SHARK WEEK
Fall out from night-out gate continues, Womens' Six Nations kicks off, Edinburgh record historic win in South Africa, Glasgow snatch defeat from the jaws of victory and lots more
WELCOME: as Scottish rugby fandom continues to process yet another disappointing Six Nations campaign, there was a welcome return to domestic rugby over the weekend. Although it would have been greedy to hope for two pro team wins, at least Edinburgh were successful, notching a mightily impressive win to kick off their South Africa tour in style. For Glasgow however, the knives are out once again for Danny Wilson and his inconsistent charges. Elsewhere, Scotland Women kicked off their Six Nations campaign, and despite the result, showed plenty of promise in patches that should stand them in good stead for the rest of the tournament. Enjoy!
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS - GLASGOW V ZEBRE: as we enter the business end of the URC season, why not get yourself along to Scotstoun for Glasgow versus Zebre on Friday 1st April, 7.35pm kick off? Not only are the Warriors pushing hard for the play offs in what is their last regular home game of the season, but this will also be a chance for fans to wave goodbye to those players departing at the end of the campaign. Glasgow have released standing tickets for the match at just £15, with seated tickets from £27 and availability across Scotstoun. Use the link below to get involved!
https://www.eticketing.co.uk/scottishrugby/EDP/Event/Index/3855
NIGHT OUT FALL OUT: the fall out from that night out continues, after Exeter coach Rob Baxter claimed in the week that Stuart Hogg had in fact fallen foul of “a little bit of ambiguity” rather than clearly set team protocols. Although Townsend, Hogg and co claimed that the parties involved had drawn a line under the events of two weekends ago, the story was bound to rumble on, particularly given the SRU’s fairly truculent attitude to media questioning on the subject. Still, the Murrayfield spin doctors would have been tearing their hair out upon hearing Baxter’s contribution to the situation.
Ultimately we still do not know the truth behind the matter. If Hogg is correct, it would not only suggest a breakdown of communications between playing and coaching staff within the Scotland camp, but more importantly that Hogg, Russell, Price etc have been thrown under the bus by Toonie and co - misinterpreting and wilfully violating the rules are two very separate things.
However, if Hogg has returned to his club and sought to pass off the events as a misunderstanding (whilst knowing otherwise), this would point to the Scotland captain still believing he has done nothing wrong - despite claiming to have apologised to the whole squad.
Perhaps this is a storm in a teacup, and more reflects Baxter’s attempts to deflect attention from one of his star players. But the SRU have allowed the wound created by the story to fester, and have lost control of the all important narrative. Just waiting for the Finn Russell tell all now - we are here for you, son.
For our two cents, we discuss it first up in our latest pod: https://play.acast.com/s/thethistle.
SHARK HUNTERS: Edinburgh claimed an historic victory over the Cell C Sharks on Saturday, in doing so becoming the first URC side to claim victory on South African soil. The win was mightily impressive given how dominant the South African teams have been at home so far this year, and keeps Edinburgh firmly in the chase for the play-offs.
Edinburgh were able to field a strong side in Durban, Scottish internationals Kinghorn, Watson, Bradbury, Vellacott and Bennett all restored to the starting line up. But let us not forget the Sharks were full noise too - Kolisi, Mapimpi, Nche, Mbonambi and du Toit all Springboks squad members.
Mike Blair will be particularly pleased with how his forward pack stood up to the physical challenge on the day, especially given the absence of experienced operators such as Schoeman, McInally, Nel and Gilchrist. Hamish Watson was immense, while Ben Muncaster continues to impress, and must be eyeing up the Scotland summer tour. Kinghorn had a blinder in the ten jersey, crossing twice and setting up Boffelli for the other score. He may not be the answer for the national side, but he is a quality rugby player at this level - end of. Boffelli - as expected - converted all three scores. Edinburgh face the Lions next week, an eminently winnable fixture, before three consecutive home matches, including the Warriors on 21st May. The camp seems a very happy place under Blair.
Full match highlights here:
NO BAD DAYS: Although there was no sign of the now famous ‘Big Juicy’ Tennents cans or Strongbow dark fruits (apparently Glen Young’s stash was confiscated at security), glad to see the boys still took the opportunity to to celebrate a big W.
CARDIFF COLLAPSE: despite Danny Wilson naming close to his strongest available side, Glasgow were unable to follow in Edinburgh’s footsteps come Saturday afternoon, going down 32-28 to Cardiff in a game they really should have won.
Things were looking rosy for the Warriors as they built up a 28-15 lead, Cancilliere (x2), Johnson and Brown crossing for the visitors. However, a calamitous five minutes that saw Glasgow give up a promising attacking position before Cancilliere was swiftly sent to the sin bin swung the momentum entirely in favour of the home side, who didn’t look back.
Glasgow are perhaps the definition of a curate’s egg this season - partly good and partly bad. But when things go bad, they go really, really bad. There was more than enough quality at hand to see off a Cardiff side languishing in 13th in the table. However, there was an inevitability to the way Glasgow imploded at around the 60th minute mark, marked by the same inconsistency which has plagued them this season. We should remind ourselves that Glasgow are still in fourth place in the table, but it seems the Warriors faithful remain unconvinced by Danny Wilson. Given the players at his disposal, should we expect a lot better? Once again it was the senior leaders who struggled to take the game by the scruff of the neck when it really mattered, suggesting the team is in some sort of transition. But how long Wilson has to guide his charges through this period remains up in the air.
At least we had the consolation of picking the result early in the week:
Highlights - such as they are - here:
SCOTLAND WOMEN: Scotland Women kicked off their TikTok Six Nations campaign in disappointing fashion, going down 57-5 to reigning champions England at the DAM Health Stadium. Bryan Easson’s charges were always likely to struggle against their much vaunted opponents, currently number one in the world and stacked with full-time professionals, yet there were some positives to take into the coming rounds. It was also encouraging for the womens’ game in Scotland that a record crowd of just under 4000 turned out at the DAM.
Scotland battled well in the opening stages, yet quickly found themselves 14-0 down, struggling when their opponents managed to put some phases together. However, Chloe Rollie crossed for the hosts to narrow the gap after solid possession at the set piece and patient build up work. From here on in the gulf in class inevitably told, and England proceeded to freely cross the whitewash, with Scotland unable to add to their solitary score. Yet there were plenty of small wins along the way, and five points for is not a fair reflection of the Scotland attack play. Special shout out to Jade Konkel, on her 50th cap, who was her usual combative self.
Next week sees Scotland travel to Wales, victors over the Irish in round one, in a match they really should be targeting for a win. The womens’ championship seems to have been revitalised this year, mainly due to the decision to move it away from the shadow of the men’s tournament - here’s hoping Scotland can build on the promise shown in World Cup qualification and start to make their mark on proceedings.
VAILANU TO GLASGOW: some signing news this week, with Glasgow announcing the capture of Worcester and Tonga number 8 Sione Vailanu for next season. Vailanu has plenty of top flight experience, having turned out for Saracens and Wasps in the English Premiership, whilst amassing ten caps for his national side. The signing is potentially cover for Jack Dempsey - arguably Glasgow’s best player this year - who is bound to have attracted the interest of Gregor Townsend, although current Australia coach Dave Rennie might have something to say about that. While we would prefer the Warriors give young Scottish blood, such as Ally Miller, more of a shot in the first team, the potential absence of Dempsey for big chunks of next year means this signing makes a little more sense than at first glance.
SCOTS ABROAD
English Premiership
Bath v Sale: D’arcy Rae (3) and Josh Bayliss (6) v Ewan Ashman (2), Tom Roebuck (14) and Gus Warr (21) - Ashman crossing for the away side.
London Irish v Northampton: Kyle Rowe (14) and Ben White (22) v Rory Hutchinson (12), Fraser Dingwall (13) and Nick Auterac (17) - Hutchinson and Dingwall running riot once again, starting centre partnership for the summer tour? (see highlights below).
Saracens v Bristol: Tim Swinson (19), Andy Christie (20), Duncan Taylor (22) and Sean Maitland (23) v Jake Kerr (16)
Wasps v Newcastle: Robin Hislop (1) and Elliot Millar-Mills (18) v
Exeter v Leicester: Jonny Gray (5) v
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