Wales v Scotland 13th Feb 2016

[Argus]

Unfortunately I managed to catch the end of that. We really are the masters at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Taylor looked to have a good game.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

The Hogg injury was a massive blow, although I thought Jackson showed enough to merit the 22 shirt for the Italy game.

Tbh I think he's probably done enough for the 10 shirt. Fionn's not exactly going well.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

The Hogg injury was a massive blow, although I thought Jackson showed enough to merit the 22 shirt for the Italy game.

If Hogg is fit then how about putting him in the 10 shirt. Russell has not been in form all season.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

The Hogg injury was a massive blow, although I thought Jackson showed enough to merit the 22 shirt for the Italy game.

If Hogg is fit then how about putting him in the 10 shirt. Russell has not been in form all season.

That would be a terrible idea. His assets are his speed and his support lines, both of which would be minimised by putting him at 10. He is poor at communication and peripheral vision as to what others are doing when he has the ball. It would accentuate these.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

Just to add, Hardie was immense.

[paddy no 11]

Hard luck lads ye're being harsh on yerselves, for the first time in a long time ye impressed me and there real signs ye're coming good. Clancy took ye for about 10 points and wales had more off the bench. the fixtures get easier from here

[Wylie Coyote]

This game is just a snapshot of that old Scottish favourite "we didn't believe in ourselves". Much as wales have stepped up in this 2nd half, we had the game by the scruff of the neck in the 1st and were scared to capitalize.

The agony and the ecstasy ofsupporing Scotland.

What ecstasy? The last time that happened watching Scotland playing rugby was 17 years ago in 1999, pretty much unmitigated misery every since, esp in the 6N. I'm beyond sick of it.

[OptimisticJock]

The Hogg injury was a massive blow, although I thought Jackson showed enough to merit the 22 shirt for the Italy game.

Tbh I think he's probably done enough for the 10 shirt. Fionn's not exactly going well.

Yeah but he's not SQ so it's fine.

[Donny osmond]

Calmed down a little.

Hogg - I've been critical of him but there's no doubt he's our most dangerous player. The others need to learn from his enthusiasm.

Russell - has potential to be great but he's way off form. Too many wrong options today, but Jackson is the only realistic alt and he can be flaky

Hardie - ace today. Whole back row played well, an should be kept together next game, bit Hardie certainly punches above his weight

Starting front row were great

Grey Bros in 2nd row did pretty well. I'd like to see Ritchie stand out a bit more and take the ball at pace with his big legs pumping

...

Just occurred to me I could go on, it all the comes from using possession and that comes from SH, for a while today we saw what Scotland were capable of, but the boys shat it off of fulfilling their potential. Time for youth to be given its head.

[Mikey Brown]

Hard luck lads ye're being harsh on yerselves, for the first time in a long time ye impressed me and there real signs ye're coming good. Clancy took ye for about 10 points and wales had more off the bench. the fixtures get easier from here

I absolutely believe you meant that with good intentions but it is horrible to read. Much as we keep hearing it will be a "shock" if we ever do actually turn a team, any team, over.

But why would anyone impartial see it differently.

[Mikey Brown]

I'm trying not to delve in to a full-on player ratings post here, but a few thoughts;

A scrum-half who can't pass combined with a 10 that can't (currently) kick is, rather shockingly, not a good option.

Breakdown- We must either pick the players who can clear rucks the best or somehow get the message across to these guys. I believe they are near enough our best pack but Laidlaw cannot operate with anything other than pristine, lightning fast ball. If we're not going to drop the guy we've got to change everything else around him as best we can. In fairness we picked guys who challenged over the ball very well today, Clancy completely ignoring a couple of brilliantly won turnovers/penalties didn't help.

Lineout- WTF? Is Gray calling these? With the two Grays, Barclay and Denton we really shouldn't be getting dicked like that. I've been banging on about McInally and he gave away a stupid, vital penalty the second he came on today.

Support play- again comes back to the standing starts and the poor body positions. How are you meant to track a ball carrier who isn't moving or sure if/when they are getting the ball. We have so little confidence going through contact that nobody seems to even look out for offloads.

The spine of Nel, Gray, Hardie, Russell, Bennett, Hogg isn't a bad starting point but that record of no 6 nations wins amongst them (Hogg excluded?) is really, really painful.

I'd be tempted to look at Jackson at 10 too but what's the point of judging anybody outside the service he got from 1-8?

[switchskier]

Some quick thoughts:

- Russell is a bit off form and still the best ten that we have had in the last decade. He's forcing it a little but I'd rather see the confidence to try things than the other way around. We need to persevere with him.

- We have depth in the centres in the first time in ages. Taylor was a pleasant surprise, he's evidently full of confidence.

- Fagerson isn't ready for prime time yet. He may get there but throwing him on at the minute isn't doing us or him any favours.

- Hogg is vital to us. Jackson didn't do much wrong but Hogg adds so much more positivity to our play. If we have to go with Jackson then we absolutely can't have Lamont on the wing.

- Seymour and Bennett benefited from having last weeks game but today showed that they shouldn't have played last week at all.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

The Hogg injury was a massive blow, although I thought Jackson showed enough to merit the 22 shirt for the Italy game.

If Hogg is fit then how about putting him in the 10 shirt. Russell has not been in form all season.

That would be a terrible idea. His assets are his speed and his support lines, both of which would be minimised by putting him at 10. He is poor at communication and peripheral vision as to what others are doing when he has the ball. It would accentuate these.

I should have been clearer - I was responding to his Jackson in the 22 comment. Jackson at 10, Hogg at 15 for me

[UKHamlet]

That must have been tough to swallow and I thought for a few moments you were going to pay us back for 2010. Well played though, Scotland did most of the good stuff on the park and it was certainly an improvement on last week.

[Eugene Wrayburn]

If Hogg is fit then how about putting him in the 10 shirt. Russell has not been in form all season.

That would be a terrible idea. His assets are his speed and his support lines, both of which would be minimised by putting him at 10. He is poor at communication and peripheral vision as to what others are doing when he has the ball. It would accentuate these.

I should have been clearer - I was responding to his Jackson in the 22 comment. Jackson at 10, Hogg at 15 for me

Thank hrist for that!

[OptimisticJock]

- Fagerson isn't ready for prime time yet. He may get there but throwing him on at the minute isn't doing us or him any favours.

Anonymous. It was as if he never got on at all.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

- Fagerson isn't ready for prime time yet. He may get there but throwing him on at the minute isn't doing us or him any favours.

Anonymous. It was as if he never got on at all.

Lol, indeed. What a weird comment.

[morepork]

The Scottish centres actually look not too bad. They seem keen on running at holes and promoting the ball. One of the glaring deficiencies across all teams in this tournament so far is the absence of centre play over and above defense. If your boys can be coached to actually support each other, then you will cause problems. Hogg, your 12 and 13, plus the replacement fullback all made opportunities. That instance of your No. 6 (Barclay?) lumbering through a gap and ignoring Speedy Gonzalez was criminal. As has been said by pretty much all on here, Laidlaw needs a rocket. His floating hospital passes are painful, and his decision making is not very Zen. He points a lot but doesn't seem to provide a hell of a lot of direction. He puts so much effort into trying to Hollywood penalties when he should be making decisions.....this maul has gone to fish paste, let's get the bastard OUT, for example.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

The Scottish centres actually look not too bad. They seem keen on running at holes and promoting the ball. One of the glaring deficiencies across all teams in this tournament so far is the absence of centre play over and above defense. If your boys can be coached to actually support each other, then you will cause problems. Hogg, your 12 and 13, plus the replacement fullback all made opportunities. That instance of your No. 6 (Barclay?) lumbering through a gap and ignoring Speedy Gonzalez was criminal. As has been said by pretty much all on here, Laidlaw needs a rocket. His floating hospital passes are painful, and his decision making is not very Zen. He points a lot but doesn't seem to provide a hell of a lot of direction. He puts so much effort into trying to Hollywood penalties when he should be making decisions.....this maul has gone to fish paste, let's get the bastard OUT, for example.

Good analysis but Vern does not see Laidlaw as a problem. We're going to have to find a way to make it work with him in the team.

[Chunks Baws]

I'll need to watch the game again but I thought we were always going to suffer when it came to making changes. Our lack of depth is depressing.

What's the story with Hogg? Out for a while?

[hugh_woatmeigh]

I'll need to watch the game again but I thought we were always going to suffer when it came to making changes. Our lack of depth is depressing.

What's the story with Hogg? Out for a while?

The bench can easily be improved with a few changes. Toolis & Strauss, Jackson should always have been in the 22 shirt as well. 23 is difficult as we have a lot of injuries but Cotter knew about this. It's up to him to call up adequate replacements - no point calling up Watson and Allan when the problem is in the outside backs and centres.

I'm optimistic about Hogg, he really looked fine tbh - like he'd pulled or tweaked a muscle. 2 weeks is enough time to recover from that as well. I'd expect Maitland and Scott to be fit as well.

[Chunks Baws]

Hogg isn't an immediate concern. He had a back spasm.
Cowan is concussed and Tommy Seymour and R.Gray left Cardiff in protective boots after spraining their ankles. Richie is out of his boot now though. Maitland is still being monitored.

[Mikey Brown]

Visser played for Quins apparently "back with Harlequins from Scotland duty last week, went closest to a visiting try when he was stopped a metre short after a blistering left-wing run" so get Weir out of the 23.

[Chunks Baws]

No consolation and we need to put games away despite shite ref decisions but Kaplan and even Martyn Williams have joined the growing list of those saying Wales first try was offside.

As an afterthought, was Laidlaw is Clancys ear about it? Pretty much every other captain would be.

[wanderingjock]

what a crock of sh*t