RugbyRebels

Dingwall is in the England 6N squad. I seriously hope Toony approached him and tried to convince or it's just piss poor.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Dingwall is in the England 6N squad. I seriously hope Toony approached him and tried to convince or it's just piss poor.

He probably has but Dingwall defected at youth level presumably to help get this type of opportunity.

Big D wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Dingwall is in the England 6N squad. I seriously hope Toony approached him and tried to convince or it's just piss poor.

He probably has but Dingwall defected at youth level presumably to help get this type of opportunity.

And that's completely understandable.

FWIW Dingwall isn't ready for international rugby but if it took a guaranteed cap this 6N to prevent England including him then we should have done that. Does it devalue the jersey? Maybe... but we've capped some real dross in the last few years and this is the game that EJ wants to play.

I heard that he wanted to play for Scotland, but has seen our strength in depth at centre and decided he wouldn’t stand a chance. He’s now condemned to spend the rest of his rugby career and possibly life being called “Jock” by chinless wankers with funny accents and with whom he will never fit in.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

Big D wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Dingwall is in the England 6N squad. I seriously hope Toony approached him and tried to convince or it's just piss poor.

He probably has but Dingwall defected at youth level presumably to help get this type of opportunity.

And that's completely understandable.

FWIW Dingwall isn't ready for international rugby but if it took a guaranteed cap this 6N to prevent England including him then we should have done that. Does it devalue the jersey? Maybe... but we've capped some real dross in the last few years and this is the game that EJ wants to play.

Agree that he's not ready for internationals yet, which is why it's unlikely that he actually gets a cap this spring. He's not lost to us just yet.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

Big D wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Dingwall is in the England 6N squad. I seriously hope Toony approached him and tried to convince or it's just piss poor.

He probably has but Dingwall defected at youth level presumably to help get this type of opportunity.

And that's completely understandable.

FWIW Dingwall isn't ready for international rugby but if it took a guaranteed cap this 6N to prevent England including him then we should have done that. Does it devalue the jersey? Maybe... but we've capped some real dross in the last few years and this is the game that EJ wants to play.

I'm all for trying to persuade people to commit to us but couldn't disagree more on offering guaranteed caps. If you want to play for Scotland, be good enough to get in the team (at least when it is rotated round).

Not sure it works either. Wouldn't want to get a reputation for capping players who you don't intent to play and then leaving them in limbo.

Was trying to find something about Sam Skinner and ended up looking back at this game.

This bit from Horne is absolutely classic.

Quality! Who missed the 4th try v England in 2018? Seem to remember a glaring overlap on the left wing was butchered.

Not that I remember such things.

Vague article on the bbc saying Russell may or may not miss the 6N.

He hurt his foot in the HC so I wonder if it's one of those wee bones.

That would be a shame, but also interesting to see how Hastings handles starting in these games.

Was very keen to see how both do as primary goal-kickers, which is something that seems to have been glossed over with Greig's departure.

I have a feeling Russell is better the more responsibility you put on him but I can't remember seeing it tested for a serious run of games before. No idea how Hastings would handle it.

Peter Horne to be called up I would guess? Weir is the next best 10 but I can't see that step being taken. Hutchinson is very handy cover for first receiver but not sure about burdening him with that before he's had a chance to settle in as a centre.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Vague article on the bbc saying Russell may or may not miss the 6N.

He hurt his foot in the HC so I wonder if it's one of those wee bones.

A breach of team protocol.

Big D wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Vague article on the bbc saying Russell may or may not miss the 6N.

He hurt his foot in the HC so I wonder if it's one of those wee bones.

A breach of team protocol.

It's since been fleshed out.

What a knob if that's the case. Is the stardom going to his head?

Hoggy not able to reel him in?

It reads like he's legitimately walked out of the camp off the back of a disagreement rather than breaking a rule/skipping a session so I retract my previous comments.

I wonder what's going on. Disagreement with Gregor?

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

Big D wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Vague article on the bbc saying Russell may or may not miss the 6N.

He hurt his foot in the HC so I wonder if it's one of those wee bones.

A breach of team protocol.

It's since been fleshed out.

What a knob if that's the case. Is the stardom going to his head?

Hoggy not able to reel him in?

Why is it automatically his fault? It isn't exactly clear whether he was told he wouldn't be selected v Ireland then walked out*, or he walked out and then was then ruled out.

Townsend is/should be hanging onto his job by fairly thin margins at the moment. Could he be feeling the pressure and over reacted?

*If he isn't playing v Ireland then Racing may have decided to use him this week as he doesn't need to be released until Monday.

Big D wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

Big D wrote:
A breach of team protocol.

It's since been fleshed out.

What a knob if that's the case. Is the stardom going to his head?

Hoggy not able to reel him in?

Why is it automatically his fault? It isn't exactly clear whether he was told he wouldn't be selected v Ireland then walked out*, or he walked out and then was then ruled out.

Townsend is/should be hanging onto his job by fairly thin margins at the moment. Could he be feeling the pressure and over reacted?

*If he isn't playing v Ireland then Racing may have decided to use him this week as he doesn't need to be released until Monday.

I did correct myself. You apparently can't delete posts on here once they're live more than a few minutes.

A common interpretation of breaching team protocol is that the player has broken the rules so I don't think it's that unfair. But in both those scenarios you presented - Finn is at fault. Toony's position is untenable IMO - my opinion has not changed. He is still the boss though and even rugby players have to learn to work with people that they do not like or may disagree with.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:

Big D wrote:

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:
It's since been fleshed out.

What a knob if that's the case. Is the stardom going to his head?

Hoggy not able to reel him in?

Why is it automatically his fault? It isn't exactly clear whether he was told he wouldn't be selected v Ireland then walked out*, or he walked out and then was then ruled out.

Townsend is/should be hanging onto his job by fairly thin margins at the moment. Could he be feeling the pressure and over reacted?

*If he isn't playing v Ireland then Racing may have decided to use him this week as he doesn't need to be released until Monday.

I did correct myself. You apparently can't delete posts on here once they're live more than a few minutes.

A common interpretation of breaching team protocol is that the player has broken the rules so I don't think it's that unfair. But in both those scenarios you presented - Finn is at fault. Toony's position is untenable IMO - my opinion has not changed. He is still the boss though and even rugby players have to learn to work with people that they do not like or disagree with.

Sorry had started responding before I saw that.

We will never get both sides sadly. I can't see Townsend surviving very long and the public will not blindly follow him on this unless Finn has been way out of line.

The SRU statement makes Russell look like the bad guy as one would expect even if he isn't solely at fault. If he has walked out knowing Racing will be phoning the SRU saying we want him back for Saturday it is a little better than him just fucking off.

What the fuck.

I would venture that it’s been plain that all hasn’t been well with the Scotland team and the SRU in general for a while. Perhaps this is an overdue start of things coming to a head.

Our record over the past decade has been piss-poor. Yes, we’re making money but a failing organisation can still increase revenue, profit, etc in a growing market. Are we making the most of this generation of players? No. Are the SRU laying great foundations for the future, including enhancing the talent pipestream? Hmmm.

Are executives paying themselves a fortune while employee engagement is tanking? Yes.

Anyway, back to the rugby.

Fuck it. Nothing to lose. Here’s hoping for a win v Ireland. Nothing like papering over the cracks.

This is peak Scotland.

Oh FFS.

Silver lining - what an opportunity for Hastings.

hugh_woatmeigh wrote:Silver lining - what an opportunity for Hastings.

Get the WFD signal out! We need a back up 10.

So we get to see Hastings run around in ever decreasing circles, or up blind alleys as he does consistently for Glasgow.

With Duncan Weir or Peter Horne on the bench...

Was just thinking this morning that we are having an injury miracle compared to recent seasons with just about all of the first choices fit and seemingly in decent nick.

Oh and Darcy Graham is apparently injured.

ARM wrote:So we get to see Hastings run around in ever decreasing circles, or up blind alleys as he does consistently for Glasgow.

With Duncan Weir or Peter Horne on the bench...

Was just thinking this morning that we are having an injury miracle compared to recent seasons with just about all of the first choices fit and seemingly in decent nick.

Oh and Darcy Graham is apparently injured.

Ahhh FFS