2025 Autumn Internationals

[BaldiePete]

Steyn in, VDM dropped. No Fagerson. Gilchrist FFS.

Scotland: Kinghorn; Graham, Hutchinson, Tuipulotu (capt) Steyn; Russell, White; Schoeman, Ashman, Rae, Gilchrist, Cummings, Brown, M Fagerson, Dempsey.
Replacements: Turner, Sutherland, Millar-Mills, Sykes, Darge, Bayliss, Dobie, Jordan.

[Cameo]

Not a bad team.

Fagerson is obviously a big loss, but it is what it is. I was a bit concerned he would be ruahed back and hurt himself.

Gilchrist has some logic to it for this game, but I don't like it. It feels like we will never move on.

Not the backrow that I would have picked (I would have had Ritchie or Onyeama Christie) but exciting to see Brown get a full game at 6.

Hutchison is an interesting call. Probably more of an attacking option, but haven't actually seen him play this year.

Most of bench is as expected. I'm always a bit surprised to see Bayliss just because I see him as squad filler but he has actually done well for us off the bench. I see Onyeama Christie as potentially having more impact off the bench than Darge coming back from injury.

I'd have started Dobie, but can't complain about White.

[BaldiePete]

Hutchison is great going forward but I’m concerned about his defence. I get the impression Northampton concede a lot of points but score even more. I looked at some NZ press and they think Fainga’anuku has been selected as a cannon ball to blast holes in the Scots’ defence. I’m sure they’re going to target Hutchison.

Before our team announcement I’m sure they expected VDM to play and were planning on peppering him with high balls. If they still do that Steyn is much better equipped to deal with them than VDM.

It’s the forwards that worry me. Without Fagerson our front row is much weaker and Gilchrist is yesterday’s man. We have a strong attacking set of backs but will they get a platform to work from?

[Mikey Brown]

Hutchison is great going forward but I’m concerned about his defence. I get the impression Northampton concede a lot of points but score even more. I looked at some NZ press and they think Fainga’anuku has been selected as a cannon ball to blast holes in the Scots’ defence. I’m sure they’re going to target Hutchison.

Before our team announcement I’m sure they expected VDM to play and were planning on peppering him with high balls. If they still do that Steyn is much better equipped to deal with them than VDM.

It’s the forwards that worry me. Without Fagerson our front row is much weaker and Gilchrist is yesterday’s man. We have a strong attacking set of backs but will they get a platform to work from?

Yep. Sadly little matters except for that last paragraph.

I do think Hutchinson has improved as a defender, but he’s not a big guy and if the new defensive system doesn’t click it’s going to be a long day.

Hopefully this selection is off the back of him gelling with the defensive system or Sione in training and not just a Hail Mary.

[septic 9]

I do think Hutchinson has improved as a defender, but he’s not a big guy and if the new defensive system doesn’t click it’s going to be a long day.

he has massively improved defensively. Much more physical, and 3 jackal turnovers in last game IIRC

Remember who he plays for , who Scotland's new defence coach is and where he came from. Toonie should get an inside track

[Mikey Brown]

I do think Hutchinson has improved as a defender, but he’s not a big guy and if the new defensive system doesn’t click it’s going to be a long day.

he has massively improved defensively. Much more physical, and 3 jackal turnovers in last game IIRC

Remember who he plays for , who Scotland's new defence coach is and where he came from. Toonie should get an inside track

I did acknowledge that about the defensive setup.

I could have sworn it was you I was telling about that Northampton performance the other day, but it’s not like it’s suddenly become the baseline for him.

As a ball playing midfield it’s pretty fantastic. I think we’ll create linebreaks, but what happens after that who knows.

[Cameo]

How quick is Hutchison? No one can hit a line quite like Jones, but do we see him offering that kind of threat?

[Mikey Brown]

Good acceleration. Not winger quick but plenty for a centre I’d say. I’m worried we might see Tuipulotu crashing it up a bit more than usual (not that he’s not effective) with the lack of power in the backs, but Hutchinson is a handful in attack.

[Mikey Brown]

Infuriating so far. Who could have guessed.

Some very good moments and individual performances, but Russell looking semi-injured is not good at all.

[Buggaluggs]

Hard luck boys. Great second half comeback. Just fell short.

[Lizard]

Bloody hell. I hope every All Black in that squad buys Damien McKenzie a drink. Sititi, Savea and Carter should each buy him two.

Great test match.

[septic 9]

Bloody hell. I hope every All Black in that squad buys Damien McKenzie a drink. Sititi, Savea and Carter should each buy him two.

Great test match.

McKenzie made an amazing 50/22 and scored an amazing finish from that pressure to win the match. Shame the kick was after NZ took ball into own half. Every All Black should buy Nick Berry a drink

[Lizard]

Pretty sure there was a ruck in our half before he kicked it.

[BaldiePete]

That was very frustrating. The atmosphere in the stadium in the 2nd half was incredible. The thing is, for the most part our guys played well, the front row fronted up way more than anyone expected, we were playing a team down to 14 men for 30 minutes … and we still lost. Very Scotland.

[BaldiePete]

I’ve been critical on here of Ashman’s performances for both Edinburgh and Scotland but this season he’s been good for both with vastly improved lineout throwing. I never thought I’d ever be saying this but he was much better than Turner who has dropped off after his season in Japan and only getting bench selections for Harlequins.

[Mikey Brown]

I’ve been critical on here of Ashman’s performances for both Edinburgh and Scotland but this season he’s been good for both with vastly improved lineout throwing. I never thought I’d ever be saying this but he was much better than Turner who has dropped off after his season in Japan and only getting bench selections for Harlequins.

A fair assessment I think, certainly based on today.

Turner hasn’t looked quite the player I’d hoped for Quins.

Really frustrating game and I’m loathe to say “there’s positives we can take” but it generally was quite a good performance.

I just don’t know where this team goes from here. Every time we front up physically we seem to forget how to finish off opportunities.

[Cameo]

Ah, I thought we had that for a while. Seemed to slightly go into our shell after Sititi's yellow. There was a logic to just trying to get field position and hoping for a penalty, and would have looked sensible if we won, but ultimately felt like we let them off the hook slightly at that point.

Some random thoughts:

- NZ first try was very soft. Lack of concentration by Ashman by the run and then I felt like Kinghorn didn't need to commit to Lord, Russell had him.

- I love Matt Fagerson as a player but there have been a few big games now where he has knocked on while we have been putting pressure on. Does he get start feeling the pressure?

- Brown was good. Linked with the above, I'd be happy with him starting over Fagerson next game with a 7 brought in.

- Ashman's throwing was very good.

- I don't like that we are still playing Gilchrist but he did show his value.

- Thought Hutchison took his chance. He doesn't hit lines quite as well as Jones (who does?), but his defence was good and I thought he showed his superior handling skills.

In a way, an 8 point loss is about what we should have expected. It's not a great NZ team but they are near the top of the rankings amd we would bite your hand off for a comfortable win against Ireland like they had last week. But but but...

Just would have been such a statement win, and we don't get that many chances for those.

[septic 9]

Ah, I thought we had that for a while. Seemed to slightly go into our shell after Sititi's yellow. There was a logic to just trying to get field position and hoping for a penalty, and would have looked sensible if we won, but ultimately felt like we let them off the hook slightly at that point.

Some random thoughts:

- NZ first try was very soft. Lack of concentration by Ashman by the run and then I felt like Kinghorn didn't need to commit to Lord, Russell had him.

- I love Matt Fagerson as a player but there have been a few big games now where he has knocked on while we have been putting pressure on. Does he get start feeling the pressure?

- Brown was good. Linked with the above, I'd be happy with him starting over Fagerson next game with a 7 brought in.

- Ashman's throwing was very good.

- I don't like that we are still playing Gilchrist but he did show his value.

- Thought Hutchison took his chance. He doesn't hit lines quite as well as Jones (who does?), but his defence was good and I thought he showed his superior handling skills.

In a way, an 8 point loss is about what we should have expected. It's not a great NZ team but they are near the top of the rankings amd we would bite your hand off for a comfortable win against Ireland like they had last week. But but but...

Just would have been such a statement win, and we don't get that many chances for those.

Ashman's throwing was spot on, Huge improvement. But he was fast asleep for their 1st try, and in terms of momentum and morale it cost a lot more than 7 points. (that said I think Lord had a foot, maybe booth in front of the ball so maybe should have been penalised for handling in a ruck.
Hutch had a good game and conformed he has the defence and physicality needed. Great to have another option confirmed

Gregor Brown was immense, again, my MoM

But so pleased for and delighted with the performance from Rae. Made his tackles, hit rucks, carried but most importantly way more than shored up the scrum. We should have had a few more pens he had De Groot on toast. He is no Fagerson, who is? But I think he has established we have another tight head who copes against the best, the position not quite the worry it was for a while now anyway

[Mikey Brown]

Ah, I thought we had that for a while. Seemed to slightly go into our shell after Sititi's yellow. There was a logic to just trying to get field position and hoping for a penalty, and would have looked sensible if we won, but ultimately felt like we let them off the hook slightly at that point.

Some random thoughts:

- NZ first try was very soft. Lack of concentration by Ashman by the run and then I felt like Kinghorn didn't need to commit to Lord, Russell had him.

- I love Matt Fagerson as a player but there have been a few big games now where he has knocked on while we have been putting pressure on. Does he get start feeling the pressure?

- Brown was good. Linked with the above, I'd be happy with him starting over Fagerson next game with a 7 brought in.

- Ashman's throwing was very good.

- I don't like that we are still playing Gilchrist but he did show his value.

- Thought Hutchison took his chance. He doesn't hit lines quite as well as Jones (who does?), but his defence was good and I thought he showed his superior handling skills.

In a way, an 8 point loss is about what we should have expected. It's not a great NZ team but they are near the top of the rankings amd we would bite your hand off for a comfortable win against Ireland like they had last week. But but but...

Just would have been such a statement win, and we don't get that many chances for those.

Ashman's throwing was spot on, Huge improvement. But he was fast asleep for their 1st try, and in terms of momentum and morale it cost a lot more than 7 points. (that said I think Lord had a foot, maybe booth in front of the ball so maybe should have been penalised for handling in a ruck.
Hutch had a good game and conformed he has the defence and physicality needed. Great to have another option confirmed

Gregor Brown was immense, again, my MoM

But so pleased for and delighted with the performance from Rae. Made his tackles, hit rucks, carried but most importantly way more than shored up the scrum. We should have had a few more pens he had De Groot on toast. He is no Fagerson, who is? But I think he has established we have another tight head who copes against the best, the position not quite the worry it was for a while now anyway

Yep. A few questions answered in a positive way there. A reliable replacement for Zander has to be top of the list by a mile though.

It terrifies me every time Millar-Mills takes the ball into contact.

I hope we can replicate the sort of intensity we showed in the second half, but history is against us on that one. I’m just not sure where we improve.

I wonder if Darge comes straight back in at 7 or where Ritchie/AOC sit currently. I thought Dempsey was very good as well as Brown, though you could see him tire significantly after that 20 minute comeback. He put in a huge carrying effort.

White’s kicking was a bit wonky and I thought Dobie’s was very impressive when he came on.

[Cameo]

Ah, I thought we had that for a while. Seemed to slightly go into our shell after Sititi's yellow. There was a logic to just trying to get field position and hoping for a penalty, and would have looked sensible if we won, but ultimately felt like we let them off the hook slightly at that point.

Some random thoughts:

- NZ first try was very soft. Lack of concentration by Ashman by the run and then I felt like Kinghorn didn't need to commit to Lord, Russell had him.

- I love Matt Fagerson as a player but there have been a few big games now where he has knocked on while we have been putting pressure on. Does he get start feeling the pressure?

- Brown was good. Linked with the above, I'd be happy with him starting over Fagerson next game with a 7 brought in.

- Ashman's throwing was very good.

- I don't like that we are still playing Gilchrist but he did show his value.

- Thought Hutchison took his chance. He doesn't hit lines quite as well as Jones (who does?), but his defence was good and I thought he showed his superior handling skills.

In a way, an 8 point loss is about what we should have expected. It's not a great NZ team but they are near the top of the rankings amd we would bite your hand off for a comfortable win against Ireland like they had last week. But but but...

Just would have been such a statement win, and we don't get that many chances for those.

Ashman's throwing was spot on, Huge improvement. But he was fast asleep for their 1st try, and in terms of momentum and morale it cost a lot more than 7 points. (that said I think Lord had a foot, maybe booth in front of the ball so maybe should have been penalised for handling in a ruck.
Hutch had a good game and conformed he has the defence and physicality needed. Great to have another option confirmed

Gregor Brown was immense, again, my MoM

But so pleased for and delighted with the performance from Rae. Made his tackles, hit rucks, carried but most importantly way more than shored up the scrum. We should have had a few more pens he had De Groot on toast. He is no Fagerson, who is? But I think he has established we have another tight head who copes against the best, the position not quite the worry it was for a while now anyway

I thought you just needed one foot behind the ball to be allowed to pick it up. If you need both, should have been disallowed.

Not sure I buy that Rae had De Groot on toast, but very pleased with how he went.

[Cameo]

Ah, I thought we had that for a while. Seemed to slightly go into our shell after Sititi's yellow. There was a logic to just trying to get field position and hoping for a penalty, and would have looked sensible if we won, but ultimately felt like we let them off the hook slightly at that point.

Some random thoughts:

- NZ first try was very soft. Lack of concentration by Ashman by the run and then I felt like Kinghorn didn't need to commit to Lord, Russell had him.

- I love Matt Fagerson as a player but there have been a few big games now where he has knocked on while we have been putting pressure on. Does he get start feeling the pressure?

- Brown was good. Linked with the above, I'd be happy with him starting over Fagerson next game with a 7 brought in.

- Ashman's throwing was very good.

- I don't like that we are still playing Gilchrist but he did show his value.

- Thought Hutchison took his chance. He doesn't hit lines quite as well as Jones (who does?), but his defence was good and I thought he showed his superior handling skills.

In a way, an 8 point loss is about what we should have expected. It's not a great NZ team but they are near the top of the rankings amd we would bite your hand off for a comfortable win against Ireland like they had last week. But but but...

Just would have been such a statement win, and we don't get that many chances for those.

Ashman's throwing was spot on, Huge improvement. But he was fast asleep for their 1st try, and in terms of momentum and morale it cost a lot more than 7 points. (that said I think Lord had a foot, maybe booth in front of the ball so maybe should have been penalised for handling in a ruck.
Hutch had a good game and conformed he has the defence and physicality needed. Great to have another option confirmed

Gregor Brown was immense, again, my MoM

But so pleased for and delighted with the performance from Rae. Made his tackles, hit rucks, carried but most importantly way more than shored up the scrum. We should have had a few more pens he had De Groot on toast. He is no Fagerson, who is? But I think he has established we have another tight head who copes against the best, the position not quite the worry it was for a while now anyway

Yep. A few questions answered in a positive way there. A reliable replacement for Zander has to be top of the list by a mile though.

It terrifies me every time Millar-Mills takes the ball into contact.

I hope we can replicate the sort of intensity we showed in the second half, but history is against us on that one. I’m just not sure where we improve.

I wonder if Darge comes straight back in at 7 or where Ritchie/AOC sit currently. I thought Dempsey was very good as well as Brown, though you could see him tire significantly after that 20 minute comeback. He put in a huge carrying effort.

White’s kicking was a bit wonky and I thought Dobie’s was very impressive when he came on.

For next week, I'd bring in a 7 (it will be Darge but I'd pick one of the others actually).

I'd also start Dobie. A bit more running threat there might help.

Not sure Russell will be fit.

[Cameo]

Thinking more about this. We have plateued. Plateued at a good level (I think 6th best team in the world but you could argue anywhere between 6th and 8th) but it is not clear we have got any better recently.

I'm one of those who thinks the main reason for that is the player pool. I don't think there is anything we are doing massively wrong tactically or selection wise, the teams who are better than us have better players.

Townsend's position seems to be we just need to keep building experience and execute better just enough. That might work - it's just a few moments and the law of averages might work in our favour.

Otherwise, I think there are four main areas where we might be able to improve:

- Front row - Fagerson back will make a difference. Rae's performance today is hopefully the beginning of us having a decent back up. Ashman may also be on the up and either Turner or Richardson should be good bench options.

- Second row - We've all talked enough about this. We might lose something if we drop Gilchrist but there is room for improvement.

- Backrow - We have good players and do okay here, but I have felt for a while we are not quite as impactful in the backrow as we could be. Today's balance was okay, but I think generally we need a bit more bite. Douglas may come through and be revelationary. Onyeama-Christie may be the fetcher who can also carry and adds pace. Brown may be an upgrade on Fagerson at 6. McConnell might come through.

Scrumhalf - Dobie might be a downgrade on White, but he has the potential to be a decent upgrade. Adding more threat close to the run might just open up space out wide and also get our forwards punching holes.

[paddy no 11]

Graham and Kinghorn can't be turning in 5/10 performances off the that good ball

Kinghorn dropped a clanger 1st half and that's a norm for him now and absolutely terrible tackle on dmac

Darcy having white line fever costly and just feel there was no real threat, at times hands would have been better than crossfield kicks which wasn't his decision obviously

The fella at sale could do better I think

[Mikey Brown]

Graham and Kinghorn can't be turning in 5/10 performances off the that good ball

Kinghorn dropped a clanger 1st half and that's a norm for him now and absolutely terrible tackle on dmac

Darcy having white line fever costly and just feel there was no real threat, at times hands would have been better than crossfield kicks which wasn't his decision obviously

The fella at sale could do better I think

Maybe it’s unfair but I just can’t take Reed seriously.

Kinghorn and Graham’s mistakes yesterday were very frustrating. The panic in the 22 was awful.

I do feel for Kinghorn on that ‘forward’ pass though. The scrum leads to that Jordan try just before half time which really changed the feel of the game.

Do we come back like in the second half otherwise though? I do wonder if we have to be that up against it to actually click in to gear. At least it wasn’t like the Laidlaw era where we wait until 74 minutes to actually start throwing punches.