Scots Abroad VIII (or let's spot the new messiah)

[Big D]

Finn and Hoggy in the running for European Player of the year.

I am glad they have excelled in their new environments, it really is a chance for them to show how good they are in the really big club games.

[Mikey Brown]

Good to see Chib alive and well.

[septic 9]

Good to see Chib alive and well.

I watched that game. He was very good, very good at this level. Would be even better in a better team, but I think he's a bit of a luxury player when things get tight and tough

[Croft_No.5]

Fraser Dingwall called up to the England Training squad. Any bets on a token cap for the Barbarians game!!

[Puja]

Fraser Dingwall called up to the England Training squad. Any bets on a token cap for the Barbarians game!!

Barbarians games don't count. Haley, Tompkins, and Jonny Williams have all played England vs Barbarians and gone on to be poached. (ETA. And now Sheedy as well)

Plus, it's not a real training squad - it's only picked from the 6 teams who have finished their season already, so it's not massively likely he'll still be there when the full squad is announced.

Puja

[Big D]

Hoggy involved 3 times in a long sequence that started with a change in momentum from his kick leading to a 22 drop out. He then kicks nicely out behind the winger and Bath eventually kick out from line out. Phase play from Exeter sees Hogg in the corner after Simmonds busts through JJ.

Gray off for Skinner after 55. SHC also on.

[Mikey Brown]

Hogg looks so pumped just be involved in rugby at this level again. I think this move could push him on to keep demanding more from those around him, and god knows Scotland could do with some more of that.

Flicking between the Edinburgh game and the Exeter one is night and day with regards to approaching the breakdown. We've not just been lacking good ball carriers in the last few years but the right kind of support play. We so consistently get McInally/Brown/Bradbury whoever through half a gap and then wait a second too long to get in there and make a decision. I don't know if this is poor reactions or we're trying to leave space to give more offloads or something but Edinburgh, Glasgow and Scotland all do it.

Ben Kay has rightly pointed out how much Jonny Gray has freed up his second row partner to just run around being a nuisance. I like Cummings in that role and I'd love to see Skinner get a bit of time alongside Gray at some point for Exeter.

[septic 9]

thought Redpath was very good v Exeter. Might just be a surprise

[Big D]

thought Redpath was very good v Exeter. Might just be a surprise

I would think that Eddie Jones will be calling him too.

I would think he has a realistic shot of starting some of these games for us but there is a lot of good money in being and staying EQ.

[septic 9]

thought Redpath was very good v Exeter. Might just be a surprise

I would think that Eddie Jones will be calling him too.

I would think he has a realistic shot of starting some of these games for us but there is a lot of good money in being and staying EQ.

absolutely. However he is now on a full contract, not an academy one so less vulnerable.
Being a capped player also adds value when contracts come up again

[Mikey Brown]

Exeter's Heineken Champions Cup final against Racing 92 looks set to go ahead as scheduled after the French club returned no positive coronavirus tests this week.

[whatisthejava]

I’m calling it for R92. Reckon Exeter will play a decent game but 92 will pull it out with some Finn magic

[francoisfou]

Exeter's Heineken Champions Cup final against Racing 92 looks set to go ahead as scheduled after the French club returned no positive coronavirus tests this week.

The match is going ahead despite the 9pm curfew announced by Macron on Wednesday.

I, too, would like Racing to win as their game. The Exeter pack may have the edge but the Racing backs have the ability to conjure up something special.

[septic 9]

Exeter's Heineken Champions Cup final against Racing 92 looks set to go ahead as scheduled after the French club returned no positive coronavirus tests this week.

The match is going ahead despite the 9pm curfew announced by Macron on Wednesday.

I, too, would like Racing to win as their game. The Exeter pack may have the edge but the Racing backs have the ability to conjure up something special.

Racing may well conjure up a score, even 2, but that's won't be enough. Exeter will smother them and I doubt their defence can hold out the Exeter machine - and they have decent backs as well.

I'd like a Racing victory, be better for the game if they can do it with some style and swagger rather than an Exeter pick latch and seal, but I just can't see it

[Big D]

I’m calling it for R92. Reckon Exeter will play a decent game but 92 will pull it out with some Finn magic

It is whether R92 can hold them long enough for Finn to have a couple of magic moments.

The Exeter pack are formidable and their backs have the likes of Hogg and Slade who are more than capable themselves.

Hopefully a good game!

[Big D]

Decent game of rugby. Bad error by Finn there though.

[Big D]

Huge turnover by SHC of all people. Illegal, but many turnovers are.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

We (Scottish players) just can't do drop goals can we?

[Big D]

I think they (R92) just felt on a roll and a try was going to come.

[paddy no 11]

I think they (R92) just felt on a roll and a try was going to come.

It was claasen should have presented the ball back was never going to score

It's worrying that Russell was so bad his decision making and execution were poor

If toonie drops him nobody should cry foul

[Mikey Brown]

It's worrying that Russell was so bad his decision making and execution were poor

If toonie drops him nobody should cry foul

Was he? It was such a strange game I found it very hard to tell when it was individual mistakes or that the whole Racing team were treating it like a Barbarians game. The intercept and one kick in particular I remember were really bad. I found it hard to absorb much else.

Commentators are so obsessed with discussing his maverick status when he's playing in a big game like this, it's hard to stay balanced. Any mistake at all can undo any number of positive interventions. Like the anti-Owen Farrell.

Saying all that, he might still have been poor. I could see GT starting 10. Hastings 22. Russell out of principle either way.

[Adder]

It's worrying that Russell was so bad his decision making and execution were poor

If toonie drops him nobody should cry foul

Was he? It was such a strange game I found it very hard to tell when it was individual mistakes or that the whole Racing team were treating it like a Barbarians game. The intercept and one kick in particular I remember were really bad. I found it hard to absorb much else.

Commentators are so obsessed with discussing his maverick status when he's playing in a big game like this, it's hard to stay balanced. Any mistake at all can undo any number of positive interventions. Like the anti-Owen Farrell.

Saying all that, he might still have been poor. I could see GT starting 10. Hastings 22. Russell out of principle either way.

You could add the dropped ball in the in goal area. But irribaren had a big influence on that. Irribaren had 3 nightmares within the first 10 minutes.
The first two being directly linked to racing going from a potential lineout in a great spot to defending on their 5 m line (and conceeding a try).
3rd being linked to the second try.

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[paddy no 11]

He had a kick out on the full, intercept, grubber kick that went to a try down the other end

He wasn't exactly a calming influence on the hare em scare em racing back line when it was needed, imhoff showed the way really

[paddy no 11]

It was a very strange game alright

[septic 9]

He had a kick out on the full, intercept, grubber kick that went to a try down the other end

He wasn't exactly a calming influence on the hare em scare em racing back line when it was needed, imhoff showed the way really

the grubber could have gone anywhere off an Exeter knee. One of then things. Russell was stretching Exeter all over the park, it wasn't harem scarem - you may not have noticed but no-one beats Exeter by being as boring as they can be. Imhoff made a howler as well IIRC.

As to dropping him for that display ................... did he sneak off behind the bike sheds with your beloved last time he was in Ireland?