BACK IN THE CONTEST
Comfortable victory over Argentina sets up series decider, Kinghorn at 10 debate rumbles on, and big questions for the U20s
WELCOME: we are back after a wee hiatus, but finally we have got our priorities right and we are here again to spread the gospel of Scottish rugby. Last week’s defeat to Argentina prompted much soul searching amongst the Scottish rugby public, with few expecting Gregor Townsend’s men to get anything out of Saturday’s return fixture - particularly with the marmite figure of Blair Kinghorn remaining in the no 10 seat. So fair play to Gilchrist et al, who recovered from an inauspicious opening forty to record a comfortable win over their hosts, scoring some good tries in the process and showing a welcome stubbornness in defence. This week we look back on how Scotland managed to keep the series alive, another crushing defeat for Kenny Murray’s U20s, the Commonwealth Games squad announcements and a new coaching appointment at Edinburgh. Enjoy!
BACK ON TRACK: Scotland recovered from the disappointment of last week to level their summer series against Argentina, securing a comfortable 29-6 victory in Salta thanks to tries from Hamish Watson, Mark Bennett, Matt Fagerson and Sam Johnson.
The match unfolded in a somewhat strange manner, Scotland starting brightly before producing a fairly abysmal first forty, and then bursting into life in the third quarter to take the game away from their hosts. The win sets up a tasty-looking decider next week in Santiago del Estero.
Townsend’s men had promised an immediate reaction to last week’s disappointing performance, and kept to their word in the first five minutes, Blair Kinghorn striking over a penalty after a dominant scrum and some promising phase play. However, Kinghorn’s club team mate Boffelli replied with three points of his own after Scotland - quelle surprise - failed to exit from the subsequent restart.
The next twenty were frankly, a bit of a horror show for Scotland. The Kinghorn experiment at 10 continues to baffle onlookers, and his error-ridden performance crept into the rest of the backline, with the Scottish attack failing to fire amidst some very basic handling errors. Argentina then took the lead with another penalty following a Scottish high tackle, and were showing signs of potency in attack.
However, Scotland’s pack were beginning to gain ascendency, and following a bold decision to go to the corner rather than take an easy three points, Hamish Watson - on his 50th cap - burrowed over to give the visitors a narrow lead heading into half time.
Whatever Townsend said to his troops in the changing sheds - the head coach and captain Grant Gilchrist spoke afterwards of the emphasis placed on team bonding through the week - had its desired effect. Scotland tightened up their play and began to take the game to their opponents more directly. Firstly, Mark Bennett scored after hitting an out-to-in line few other Scottish centres can aspire to, following strong carries from Rory Darge and Pierre Schoeman, and a lovely short ball from the impressive Ben White.
Then following a disallowed Argentina try, and a yellow for that man Boffelli, Matt Fagerson crashed over in the tight, before Johnson completed the scoring with another belligerent line of running. Scotland saw out the match mainly defending their own line, and did so with gusto, the highlight being Rory Darge’s last gasp try saver on Santiago Carreras.
Overall Townsend will be delighted with his team’s response, following last week’s defeat and the fairly uninspiring first half performance on the day. The Scotland pack dominated throughout, including at the set piece, where Schoeman and Fagerson senior were imperious. The double fetcher strategy worked a treat, with Watson having one of his best games in a while, and Fagerson junior at 8 delivered a commanding performance. Where the attack in the first half was almost non-existent, there were some nice flourishes in the second half, with the Bennett and Johnson scores well constructed and tidily executed. Ben White delivered arguably the best performance from a Scottish scrum-half in some time, and it is good to have him around to keep Ali Price on his toes. Steve Tandy will also be pleased with the defensive performance on the day; keeping Argentina try-less at home is no mean feat.
Full match highlights below:
KINGHORN AT 10? This remains perhaps the most pressing question of our time (well, within a Scottish context at least). In his 50 minutes as stand off, Blair Kinghorn was once again underwhelming in the role, some bright sparks in attack undone by basic handling and kicking errors. We know from his time at Edinburgh, both in the 15 and 10 shirts, that he can perform these basic skills in his sleep - begging the question of whether the added pressure of the role for the national side makes the rest of his game go to pot. His midfield combination with Johnson, Bennett, and Hutchinson (when brought into the attack from 15) also failed to gel, with too many starter plays fizzling out to nothing. Although some observers noted that the Scotland attack appeared to pick up when Kinghorn reverted to 15 and Thompson came on at 10, in reality Scotland’s best passages came when White bypassed his halfback partner in favour of the forwards or inside backs. This is not to blame Kinghorn, who is a talented player, a class back three option and one of the most consistent performers in the URC - but maybe it is time for this experiment to be shelved.
COMMONWEALTH GAMES SQUADS: Team Scotland have named their Mens’ and Women’s 7s squads for the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July of this year.
For the Mens’ side, coached by Ciaran Beattie, Lee Jones is set to compete in his fourth Games, starting with Delhi in 2010, while there is Olympian representation in the form of Alec Coombes, Robbie Fergusson and Ross McCann alongside squad stalwarts Jamie Farndale. Harvey Elms and Paddy Kelly. Find of the season Jordan Edmunds will be looking to further burnish his credentials on the sevens circuit.
The Womens’ side under Scott Forrest has more overlap with the full fifteens side, including co-captains Helen Nelson and Lisa Thomson, the latter of whom can also call upon recent Olympics experience. Flyers Chloe Rollie and Rhona Lloyd will be looking to replicate their recent good form on the Rugby Europe Sevens Championship
The West Midlands is quite a comedown from the Gold Coast setting of 2018, but nevertheless an exciting opportunity for all involved.
U20s IN TROUBLE: Scotland U20s suffered yet another crushing defeat in this year’s Summer Series, going down 55-17 to Georgia. Despite a promising start to the match, Kenny Murray’s men were battered in the end, conceding 8 tries to a physically dominant Georgian outfit. That is now 13 consecutive defeats for the age group side.
Murray was keen in the post-match to deflect the blame from his players, and this is understandable - from the current evidence the Scottish pathway system is not developing the players able to compete, let alone win, at this level. Covid has not helped, particularly given how reliant the U20 age group is on players from the university and club system down south. And we should be mindful that talent at this level can be cyclical - it wasn’t that long ago that the likes of Kinghorn, Hastings, Graham, the Fagersons etc were part of strong U20 sides. However, recent results are simply not good enough, and made even more worrying by the recent accompanying rise of the likes of Italy and Georgia.
The solutions are far from obvious. Super 6 remains in its infancy, but so far it does not seem to be preparing youngsters for the rigours of international age grade rugby. Strength and conditioning also seems to be an issue, but even a world class programme would struggle to bridge the gap between Scotland and some of their recent opponents (including Georgia, who potentially take a more lax approach to dates of birth than many others). Fundamentally the highest standard of youth rugby in Scotland - let us say a strong Merchiston Castle versus a particularly good Stirling County crop - pales in significance when compared with a similar fixture in Ireland (e.g. BlackRock v St Mary’s) or England (Millfield v Sedbergh). Until that changes our boys will always be up against.
NEW EDINBURGH COACH: Edinburgh have moved swiftly to replace recently departed defence coach Calum ‘Kitty’ MacRae with the appointment of Queensland Reds and Australia ‘A’ coach Michael Todd. Todd has been head defence coach of the Australian side since 2020, having also gained experience at Munster. Under his tenure the Reds won the Super Rugby AU trophy in 2021. Good news that the role has been filled, although MacRae’s sudden departure, for Benetton oddly enough, has never quite been fully explained.
Meanwhile down the other end of the M8, Glasgow fans are stillll waiting on news of their head coach for the rapidly approaching new season…
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