ITS FINALLY OVER: After weeks of turgid competition, the Autumn Nations Cup is finally over and no one seems particular happy apart from those in charge of the union coffers. In the world of Scottish Rugby, we went into this tournament with no clarity over our starting choice back row and centre partnerships, question marks over Hogg’s suitability as captain and an increasingly blunt attacking shape.
We leave the Autumn Nations Cup with no clarity over our starting choice back row and centre partnerships, question marks over Hogg’s suitability as captain and an increasingly blunt attacking shape.
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SCOTLAND V IRELAND: Scotland concluded their Autumn Nations Cup campaign with a disappointing 31-16 loss to Ireland in Dublin. Despite starting the match brightly, Townsend’s men fell away badly in the second half, leading to much soul searching amongst Scottish fans in recent days.
Scotland dominated the opening exchanges, attacking with a tempo and accuracy that seemed to take their hosts by surprise, and were rewarded with 3 penalties from the boot of Jaco Van Der Walt, who looked assured on his international debut.
As Ireland clawed their way back into the match, Duncan Taylor (who prior to this had looked sharp in the midfield) was sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock on. Soon after Keith Earls crossed the line when Scotland failed to deal with a Sexton high ball. The yellow card decision - one of a number of calls that went the way of the Irish - was harsh, and represented a turning point in the match, as Ireland took the game beyond the Scots through tries from Cian Healy and Earls once again (although why the TMO didn’t check O’Mahony’s assisting pass is beyond us). Duhan capped off another fine performance with a quick-thinking solo score from the back of a ruck to briefly threaten a Scottish come back, but Andy Farrell’s men were able to comfortably close out the match.
For the hard line Scottish Rugby among us, the painfully recurring signs were there to see: ill discipline, wilting under pressure, and an inability to convert territory and possession into dominance on the scoreboard. There are legitimate questions to be asked of the standard of refereeing, yet Scotland appear to lack the ability to adapt their approach to differing interpretations. In this regard, although he may be the pantomime villain of the piece, most Scots would probably love to have Peter O’Mahony in their side. Ritchie is perhaps the closest Scotland have, but he remains fairly green in the world of the dark arts.
There are also question marks over the suitability of Hogg as captain. Does it hinder his own game to the detriment of the team as a whole? Can he effectively manage the referee from the back of the field? Is he perhaps too emotional? While Ritchie may be a future Scotland captain, unfortunately there are not too many of the current crop putting their hands up for the armband…
Spotify - where you can listen to the podcast - probably sums it all up better than we ever could
JUST TRY AND STAY POSITIVE: despite a disappointing conclusion to the Autumn Nations Cup, there are still some positives for Townsend to build on:
Jaco, Van Der Merwe and Kebble have added undoubted quality to the Scotland squad, and shored up two positions (fly half and looshead) where depth was lacking. Van Der Merwe in particular has stormed onto the international scene, and is now being included in Lions selection speculation
Rory Sutherland built on his strong Six Nations showing, and alongside the maturing Zander Fagerson, our scrum looks more than solid
Cummings showed great form, eclipsing his more decorated second row partner Jonny Gray
Ali Price has grown into the 9 shirt with a string of mature, controlled performances
Chris Harris, both in defence and attack, has proved the haters (us included) wrong
LUCK OF THE IRISH: Eddie O’Sullivan (remember him?) claimed Scotland have made a habit of “imploding” on recent visits to the Emerald Isle. His hot-take was met with a traditional twitter response online, but 2 wins on Irish soil in 20 years isn’t exactly a great return is it. And as shown below, Ireland have had more than the measure of us over the last 12 months. Interesting to hear O’Sullivan talk in a more measured way on the Rugby Pod (skip to 19.30 if you want to miss out all the usual penis jokes).
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ANYONE BUT THE DRAGONS: Glasgow capped off a hellish weekend for Scottish rugby , conspiring to lose at home to the Dragons, the weakest of the Welsh regions. The defeat was particularly galling given Brandon Thomson had the chance to win the match following Jonny Mathews try in the last play of the game. However, his relatively straightforward conversion attempt hit the post…see the match highlights here
We have been leaked footage of Danny Wilson’s LinkedIn profile post match…
Whilst the impact of the Autumn Nations Cup was always going to be detrimental to the Warrior’s ambitions, even your greatest Glasgow cynic would have expected more than two wins in eight matches.
The Pro 14 tables currently make for very bleak reading. As ever with Scottish rugby, when it rains it pours.
FUTURE INTERNATIONALS: Scotland have announced their Autumn International opponents a year in advance - I guess that means the Autumn Nations Cup aint reaching a second year
With Australia and South Africa already booked in we have both the return of Rennie and Scotty J to Murrayfield HQ.
SCOTS ABROAD:
Gary Graham continues to impress in a Newcastle side that have defied expectations so far in the Gallagher Premiership, recording their third consecutive victory with an accomplished performance against Wasps - could he provide the dog and grit that was missing for Scotland at the weekend?
Glenn Young and Scott Steele were also on the winning side, despite a yellow card for the former, in Harlequins defeat of Gloucester
Rory Hutchinson returned to the Northampton starting line-up after a period out with injury, but was unable to prevent his side going down to the Bristol Bears (Fraser Dingwall - SQP but loyalties still unconfirmed - was on the Saints bench)
Duncan Weir was back in Worcester colours and was joined by Scotland U-20 cap Tom Dodd who lined up in the 7 shirt
Matt Scott started at 12 for Leicester in their loss to Exeter (whose Scottish contingent were all on international duty)
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