Scotland World Cup campaign

[Spy]

Great game, with so much at stake. Just after half time the only question was whether it would be a humiliation or merely a rout, but credit to Scotland for a fine fightback as Japan ran out of petrol.

What a first half from Japan. As good as you’ll ever see. Worthy group winners.

[Galfon]

Looked pretty even 2nd 'arf.
Jap were unplayable before that - they've done this to Eng, Ire and Sco now so are now up there on merit, great brand of rugby.
Maybe Sco selection and starting tactics could have been better but who could predict the Japanese storm ?

[Sandydragon]

Score with Laidlaw v score without?

Not sure his meerkat impression has been any use at for Scotland for years now.

Completely agree. Scotland play better when they can up the tempo. Laudlaw destroys that.

[Lizard]

One of the best games I've seen. Worth staying up for.

[Cameo]

Score with Laidlaw v score without?

Not sure his meerkat impression has been any use at for Scotland for years now.

Agreed. The issue is that we have gone from a team with an exciting attack and dangerous runners through the backs to one fully reliant on Russel to pull something out the hat. A fair bit of that has been injuries/loss of form at the wrong times but a fair bit has also been bad planning and poor selection (e.g. if Harris really really is the best 13, why was Grigg given all the gametime there after Jones got injured in the 6N).

That said, I just do not think it is a sack everyone position. We were not awful tonight and even in the first half showed a lot of heart in defence. Townsend should stay.

A bit of a turnover of players needed though (not that they have necessarily been to blame but they are not part of the answer) - Barclay, Laidlaw, P Horne, Toolis, Wilson, Reid and Seymour are probably not needed anymore unless there is another injury crisis.

A few others such as Nel (who played well), Maitland and Gilchrist will be needed but we should be aiming to have other people starting as soon as possible.

Who comes in depends on form and don't necessarily need to be that young. Graham, Horne and Kinghorn need to come through but we need people like McDowall, Scott, Bennett, Jones, M Fagerson, Crosbie, Carmichael and some more props to really step up.

I think the quick game we are trying to play is the right way but we need the skills to do it. Anyone young coming in needs to have very good basic handling skills, be able to catch a high ball and offload, have decent footwork and have all the basics for their position nailed.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Reid isn't needed anymore?

Sorry who are you going to play at 1? I'm actually thinking do we need to get this guy into a full time pro club ASAP until Kebble qualifies.

[Cameo]

Reid isn't needed anymore?

Sorry who are you going to play at 1? I'm actually thinking do we need to get this guy into a full time pro club ASAP until Kebble qualifies.

Would love to have him but he is going into semi pro rugby. Bhatti, Sutherland or Allan are going to have to step up.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Reid isn't needed anymore?

Sorry who are you going to play at 1? I'm actually thinking do we need to get this guy into a full time pro club ASAP until Kebble qualifies.

Would love to have him but he is going into semi pro rugby. Bhatti, Sutherland or Allan are going to have to step up.

That won't happen. They are being kept out by a NSQ loosehead at both clubs.

This needs addressed at the top level. You can't have two professional teams with both LH slots filled by NSQ players regardless of their project status.

Sutherland & Bhatti are the best bets but they are miles away from Schoeman. In fact what the f*ck are Edinburgh doing? They've got 4 Scottish capped looseheads on their books now all of which are behind Schoeman.

[Donny osmond]

I wonder how many non-Scots genuinely rate our chances today?

I'm actually pretty confident, and yes i realise that might be the kiss of death. I think our problems are more psychological and I dont think Japan will be putting the same blocks in place as playing against Ireland seemed to. Altho I suppose the situation might but I do really think the guys will show up in decent nick today and get the job done.

I am basing this on absolutely nothing at all.

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Its a genuine talent

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[hugh_woatmeigh]

Pundits think Toony will get the 6N to keep his job. That is the wrong mentality IMO. It should be about building a squad and game plan for 2023, not papering over the cracks.

[General Zod]

Pundits think Toony will get the 6N to keep his job. That is the wrong mentality IMO. It should be about building a squad and game plan for 2023, not papering over the cracks.

He probably will, not because he and the coaching team deserve it, but because most coaches are now part-way through the season.

Eddie Jones might be out of a job soon...

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Pundits think Toony will get the 6N to keep his job. That is the wrong mentality IMO. It should be about building a squad and game plan for 2023, not papering over the cracks.

He probably will, not because he and the coaching team deserve it, but because most coaches are now part-way through the season.

Eddie Jones might be out of a job soon...

Can they at least force Shaun Edwards on him?

[normanski]

Score with Laidlaw v score without?

Not sure his meerkat impression has been any use at for Scotland for years now.

Yes, it’s a pity Horne didn’t play from the start. Far quicker and more urgency than laidlaw.

Great game for a neutral to watch.

See you in the 6N in Cardiff.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Try 1 - Japan go down the blindside from the ruck. At the point of the pass it's a 3 on 3 but Harris is slowly drifting across.

Johnson tackles the 13 who should have been left to Harris.

That means Graham commits to Matsushima while the 13 does a miss pass to Fukuoka on the wing Harris continues drifting across and barely gets Fukuoka by the scruff of his shirt - it doesn't look like a dead cert which means Hoggy commits to Fukuoka leaving Matsushima unmarked and ready to scroll in the offload.

Try 2 - Chib falls off his tackle on Horie, he doesn't budge and continues running drawing Brown out of position, offloading to Moore who pulls Johnson out of position and there's a huge hole in the middle of the park by this point with the defence spread out wide. Basically they punched a hole pretty easily in the middle of the defensive line in the park and flooded that hole with runners all of whom were looking for the offload. Basic rugby.

Try 3 - they're actually fairly well covered but Hogg gets across about a decade too late to cover the chip through. An easy score for Fukuoka.

Try 4 - Harris spills the ball and Fukuoka pounces on it.

Try 1 & 2 are shit defence. Try 3 is on Hogg - I wonder if he is carrying an injury. He hasn't looked right all WC. Try 4 is a mistake from Harris & players slow to get back to support him. Finn is also standing watching waiting for the ball to be recycled when it's clear he is in trouble supported by just Johnson while Horie, Thompson, Himeno & Fukuoka over-power the pair.

Japan were superb today but all 4 tries preventable imo.

[Mikey Brown]

Was try 3 where Hogg took the dropout? Barely had time to stand back and admire the height of it (while the other 14 players all chased it) before he had to sprint to the other side and defend the Japanese attack.

I agree we haven’t exactly seen him sparkle in attack in a little while. Looks a bit heavy these days?

[Soapy]

No way back from here for Townsend. Same mistakes game after game for 18 months and no signs he knows how to fix them. Every team ranked above us knows that when we have the ball they just need to stay disciplined and we’ll cough it up. Defence appalling, mentally shocking, execution of whatever the game plan is shocking. WC squad and team selections very poor.

In every big game under Townsend - other than England 2018 - he has been completely out coached and out his depth. Needs to go - along with Taylor and Wilson and a hard nosed replacement brought in who actually understands the fundamentals that need to be in place to win a game of rugby.

[Stones of granite]

Despite my disappointment at losing and going out, it's hard to feel too bad. Japan play a fantastic style of Rugby and absolutely deserved that win. Good luck to them in the Quarters and beyond.

[whatisthejava]

Despite my disappointment at losing and going out, it's hard to feel too bad. Japan play a fantastic style of Rugby and absolutely deserved that win. Good luck to them in the Quarters and beyond.

My only complaint is it was clear the game plan needed to change after 20 but we waited another 20 to do it and then we eventually adopted to going around the wall

[Cameo]

Despite my disappointment at losing and going out, it's hard to feel too bad. Japan play a fantastic style of Rugby and absolutely deserved that win. Good luck to them in the Quarters and beyond.

My only complaint is it was clear the game plan needed to change after 20 but we waited another 20 to do it and then we eventually adopted to going around the wall

Yeah, although when we got the ball in that 20 minutes it was normally deep in our half having defended frantically for 5 mins

[hugh_woatmeigh]

Feels like as good a place as any but does anyone know the typical 6N ticket release schedule?

[Big D]

The rugby clubs all had applications out to members a while ago. I believe last orders from clubs was a couple of weeks ago.

Given it is England and France I am not sure how many will be available for each game once the clubs get their cut and the visiting union clubs get a cut.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

The rugby clubs all had applications out to members a while ago. I believe last orders from clubs was a couple of weeks ago.

Given it is England and France I am not sure how many will be available for each game once the clubs get their cut and the visiting union clubs get a cut.

Any idea when the Scotland supporters club get first dibs?

[Big D]

The rugby clubs all had applications out to members a while ago. I believe last orders from clubs was a couple of weeks ago.

Given it is England and France I am not sure how many will be available for each game once the clubs get their cut and the visiting union clubs get a cut.

Any idea when the Scotland supporters club get first dibs?

Sorry chief I don't.

[hugh_woatmeigh]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/50332932

[hugh_woatmeigh]

How do World Rugby even have a case lmao