Scotland need to be Brave

[Ever_present_pheasant]

Hello everyone! This is my first post on here, I usually reside on 606v2 but thought I'd give this forum a go.

After witnessing this weeks win firsthand at Murrayfield, I am still at a loss to how we won. However, I am not surprised given the talent we have in certain positions. They say you shouldn't change a winning side but i think that is exactly what Johnson needs to do for Wales visit. SO here are the changes i think he has to make and/or should make...

6.Brown should be here for Wales, Harley on bench
7.Barclay should be here given his good form at the moment, Scotland need someone in the rucks pinching ball for counter attacks.

10.Weir or Heathcote - Johnson is playing a kicking game/strategy, yet he selects a 10 who is better with ball in hand? I fail to see the point. Weir has a great boot on him, Heathcote is more accurate with tactical kicks, either would be better in my view if the game plan is to remain the same.

12.Dunabr with Scott at 13. i think Lamont should be on the bench and Evans should not be in the squad at all. Dunbar could add better defence and dynamism to midfield which was blown apart by ireland this weekend just past.

So those would be my changes.

Against Wales Scotland need to be more aggressive in the rucks, in attack and defence. If Barclay and Brown can turnover lots of Welsh ball that means more opportunities for quick Maitland, Hogg and Visser counter attacks. If more numbers are committed to rucks in attack, laidlaw can get quicker ball and Scotland will have a better platform to attack from. So against Wales the forwards have the biggest job in my view, regardless of who is selected at FH for Scotland.

What are other Scottish fans thoughts?

 

[Dougydeluxe]

I like Harley, but I have to agree with you, that Barclay might be better. Our backrow is great at tackling and rucking, but have not been good at turnovers. I also think that we need to kick less often from our half, or at least cut down on our kicking if they do not kick back. Only issue is that Barclay is not the future of Scotland rugby, he will be lucky to make the RWC. So sticking with the younger guns will only help us in the longer run.

Ireland realized that it was safer to run it from their half (outside the 22) then risk a bad kick that Visser, Hogg, or Maitland could expose. But we did not change our tactics and just kept giving the ball away. Also Weir was playing a better running game than Jackson, so he is almost better in both categories now.

Not sure about your centre pairing, Scott has been playing great at 12 and I think we should keep him there. I do agree that Lamont has issues at 13 as he does not distribute or offload the ball enough in that position. Max Evans has not excelled in France, but he is better at distribution. I don't know enough about Dunbar to know if he is a good 12 or 13. Kind of wish we had Ansbro back, the guy was getting better with every game he played with Scotland.

 

[slowprop]

I reckon Scotland have a pretty good chance against Wales. After the weekend they are definately going to be hard to beat.

 

[Big Ewis]

Scotland from what I've seen is a team that's managed good forward play for what they have, and sub-par back play relatively to what they have. They're very flat on attack, yet they at least do have the tools to blaze through the field and run in tries...a team to watch out for, but so far just settling for mediocre wins - everybody knows Ireland was the better team last match, and they were themselves very mediocre in England that first weekend, and bullied a crappy Italian squad at home and were very opportunistic on their scores.
But I like Scotland, hopefully they can unleash some more of that contained potential.

 

[Ever_present_pheasant]

Dougydeluxe - Wow, I didn't even realise that about Ireland preferring to keep ball in hands rather than kicking it. That probably had a big part in Scotland winning the game now I think of it. But yes, there was too much pointless kicking from Scotland at times.


Dunbar has been playing very well at 12 for Glasgow, Scott is more versatile so he would be the better of the two to move to 13 if they were ever picked for a centre partnership. However, I expect Johnson will stick with lamont at 13. I agree about ansbro, fantastic player, great shame he got injured because i think him and Scott would be a terrific combo.


Agree with you on Barclay as well, I actually think Roddy grant could become Scotland's future 7. I like rennie but I think grant has a lot potential. He looked good vs Glasgow in 1872 cup.