CHALLENGE CUP IT IS THEN
Glasgow crash out of Champions Cup, Edinburgh thrash Brive and Scotland Six Nations squad named
WELCOME: lots to get through this week, including mixed results for the pro sides in Europe at the weekend, the long-awaited naming of Gregor Townsend’s Scotland squad for the Six Nations and plenty of Scots abroad action. So sit back with your Terry’s Orange hot chocolate, and enjoy.
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GLASGOW ROCH-D: Glasgow crashed out of the Heineken Champions Cup following Saturday’s disappointing 38-30 defeat at the hands of La Rochelle, and Montpellier’s unlikely victory over the Exeter Chiefs denying the Scotstoun men the final qualification spot. While an eight point loss to last year’s beaten finalists doesn’t look too bad on paper, the home side were disappointing throughout, two late scores adding gloss to the final scoreline.
Glasgow struggled to cope with La Rochelle’s physicality and variety in attack from the start, quickly finding themselves under the cosh and down to 14 men after Fraser Brown was sin binned. Scores by Raymond Rhule and Paul Boudehent followed to take the visitors to a six point lead at half time, scarce reward for their overall dominance and a pretty decent outcome for Glasgow, who had three penalties from Ross Thompson to thank for keeping them in the match. The Warriors started the second half in blistering fashion, that man Thompson cutting through the defence before sending Josh McKay in at the corner, taking Glasgow into a 16-15 lead.
However, Glasgow reverted to type, failure to secure the next restart (the Warriors’ kryptonite?) allowing La Rochelle hooker Pierre Bourgarit to blast through some amateurish tackling to restore his side’s lead. Things then went from bad to worse, Glasgow making a mess of decent field position before quickly finding themselves under their own posts, with the score board reading 16-32 against all of a sudden. Two further penalties stretched La Rochelle’s lead before two late scores from Ollie Smith added some respectability to proceedings.
There are now big questions to ask for this Glasgow side, and Danny Wilson’s management in general. Once again the Warriors seemed to implode, having finally gained a decent foothold in the match. Added to the Exeter thrashing last week, this is becoming a worrying theme. The high error count, persistent ill discipline and a lack of direction in attack must have the Scotstoun faithful wondering whether Wilson is the man to take Glasgow further. On the evidence of recent weeks, perhaps it is time to reassess his suitability for the role.
Highlights below:
FEED THE OWL HE WILL SCORE: Edinburgh secured their place in the knock out rounds of the Challenge Cup with a game in hand, courtesy of a routine thrashing of visitors Brive on Friday night at the DAM Health Stadium. Although Edinburgh fans would have been quietly expecting a comfortable victory over a side currently second bottom of the Top 14, they were treated to a feast of running rugby, debutant Freddie Owsley’s flying scores the pick of the bunch. Head coach Mike Blair has frequently rotated his squads this season, and it seems that his current charges can do no wrong: Owsley, Glen Young (who looks like a real player), Kunavula, Muncaster, Williams and Courtney - all of whom have seldom featured so far this year - all looking more than handy players. While there will be far sterner tests this season, Edinburgh are looking in pretty decent shape for a proper tilt at Europe.
Highlights below:
While Edinburgh fans (us included) seemed lukewarm over the signing of Freddie Owsley before this season - citing his lack of top flight rugby experience - Friday night proved that a) he may well be one of the fastest players in Scotland at the moment and b) he cares a lot about playing for Edinburgh (as the interview below shows). ‘Mon the Owl.
SCOTLAND SIX NATIONS SQUAD: last week Gregor Townsend named his much awaited Scotland squad for the upcoming Six Nations. As ever with Toonie, there were the usual “and who he?” picks that we have come to expect, and some surprising omissions, but in the main he has been able to pick a very strong squad. Hope springs eternal eh?
Perhaps the two major surprises were the selections of Saracens back row Andy Christie and London Irish scrum half Ben White. Proper rugby nauses may have been aware of Christie, who has been quietly impressing for his club side this season, and is able to play across the whole back row. Qualified via his Scottish grandparents (see video below for their delight at his squad selection),Christie turned out for Scottish age group sides in the past before being tempted over to the English dark side and joining the Sarries academy. Although the Scottish back row is currently a packed field, his positional versatility marks him out as a potentially handy bench option.
White was an even more obscure name, but has been earmarked for bigger things in England for some time. The youngest player to ever play for the Leicester Tigers, he also captained England U-20s and played in a non-capped match for the full England side against the Barbarians in 2019. Although White likely sits below Vellacott as back up scrummie to Price, he adds further depth to a position where Scotland remain spoiled for choice.
White’s teammate Kyle Rowe was another standout selection, having impressed in his maiden season for London Irish. His call up represents the culmination of a whirlwind 12 months, the start of which saw Rowe released from his Edinburgh contract and working nightshifts in a Bathgate warehouse. He is now established in one of the English Premiership’s form teams, frequently topping the clean breaks and defenders beaten charts. As ever, Jamie Lyall provides us with the inside scoop.
Elsewhere, Scotland fans can have few complaints with call ups for Ben Vellacott, Rory Darge, Magnus Bradbury and Cam Redpath
In terms of omissions, Adam Hastings can perhaps feel the most aggrieved, given he has spearheaded a revival in Gloucester’s fortunes this season. He has also never let anyone down in a Scotland shirt, particularly when he had to pick up the pieces following Finn’s ‘Two Beers’ scandal. While the Kinghorn at 10 experiment at Edinburgh has exceeded expectations so far, it does feel a leap to imagine him donning the starting jersey if Finn were to go down injured/go on the sesh, against anyone bar Italy. Perhaps Hastings time will come yet.
Elsewhere, Fraser Brown, Oli Kebble, George Horne, James Lang and Sean Maitland miss out for various reasons, yet all have a decent chance of featuring at some point. That Townsend feels comfortable leaving out such experience and quality highlights the depth at his disposal.
THE CHOSEN ONES: how about this 23 for the England match? Seems worryingly strong…
SCOTS ABROAD
A fair few European fixtures at the weekend fell foul of Covid, but there were still plenty of Scots in action.
Champions Cup
Harlequins v Castres: Scott Steele (9) and Huw Jones (13) v - the Thistle were lucky enough to attend this trip, on a Townsend-mandated Jones scouting trip. The Scotland discard showed up well in patches, breaking the line on a few occaions
Bath v Leinster: Josh Bayliss (8) and Cam Redpath (12) v
Sale v Ospreys: Ewan Ashman (2) v
Montpellier v Exeter: Sam Skinner (4) and Stuart Hogg (15) v
Challenge Cup
Zebre v Worcester: Murray McCallum (3) and Finn Smith (22) v
Gloucester v Perpignan: Adam Hastings (10), Chris Harris (13), Jack Singleton (16), Andrew Davidson (19) and Charlie Chapman (21) v
Saracens v London Irish: Calum Hunter-Hill (5), Andy Christie (7) and Sean Maitland (14) v Alan Dell (17) - Maitland with this lovely try assist for the home side.
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