RBS 6 Nations - Scotland Vs England (04/02/2012 - 17:00)

[Dougydeluxe]

My only worry is that if Scotland win.. Andy will not introduce the new blood. He will instead stick with this team and hope that they continue their winning ways, even if the wins are just by the skin of their teeth.

 

[retardedgenius]

Yeah, could have done a lot worse than Strokosch, just a little anoyed His Untouchableness gets to start.

What if Parks needs to come off? Laidlaw has never played with Cusiter, but has with Blair. This means that should we need a change a 10 (which I think is more likely than not), then we would have to do a double substitution. Another potential problem arises if Cusiter is playing well... Blast it

In Andy I trust B)

P.S. Just make sure as hell that if Parks doesn't perform he is appropriately subbed.

yeh but he has a point to prove so i have a funny feeling he will this year so critisizm could bring the best from him

 

[Me 1]

10 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues) 66 caps, 4 tries, 15 conversions, 53 penalties, 17 drop-goals, 260 points​

​

To think I thought Scotland stood a chance.​

 

[retardedgenius]

My only worry is that if Scotland win.. Andy will not introduce the new blood. He will instead stick with this team and hope that they continue their winning ways, even if the wins are just by the skin of their teeth.

i'm thinking this too

 

[LittleGuy]

The only positive that can come out of winning a few games with the older squad by the skin of their teeth is the RWC seeding being based on the IRB rankings at the end of this year. When is Jackson supposed to be back? This 6N HAS to be Parks last kick at the can especially being in the first XV.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Supposed to snow on Saturday in Edinburgh, so that'll be fun

 

[TRF_Olyy]

England have released:
Attwood, Banahan, Clarke, Mears, Goode, Simpson, Waldrom and Wilson
to play for their clubs this weekend.

So something like:

Corbs, Hartley, Cole
Botha, Palmer
Croft, Robshaw, Morgan
Youngs, Hodgson
Strettle, Barritt, Farrell, Ashton
Foden

Webber, Marler, Parling, Dowson, Dickson, Sharples, Brown

No centre or flyhalf cover on the bench (unless Farrell is on the bench, but there's no other centre, so he'll be starting there).

 

[Peat]

I, uhm, am not very full of confidence reading that. Which is a shame as the Scotland teamsheet had me grinning like a cheshire cat.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Oh dear. Not much to shout about really, except that news that banahan has been released. Surprised Clark has been release as now we have nobody even close to resembling a 7.

I probably would just go for 6.Croft 7. Robshaw 8. Morgan, if only just to shove in players who can, on their day play well, even out of position

Juries out on Botha, I don't know if I rate him.

No attempt to include a real 13 is worrying, but i'd rather barritt at 12 and Farrell at 13 than vice versa.

 

[j'nuh]

The main concern here from an English perspective is a Hamilton/Gray second row is massive. They average nearly 20 stone, with Denton providing another 18 stones at the base. That's a lot of power through the middle, and it looks to me as if they're going to try target our scrum. We'd do well to get parity in it imo. They also provide a lot of power in the tight. We shouldn't go into this game looking to overpower Scotland.

On the plus side, our lineout should hold up.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Botha's been on pretty good form for Saracens so I don't begrudge him being there over Attwood.
I'd rather Simpson over Youngs, with Dickson starting - I don't really care if neither of the halfbacks would have any (or much, in the case of Simpson) international experience as Youngs disintegrates under pressure so it's not as if the team would be missing a rock under pressure.
Would have had Clarke over either Croft or Dowson.
Would have liked to have had Goode on the bench, just because we have two specialised players on the bench, with Goode you'd at least have a bit of versatility in there. Fingers crossed none of Hodgson, Barritt or Farrell get injured during the match as we'd end up with a winger or fullback at 13.
Banahan going is great, Waldrom going is expected as Morgan was pretty much guaranteed to be involved and there's no room for two specialised 8s. Mears played for Bath at the weekend, so no shock there. Not a massive fan of Mears, but there's not a lot to pick between him and Webber at the moment (solely because Mears has been there done that, and can handle the pressure, whereas Webber is an unknown quantity).




EDIT:
Just realised Turner-Hall is still involved - forgot about him! He'll either start over Farrell or be in the 21 shirt, with one of Sharples/Strettle not involved.

Still trying to work out who the other person is that's still involved (there's 24 players to choose from for the 22 apparently).

DOUBLE EDIT:
It's Matt Stevens, so he'll most probably be on the bench (or starting at 3 - hopefully going no where near the 1 shirt!)

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

I think we'll be ok in the scrum, because regardless of the power coming through they still need to harness it properly in the front row, or they will be penalised. An on-form corbs hartley and cole will hold its own. But yeah, in the second row department we are slightly undersized. That said, Palmers normal, and Ben Morgan at the base is a big lump.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Thing is though: only Hartley is on form. Cole and Corbisiero aren't playing great (Cole especially) - neither are starting for their clubs either.

 

[Mrs. Peter Quinn]

Botha's been on pretty good form for Saracens so I don't begrudge him being there over Attwood.
I'd rather Simpson over Youngs, with Dickson starting - I don't really care if neither of the halfbacks would have any (or much, in the case of Simpson) international experience as Youngs disintegrates under pressure so it's not as if the team would be missing a rock under pressure.
Would have had Clarke over either Croft or Dowson.
Would have liked to have had Goode on the bench, just because we have two specialised players on the bench, with Goode you'd at least have a bit of versatility in there. Fingers crossed none of Hodgson, Barritt or Farrell get injured during the match as we'd end up with a winger or fullback at 13.
Banahan going is great, Waldrom going is expected as Morgan was pretty much guaranteed to be involved and there's no room for two specialised 8s. Mears played for Bath at the weekend, so no shock there. Not a massive fan of Mears, but there's not a lot to pick between him and Webber at the moment (solely because Mears has been there done that, and can handle the pressure, whereas Webber is an unknown quantity).




EDIT:
Just realised Turner-Hall is still involved - forgot about him! He'll either start over Farrell or be in the 21 shirt, with one of Sharples/Strettle not involved.

Still trying to work out who the other person is that's still involved (there's 24 players to choose from for the 22 apparently).

DOUBLE EDIT:
It's Matt Stevens, so he'll most probably be on the bench (or starting at 3 - hopefully going no where near the 1 shirt!)

That's good, I just took your summary of who was left for-granted and was worried about the lack of midfield possibilities. If it was me, I'd play Hodgson with JTH at 13 and Barritt inside, Farrell and Sharples on the bench ( the only reason I'd want Strettle starting above Sharples is because his defence is better and it should be a tight game)

 

[Peat]

Can't agree with a lot of that Olyy - don't think Botha's been great recently, Youngs would probably start for me as our scrum-half who can reliably run and pass, Clark should never have been there, and I don't see Goode as anything other than a specialist 15 either.

edit: Ok, Stevens makes me feel better. Turner-Hall doesn't.

Picking Strettle for his defence is like picking a midget to play basketball.

 

[Darwin]

Certainly an interesting looking Scotland team. I'm not overly familiar with a couple of the players (Lee Jones and Denton), so look forward to seeing how they go at this level. I was a bit surprised to see Jim Hamilton starting ahead of Kellock - has Kellock been out of form? I'm really happy to see Ross Rennie starting at 7, as I thought he was outstanding whenever he played at the RWC, and I expect he could cause England (who lack a genuine 7) some issues at he breakdown.

I never know who is the number 1 ranked Scotland halfback: is Cuister likely to be starting in the next game, or is it expected that Cuister, Blair, Lawson, and Laidlaw will rotate as the starting halfback? I would have liked to have seen Joe Ansbro in the starting 15, as he seems to add some good pace to the backline, but I hear he's been ruled out with injury.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Can't agree with a lot of that Olyy - don't think Botha's been great recently, Youngs would probably start for me as our scrum-half who can reliably run and pass, Clark should never have been there, and I don't see Goode as anything other than a specialist 15 either.

edit: Ok, Stevens makes me feel better. Turner-Hall doesn't.

Picking Strettle for his defence is like picking a midget to play basketball.

I can only presume you've missed all premiership and heineken cup rugby since last Six Nations if you think Youngs can reliably run and pass?!

 

[Peat]

I can only presume you've missed all premiership and heineken cup rugby since last Six Nations if you think Youngs can reliably run and pass?!

He can pass more reliably than Simpson and run more reliably than Dickson. Leicester have been shat in general, I'm not surprised he's been affected by the malaise in general, but he still has the talent. Yes, I'd worry about him if our pack start getting beaten, but as I think we're basically f**ked in that scenario whatever happens, I don't really care. Youngs will probably get the most out of the situation if the pack do their job. I'll settle for Dickson fairly happily though what with Youngs not having been all there.

edit: Also, if we're planning for the future and building a team, then Youngs remains the man with the most potential, and should be given every chance to improve himself.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

I'll give him the benefit of the doubt until his first box kick that goes at a 90deg angle and out on the full (about 10s in if Scotland are kicking off).
He's been one of the worst performers for Leicester of late, even Grindall is an improvement over him. We'll just have to wait and see, I suppose.

 

[Saintjay]

He can pass more reliably than Simpson and run more reliably than Dickson. Leicester have been shat in general, I'm not surprised he's been affected by the malaise in general, but he still has the talent. Yes, I'd worry about him if our pack start getting beaten, but as I think we're basically f**ked in that scenario whatever happens, I don't really care. Youngs will probably get the most out of the situation if the pack do their job. I'll settle for Dickson fairly happily though what with Youngs not having been all there.

edit: Also, if we're planning for the future and building a team, then Youngs remains the man with the most potential, and should be given every chance to improve himself.

How many caps does Youngs have 17? That's a good few chances to prove and improve your worth. If he is out of form and not playing well surely Dickson deserves a shot. He is only 26 not that old. The only worry I have for Dickson is that he is does not often play behind a pack that is going backwards as the England one might be on Saturday.