Its Not Shite Being Scottish?
Both Edinburgh and Glasgow win, Townsend names Autumn Internationals Squad, Super 6 Final and more
WELCOME: at last, the curse afflicting the Scottish professional teams this season has been broken, with both Edinburgh and Glasgow claiming vital, if unglamorous victories in round 4 of the URC. Elsewhere this week, Gregor Townsend named his Scotland squad for the first Autumn International against Tonga, the Super 6 season reached its climax, and there was plenty of Scots abroad action to feast your eyes on.
SPONSOR - CITIZEN TICKET: the Thistle is delighted to kick off the 2021/2022 season with a brand new sponsor, Citizen Ticket.`
If you are an event organiser, venue or livestream creator, then you NEED Citizen Ticket in your life. Citizen Ticket is a free, self service website that helps you sell your event tickets or livestream experiences.
Scottish rugby fans may well have come across the Citizen Ticket guys as they currently provide the ticketing for the FOSROC Super 6 league and Edinburgh City 7’s so you may already know how good their software is..!
If you are a planning an event, use the THISTLE POD code when you create your account for a reduced in-booking fee.
https://www.citizenticket.co.uk/
ITALIAN JOB: it was far from pretty, but Glasgow secured a 17-6 win over basement dwellers Zebre to keep them at the upper end of the URC table. Despite first-half scores from Lewis Bean and Sione Tuipulotu, the Warriors were unable to kick on, scoring just three points in the second half, courtesy of a Duncan Weir penalty. Although early in the campaign, and exactly the sort of fixture a more brittle Glasgow may have lost last season, Danny Wilson’s men will have to play a hell of a lot better if they are to mount any serious title challenge this year. Still, Glasgow now move into fourth place in the overall table, just five points behind leaders Ulster, and top of the Italian-Scottish Shield - not too shabby at all.
BUY US A COFFEE! If you like what you're hearing and reading from the Thistle, you can now use the button below to 'buy us a coffee' (or contribute to Alan’s La Rochelle away birthday fund) and show your support for the Pod! Thanks!
BULL-DOZERS: Edinburgh made it a double for the pro teams at the weekend, with a solid if uninspiring 17-10 win over the Bulls. Henry Immelman touched down after a cute kick from the in form Damien Hoyland, to add to three penalties from Jaco and a late three points from Mark Bennett. The weather conditions made the free flowing rugby we have become accustomed to under Blair difficult, but he will be reasonably happy with the manner in which his forwards fronted up to a sizeable opposing pack, particularly in the scrum where Schoeman and Nel were dominant. There remains work to do for Edinburgh, and Blair still seems uncertain of what his starting backline should be. But the signs so far are promising, and spirits are high, with no better example than Darcy Graham, playing with a smile on his face again. Edinburgh move into 6th in the table and 2nd in the Shield rankings - once again, we will take that.
SQUAD GOALS: Gregor Townsend has named a 36-man training squad ahead of Scotland’s opening Autumn International against Tonga. Shorn of foreign-based players (namely in England and France), the squad combines familiar and fresh faces, including the obligatory ‘who he?’ selection we have come to expect since the establishment of our global scouting network.
Here is the squad in full:
Perhaps the biggest shock is the call up for Dylan Richardson, the hooker-cum-flanker who plies his trade for the Cell C Sharks in South Africa. The former Springbok U20 qualifies for Scotland through his father, and adds a nice selection option, particularly after seeing Fraser Brown forced from the field yesterday.
Hopefully, Tonga provides an opportunity for the Murrayfield faithful to see the likes of Ross Thompson, Cole Forbes, Rufus Mclean, and Rory Darge strut their stuff. Sione Tuipulotu and Kyle Steyn will be itching to show what they can do in an international shirt, and Pierre Schoeman features having completed his residency period. Marshall Sykes has been selected for the first time, having impressed in the boiler room for Edinburgh, while Charlie Savala takes on (presumably) an apprenticeship role. Ben Vellacott will doubtless be scratching his head at his omission, albeit scrum-half remains a position of enviable strength for Townsend.
There is also a welcome return for Scottish Lions Watson, Price and Zander Fagerson, alongside experienced stalwarts like Stuart McInally, Grant Gilchrist and Fraser Brown (injury permitting).
SUPER 6: the Ayrshire Bulls have made history as the first-ever winners of the Super 6, defeating close rivals the Southern Knights 26-16 at the DAM Health Stadium. The final itself had a bit of everything, enterprising back play despite the weather, excellent tight five skills and some close calls around the in-goal area (the lack of TMO for a final remains surprising). Bulls pivot Tom Jordan was named man of the match, just reward for his control and accuracy with the boot, with a 16 point tally to his name proving decisive; but perhaps the highlight was former Glasgow prop George Thornton’s glorious score, his sidestep in the wet destined to be played in the Millbrae clubhouse for many a year to come.
Elsewhere Watsonians shook off their recent poor form to claim 3rd place at the expense of a dogged Stirling County, before the Boroughmuir Bears secured 5th place with a tight win over the Nails.
While still early days, the Super 6 appears to have come alive over the past weeks. Although the Bulls and Knights were the best two teams in the competition, Watsonians and Stirling County were not far behind, and even Heriots and the Boroughmuir Bears showed they could beat anyone on their day. The additional media coverage, whether via BBC, the SRU or (even) Premier Sports, has made a big difference, opening up the game to a wider audience and providing a shop window for aspiring young players. While so far the transfer into the professional game has been underwhelming (and seemingly limited to the English Championship and further afield), hopefully we will see more of Super 6’s best and brightest featuring for the Scottish pro sides.
SCOTS ABROAD:
English Premiership
Sale v Harlequins: Byron McGuigan (11) and Gus Warr (21) v Scott Steele (21) and Huw Jones (22).
Newcastle v Bristol: Gary Graham (20) v Jake Kerr (2) - Kerr getting some nice game time recently despite the Bears poor start to the season.
Worcester v Leicester: Rory Sutherland (1), Duhan Van der Merwe (11) and Isaac Miller (16) v Matt Scott (13) and Cammy Henderson (19) - Worcester’s new Lions must be wondering what they have got themselves into this season, as Matt Scott’s Leicester ran rampant to remain top of the pile.
Wasps v Exeter: Robin Hislop (1) and Patrick Harrison (18) - having joined the Coventry side on a 1-month loan deal - v Stuart Hogg (15) and Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (21).
Bath v Saracens: Josh Bayliss (8) and D’Arcy Rae (18) versus Sean Maitland (14) and Tim Swinson (5) (Is Swinson deserving of a call up to the Scotland squad?)
London Irish v Gloucester: Alan Dell (1) v Adam Hastings (10), Chris Harris (13) and Charlie Chapman (21).
English Championship
Doncaster v Jersey Reds: v Steven Longwell (3), Lewis Wynne (7)
Richmond v London Scottish: v Dan Nutton (10), Rory Hughes (15)
URC
Leinster v Scarlets: v Blade Thomson (8) - Interesting to see no call up for Blade Thomson to the Scotland squad given his versatility and experience.
Cardiff v Sharks: v Dylan Richardson (6)
Elsewhere in France, Finn Russell helped Racing 92 to victory against a Toulon side that contained former Glasgow bruisers Leone Nakarawa and Brian Alainu’uese and still only 30 years old Cornell Du Preez. See Russell with some nice interplay here. Down in the Pro D2, Luke Hamilton started at number 8 for Oyonnax in a win against Montauban.
PLUGGING: You can subscribe to the podcast here: https://play.acast.com/s/thethistle.
Follow us on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/thistle_rugby_pod/?hl=en
Follow us on twitter here: https://twitter.com/thistlerugbypod