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top 8 are through, so a win guarantee's last 16 (unless Montpellier win with a bonus and Clermont and Sale win), or getting a better result than Montpellier, Bath, Ospreys and Northampton should do also be enough as we are 8th already
Cheers, can't see Clermont-Ferrand winning at Ulster, so win should be enough.
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14 hours ago, John Lambies Doos said:
17 hours ago, honestly united said:
top 8 are through, so a win guarantee's last 16 (unless Montpellier win with a bonus and Clermont and Sale win), or getting a better result than Montpellier, Bath, Ospreys and Northampton should do also be enough as we are 8th already

Cheers, can't see Clermont-Ferrand winning at Ulster, so win should be enough.

9-11 drop into the Challenge cup so barring some freak results we have another game at least

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Ben White and @Detournement's shout of Andy Christie the surprises for me, as well as Hutchinson who I'm glad is getting another chance (though I doubt he'll play). You'd have to imagine that Hastings has an injury as otherwise you're looking at Kinghorn for 10, which is obviously a big step up compared to doing it for Edinburgh. Maybe a Toony moment though as there's no reason he couldn't have brought Thompson or Van der Walt in if Hastings was injured. 

Would like to see a bit of a change in the centre mix but Harris is too key to the defence so it'll be Redpath and Johnson scrapping to play alongside him I'd imagine. Bradbury being in form and Christie declaring means, alongside Darge, Bayliss and Haining's occasional bafflingly good performance, we have gone in a year from relying on Graham and Thomson to having 5 good options to compliment the first choice. TH is the only major worry for me but hope Zander stays fit and calm. 

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I just can't see Hastings being left out unless it's an injury or some kind of falling out, especially as no other specialist 10 has been named. Christie has been on the radar for a while and has been good for Sarries so don't see him as too much of a surprise to be honest. Ben White I had to Google. Toony loves a random scrum half.

It's a pretty young squad anyway. To be honest, I'm not sure I would have disposed of Maitland just yet, I'd still have him in there and I think that's a bit rough. I'm not convinced any of the other wingers apart from Duhan are better than him yet, and, while building for the WC is important, it's the 6 nations and I'd quite like us to win it one of these days!

ETA, just noticed Fraser Brown is out as well. Probably less of a surprise, but still a good experienced player. Would have probably had Kebble in as well.

Edited by GAD
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Kebble has been pish recently. Schoeman, Bhatti and Sutherland are ahead of him. 

I agree with Toony on most of this for a change. That squint line out on Saturday night was the final straw with Brown for me. A force in defense and in the scrum at his peak but injuries and a regular bottle jobs meant that wasn't often. Sad to see Maitland not involved but Rowe is the better option now. 

George Horne only has himself to blame. The guy does interested in doing the basics of being a scrum half. He owes whatever career he has had to Dave Rennie. Vellacot does not fill me with confidence so it'll be interesting to see White if he gets a chance. 

Christie joining up is good. We've got real competition in the backrow right through the next two world cups. 

 

 

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8 minutes ago, Detournement said:

Kebble has been pish recently. Schoeman, Bhatti and Sutherland are ahead of him. 

I agree with Toony on most of this for a change. That squint line out on Saturday night was the final straw with Brown for me. A force in defense and in the scrum at his peak but injuries and a regular bottle jobs meant that wasn't often. Sad to see Maitland not involved but Rowe is the better option now. 

George Horne only has himself to blame. The guy does interested in doing the basics of being a scrum half. He owes whatever career he has had to Dave Rennie. Vellacot does not fill me with confidence so it'll be interesting to see White if he gets a chance. 

Christie joining up is good. We've got real competition in the backrow right through the next two world cups. 

 

 

You think Rowe is a good option? I've not seen him play much so I'm not arguing either way, but us he pushing for a start? I always thought Kebble was a bit like Haining, in that he always looked better for Scotland, but can't really argue with the three ahead of him I suppose. Horne, I agree with, he's not kicked on and basic stuff like box kicking is so poor he just can't be trusted now.

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7 minutes ago, GAD said:

You think Rowe is a good option? I've not seen him play much so I'm not arguing either way, but us he pushing for a start? I always thought Kebble was a bit like Haining, in that he always looked better for Scotland, but can't really argue with the three ahead of him I suppose. Horne, I agree with, he's not kicked on and basic stuff like box kicking is so poor he just can't be trusted now.

Rowe is quite similar to Graham. A good finisher with a nice step. He has scored a few beautys this season.

I think in terms of our first XV everything looks good. The big thing is the line out, last year we saw both sides of Turner against England and Ireland. The exciting thing is the amount of carrying in the pack. If we start Schoeman, Turner, Cummings, Watson and Bradbury you have 5 big carriers with Ritchie and Zander no slouches and JG carrying better since he left Glasgow. 

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White's a strange one, i dont recall having seen him play (probably have but wouldnt have been looking out for him), but England u20 captain, played in non cap v Barbarians for the full team, he's still fairly young so suprised he's jumped ship, looks a good option, and with Horne, Dobbie and Steele all missing out (SHC and Pyrgos also further down the pecking order) we have plenty of cover. Not sure how much of a risk it is have 2 uncapped SH's behind price though.

Rowe is out of the blue as well, he's seemingly been on hte books of Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as in the 7's but dont recall having ever seen him play.

The pack is pretty much as expected. I would maybe have included Cherry or Brown as a 4th hooker as this / line out is our biggest weakness so having a bigger pool in training would help. 

HAVING KINGHORN ANYWHERE NEAR A SQUAD ASTOUNDS ME

Having Hastings miss out is a shock, and would have thought Thompson would have been included for the experience. Anything happens to Russell and we are in trouble.

We only have Jonhson and Redpath as inside centre's, (and 1 is a fitness worry) yet 4 outside in Harris, Bennett, Hutchinson, Tuipoltue, plus Steyn can cover seems strange, yes some can cover but surely having an another actual inside centre would be beneficial.

We now seem to have a core of 20-25 players that will make all the squads, and another 25-30 players that are there or there abouts that interchange for the last 10-15 places that is good to see. When you have guys missing out that would have been  starters 10 or 15 years ago it shows how far we have come.

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Hogg can also cover 10 if required, and Redpath has played there for Bath. I suppose with Hogg especially, the question is are we weaker playing him out of position and putting a weaker full back in, or keeping him where he is and risking a different 10. Fingers crossed Finn stays fit, doesn't get another ridiculous red card, and limits himself to two beers post match.

Kinghorn frustrates the life out of me. He is a strong runner, has a decent pass and a huge boot, and he has managed the game well from 10 for Edinburgh, but his defence is dreadful. You would think someone his size and strength, who has good quick feet, would be able to set himself properly and fucking smash people. Given the emphasis on defence at that level, and the standards Steve Tandy sets, I'm amazed he continually gets in there

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13 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:

Hogg can also cover 10 if required, and Redpath has played there for Bath. I suppose with Hogg especially, the question is are we weaker playing him out of position and putting a weaker full back in, or keeping him where he is and risking a different 10. Fingers crossed Finn stays fit, doesn't get another ridiculous red card, and limits himself to two beers post match.

Kinghorn frustrates the life out of me. He is a strong runner, has a decent pass and a huge boot, and he has managed the game well from 10 for Edinburgh, but his defence is dreadful. You would think someone his size and strength, who has good quick feet, would be able to set himself properly and fucking smash people. Given the emphasis on defence at that level, and the standards Steve Tandy sets, I'm amazed he continually gets in there

Hoggs goal kicking is mince.  Not a straight replacement for Finn

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3 hours ago, Detournement said:

Kinghorn has actually been impressive recently and Thompson was awful on Saturday. Hastings not being involved is a weird one but he didn't get a start in the AIs so maybe he has told Townsend to stick it in the finest tradition of Scottish internationalists. 

 

There are clearly some “Personality” issues within Townsend’s selections.  The Hutchinson thing makes the Du Preez selection seem consistent.  
 

On that note, the strength in depth at centre is unreal.  Somebody pointed out on Twitter the old Hadden pairing of Henderson and  Di Rollo wouldn’t even be considered for club sides were they playing now. 

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I was on Facebook earlier, the Six Nations page has up the last 5 minutes from Paris last year. Completely forgot that France had the chance to put the ball out to win the game, but went into contact and conceded a penalty. It's still an amazing thing to watch as it's one of the few times I can ever remember Scotland going through phase after phase without making an arse of it.

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11 hours ago, Savage Henry said:

There are clearly some “Personality” issues within Townsend’s selections.  The Hutchinson thing makes the Du Preez selection seem consistent.  
 

On that note, the strength in depth at centre is unreal.  Somebody pointed out on Twitter the old Hadden pairing of Henderson and  Di Rollo wouldn’t even be considered for club sides were they playing now. 

Henderson/Di Rollo > Morrison/Webster

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