Japan Tour

[Big D]

Hogg has to pass that.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Maitland is actually looking sharp since coming on.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

The sad thing is that if we win this Laidlaw and his kicking will be heralded as the difference.

[Chunks Baws]

Am I the only one that thinks that turnover was dodgy? He was practically on his knees.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

1-13 & 15 were pathetic. Honorable mention to Seymour whose performance in the air might get him a pass. Low, Swinson and Maitland made positive impacts off the bench too.

Lots and lots of work for this guys to do between now and the next test. Japan the better team today by far.

[Chunks Baws]

1-13 & 15 were pathetic. Honorable mention to Seymour whose performance in the air might get him a pass. Low, Swinson and Maitland made positive impacts off the bench too.

Lots and lots of work for this guys to do between now and the next test. Japan the better team today by far.

Better discipline and Japan would have won this.

[Matt Ha]

A win's a win but a poor performance on the whole. Would have liked to have seen Horn at 10 for a bit. On a side note, it must be an curse to be selected as the replacement 9 as you know you will be the only sub who will remain glued to the bench. Laidlaw was not at his best today (slow and ropey passing) and it would have been good to let Pygros have a run out, especially as we were not in danger of losing the game for the last 15-20 minutes.

[hp18]

1-13 & 15 were pathetic. Honorable mention to Seymour whose performance in the air might get him a pass. Low, Swinson and Maitland made positive impacts off the bench too.

Lots and lots of work for this guys to do between now and the next test. Japan the better team today by far.

Were they fuck

[laribold]

Yeah fairly lacklustre but we never really looked like losing and other than the well taken quick free kick (where we were half asleep to start with) and the last 5 mins they never really looked like scoring.

Wilson carried well
Sutherland impressed all game I thought.
Seymour was good
Having McInally as a ball carrier was leagues better than Ford but he needs to work on his arrows a bit more.
I thought the Scott Taylor axis was a bit me tbh. Neither of them offered much spark.
Jackson also didn't show much either tbf and some of his kicking was a bit pants (although contesting restarts is something we should do more of)

[Mikey Brown]

It's depressing missing a match you were excited about and then reading up on it and being glad you didn't catch it.

Anything positive in there at all?

I hope a lot of that is rustiness or we're in trouble.

[Tobylerone]

It's depressing missing a match you were excited about and then reading up on it and being glad you didn't catch it.

Anything positive in there at all?

Yes.. We`re not on a three Test tour of New Zealand..

[Stones of granite]

It's depressing missing a match you were excited about and then reading up on it and being glad you didn't catch it.

Anything positive in there at all?

I hope a lot of that is rustiness or we're in trouble.

I say watch it. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as portrayed by some.

[af73]

Very disappointing. They've been together for two weeks preparation - what were they preparing?

We didn't really learn much that we didn't already know - most of which was poor. If next week is more of the same in terms of selection, tactics and performance, you have to question the value of a. agreeing to play these two games in the first place and b. not utilising them fully.

The good bits (i.e those that exceeded expectations) - Sutherland I thought was excellent given his experience and expectation of coming on as early as he had to.
Barclay is at the reliable pro stage of his career which is fine, every team needs one. Wilson had his good moments and thankfully fewer of his brain fart ones. Nel played 60 minutes of brilliance then the arse fell out of it a bit.


The backs. Dreadful for the most part. A collection of individuals. No continuity or attacking cohesion.

Seymour - at last a Scottish player who is good in the air. One restart take in particular caught the eye, and in a good way for a change!

Jackson's big chance and blew it. Not helped by the material he had to work with but some of his individual skills (kicking) were not up to scratch. High cross kick to a miniscule in goal area was so dumb even John Beattie spotted it.

Scott - Been playing in the Edinburgh back line all year and it kind of showed. Does some good things but when he makes a break you instinctively know in your heart the ball isn't going to get over the line for any one of a number of possible reasons.

Taylor - Struggling to see it to be honest. On the evolutionary scale of Scottish centres he is closer to Morrison/Henderson than Bennett/Dunbar and that's not what this team needs now. Obviously he has had a good season with a top club but the premiership style isn't our game. Reputation selection I think, if he didn't play for Saracens, not sure he would get a game on this performance.

Hoyland - bit lost positionally a couple of times. 2nd cap and couple of months with 7's structures mitigate that. Nice take of the crossfield pity he couldn't finish it. Reverting to Lamont next week will be a regressive step.

Hogg - has the ability to do it himself as we all know but needs to learn to do it when its on, not every time. Blew the 2 on 1 but still needs to be the first name on the sheet if we are to going to be a try-scoring team.

The (pygmie) elephant in the room. Laidlaw. Its all been said....over and over again.

I don't think he is the best scrum half we have nor do I think he is a particular good captain of a Scotland team. But we are stuck with him for both and as long as we are, he will dictate the way we play. Which tends to be good for his own profile but hamstrings the team. eg milking penalties that he eventually will be kicking etc. I don't think that is deliberate self-serving act but watching the All Blacks playing an advantage, coming back for the kick at goal is the last option, not the first.

Pointing at players and flapping your arms about does nothing for a dynamic game. Get the ball out or get the fwck out of the way but be decisive. If the ball is being interfered with, take action don't girn at the ref expecting favours. Constantly chirping at the referee and pointing out the decisions he should be making only works if you play in the premiership or are Irish or Welsh. As a Scotland player it is more likely to come off as an annoying wee nyaff more likely to get the referees back up.

As a previous poster commented he kicked the goals and will be the face of the press conference.

All of which goes to show how important a fit and on form axis of Russell, Dunbar and Bennett are to the way we need to play. They can make the best of overcoming some of Laidlaws deficiencies but could really flourish with Pyrgos and a mojo restored SH-C

Commentators reckon everyone will play over the two games, the son of god excepted of course who will get 158 minutes.

[Big D]

I'll need to rewatch it but I thought the centres did OK given lack of decent ball from rucks and mauls. I thought they made a lot of ground.

Re: Taylor he is probably our most switched on player. I can't think of a single Scotland player who'd have scored that try v France or taken the quick throw yesterday that we should have scored from.

I'd start Jackson next week again. We're need to give him a run of appearances. It will probably need to be Jackson/Horne/Scott anyway.

[hp18]

I'll need to rewatch it but I thought the centres did OK given lack of decent ball from rucks and mauls. I thought they made a lot of ground.

Re: Taylor he is probably our most switched on player. I can't think of a single Scotland player who'd have scored that try v France or taken the quick throw yesterday that we should have scored from.

Hogg, Seymour, Bennett, Dunbar, Price, etc

[Big D]

I'll need to rewatch it but I thought the centres did OK given lack of decent ball from rucks and mauls. I thought they made a lot of ground.

Re: Taylor he is probably our most switched on player. I can't think of a single Scotland player who'd have scored that try v France or taken the quick throw yesterday that we should have scored from.

Hogg, Seymour, Bennett, Dunbar, Price, etc

I can't remember them ever taking a quick tap penalty in an international with that field position or in that situation and scoring. Or any of those taking a quick line out in the oppo 22.

Happy to be corrected.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Hard to slate any of the backs when they had to play outside Laidlaw. Defence was ready for them every single time and they were constantly going to standstill first receiver again and again. Piss easy to defend against. It's incredibly frustrating to see him waste what is probably the most exciting group of backline players in the professional era.

RE Taylor he may be switched on but he also gave that no-look offload to thin air which the Japs latched onto, gained some serious yardage before being ushered into touch.

We were tactically inept. If it was a plan to lob the ball to first receiver all game then why are we playing Wilson? Where are Strauss or Denton to punch the holes?

Anyone who hasn't seen it, avoid.

[Croft_No.5]

Reid joins for Al Dickinson

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Reid joins for Al Dickinson

Bizarre that we did not travel with a 5th prop to begin with.

[Mikey Brown]

Hard to slate any of the backs when they had to play outside Laidlaw. Defence was ready for them every single time and they were constantly going to standstill first receiver again and again. Piss easy to defend against. It's incredibly frustrating to see him waste what is probably the most exciting group of backline players in the professional era.

RE Taylor he may be switched on but he also gave that no-look offload to thin air which the Japs latched onto, gained some serious yardage before being ushered into touch.

We were tactically inept. If it was a plan to lob the ball to first receiver all game then why are we playing Wilson? Where are Strauss or Denton to punch the holes?

Anyone who hasn't seen it, avoid.

I caught it on iPlayer, and yeah, pretty clueless.

It's a hard life switching between supporting a team with Ben Youngs at 9 and one with Greig Laidlaw. It's like they're in competition with eachother to see who can spend the most minutes a game staring at the ball in the back of the ruck.

It's like when Paterson was knocking everything over and we just played for penalties, ignoring that we now have running threats all over the place. They just dont know when (or if) they're going to get the ball.

I wouldn't even mind Greig as an option to close a game out but he simply isn't a good enough scrum-half despite being a good kicker and leader/organiser.

Plenty of other problems around the field but I quickly gave up expecting much when I already knew the score.

[Big D]

Hard to slate any of the backs when they had to play outside Laidlaw. Defence was ready for them every single time and they were constantly going to standstill first receiver again and again. Piss easy to defend against. It's incredibly frustrating to see him waste what is probably the most exciting group of backline players in the professional era.

RE Taylor he may be switched on but he also gave that no-look offload to thin air which the Japs latched onto, gained some serious yardage before being ushered into touch.

We were tactically inept. If it was a plan to lob the ball to first receiver all game then why are we playing Wilson? Where are Strauss or Denton to punch the holes?

Anyone who hasn't seen it, avoid.

Yeah that was as poor an attempt at a switch pass as you'll see an any level. Pretty good example that sums up the overall Scotland performance.

On the plus side we have good options at centre, the fact we have Taylor (26), Horne (26), Scott (25), Dunbar (26), Bennett (23), Jones (22) - assuming he is committed to Scotland after this tour. So there are pretty good options available and decent young 'uns coming through.

On the negative side, Laidlaw is the 9 feeding our backs.

[Big D]

Unsurprisingly Taylor joins Dicko on the crocked list.

Barclay, Wilson and Nel all carrying knocks. Reading between the lines Barclays is the most troublesome for Saturday as the other two were specifically noted as "slight concerns".

[Mikey Brown]

Unsurprisingly Taylor joins Dicko on the crocked list.

Barclay, Wilson and Nel all carrying knocks. Reading between the lines Barclays is the most troublesome for Saturday as the other two were specifically noted as "slight concerns".

Oh dear. They would all be pretty crucial changes. Nel is just a step above. Barclay has been great and we'd lose our extra-openside element, even though Strauss/Denton/Wilson could do a job. Is Watson in the squad? And does that mean Jones in? Or Horne and Scott to 13?

[Big D]

Unsurprisingly Taylor joins Dicko on the crocked list.

Barclay, Wilson and Nel all carrying knocks. Reading between the lines Barclays is the most troublesome for Saturday as the other two were specifically noted as "slight concerns".

Oh dear. They would all be pretty crucial changes. Nel is just a step above. Barclay has been great and we'd lose our extra-openside element, even though Strauss/Denton/Wilson could do a job. Is Watson in the squad? And does that mean Jones in? Or Horne and Scott to 13?

Nel seems confident of making it.

I see it as an opportunity for some. Sutherland was dcent last weekend and has a chance to show he can start pushing Dickinson and there are still options for centre with Horne/Scott/Jones in the mix.

I am not as sold on the 2 opensides as some, or the balance of our back row in total. Hardie was allegedly one of the top turnover winners in the 6N which seems questionable IMO and as massive a fan of Barclay as I am, I am not seeing him as playing quite as well as some are. I flicked through the game last night again and I think both them are on opposite ends of the "getting involved in the ruck" spectrum; Barclay gets involved in too many and Hardie seems to make decisions quickly to not get involved.

I really feel like neither of them link with the backs like a "traditional 7" which is something we may be missing.

I have been involved in a discussion elsewhere about the BR and feeling that the balance isn't as good as some think I looked BR stats from the England game on.

6 - JB in all games: 44 carries for 82m (skewed by the intercept v Wales) which is 7.3 carries for 13.6m per game. Also 46 tackles and 2 missed over the 6 games and 5 pens conceded.

7 - JH in all games: 25 carries for 83m (skewed by anything?) which is 4.16 carries for 13.8m per game. Also 67 tackles and 11 missed (too many) over the 6 games and 2 pens conceded. Supposedly 6 turnovers in the 6N

8 - DD/RW/JS: 50 carries for 208m which is 8.3 carries for 34.6m per game. Also 50 tackles and 7 missed (too many) over the 6 games and 4 pens conceded.

Not sure really that the stats say too much. It is still a small sample size. I really wish turnovers won was a stat more readily available. I'd like so see Hardie carry a bit more. He is more dynamic in contact that Barclay. Both Hardie and the joint effort of the 8's are missing >10% of tackles which is too high, even if Hardies volume of tackling is good.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

I'll agree with one thing, Hardie's tackling is f*cking abysmal for a semi-professional let alone a professional openside.

TIme and time again our defensive shape is in tatters when someone hits the gap created by the missed tackle. Hardie is behind a lot of these.