The Hope That Kills
WELCOME BACK: After days of anticipation and thousands of fans hoping they would be seeing something special this winter, the Tennents advent calendar sold out in a matter of hours. To add to this misery, Scotland’s run of 5 straight wins came to an end on Sunday lunchtime. Hello darkness, my old friend - the newsletter is back to guide you through another week of Scotland rugby.
SCOTLAND V FRANCE: Scotland suffered a disappointing 15-22 loss to France on Saturday at BT Murrayfield, ending the national side’s five match winning run. While the scoreline suggests a close contest, the home side’s performance left a lot be desired and in truth France were deserved winners. While much has been made of Scotland’s new found defensive steel, there is a growing sense that this needs to be matched by a purposeful and accurate attacking strategy. Gregor Townsend put it perfectly post-match - his charges “must be better than just being tough to beat”.
France, arguably the current form team in the northern hemisphere, started the match well and were quickly rewarded for their dominance with a 6-0 lead, two penalties converted by fullback Thomas Ramos. However, Scotland managed to stay in the contest and entered the break all square at 12-12, Duncan Weir dead-eyed off the tee with 4 penalties of his own. The away side looked the more threatening in attack and were battering the Scottish line with the clock ticking down, but Townsend’s charges put in a monumental shift, holding up a French charge over the line as Wayne Barnes blew for half-time oranges.
The French backline had been quiet up to this point but exploded into life almost before the second half had begun, winger Vincent Rattez cutting a great line off Gael Fickou before putting in Virimi Vakatawa for the try. Ramos converted to take the score to 19-12. The replay may have suggested a forward pass in the build up, but it was a well-crafted score, with Ali Price guilty of overtracking Dupont’s clever decoy run. Scotland continued to apply pressure in the tight through the likes of Cummings and Matt Fagerson, and were rewarded with yet another Weir penalty, but their general play was scrappy and breakdown work ill-disciplined. Although another Ramos penalty had seemingly taken the contest beyond doubt, the home side had brief chances of claiming an unlikely (and undeserved) draw, yet basic errors in crucial parts of the pitch saw the victory go the way of the French, 15-22.
Overall a frustrating afternoon for Scotland fans, yet there are some positives to take away. It was encouraging that Scotland once again remained in the fight, and still appear determined to be a difficult team to beat. They were also up against a France side that had recently steamrollered Ireland and were just 1 point off claiming the Six Nations. For the most part their dangermen were well contained. Matt Fagerson impressed in the troublesome number 8 shirt - alongside Ritchie and Watson, the back row looks the most balanced it has been for a while - and it is easy to forget he is still just 22 years old. Ali Price kicked accurately and has done well in taking some of the responsibility off Duncan Weir’s shoulders.
However, Scotland’s basics - the set piece, accuracy in attack and discipline at the breakdown - ultimately let them down, meaning they were unable to gain a foothold in a match that was definitely winnable. Judging by the post-match Twitterverse reaction (usual disclaimers apply) perhaps the bigger concern is how Townsend intends to add an attacking threat to Scotland’s defensive resolve. At times it was unclear just how Scotland planned to take the game to France, particularly when the ball made it past Weir. Set piece attacks seemed to comprise of Sam Johnson trucking it up into the French midfield, no guile or deception, with Hogg and co merely passive bystanders. Duhan looked dangerous on the rare occasions he actually got the ball, so why not bring him into the midfield earlier and more often? Hogg’s main contribution with ball in hand was to boot the leather off it. The irony of Townsend, one of Scotland’s finest ever attacking players, struggling to imbue his charges with an attacking spark is not lost on us. Perhaps a certain Finn Russell might be the difference…
This rather captured the mood at Thistle HQ:
Are we being overly harsh? Is the seeming lack of direction in Scotland’s attack a real concern? Please leave a comment on how you rated the side’s performance down below:
HELL FREEZES OVER: Sunday afternoon was a sombre affair after the final whistle blew at Murrayfield. No sooner had Scotland blown their chance of a record 6th victory in a row that we realized Jura had witnessed her first ever Scotland loss. Then, in proof that the universe is unknown and unknowable, we found ourselves agreeing with a Stephen Jones tweet. Cue hell freezing over, pigs flying etc. Nevertheless, he definitely still sells Avon.
THE HURT CONTINUES: Glasgow made it one win from six last night against a robust but ultimately quite average Munster unit. After the standard (insert Irish province here) pushover try, Glasgow responded with an absolute belter of a score that saw Seymour gliding past De Allende (ignore his subsequent pass) before powerful running from Robbie Nairn put Bryce away in the corner.
This match was to put it mildly…not a classic, and whilst the handbags and argy bargy between Glasgow and Munster were fun on a Saturday night in the Champions Cup, in a Pro 14 match, with no fans, in the pouring rain and on a Monday night it just looked a bit pathetic (we get it guys, you don’t like each other).
With Billy Holland inexplicably put in the bin and Grant Stewart scoring to make it a two point ball game, Glasgow tails were up. Five minutes later Wilson was sin binned and Munster had scored (bet you can’t guess) from a rolling maul.
Munster then even had time to add the cherry on top with a late bonus point try from Kleyn to finish off the match.
Its not time to hit the panic button just yet but both Glasgow and Edinburgh need to get their groove back a.s.a.p. - Glasgow have Cardiff away this Sunday and Edinburgh host an in-form Ulster on Monday, with a chance to avenge last season’s Pro 14 semi-final defeat.
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A SCOTSMAN IN PARIS? it has been a tough start to the season for Edinburgh and fans will be concerned by ongoing rumours that star back row Hamish Watson has lined up a move to Finn Russell’s Racing 92. Watson has denied plans to upsticks to Paris, but judging by Twitter activity (a famously reliable source of information) we wouldn’t be surprised to see him lining up in Racing colours next season…Rex Club is owned by Watson and his brothers.
Whilst it is never a good thing for a team to lose a world class player, it is increasingly a fact of life that Scotland’s best players will be courted by English and French clubs with deeper pockets the promise of exposure to the later stages of big competitions. Hogg, Gray and Russell have all blossomed following big moves, and Watson seems the sort of player who would thrive plying his trade a higher level. Edinburgh are packed with back row talent, and his departure would allow the likes of Crosbie, Bradbury and even Connor Boyle to establish themselves as first picks.
CLUB RUGBY CANCELLED
The SRU have taken the difficult decision to cancel all competitive club and schools rugby for the 2020/2021 season. Initially postponed until January 2021, recent changes to government regulations around Covid-19 have made travelling between matches and hosting training sessions simply too difficult. Whilst perhaps unsurprising, the news will still come as a blow to the club game, with many clubs facing uncertain and difficult times. We would encourage readers to try to engage with their local clubs in any way possible - a vibrant grassroots game is crucial to the future health of the game in Scotland.
The positive news is that the SRU are looking into ways to host friendly matches between local sides, while the Super 6 could see a return to action by the end of March 2021 if government guidelines allow.
SCOTS ABROAD
There will be a slight Scottish flavour to this weekend’s Mitre 10 Cup Premiership final in New Zealand, with Finlay Christie playing for Tasman in the Mite 10 cup final
Gary Graham, whose last involvement for Scotland was versus France in the 2019 Six Nations, crossed the line twice in Newcastle’s deserved win over Bath on their return to the Gallagher Premiership
Elsewhere south of the border, Glen Young put in a decent shift in the boiler room for Harlequins after coming on as an early substitute, Alan Dell and Blair Cowan were both on the bench for London Irish and potentially-Scottish-ish young guns Cam Redpath and Fraser Dingwall lined up in the centres for Bath and Northampton respectively
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