It Ain't Easy Being Blue
14-man Edinburgh scrape past the Zebre but Glasgow humbled in SA, and Scotland Women sink to another gutting loss
WELCOME: the weekend past summed up the overall emotional turmoil Scotland rugby fans are subjected to on a regular basis. First we had Glasgow Warriors falling to a heavy defeat to the Stormers despite a decent first forty, Edinburgh doing absolutely everything in their power to lose to URC basement dwellers Zebre (before just about pulling through), and the Scotland Women throwing away a half time to go down to the Italians for yet another Six Nations loss. It was difficult to choose between a Succession or Line of Duty meme to sum up our emotions over the weekend, so we chose both:
STORMY WEATHER: Glasgow Warriors kicked off their South African tour in disappointing fashion, going down 7-32 to the Stormers despite taking an early lead in the match. The second half collapse, in which Danny Wilson’s side failed to score a single point, is becoming a common theme this season, and poses big questions about which direction this Glasgow side is heading in. That Glasgow can field a talented team is not under question - one can quickly reel off the likes of Price, Mackay and Dempsey - but there seems to be an overreliance on off the cuff moments of brilliance, rather than a clear strategy in attack and defence. And when the going gets tough, Glasgow are unable to handle the pressure (one key stat: Glasgow conceded 17 penalties in the match, versus just 8 for the Stormers). Danny Wilson keeps pointing out that these are familiar failures - so why are the coach and players unable to fix them?
The Warriors overcame a slightly shaky start to take the lead in the opening quarter, Dempsey forcing his way over after some good old fashioned route one rugby from the pack. Price and Thompson were kicking well, while Ollie Smith - arguably Glasgow’s best performer on the day - was asking questions of the Stormers defence. However, the momentum started to shift towards the home side as we approached half time, Libbok kicking a penalty (as an aside, the penalty given against Thompson clearly saw the Stormers player off his feet) before Pretorius crossed following nice build up play from his forwards. After the half-time oranges it was all the Stormers, with Glasgow failing to get any sort of foothold in the game. The second half scoreline, 19-0 in favour of the Stormers, tells its own story.
The defeat sees Glasgow move out of the top four places in the URC, and they now find themselves in a position where they may need points from both of their final matches - against the Bulls and Edinburgh - to secure a home quarter final. To add insult to injury, both Kyle Steyn and Sam Johnson departed the field nursing knocks (update: Steyn is out for the rest of the season). Any positives? Smith, Darge and Matthews were good - but not much else to write home about.
Highlights below:
EDIN SCRAPE THROUGH: later on Friday evening Edinburgh treated us to a nerve-shredding spectacle where it seemed the plan was to inflict as much anxiety as possible on the supporters before just pulling through in the end, defeating Zebre 29-26 at the DAM Health Stadium.
Mike Blair’s men deserve credit for grinding out the victory, particularly after Marshall Sykes’ red card and Glen Young’s yellow had reduced the side to just 13 men for a period of the match. However, similar lethargy in defence (see Gesi’s solo try) and pedestrianism in attack will surely be punished by better teams. Zebre played at a higher level than their league table would suggest, yet we should not forget they are rooted at the bottom of the pile and have not won a league game all season. Yet as David Barnes reported in The Offside Line, “Take the points and move on”.
The home side started the match well, Mark Bennett’s score after just 46 seconds suggesting a rout was on the cards. However, ill discipline allowed the visitors back into the match, and the Italians clearly hadn’t read the script, Gesi forcing a penalty try after a high tackle from Young, before Laloifi scored in the corner. Edinburgh responded well with Cammy Hutchison getting on the end of a nice dart from Pygros, but again quickly conceded, Gesi waltzing past some average tackles to dot down under the posts. Even when Bennett crossed for his second (why not go for the dive than that risky put down technique son?) the match remained in the balance, until replacement Van Der Walt kicked a penalty that was enough to see the hosts home.
Blair admitted that complacency may have crept into camp this week, and maybe this is a good reality check for an Edinburgh side that are clearly not the finished article. Far from perfect on the day yet another five points, and Edinburgh are still in with a chance of a home quarter final - Ulster at home next week should be a belter.
TIKTOK SIX NATIONS: Scotland Women fell to yet another disappointing TikTok Six Nations loss, going down 20-13 to Italy at Parma’s Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi. Once again Bryan Easson’s charges let slip a promising half-time lead (like in the Wales fixture) to end up with just a losing bonus point for their efforts - which will feel like scant consolation to captain Rachel Malcolm and co.
Scotland went into the match seeking their first victory over the Italians since 2017, and sitting two places behind their hosts in the world rankings, while both sides were looking for their first victory in this year’s championship. This perhaps showed in what was a nervy opening 40, with defences on top and little fluency in attack. However, Scotland did well to build a 10-3 lead going into halftime, Helen Nelson converting a penalty before Emma Wassell - restored to the side following injury - showed both footwork and power to cross after some good phase play in attack.
The second half was a far more frustrating affair, Italy starting the better for Bettoni to score from close range. They added a further three points from a tee, before Tourani got on the back of a rolling maul for the decisive score. Nelson added another three points with 5 minutes to play, but Scotland were unable to pull themselves level in the end. Ireland up next, must win - feels like we have been saying the same thing for a while now…
Highlights below:
SOUTH AMERICA TOUR: the SRU confirmed the national side will play three tests against Argentina on their South America tour this summer. While rumours are swirling that there is a further match against Chile in the offing, Murrayfield claim nothing has been formally agreed as of yet. But just try and stop us speculating on that one.
The press release confirmed the three tests will be played in:
Jujuy on Saturday 2nd July, at the Estadio 23 de Agosto
Salta on Saturday 9th July, at the Estadio Padre Ernesto Martearena
Santiago Del Estero on Saturday 16th July, at the Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades
All three matches will kick off at 8.10pm GMT, and will be aired (controversially?) on Sky. Although Scotland have a very good record against the Pumas in recent years, they are now under new management in the shape of Michael Cheika, whose international credentials are pretty decent. Hopefully Townsend decides to try out a blend of youth (Dobie, Darge, Boyle, Muncaster etc) and experience, with some of the bigger names (e.g. Hogg and Russell) given a much deserved rest. Also seems like an ideal time for Jamie Ritchie to be given a shot as captain.
SUPER 6 SPRINT: the Super 6 Sprint competition continued at the weekend, with good wins for Heriots over Boroughmuir Bears, Watsonians versus the Southern Knights, and perhaps most impressively Stirling County getting one over on last year’s champs the Ayrshire Bulls. Highlights of all three matches below:
Friday night saw Heriots, boosted by the presence of Edinburgh pros Chris Dean, Jack Blain and Charlie Savala, secure a comfortable 38-22 victory over the Boroughmuir Bears at Meggetland. 'Head coach Andy Kelly admitted his side benefited from their pro allocation on the day, yet club game stalwarts like Jason Hill, Ian Wilson and Ruari Leishman were just as important to the result, while Jack ‘the manimal’ Mann impressed once again. We really, really hate to see it, but fair play to the Nails, sitting pretty at the top of the Super 6 table after two consecutive bonus point wins. It should also be noted their club side secured promotion to Prem 1 two weekends ago.
Then on Saturday, Watsonians also made it two from two with a 29-20 victory over the Southern Knights. Perhaps the most intriguing match up on the day was former Edinburgh pivot Jason Baggott up against current Edinburgh pro Nathan Chamberlain, with former Southern Knight Baggott just edging the tussle. Encouragingly, neither side fielded any full-time professionals in their starting line-ups (with Edinburgh scrum-half Charlie Shiel on the bench for Watsonians).
And last but not least, a resurgent Stirling County dispatched the Ayrshire Bulls 33-24. The Bulls, who were able to field Glasgow pros Grant Stewart, Enrique Pieretto and Tom Lambert, were favourites going into this one, but County were deserved winners on the day, with Logan Trotter, Connor Gordon and Angus Fraser all shining on the day. Ben Cairns has got his side playing a great offloading brand of rugby.
But maybe the main highlight for most at Bridgehaugh was spotting this familiar onlooker (both of Finn’s brothers - Archie and Harry - are on County’s books).
HOW MANY PROS IS TOO MANY? Reliable stats guru Kevin Millar (of Top of the Moon Twitter fame) pointed out that there were no less than 25 Glasgow and Edinburgh players in action across the weekend’s Super Six fixtures. This was a mix of established pros farmed out for game time (e.g. the ‘Sweet Prince’™ Chris Dean, Grant Stewart, Enrique Pieretto, Hamish Bain etc) and up and coming academy players, such as Gregor Brown, Rudi Brown, Finlay Callaghan etc.
We can see both the pros and cons of professional involvement in the tournament. Ultimately without an ‘A’ side for either pro team, Super 6 is a good chance to get game time for players coming back from injury or to help them stay fresh in the event they are called up to their first teams (Grant Stewart would be a good example of this). Also, there is something to be said for fringe pros or Stage 3 academy players upping the overall standards of the tournament, both on and off the pitch. Ultimately if Stirling County’s props (for instance) want to make it in the professional game, they have to show they can at least match it with the likes of Pieretto etc. As Boroughmuir coach Graham Shiel noted at the weekend, “it’s great for people like Robbie McCallum to go up against Chris Dean or Harry Mercer to play against Charlie Savala”.
Where we struggle slightly is when non-Scots qualified pro’s drop down to this level. Although Super 6 is in its infancy, and its aims somewhat fluid, we would be surprised if the founding charter stated “ensure 3rd/4th choice Edinburgh and Glasgow players don’t remain stuck in the gym”. This is particularly problematic when it creates clear mismatches - e.g. Walter Fifita versus, well, pretty much any other winger in the league (our prayers are with Ayrshire Bulls’ Andy Stiratt after manfully attempting to take down the Tongan at the weekend). There are also situations similar to Saturday - when Heriots were able to deploy Chris Dean, Jack Blain and Charlie Savala - when the weight of professional players is bound to tell. Still, Super 6 is clearly evolving and we shouldn’t expect it to be perfect at this stage - the fact each 32-man squad is only allowed 4 non-Scots qualified players is a step in the right direction.
SCOTS ABROAD:
Gallagher Premiership
Bristol v Gloucester: Jake Kerr (16) v Charlie Chapman (9), Adam Hastings (10), Chris Harris (13), Jack Singleton (16) and Andrew Davidson (19) - Chapman, Harris and Singleton all scoring for the Cherry and Whites; highlights below
Newcastle v London Irish: Gary Graham (20) v Kyle Rowe (14), Ben White (21) and Henry Arundell (23) - Rowe crossing for an early score, while replacement Henry Arundell had a stormer (could we tempt the England U-20 cap with a South American tour?), contrasting fortunes to Gary Graham who saw red late on for a needless headbutt.
Bath v Northampton: Josh Bayliss (6) and D’arcy Rae (19) v Rory Hutchinson (12)
Harlequins v Leicester: Huw Jones (15) v Matt Scott (12) - Jones picking up the MoM award after an assured performance from full back, in what was only his second premiership start of the season. He may have his weaknesses, but surely he is too much of a talent to not be involved in the Scotland set up?
Wasps v Worcester: Elliot Millar Mills (18) v Murray McCallum (1), Isaac Miller (16), Rory Sutherland (17) and Jack Owlett (18)
Saracens v Exeter: Tim Swinson (5), Sean Maitland (11), Andy Christie (20) and Duncan Taylor (22) v Jonny Gray (4), Sam Skinner (5) and Stuart Hogg (15) - Maitland scoring for the hosts
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