Six Nations Eve
Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more
WELCOME: And so it is, we come again to that time of the year when households across the land are captured by the warm embrace of hope. Before a ball is even kicked in earnest, we can but dream of a Scotland grand slam without the harsh reality of results getting in the way. Enjoy it for one more week folks, treat yourself to a daydream of a Finn masterclass against England; a Hoggy tour de force against the French and a Duhan dream against the Irish. Nothing can stop you, yet.
ON THE AGENDA: The pro teams were both in action this week, and the top brass have given their first spate of interviews pre-six nations. Oh, and Finn did some fire juggling.
BUT BEFORE THAT: Want to win tickets to Scotland v Italy? Well look no further than our partnership with Fanzo.
Follow the instructions below to join our Pint Predictor league - if you are in by Friday 3 February, you will be entered into a draw to win two tickets to the match! Rugby, free pints and a chance to win tickets? Too good. Get involved.
GLAS-GO MARCHING ON: Glasgow Warriors unbeaten streak reached nine games at the weekend after a comfortable victory away to the Dragons, and the list of people lining up to apologise for tweets about Franco Smith upon his appointment has surpassed the 10,000 mark. The Scotstoun lads made relatively light work of - the admittedly lightweight - Dragons to secure all 5 points on the road, running in six tries, including a well timed brace by hooker Fraser Brown, who now looks favourite for the Scotland no.2 jersey at Twickenham. Brown incidently is second on the list of all time Glasgow forward try scorers. Answer to who is no.1 here…yeah, we didnt get it either.
CANCELLIERE CULTURE: after a relatively slow start in Scotland, the Argie has come into his own under Smith and is offering the Warriors something special at the moment…
CAPTAIN STIFFY: Another thriving under Smith is Stafford McDowall. As the tweet below from the ever on it stats man On Top Of The Moon outlines, he has scored 5 tries in 10 games this season, and has capped off his good form with a call up into the Scotland side. While we at Thistle HQ are all in on Kinghorn at 12, there is more than a little Jordie Barrett about McDowell…
Full highlights are here:
GUNNERS OUT GUNNED: Edinburgh’s domestic form continues to let them down, with the gunners throwing away a half time lead vs the Sharks to come away with only a losing bonus point. In a weekend that saw four tries from Scottish hookers, the lesser spotted Adam McBurney’s double was added to by Bulls bound Henry Immelman. However, even with the Sharks down to 14 in the closing stages, Edinburgh couldnt get it over the line.
Highlights from the DAM here:
NEIN NEIN NEIN: Despite all the hype around Mike Blair’s first season and following a scintillating start, Edinburgh have faltered in the middle part of the season. Despite earning a knock out spot in the Champions cup, they find themselves 9th in the URC, eight points behind their West coast rivals, despite having played an extra game - who would have predicted that before the start of the season? Injuries have not been kind, but weary watchers will point to the many match winning positions that have turned to losses and wonder what might have been.
SIX NATIONS (MINI) PREVIEW: We will obviously be releasing a full tournament preview episode this week, but in the mean time here are some of the key questions facing Scotland ahead of this Six Nations:
Will Zander Fagerson be fit to start at tighthead versus England? If not, are we scuppered from the off?
Is Harris still the man at 13? Or is now the time to unleash Huwipulotu?
What did the weekend’s pro team selections tell us about Townsend’s starting XV for the tournament opener? Crosbie ahead of Watson? White beating out Price? Turner instead of Brown?
Can we get the Ireland monkey off our back? (Surely we are due a win over the Welsh at least…)
And, most importantly, will we ever, ever, see a Grand Slam in our life time again?
FINN ON FIRE: In what is hopefully not the first time we will say it in the coming weeks, Finn Russell was on fire this weekend. Not only did he kick the last minute winner for Racing vs La Rochelle…
…but he appeared in the Mail on Sunday literally playing with fire. While the interview’s top line was about how his relationship with Townsend is “better than ever”, you can’t help but sympathise with Toony watching one of his few world class talents do something that could very easily ended in injury. Looks like the “Let Russell be Russell” phase of man management is underway.
DONT FORGET: Enter our Fanzo league before by 3 February and enter a draw to win tickets for Scotland v Italy!
SCOTS ABROAD:
Gallagher Premiership
Sale v Bath: Gus Warr (9), Tom Roebuck and Ewan Ashman (16) v D’Arcy Rae (3) and Cam Redpath (22) - despite being sinbinned, Redpath set up a nice score for the away side. Gus Warr continues to play a key part in Sale’s winning season so far.
Leicester v Northampton: Matt Scott (13) v Rory Hutchinson (12)
Saracens v Bristol: Robin Hislop (1), Andy Christie (6) and Duncan Taylor (12) v Magnus Bradbury (8)
Exeter v Gloucester: Jonny Gray (4) v Chris Harris (13) and Charlie Chapman (21)
London Irish v Harlequins: Ben White (9) v Scott Steele (21)
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