Summer Tour Squad

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Fraser Brown off crocked.

Still only 8-3 despite being well on top.

[Mikey Brown]

Yeah. Not impressive. Maybe it’s hard to get the mindset right in a game like this but there’s no ferocity to it.

[Mikey Brown]

Jesus Christ. These camera angles.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Denton virtually clean through... does he go to ground and recycle after all the hard phases that got us there? NOPE. Miracle offload and knock on. You f*cking donkey.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Chris Harris is doing a put in in the scrum... and he buggers it up.

In our own half.

What kind of f*cking play is this?

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Rolling maul is going well. Powers over early on in the second half so Turner can touch down. Con is good.

22-3.

Need to stay focused.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

And our focus amounts to knocking on the restart and giving away a pen in our 22.

Canada held up over the line.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Yellow for Jacko possibly.

Don't think that was intentional... Looks like he tries to blag an intercept.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Pen try and yellow.

That will give them some belief. Last thing we needed.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Hastings is on for Lang for a HIA I think. So he's running things at 10 and it's night and day... taking the ball up to the line and injecting a bit of pace into everything.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

I just cannot understand why Glasgow didn't sign Denton when he was available. He solves so many of their issues. (Yes, I know it's only Canada)

[hugh_woatmeigh]

McCallum's try written off because the TMO decides to get involved over nothing.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

No bother. Goes back to our advantage and Turner scores off the back of a rolling maul again.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Canuck's getting munched by our rolling maul. Turner hat trick!

41-10.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

What a player Lewis Carmichael is.

I questioned the decision to take him over Cummings but that sort of stuff proves why. Lovely line, good power and great pace for a big forward to finish it.

48-10.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

And another Carmichael break... christ. What a player. Better support lines and that would have been another try.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Game over 48-10.

Good training exercise but lots to improve on. Felt we left a fair few points on the park. The back cover was all wrong - it ended up being a pretty makeshift back line for the last 15+ minutes which makes things extra difficult.

WTF has happened to Canadian rugby btw? Total shambles.

[Cameo]

Game over 48-10.

Good training exercise but lots to improve on. Felt we left a fair few points on the park. The back cover was all wrong - it ended up being a pretty makeshift back line for the last 15+ minutes which makes things extra difficult.

WTF has happened to Canadian rugby btw? Total shambles.

Agree with all of that. The backs seemed to be going through the motions a wee bit. Nice shape but often in front of the defensive line. I wouldnt say there were any outstanding performances but equally no shockers. Still not convinced by Harris though.

You could hear Beattie struggling not just to talk about Hastings for 30mins

[Big D]

Game over 48-10.

Good training exercise but lots to improve on. Felt we left a fair few points on the park. The back cover was all wrong - it ended up being a pretty makeshift back line for the last 15+ minutes which makes things extra difficult.

WTF has happened to Canadian rugby btw? Total shambles.

I've watched up to 50min or so and need to go out.

I think Townsend needs to take the blame for how the backs cover looked.

When Jones went off he could have brought Hastings on and moved Jackson to 15 and Kinghorn to wing.

Or after bringing Hastings on, move Jackson to 15, Kinghorn to wing and Bennett to the centres.

[Mikey Brown]

Fell asleep at half time and watching it now. Hastings does look handy taking the ball to the line doesn’t he.

Bennet looking exciting but error prone, though seemingly playing on the wing?

Backs looking super disjointed, as above Townsend needs to take some of that both for the coherence of the selected starters and the balance on the bench.

Denton with some great carries but even against Canada he’s looking limited at times. It really is a trade-off if you need to get a carrier in to the pack like him.

Have we taken a single restart or high ball cleanly?

[Mikey Brown]

Also from 1-15, and start to finish, we must have the most unconvincing dummy runners ever. The players make it so clear when they don’t actually want the ball. Yes they’re running at the inside shoulder with their hands up, but nobody is buying it.

So many of our problems as a teams stem from being unable to make incisive runs close in and stop a team just fanning out, maybe marking our 1 or 2 good forwards carriers. The lack of cohesion between backs and forwards has been very evident in every Townsend side so far.

It’s as if when a forward knows they are just a screen for a pass out the back they feel they’d be better served staying available to follow the ball, but it stops anyone from committing themselves in defence, then you get guys throwing these wild miss passes to the wing because suddenly all the space has disappeared.

[Big D]

And another Carmichael break... christ. What a player. Better support lines and that would have been another try.

He is what people pretend Swindon is. He's a real prospect at second row and covering 6.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

And another Carmichael break... christ. What a player. Better support lines and that would have been another try.

He is what people pretend Swindon is. He's a real prospect at second row and covering 6.

Laughed at that comparison. Don't think Swinson has ever made a break like that in his career let alone twice in a game.

PS yes, I know its tongue in cheek!

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Dougie Fife called up to cover Lee Jones.

Have to assume that Toony is not aware of McNicholl or McNicholl just isn't interested.

[Mikey Brown]

I'd not really seen Carmichael before. Had no idea he had that kind of pace. Very impressive and a great steal to finish the game. Is he particularly settled as either a lock or 6 at the moment?

On that note, if we had to pick one of the Edinburgh boys to start at 6 v NZ right now who is the most ready? I really liked a lot of Ritchie's play, he seems a very smart footballer, but Bradbury also brings a real bit of aggression that is sorely missing in our packs recently.