble?

 

[Nudger]

Aren't these players supposed to be in a bubble?

Ye a covid bubble keep the rest of Scotland safe