honestly united

I think the issue AEW are having at the moment is the gapping hole that MJF being out has left so there isnt really a focal point for the shows. There are plenty on the rooster who are better wrestlers and probably put on better matches, but MJF brings a lot more. Also a big focus recently was the Edge & Christian, and Cassidy / Strong feuds which are hopefully tied up now but have left a gap. Kingston getting the triple crown as well. 5 hours a week is a lot to fill (more if you include their ROH shows), and a lot just hasnt landed over the last few months. The bullet club was going ok and didnt need mixed in with the acclaimed. The CMLL tie up seems a waste of time, I've enjoyed having the Japanese and AAA guys appear semi regular but the CMLL angle has been forgetable as it looks like its been done just so Jericho can go back to being Lionheart. Ospreay and Swerve are the high points at the moment and you know the PPV's are going to be stacked with quality matches, they just have to start the long build to London and focus on themselves and not what anyone else is doing. A lot of focus has been on guys joining or returning after long lay offs which get a big pop to start but its a slow burn after that.

To be fair I though McGuigan comes across well in that on everything other than keeping Toonie. Whether its a case of he has just listened to the fans and clubs and is saying what he thinks they want to hear or whether he actually delivers change is another matter. I get the impression that the main focus is getting in a new CEO and Performance Director and adding in a head coach to that is too much at the moment (and likely eat into the budget too much as well), but wouldnt be suprised if we get the same next year it will be left to the new performance director to get rid and find a replacement they are happy with - given he wants the CEO to have a say in the new performance director.

I dont know how you expect to be winning games if you give away on average 6 more penalties per game than the team you are playing. Also, just looking at our drop off in the 2nd half, the full table for the score at half time is as follows, Won Lost For Against dif Points Ireland 5 0 72 24 48 20 Scotland 4 1 78 40 38 17 France 3 2 66 60 6 14 Italy 2 3 44 65 -21 9 Wales 1 4 31 73 -42 5 England 0 5 47 76 -29 4 So we were ahead in all games expect Ireland (and only 1 point down) at half time, before collapsing in all the games. Also shows how good England were 2nd half of there games coming back from losing in all games to winning 3 and only losing 2 with a +24 points swing compared to Scotland's -38 point swing in the 2nd half 1st half we were 78 for 40 against in points, compared to 2nd half of 37 for 75 against (115 for 115 against total). Also Autumn Internationals announced as follows Scotland's autumn fixtures 2 November - Scotland v Fiji (kick-off 17:40 GMT) 10 November - Scotland v South Africa (16:10) 16 November - Scotland v Portugal (15:10) 24 November - Scotland v Australia (13:40) Looks a decent split against Tier 2 nations / winnable games and playing South Africa.

Thats shockingly bad, but what are playing at doing a 3 man on our 5 metre line?

Ref not taking Irelands usualy cheating so far

I was thinking that as well, when you think at the moment the likes of Ethan Page, Juice Robinson, Shibata, Keith Lee, Kenny Omega, Ibushi, Mire, MJF, Rush, Scorpio Sky, Yuta, Britt Baker and Janie Hayter are all mid to top tier talent that hasnt been on air in months

Is that the same team that started last week for Ireland? Its funny that the US/Canada are now minows / non WC teams of the tour compared to how it would have been viewed a few years. US & Canada have really dropped back to where they were. I think US is more of a blip given the new league etc and they now have a good range of players playing professionally, but Canada are a mess, they are that bad that they could take tips from Scotland on how to develop players

Interested to see how McDowall does, im not sure if he's just a really good club player or international class. He's been in and around the squad for years without ever doing getting a chance so hopefully he can do a number on Aki. If we keep him quiet it stops Ireland getting front foot ball in the backs

Having not watched the game back yet, but picking Horne was the biggest issue for me. With Ben White all the box kicks were contestable and put the opposition under pressure, which resulted mainly in the catcher being tackled, slow ball, and then the opposition kicking back to us, and slow pick and go's. Nearly every one of Hornes were far to long, which let Italy run back at us, and let them get front foot ball. It improved when Price came on, but what has happened to him he looked knackered with 10 minutes to go, so much for loaning him to Edinburgh to get games under his belt, keep him match sharp. For me Horne only works coming off the bench against tiring players, but doesnt control games like White or Price, or have the service those 2 do. Also our discipline is shocking compared to the other teams, Wales are dreadful this year, but have kept themselves in games because they havent given away a raft of penalties as soon as they under pressure, (or even when they are now) We've given away 44 penalties and 3 yellows over 4 games which is not good enough and only Ireland, suprisingly are worse. France, England and Wales are all around the 30 mark which is where we should be aiming.

Hadnt thought of it until yesterday, but if (and its a massive if tbf) we beat Ireland we win the Triple Crown for the first time in ages (84 & 90 our last 2). Ireland will have the Championship sown up on Saturday with a bonus point win, however the Triple Crown, the same as the Grand Slam dont take into account BP's and its win or nothing. Is there a glimmer of hope that they will over celebrate the Championship win and not turn up at 100% for the last match? France winning the grand slam or Championship and someone else winning the Triple Crown has happened quite a few times (and 5 times since 6 Nations started) but only once in 2014 has a home nation won the Championship (Ireland) but not the Triple Crown (England)

Up until the Dunfermline game results had been decent, 4 wins in 6 games with the 2 loses coming against the top 2 teams, however the Dunfermline result and performance brings the new manager bounce back to earth. The form of all the teams over the last 5 games is pretty mental, with the exception of Partick, 8 points is the most and 5 the worst the 3 points covering 9 teams. The week before we were one of the top teams with 9 points so each game has a huge shift. Team League Poistion Last 5 Points Dundee Utd 1 7 Raith 2 7 Partick 3 3 Morten 4 8 Dunfermline 5 8 Airdrie 6 5 Ayr Utd 7 6 Queens Park 8 8 ICT 9 6 Arbroath 10 5 Next 3 games are season defining, win all 3 and we are a minimum of 5 points above ICT, 4 above QP and 3 above Airdrie - lose all 3 and were in the relegation play off.

loads of sories around him goinng to exeter due to the drama around him at glaqsgow

I think we should win as its a pretty decent side we have out, im quite looking forward to having Dobie and Thompson back at half backs again. For me they dont excel at one thing like most of the other 9's & 10's we have but are just good at everything

I'd forgotten Allan Dell was a thing tbf Should be a good game, the Benneton team seems pretty strong for mid 6 Nations game

The lineout being dreadful has annoyed me for a while so good to see improvement the last 2 games (12/14 vs France and 14/16 last week), however 1st week was poor vs Wales with 14/20. We really need to be targetting 100% if we want to compete with the top teams.

I've not seen the stats on this one, but I actually thought our lineout seemed to work really well against England, I only remember losing one, which Care popped straight up to Cummings to break through. Usually its been dreadful but for once it seemed to go well, infact i think we also took some on Englands through also

Im hoping some one can help (and too get in before the calcutta cup chat starts), I dont know if its just me but I cant seem to find anything on the autumn internationals - does anyone know who we are playing and when?

Thanks, aye i always get Smith and McLean mixed up as they both came into the team at the same time

Surely rather than sticking Dobie on the wing we must have some youngster that can play on the wing? Were only down McClean to injury and Jones and Tuipolotu in the centre and Rowe and Steyn of the back 3 to internationals in the backs arent we?

But to add to kicking the SRU, they have cancelled the Super 6. With no plan of what is going to replace it, Or when its actually going to finish, ie after the upcoming sprint series, or after the next series in the autumn So were in a position where all the clubs, players and coaches have no idea whats going on or whats happening next. Do the 6 teams drop back into the existing league structure, which is supposed to be fully amateur, releagating a whole host of clubs? Do all the players have to go back to amateur status, when they have bills to pay etc Hopefully a plan is put in place soon for player developmenet path ways etc, however having a new plan first would probably have been better than ripping up what you have (which probably needs it) a having nothing in place.

My take was that Nic Berry hasnt seen the grounding so goes to the TMO which is the correct thing, as always if you havent seen something it hasnt happened. If Berry is going by the TMO (oh its down, oh wait a minute its not) he cant award the try. I wasnt at the game so cant say, but if those pictures are on the screens at Murrayfield, Berry can 100% change his mind (there have been plenty of examples of ref's saying on field is this, then seeing the pictures and changing there minds not waiting on the TMO to tell them.). If Berry has seen that and still gone, no try that is terrible reffing. We now have an Irish parade to the grand slam, rather than a contest. If Scotland had won it sets up a last day shoot out with Ireland (which we would lose) as I can see us beating Italy and England. It devalued the competition and everyone knows there is nothing to play for now. On the performance, again Scotland always look toothless when we are 5 metres out and the forwards are battering away. Out of all the top teams we must be the worst. Saying that I think we had a lot more composure than I think I remember us ever having, the ball looked wet and there were a few fumbled passes so probably didnt suit or usual game, if we had won no one would have been complaining (too much) about it.

They said jsut before the match that they had swapped around the colours for the first time ever so home team gets first choice

I think its the risk, yes if he's fit he plays the full match, but if he gets taken out in the 2nd minute, do you want to play 78 minutes without a recognised stand off? I think you can get away with it more in other positions but not at 10.

Pretty much as expected really - injured players plus Ritchie out

I always tend to watch all the video's and download the official album to give the songs a listen to before the semi's start (insert kenneth williams gif here), but will probably wait until they are all out As above there are always a fair few that just dont translate from video / recording onto the big stage. From Jana Burchcheska for Macedonia trying to do an up tempo pop song at 7 months pregnant (Dance Alone was a cracking tune in 2017 - didnt get to the final) to quirky comedy song of Who the hell is edgar last year. A lot is either down to the singer being bad live and the video / recording are autotuned or they change the song too much before the final that the live version is so much worse than the original. It goes the other way as well, as the main men of Moldova Zdob zi Zdub were much better live I thought than the video