TOP OF THE SHIELD
Edinburgh victory, Glasgow defeated, expanded Scotland squad announced and more
WELCOME: Thistle HQ are nursing a few sore heads this morning after a fairly boozy wedding in Manchester (sadly neither Mark Dodson nor Bevan Rodd were in attendance) but it will take a lot more than that to stop our newsletter ramblings. This week we dissect the new(ish) expanded Scotland Autumn Internationals squad, celebrate a solid victory for Edinburgh, and look back on Glasgow’s winning streak coming to an end. As ever there were plenty of Scots abroad in action over the weekend, including a very interesting new club for former Scotland and Glasgow favourite Josh Strauss. Read on to find out more…
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GLASGOW BEAT: Glasgow’s three game winning streak came to a shuddering halt on Friday night as URC heavyweights Leinster came to town, leaving with a 31-15 BP win over the Scotstoun boys. Despite the return of Lions Ali Price and Zander Fagerson, Glasgow were well beaten, with a late consolation try from Lewis Bean adding some gloss to the scoreline. Leinster are clearly a cut above Glasgow at present - and were able to field world class internationals across the park - yet Danny Wilson will still be disappointed in the manner of the defeat, particularly the amount of missed tackles and the seeming ease with which the opposition were able to make ground in attack. Jack Dempsey once again showed up well, bagging Glasgow’s first try, and there will surely be several valuable ‘learnings’ for the young guns but it is clear the Warriors need to be a lot harder to beat at Scotstoun. Glasgow drop to 6th in the URC table (and 2nd in the Scottish Italian Shield), and will be anxious not to fall further behind the top four places.
At least after Lewis Bean’s try Jay Z knows his investment was totally worth it…
Highlights from the match below:
BLACK AND WHITE AND MAULED ALL OVER: Edinburgh secured a scrappy yet deserved victory over Zebre Parma, Ben Vellacott’s last minute score ensuring Mike Blair’s charges took the full five points back home. Showing several changes from last week’s match against the Bulls, and a return to the Blair Kinghorn-stand off experiment, the Edinburgh performance left a lot to be desired, but Blair was still able to deploy the likes of Schoeman, McInally, Ritchie and Mata, and ultimately this quality prevailed. Indeed, more experienced Edinburgh sides have come away from Italy trips empty handed, and Blair will be pleased at the depth that is building this season. It would also be more of a concern were Edinburgh losing these tighter affairs as a result of their move towards a more expansive game, but so far the signs are that this side can win ugly when required. The biggest positive is perhaps Edinburgh moving into fourth spot in the URC table, just two points behind 2nd placed Ulster, and top of the Scottish Italian Shield. A very nice outcome with the international break next week.
Highlights from the match below:
STAT ATTACK: some interesting stats after the first four rounds of URC action showing several Scots, most notably Rufus McLean, in leading form:
SCOTLAND SQUAD: Just 6 days after the last squad announcement, Toony named 42 players for the Autumn series against Tonga, Australia, South Africa and Japan. 12 uncapped names are included alongside familiar faces, with the out of window Tonga game likely to see a lot of debuts handed out. After another try scoring performance at the weekend, some are scratching their heads over the omission of Ben Vellacott, but it is in the second row where we look light. With boiler room incumbents Cummings and Gray unavailable through injury, it will be interesting to see who Townsend goes with. Gilchrist seems a likely shout, perhaps pairing with youngster Marshall Sykes who is having a breakout season, or Sam Skinner who has never let anyone down in the Thistle shirt.
SHOEHORN HIM IN: It seems possible we will see Blair Kinghorn at 10 vs Tonga, with any coach near a microphone this week talking up his skill in the area. It seems strange to us when you have a player like Ross Thompson breaking through at Glasgow not to give him a run vs what is likely to be a weakened Tonga side. He is, of course, actually a stand off. The team for the first fixture is announced on Wednesday lunchtime, keep your eyes on our Twitter and Instagram for snap reaction.
O VALIANT COUSIN, WORTHY GENTLEMAN: What bloody man is that? Former Scotland U20 prop Nathan McBeth joining Glasgow from the Emirates Lions it appears. Apart from adding some nice depth to the Warriors propping ranks, Nathan’s name is an absolute dream for terrible punslingers like us. Not sure we can do better than the Warriors own effort though…
SCOTS ABROAD:
English Premiership
Northampton v Worcester: Rory Hutchinson (12) and Fraser Dingwall (13) v Rory Sutherland (1), Finn Smith (10) and Duhan Van der Merwe. Both Northampton centres impressed - surely Dingwall has been sounded out by Toonie - yet it was another disappointing outing for Worcester’s Scottish Lions, Duhan yellow carded in the seventh minute and Rory Sutherland chucking a gift of an intercept pass. Once again, they must be questioning their summer moves (although £300k a year might soften the blow somewhat…). Thanks to Gareth Reynolds for pointing out that young pivot Smith is Scots qualified via his grandfather.
Exeter v London Irish: Sam Skinner (6), Stuart Hogg (15) and Sam Hidalgo Clyne (21) v Allan Dell (17). Hogg picked up a nice try after some good support play.
Gloucester v Newcastle: Chris Harris (13) and Andrew Davidson (17) v
Harlequins v Bath: Scott Steele (21) and Huw Jones (22) v D’arcy Rae (19)
Leicester v Sale: Matt Scott (13) v Byron McGuigan (14) and Gus Warr (9). McGuigan arguably harshly missing the cut for recent Scotland squads given how frequently he starts for the Sharks.
Saracens v Wasps: Sean Maitland (14) and Tim Swinson (19) v Robin Hislop (17) and Elliot Millar Mills (18). Hislop another one unfortunate to miss out on the Scotland squad after a good start to the season.
There were several Scots in action across the English Championship, including Lewis Wynne (Jersey Reds), Devante Onojaife (Bedford Blues), Kyle Whyte (Ealing Trailfinders), Rory Hughes and Dan Nutton (both London Scottish).
Elsewhere in France, Finn Russell was riding pine for Racing 92 for their home defeat at the hands of Montpellier, and further afield a certain Josh Strauss was turning out for the Tel Aviv Heat in their first ever match as a club, in the inaugural Rugby Europe Super Cup. Who would have thought?
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