Scotland team to face Wales

From the Hootsman today:

"Changes imposed on Andy Robinson as lack of depth shows

By STUART BATHGATE
Published on Wednesday 8 February 2012 02:20

WHEN coaches make miminal alterations to their teams, it is often said they have “resisted the urge to make wholesale changes”. In Andy Robinson’s case, it is an urge the national coach has always found easy to resist.

Many Scots under-performed in Saturday’s 13-6 defeat by England, but Robinson does not have a wealth of talent in reserve. He was therefore always likely to restrict himself to a couple of changes to the starting XV to play in Wales on Sunday and, it is expected that Greig Laidlaw and Geoff Cross will be the only newcomers. Cross will come in at tighthead prop for Euan Murray, who declines to play on Sundays for religious reasons, and Laidlaw will replace Dan Parks at stand-off.

Parks, who yesterday announced his retirement from international rugby, would probably have been dropped from the squad – not just from the starting line-up – after the crushing disappointment of the Calcutta Cup defeat. Glasgow stand-off Duncan Weir will come on to the bench as Laidlaw’s understudy, having been one of Scotland A’s most impressive performers in a 35-0 win over England Saxons on Friday night at Netherdale.

Cross’s promotion leaves a place on the replacements bench for Alasdair Dickinson, provided he recovers from the shoulder injury which saw him pull out of the squad last week. If not, Jon Welsh or his Glasgow colleague Ed Kalman should step in.

Another change among the replacements should see the introduction of Stuart Hogg at the expense of Graeme Morrison. Hogg scored an outstanding try for the A team, while Morrison was the only unused substitute at Murrayfield.

Although Hogg has played mainly at full-back, he can also play at outside centre.

Wing Max Evans, who will retain the No 11 jersey, also offers cover at 13. And Nick de Luca, who will again start in that position, can slot in at inside centre if required. Sean Lamont, who will start at 12, can be cover for the back three along with Hogg, who still appears in line to be handed his first senior start before the end of the championship.

In his time as England coach as well as latterly with Scotland, Robinson faced criticism for conservative selections. His choice of Parks for the Calcutta Cup game was met with widespread scepticism, including from some knowledgeable former players.

Robinson’s argument was that Laidlaw, the only other contender for the No 10 jersey against England, lacked enough experience. That remains a matter of conjecture but the Edinburgh player was livelier in his 23 minutes on the field than Parks was in his 57. Laidlaw not only came close to scoring a try but did far more than Parks to spark the back line into life. While he remains a seasoned scrum-half who is still short of big-match experience at No 10, he has done more than enough to show he is the best candidate to start Sunday’s match at No 10.

With Laidlaw in, the question was whether Chris Cusiter should hold on to his starting place at scrum-half or Mike Blair start alongside his Edinburgh colleague? Robinson opted for the former, but it must have been a close-run thing.

Blair came off the bench at the same time as Laidlaw, and played a significant part in lifting Scotland’s game. That told in his favour, as did the fact that, as he knows Laidlaw better as a player, he is best placed to guide him through the difficult moments which arise in an international.

Similarly, Cusiter plays alongside Weir at Glasgow, and might therefore be more suited to coming off the bench with his club team-mate than to starting with Laidlaw. But his form has been better than Blair’s over the oast month or two, notably in the head-to-head league matches between the two Scottish sides.

The 13 players who retain their places have not simply been rubber-stamped. Perhaps only back-row forwards David Denton and Ross Rennie did enough to merit that distinction.

But the coaches know that, among those who have kept their places, even the ones who were poorest on Saturday are capable of more. And, in the absence of in-depth competition, there is little alternative but to trust that they will produce more this time round.

Likely Scotland team to face Wales on Sunday:

15 Rory Lamont

14 Max Evans

13 Nick de Luca

12 Sean Lamont

11 Lee Jones

10 Greig Laidlaw

9 Chris Cusiter

1 Allan Jacobsen

2 Ross Ford

3 Geoff Cross

4 Jim Hamilton

5 Richie Gray

6 Alasdair Strokosch

7 Ross Rennie

8 David Denton"

Would have preferred to see Hogg replacing Ramont, and Blair partnering Laidlaw - not at all surprised that nothing has been done to address our lack of a genuine 12 (Matt Scott, Andy, heard of him?). Would prefer any other prop than Dickinson on the bench

How likely is it that this team will be announced As?

Pretty nailed on

If Dickinson is on the bench then we can say good bye to any chance of a win. Robinson will once again have ignored the requirements of an International prop, namely that he must be able to at least hold his own in the scrum.
Dickinson is not, and never will be, an int. class prop, simple, end of story.

Once again Robbo doesnt want to admit to his selection errors by picking a more capable player than his preferred choices.

Confirmation with the Glasgow team announcement that Weir, Hogg and Kalman will all be involved in the Scotland squad (Kalman possibly as 23rd man in case Dickinson's shoulder niggle doesn't clear)

Has Stuart Bathgate been following Scottish rugby for long?? We have never in my lifetime had more depth. Did he not bother watching the Scotland A demolition of the Saxons the other night. Since when has our second string ever walloped the English? It's usually the other way round, with England having about 5 teams capable of beating our second string.

Not playing in the front row on Saturday were Geoff Cross, Scott Lawson, Jon Welsh, Ali Dickinson, Murray Low, Ryan Grant, Pat McArthur and Ed Kalman. All have been playing well this season. We have never had as much depth in the front row. Remember Mattie Stewart and Gavin Kerr??

Kellock, MacKenzie, Gilchrist and Ryder in the second row.

Brown, Barclay, Beattie, Hogg, McInally, Grant....

Rory Lawson, Chris Cusiter, Pyrgos, Gregor...

Jackson, Weir, Laidlaw (that's three more stand-offs than we usually have)..

Scott, Leonard, Morrison...

Grove, Ansbro....

Danielli, Walker, Shaw, Hogg, Thompson, Brown.....

No depth. Yes, some of the above are injured at the moment, but no depth?? What's wrong with Scottish rugby journalism these days? So lazy.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Confirmation with the Glasgow team announcement that Weir, Hogg and Kalman will all be involved in the Scotland squad (Kalman possibly as 23rd man in case Dickinson's shoulder niggle doesn't clear)

Very promising news about Hogg. I don't think Robinson will let him start, but he's surely got a great shot at the bench. Weir will now certainly be on the bench.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Has Stuart Bathgate been following Scottish rugby for long?? No depth. Yes, some of the above are injured at the moment, but no depth?? What's wrong with Scottish rugby journalism these days? So lazy.

I think they do it just to wind you up, fES!!

funnyExiledScot wrote:Has Stuart Bathgate been following Scottish rugby for long?? We have never in my lifetime had more depth. Did he not bother watching the Scotland A demolition of the Saxons the other night. Since when has our second string ever walloped the English? It's usually the other way round, with England having about 5 teams capable of beating our second string.

Not playing in the front row on Saturday were Geoff Cross, Scott Lawson, Jon Welsh, Ali Dickinson, Murray Low, Ryan Grant, Pat McArthur and Ed Kalman. All have been playing well this season. We have never had as much depth in the front row. Remember Mattie Stewart and Gavin Kerr??

Kellock, MacKenzie, Gilchrist and Ryder in the second row.

Brown, Barclay, Beattie, Hogg, McInally, Grant....

Rory Lawson, Chris Cusiter, Pyrgos, Gregor...

Jackson, Weir, Laidlaw (that's three more stand-offs than we usually have)..

Scott, Leonard, Morrison...
Grove, Ansbro....

Danielli, Walker, Shaw, Hogg, Thompson, Brown.....

No depth. Yes, some of the above are injured at the moment, but no depth?? What's wrong with Scottish rugby journalism these days? So lazy.

Sorted

Thanks Tattie! I was merely pointing out the options, I agree that the three you've deleted are probably unlikely to play much further for Scotland, particularly with the emergence of Matt Scott hopefully giving us a good option at 12 and the coming talent on the wing that is Tim Visser likely to stiffle the opportunities for Walker and Danielli.

Looking forward to the weekend now that hopefully Blair and Laidlaw will be given the chance to test the Welsh defence.

fES, likely to be Cusiter and Laidlaw from what I'm hearing - bizarre

That would be very Andy Robinson! Oh well, at least Cusiter's box kicking was better at the weekend and he made some useful snipes. It's just his passing that seems to have left him. Odd that Robinson wouldn't use the established club pairing but Robinson's selections are so often odd I'm not surprised.

Well from what As states above, it's likely to be Cusiter and Laidlaw.

Not sure if that partnership will work as Laidlaw will be used to quick zippy passes which Cusiter doesn't deliver.

I agree about the weekend.

We never learn do we.....already I have forgotten last week and the optimism is starting to return. By Saturday night I'll be in a mode of unrealistic belief that we can do the Welsh in their own backyard.

The joys of supporting Scotland!

I just want the new generation to play and to give us all some belief that the future is going to hold something special for Scottish rugby.

We saw glimpses of it at Netherdale last Friday, so we can but hope.

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:
I just want the new generation to play and to give us all some belief that the future is going to hold something special for Scottish rugby.

We saw glimpses of it at Netherdale last Friday, so we can but hope.

+1

Wouldn't have any problem with Cus, really - his scrag of Ashton was brilliant but his passing seems to have gone a bit Shakin Stevens.

But he's not playing so much better than Blair as to warrant his place, however. The 9 and 10 positions should be considered as a set, particularly as I presume AR's main fear is a lack of continuity.

Would love to see Hogg get a full half hour at least and more importantly, hopefully the management know that if they try and contain Wales rather than attacking them, we are stuffed.

By the same token, if Warbuton's injury keeps him out and assuming that Lydiate is not going to make it either, I think that a lot of Welsh posters are completely underestimating what a handful our forwards are going to be. Their line out is going to get hammered.

There will also be no Morrison this weekend, he's captaining Glasgow this week.

George Carlin wrote:Wouldn't have any problem with Cus, really - his scrag of Ashton was brilliant but his passing seems to have gone a bit Shakin Stevens.

Just get Greig Laidlaw to dress up as a Green Door and there'll be no problem.

Team confirmed:

Scotland team (sponsor RBS) to play Wales in the RBS 6 Nations Championship at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Sunday 12 February, kick-off 3pm

15 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors) 27 caps, 6 tries, 30 points

14 Lee Jones (Edinburgh Rugby) 1 cap
13 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh Rugby) 30 caps, 1 try, 5 points
12 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 61 caps, 8 tries, 40 points
11 Max Evans (Castres) 25 caps, 3 tries, 15 points

10 Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh Rugby) 3 caps
9 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 56 caps, 3 tries, 15 points

1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby) 61 caps
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby) 54 caps, 2 tries, 10 points CAPTAIN
3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh Rugby) 9 caps
4 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 17 caps
5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester) 35 caps, 1 try, 5 points
6 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester) 24 caps, 1 try, 5 points
7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh Rugby) 12 caps
8 David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby) 2 caps

Scotland XV to play Wales

1. Jacobsen
2. Ford (c)
3. Cross
4. Gray
5. Hamilton
6. Strokosch
7. Rennie
8. Denton

9. Cusiter
10. Laidlaw
11. Evans
12. S Lamont
13. De Luca
14. Jones
15. R Lamont

Subs:
16. Lawson
17. Kalman
18. Kellock
19. Barclay
20. Blair
21. Weir
22. Hogg

This official

think Cusiter lucky to remain, as his passing was poor

Glad to see both Laidlaw and Weir in the mix

STRONG bench

Over all - happy with the team - might have changed 12 - but with the big runners makes sense to have lamont there

Remaining pieces:

Substitutes

16 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) 30 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
17 Ed Kalman (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
18 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) 37 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) 33 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
20 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby) 76 caps, 7 tries, 35 points
21 Duncan Weir (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped
22 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors) uncapped

Referee: Romain Poite (France). Assistant referees: Peter Fitzgibbon and Simon McDowell (both Ireland). TMO: Giulio de Santis (Italy)

Euan Murray injured?

formerly known as Sam wrote:Euan Murray injured?

Is on a Sunday

Stand by my earlier comments:

Would have preferred to see Hogg replacing Ramont, and Blair partnering Laidlaw - not at all surprised that nothing has been done to address our lack of a genuine 12 (Matt Scott, Andy, heard of him?). Would prefer any other prop than Dickinson on the bench

Dickinson obviously not recovered and not considered. Happy with the selection, 12 is the one outstanding issue that glares out, and would have gone with club halfback partnerships

That would be the obvious answer!

By the same token, if Warbuton's injury keeps him out and assuming that Lydiate is not going to make it either, I think that a lot of Welsh posters are completely underestimating what a handful our forwards are going to be. Their line out is going to get hammered.

I can understand your confidence but there's really no guarantee your lineout will be able to disrupt us as much as Ireland's did. POC is reputed as one of the top locks in the NH in that department, have the likes of Gray and Hamilton made it to that billing yet?

Your back row against England looked good on the charge and with ball in hand, much like Ireland's during the WC. We've nullified them twice now. In other words Denton and Rennie haven't shown themselves to be 'fetchers' yet, while Warburton and on Sunday Tipuric both have. I'm confident the outcome will look the same, especially as it's unlikely that both Warbs and Lydiate will miss out

Laidlaw will learn soon enough, much as the Irish did, the depth of the transition between club and country. He's yet to be proven at this level and unlike most I don't see him as the sole difference between a successful Scottish side and an unsuccessful Scottish side.....

Bring yer best boys, Wales by 10-20

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Remaining pieces

Cheers, I had a bit of a mare with the old copy and paste

Knowsit, i realise that this will be tantamount to heresy to my Irish friends, but I think that Gray/Hamilton or better still Gray/Kellock is superior to post-injury-POC/DOC. Am worried about the breakdown, we absolutely need to match you there, toe2toe. Head says Wales by a short handful, heart says rampaging Scottish victory!

ooooohhh - If that had been an English poster there would have been cries of arrogance!!!

Come on ye Scots, get tore in on Sunday!

AsLongAs, wouldn't have it any other way buddy

Heart and head both whispering Wales, not without caution by any means as I'm aware we're still an inconsistent, unpredictable bunch most of the time and there'll be more expectation on us at home. But I'm as confident as ever and I can't see Gatland and the boys letting hype run away with them

So, George North to replace Bradley Davies?

If the game is anything like two years ago, it'll be an absolute belter.

Looking for a reverse this time though with a magnificent Scots comeback!

Decent team. Although I'd have liked the Glasgow and Edinburgh half back partnerships kept the same, Blair and Laidlaw together, with Cusiter & Weir on the bench.

Mods, any chance we could merge this thread with the other? Thanks

Tattie Scones RRN wrote:If the game is anything like two years ago, it'll be an absolute belter.

Looking for a reverse this time though with a magnificent Scots comeback!

How good would that be, Tattie? Will have shouted myself hoarse by midway thru the first half. Ah, feet back on the ground, not getting too carried away just yet ... we still need Robinson to give Laidlaw a bit more of a free-hand with tactics

Aye, Georgie to fill in for Bradley in the lineout and scrumtime while otherwise sticking to his regular route to the tryline via the tunnel through the opposition

Knowsit17 wrote:Aye, Georgie to fill in for Bradley in the lineout and scrumtime while otherwise sticking to his regular route to the tryline via the tunnel through the opposition

Oh, so he needs a tunnel? Big girl's blouse

I'm chuffed with the team. I am really glad we've kept our nippy wings. I'm also delighted to see Laidlaw get his chance. I just hope he doesnt try to win the game on his own.

So Hamilton's call for some stability in selection has been heard (by the way I have a feeling it was a wider plea, rather than one man sounding off) hence us seeing Lamont at 12 and Cus at 9.

Anyway I can't wait to see how we go. I have a feeling this is the start of a new era and the results will come. Maybe not this weekend but over the whole championship and over the summer tour.

OK, fellow Scots, so the team is out, it's a bit of a new broom as far as pivot goes, now what tactics should we bamboozle Wales with?

luckless_pedestrian wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Wouldn't have any problem with Cus, really - his scrag of Ashton was brilliant but his passing seems to have gone a bit Shakin Stevens.

Just get Greig Laidlaw to dress up as a Green Door and there'll be no problem.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:OK, fellow Scots, so the team is out, it's a bit of a new broom as far as pivot goes, now what tactics should we bamboozle Wales with?

How about scoring some of those 'tries' things that I've heard so much about?

That would be howl at the moon shocking.
But with Laidlaw, Jones and (hopefully) Hogg on the pitch, that's going to be much less of a problem.

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:Aye, Georgie to fill in for Bradley in the lineout and scrumtime while otherwise sticking to his regular route to the tryline via the tunnel through the opposition

Oh, so he needs a tunnel? Big girl's blouse

How dare you put words in my mouth

Never said he needs one but while we're on the subject he makes them actually :GeorgeNorth emoticon:

This selection is daft, if a bit bonkers. I hope Laidlaw can reach his potential with Cusiter, considering they've never played together, at club or on the international scene, only on the training ground for however long this Scotland camp has been. I see two names on this teamsheet that should be at least moved, ie Rory Lamont and Schlong. As people have said above lack of a proper inside centre, means lack of tries, we cannot go on this way, and Rory had a wee bit of a stinker against England and is just not on form. Hogg scored from the halfway line for God's sake! I don't normally blame the coach, but when we have the players to actually achieve what we want, Andy just doesn't seem to pick them. At this point in time we need a selector not a stubborn, fundamentalist coach. As for Jim Hamilton talking about the players being uncomfortable, welcome to international rugby mate, there's selection pressure at every level so you need to grow up and stop whining and putting pressure on a coach who's selection is already fairly dire.

George Carlin wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:OK, fellow Scots, so the team is out, it's a bit of a new broom as far as pivot goes, now what tactics should we bamboozle Wales with?

How about scoring some of those 'tries' things that I've heard so much about?

That would be howl at the moon shocking.
But with Laidlaw, Jones and (hopefully) Hogg on the pitch, that's going to be much less of a problem.

"Tries"? Vastly over-rated, you don't need them to win games and I'm pretty sure they're only worth 1 point. No need to waste our time and effort on those.

The half-back combination confuses me a bit. If it's not working who do they sub? Take off Cus for the edin pairing or Laidlaw for the glas pairing. And if that doesn't work then we're back to an odd couple. Keeping the club partnerships would have been a better idea in my opinion. Only time will tell if Robbo's decision pans out.

That should be Salmond's campaign for Independence...

All rugby teams that play Scotland at Murrayfield will be awarded 1 point for a try and 5 for a penalty/drop goal.

Scotland will be awarded the same but an additional two points for every knock on and idolated man giving away a penalty.

Got my vote Alex.

OK, fellow Scots, so the team is out, it's a bit of a new broom as far as pivot goes, now what tactics should we bamboozle Wales with?

I'm not a fellow Scot but for a defensive tactic take out our backs legs. Our back line were very far apart from each other so don't worry about offloads. Ok we scored using 2 offloads but only 2 per game is very few. This will stop our back lines fluidity, just make sure your back row are there to hoover up the ball from the tackled back.

There now how much will I get for my info....

Impossible Standards wrote:

OK, fellow Scots, so the team is out, it's a bit of a new broom as far as pivot goes, now what tactics should we bamboozle Wales with?

I'm not a fellow Scot but for a defensive tactic take out our backs legs. Our back line were very far apart from each other so don't worry about offloads. Ok we scored using 2 offloads but only 2 per game is very few. This will stop our back lines fluidity, just make sure your back row are there to hoover up the ball from the tackled back.

There now how much will I get for my info....

That's 2 more than Scotland ever produce in a game! No doubt the game plan won't differ from the England game despite the change in personel. Kick for territory.

Impossible Standards wrote:

OK, fellow Scots, so the team is out, it's a bit of a new broom as far as pivot goes, now what tactics should we bamboozle Wales with?

I'm not a fellow Scot but for a defensive tactic take out our backs legs. Our back line were very far apart from each other so don't worry about offloads. Ok we scored using 2 offloads but only 2 per game is very few. This will stop our back lines fluidity, just make sure your back row are there to hoover up the ball from the tackled back.

There now how much will I get for my info....

You fool! Ask for the money, then give them the info! Then again, it's the Scots we're talking about, you wouldn't get much money out of them...