6N Round 1: France v Scotland, 7 February

     
FRANCE v SCOTLAND
Saturday 7 February 2015
KO 17:00 (GMT)/18:00 (local)
Stade de France, Paris

Live on BBC1.

Referee: Nigel Owens (WRU)
Touch Judge 1: Glen Jackson (NZR)
Touch Judge 2: Mike Fraser (NZR)
TMO: George Ayoub (ARU)

A. Teams:

1. France

15 Scott Spedding (Bayonne)
14 Yoann Huget (Toulouse)
13 Mathieu Bastareaud (Toulon)
12 Wesley Fofana (Clermont)
11 Teddy Thomas (Racing Metro)
10 Camille Lopez (Clermont)
09 Rory Kockott (Castres)

01 Alexandre Menini (Toulon)
02 Guilhem Guirado (Toulon)
03 Rabah Slimani (Stade Francais)
04 Pascal Papé (Stade Francais)
05 Yoann Maestri (Toulouse)
06 Thierry Dusautoir (c) (Toulouse)
07 Bernard Le Roux (Racing Metro)
08 Damien Chouly (Clermont )

16 Benjamin Kayser (Clermont)
17 Uini Atonio (La Rochelle)
18 Eddy Ben Arous (Racing Metro)
19 Romain Taofifenua (Toulon)
20 Loann Goujon (La Rochelle)
21 Morgan Parra (Clermont)
22 Rémi Talès (Castres)
23 Rémi Lamerat (Castres)

2. Scotland

15 Stuart Hogg (Glasgow Warriors)
14 Tommy Seymour (Glasgow Warriors)
13 Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors)
12 Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors)
11 Tim Visser (Edinburgh Rugby)
10 Finn Russell (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Greig Laidlaw CAPTAIN (Gloucester)

1 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby)
2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh Rugby)
3 Euan Murray (Glasgow Warriors)
4 Richie Gray (Castres)
5 Jonny Gray (Glasgow Warriors)
6 Rob Harley (Glasgow Warriors)
7 Blair Cowan (London Irish)
8 Johnnie Beattie (Castres)

16 Fraser Brown (Glasgow Warriors)
17 Gordon Reid (Glasgow Warriors)
18 Geoff Cross (London Irish)
19 Jim Hamilton (Saracens)
20 Alasdair Strokosch (USA Perpignan)
21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Edinburgh Rugby)
22 Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors)
23 Dougie Fife (Edinburgh Rugby)

B. Tournament Form (last 3 games):

1. France

15/3/14 - France 20 - 22 Ireland

8/3/14 - Scotland 17 - 19 France

21/2/14 - Wales 27 - 6 France

2. Scotland

15/3/14 - Wales 51 - 3 Scotland

8/3/14 - Scotland 17 - 19 France

22/2/14 - Italy 20 - 21 Scotland

C. Head to Head:

87 Played 87
50 Wins 34
34 Losses 50
3 Draws 3
153 Tries 132
78 Conversions 70
119 Penalties 127
28 Drop Goals 15
1,228 Points 1,049

Going to be a long two weeks waiting for this, especially with no games this weekend.

One can only wonder what kind of nonsense will be sprouted on this thread over the coming days...

Exciting news about McKibbin. http://www.london-irish.com/h/news/london-irish-sign-2014-super-rugby-champion/bp246/

I cant imagine Scott Steele will be too chuffed, but that's yet another Scots qualified player who will be playing top class rugby next season.

Surely the SRU will have been in touch?

Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- what Alive555 really gets up to living in Bangkok;
- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks;
- why Numbers has been ignoring us all recently;
- whether we can convince Asbo and Schiz to re-join the group for this tournament;
- why MacKnocked-on chose that as a user name;
- how big BigGee actually is;
- why teh_Dingmeister cannot correct the spelling mistake in his user name;
- where Nematode is now that he's been forced to move from Edinburgh's pitch;
- how much tigertattie likes BVC;
- why EWT Spoons is called EWT Spoons and WTF that actually means;
- what cakeordeath's favourite cake is;
- whether there is any truth to the rumour that highland_scot cannot post more frequently due to the sporadic nature of internet connection in the Highlands;
- what jimbopip thinks about DevoMax;
- how young Bru's stones are currently getting on;
- whether who cares is French, actually Scottish or a hard drinking hybrid of the two;
- whether Bsando has worked through his complicated heritage issues and decided whether to be an Aussie or a Jock;
- what the riskiest sport is that Riskysports has ever tried;
- why lostinwales doesn't just use the satnav on his phone to get out of Wales;
- what Radge thinks is the best thing about Dunfermline;
- whether madmaccas has punched an old woman, urinated in a shop's cash register or done anything properly, certifiably mad;
- whether CP10 lives in Stockbridge or somewhere that, well, just isn't as good as Stockbridge;
- what Miss Dotty Mantooth thinks about life;
- how Maj knows so freakishly much about Scots players and whether, in fact, he uses his brainpower for anything else;
- whether Baby FES has already asked her dad if her formula milk is organic;
- why Prothero chose to live in Salisbury;
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him;
- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland;
- whether TattieScones believes that Frankie Boyle really should have been banned from television.

That should tide us over.

Discuss.

haha!! Briliant GC! I have made some progress, I think I will for the foreseeable future be living in Europe so Scotland will always be No.1 for me.. But I will always support wallabies and western force

George Carlin wrote:
- whether who cares is French, actually Scottish or a hard drinking hybrid of the two;

haha, would need to double check with my ma! seriously I would make a very poor Scot since last time I was up there I actually needed an Australian guy to help me "translate"

so are you haggis eating folks believing its 1999 again ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75ulEljWOCg

George Carlin wrote:
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him

The best I can do is this charming upmarket looking hangout in Perth, Oz http://www.llamabar.com/ Looks like its been lifted straight out of George Street

Definite gap in the market identified though, I'll get to work on a business plan

TheMildlyFranticLlama wrote:

George Carlin wrote:
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him

The best I can do is this charming upmarket looking hangout in Perth, Oz http://www.llamabar.com/  Looks like its been lifted straight out of George Street

Definite gap in the market identified though, I'll get to work on a business plan

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- what Alive555 really gets up to living in Bangkok;
- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks;
- why Numbers has been ignoring us all recently;
- whether we can convince Asbo and Schiz to re-join the group for this tournament;
- why MacKnocked-on chose that as a user name;
- how big BigGee actually is;
- why teh_Dingmeister cannot correct the spelling mistake in his user name;
- where Nematode is now that he's been forced to move from Edinburgh's pitch;
- how much tigertattie likes BVC;
- why EWT Spoons is called EWT Spoons and WTF that actually means;
- what cakeordeath's favourite cake is;
- whether there is any truth to the rumour that highland_scot cannot post more frequently due to the sporadic nature of internet connection in the Highlands;
- what jimbopip thinks about DevoMax;
- how young Bru's stones are currently getting on;
- whether who cares is French, actually Scottish or a hard drinking hybrid of the two;
- whether Bsando has worked through his complicated heritage issues and decided whether to be an Aussie or a Jock;
- what the riskiest sport is that Riskysports has ever tried;
- why lostinwales doesn't just use the satnav on his phone to get out of Wales;
- what Radge thinks is the best thing about Dunfermline;
- whether madmaccas has punched an old woman, urinated in a shop's cash register or done anything properly, certifiably mad;
- whether CP10 lives in Stockbridge or somewhere that, well, just isn't as good as Stockbridge;
- what Miss Dotty Mantooth thinks about life;
- how Maj knows so freakishly much about Scots players and whether, in fact, he uses his brainpower for anything else;
- whether Baby FES has already asked her dad if her formula milk is organic;
- why Prothero chose to live in Salisbury;
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him; and
- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland.

That should tide us over.

Discuss.

-Have I offended GC to be ignored on his quite comprehensive list.

My bad Mr Scones - OP amended.

So, at the moment we're probably looking at a match day squad of...

Dickinson, Ford, Cross
Gray x 2
Harley, Denton, Cowan
Laidlaw, Russell
Dunbar, Bennett
Seymour, Hogg, Maitland

Bench - Reid, Brown, Welsh, Toolis, Sam H-C, Tonks, Lamont

So what's the team currently looking like?

1 - Dickinson
2 - Ford
3 - Murray / Cross / Welsh
4 - Gray
5 - Gray
6 - Harley (knee/ankle) / Strokosch (shoulder)
7 - Cowan
8 - Denton (calf) / Beattie

9 - Laidlaw
10 - Russell
11 - Seymour
12 - Scott (shoulder) / Dunbar (concussion) / Horne
13 - Dunbar (concussion) / Bennett
14 - Maitland (shoulder) / Visser
15 - Hogg

16 - Brown
17 - Reid
18 - Cross / Welsh
19 - Hamilton / Ben Toolis (back)
20 - Strokosch (shoulder) / Beattie
21 - Hidalgo Clyne / Pygros
22 - Greig Tonks (concussion) / Horne
23 - Bennett / Visser / Lamont / Dougie Fife (leg)

Blindside flanker is a worry, what is the prognosis on Harley's injury?  Majorly frustrating that Brown isn't in the squad considering both 6's are currently injured.  

Centre is a bit of an issue but sounds like both Scott and Dunbar should be available, would be great to see them paired together again but would equally happy to see Bennett starting.  Honestly not sure what the best partnership would be, perhaps a bit of horses for courses.

Not sure who the current first choice TH is, probably still Murray.

Beattie's original omission would suggest that Denton is first-choice 8, will be interesting to see if Ashe returns to starting XV after a very impressive AIs.

George Carlin wrote:
- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland;

Well now you mention it, I thought Maitland played very well yesterday!

Just a shame it was him trying to go for the line at the very end and not WP Nel!

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks; He sure does

- whether we can convince Asbo and Schiz to re-join the group for this tournament; Maybe one day they will man up and come back!

- where Nematode is now that he's been forced to move from Edinburgh's pitch; Rumours say he's off to Cardiff

- how much tigertattie likes BVC; I've got high hopes for his Verness but I'm still a bit worried about the chance that Rab C is pulling strings which would mean BVC is a patsy or he'll not tollerate the interfernace and will toddle off leaving us with Rab C in charge again

- what cakeordeath's favourite cake is; Best 606v2 question EVER!!!

- what the riskiest sport is that Riskysports has ever tried; I heard he tried getting a game of tiddlywinks started in a Govan pub while "The Rangers" were playing

- what Radge thinks is the best thing about Dunfermline; Leaving it to commute into work?

- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland; Coz Sean Lamont scores more tries that him!


That should tide us over.

Discuss.

Just a few that I felt required comment!

I honestly never know what to make of Scotland and despite having all the Blues away for us this year its the Scots away game that I feel more nervous about.

George Carlin wrote:
- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks;

Thankfully not since I bought my special firework watching outfit

bedfordwelsh wrote:I honestly never know what to make of Scotland and despite having all the Blues away for us this year its the Scots away game that I feel more nervous about.

I think that we'll give you a very serious game this year, Bedford.

George Carlin wrote:

bedfordwelsh wrote:I honestly never know what to make of Scotland and despite having all the Blues away for us this year its the Scots away game that I feel more nervous about.

I think that we'll give you a very serious game this year, Bedford.

GC,

I don't doubt it for one minute, for some reason and I can't really explain why but its the one game I am more worried about than the others.

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- whether Baby FES has already asked her dad if her formula milk is organic;


That should tide us over.

Discuss.

Formula??!! You get thrown out of Stockbridge for even uttering the word. All Stockbridge babies are exclusively breastfed, despite the majority of Stockbridge Mums currently heading off to Verbier for "the season" sans baby for three weeks and Waitrose always being out of stock.....

BabyfES is yet to utter her first words, but if she could speak I'm sure she'd want to let Mrs fES know that Dad works extremely hard and really ought to be relaxing more in the evenings.....

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

...
- why lostinwales doesn't just use the satnav on his phone to get out of Wales;
...
Discuss.

I did eventually make it out, despite the patchy mobile coverage . Now living happily in the land of my forefathers in NW England

Just havent thought of a good enough (or any) new name to replace the old...

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- what Alive555 really gets up to living in Bangkok;
- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks;
- why Numbers has been ignoring us all recently;
- whether we can convince Asbo and Schiz to re-join the group for this tournament;
- why MacKnocked-on chose that as a user name;
- how big BigGee actually is;
- why teh_Dingmeister cannot correct the spelling mistake in his user name;
- where Nematode is now that he's been forced to move from Edinburgh's pitch;
- how much tigertattie likes BVC;
- why EWT Spoons is called EWT Spoons and WTF that actually means;
- what cakeordeath's favourite cake is;
- whether there is any truth to the rumour that highland_scot cannot post more frequently due to the sporadic nature of internet connection in the Highlands;
- what jimbopip thinks about DevoMax;
- how young Bru's stones are currently getting on;
- whether who cares is French, actually Scottish or a hard drinking hybrid of the two;
- whether Bsando has worked through his complicated heritage issues and decided whether to be an Aussie or a Jock;
- what the riskiest sport is that Riskysports has ever tried;
- why lostinwales doesn't just use the satnav on his phone to get out of Wales;
- what Radge thinks is the best thing about Dunfermline;
- whether madmaccas has punched an old woman, urinated in a shop's cash register or done anything properly, certifiably mad;
- whether CP10 lives in Stockbridge or somewhere that, well, just isn't as good as Stockbridge;
- what Miss Dotty Mantooth thinks about life;
- how Maj knows so freakishly much about Scots players and whether, in fact, he uses his brainpower for anything else;
- whether Baby FES has already asked her dad if her formula milk is organic;
- why Prothero chose to live in Salisbury;
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him;
- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland;
- whether TattieScones believes that Frankie Boyle really should have been banned from television.

That should tide us over.

Discuss.

I can confirm that I rarely use my brainpower for anything else!

Interesting tweet from the SRU showing pictures of the Scotland team doing the yo-yo test (a form of fitness test) - the last 4 standing were Laidlaw, Blake, Hidalgo-Clyne and Watson.

Given that Laidlaw and Watson are known to be incredibly fit, it might come as a surprise to hear that joint winners were Laidlaw and.....wait for it.....Hugh Blake! The guy is obviously in good shape.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Interesting tweet from the SRU showing pictures of the Scotland team doing the yo-yo test (a form of fitness test) - the last 4 standing were Laidlaw, Blake, Hidalgo-Clyne and Watson.

Given that Laidlaw and Watson are known to be incredibly fit, it might come as a surprise to hear that joint winners were Laidlaw and.....wait for it.....Hugh Blake! The guy is obviously in good shape.

That's because he's only about 9 or something depressing like that. I used to be fit once. Then came the Eating Years...

For those that have done yo-yo tests, they were at level 19 when it got to the top 4, which is very good. They didn't say what score the two winners got.

For those that haven't done a yo-yo test, you would probably be spewing out your eyeballs by level 10!

George Carlin wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Interesting tweet from the SRU showing pictures of the Scotland team doing the yo-yo test (a form of fitness test) - the last 4 standing were Laidlaw, Blake, Hidalgo-Clyne and Watson.

Given that Laidlaw and Watson are known to be incredibly fit, it might come as a surprise to hear that joint winners were Laidlaw and.....wait for it.....Hugh Blake! The guy is obviously in good shape.

That's because he's only about 9 or something depressing like that. I used to be fit once. Then came the Eating Years...

My eating years started at age six and continue to this day it seems!

Whatever a "yo-yo test" is it sounds awful.

I vaguely remember something horrendous called a "bleep test" when I was a fit young whippersnapper, and being rubbish at it. Then came the "ergo trials" at Uni. I'd probably pull a hamstring just get on one these days!

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- why EWT Spoons is called EWT Spoons and WTF that actually means;
Discuss.

Not massively exciting I’m afraid.  I created the account when Scotland had just picked up another wooden spoon or were well on our way to getting one, and I was frustrated by our continuing desire to collect that one particular piece of cutlery.

So EWT Spoons = Enough With The Spoons

Had I actually put some thought into it, I'd like to think I would have come up with something better, but I didn't, and now I'm stuck with it.

Oh if you ask a mod nicely you can get your nick changed

meh sounds like too much work. I can live with having a fairly rubbish nickname on an internet forum.

Thanks for the heads up though

lostinwales wrote:Oh if you ask a mod nicely you can get your nick changed

Doesn't come cheap though, especially because an Admin has to do it!

How are we feeling about the French match?

I'm optimistic but wary of the fact they beat Australia in the Autumn and winning in Paris is a big ask.

Concerned about the prospect of getting out muscled up front, Glasgow have looked vulnerable at the scrum and driving maul recently.  Traditionally this is where the French are strong and if we lose the territory battle we could be in for a long-evening.  That said; Ford, Gray Snr, Cowan and Denton are bigger than their Glasgow counterparts plus Harley will hopefully be fit.

We should be able to match them in the backs, especially if we go for Scott and Dunbar.  

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- what Alive555 really gets up to living in Bangkok;
- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks;
- why Numbers has been ignoring us all recently;
- whether we can convince Asbo and Schiz to re-join the group for this tournament;
- why MacKnocked-on chose that as a user name;
- how big BigGee actually is;
- why teh_Dingmeister cannot correct the spelling mistake in his user name;
- where Nematode is now that he's been forced to move from Edinburgh's pitch;
- how much tigertattie likes BVC;
- why EWT Spoons is called EWT Spoons and WTF that actually means;
- what cakeordeath's favourite cake is;
- whether there is any truth to the rumour that highland_scot cannot post more frequently due to the sporadic nature of internet connection in the Highlands;
- what jimbopip thinks about DevoMax;
- how young Bru's stones are currently getting on;
- whether who cares is French, actually Scottish or a hard drinking hybrid of the two;
- whether Bsando has worked through his complicated heritage issues and decided whether to be an Aussie or a Jock;
- what the riskiest sport is that Riskysports has ever tried;
- why lostinwales doesn't just use the satnav on his phone to get out of Wales;
- what Radge thinks is the best thing about Dunfermline;
- whether madmaccas has punched an old woman, urinated in a shop's cash register or done anything properly, certifiably mad;
- whether CP10 lives in Stockbridge or somewhere that, well, just isn't as good as Stockbridge;
- what Miss Dotty Mantooth thinks about life;
- how Maj knows so freakishly much about Scots players and whether, in fact, he uses his brainpower for anything else;
- whether Baby FES has already asked her dad if her formula milk is organic;
- why Prothero chose to live in Salisbury;
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him;
- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland;
- whether TattieScones believes that Frankie Boyle really should have been banned from television.

That should tide us over.

Discuss.

Netball....

When will Funny Exiled Scot update his name to take into account he now is is Scotland - or does his Chateau technically class as a separate county?

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:
...

- whether there is any truth to the rumour that highland_scot cannot post more frequently due to the sporadic nature of internet connection in the Highlands;

Now in Edinburgh (but not Stockbridge), left the Highlands a few years ago. But having discovered reliable internet, that brings so many more distractions...

Plus I'm constantly busy at work and type enough when I'm there so can rarely be bothered typing when I'm not at work

George Carlin - is he the love child of Will Carling = but used impressive skills to remain incognito (by deleting a g)

One of Will Carling's middle names is George.

Something to fess up to GC?

EWT Spoons wrote:meh sounds like too much work.  I can live with having a fairly rubbish nickname on an internet forum.

Thanks for the heads up though

+1

RDW_Scotland wrote:

lostinwales wrote:Oh if you ask a mod nicely you can get your nick changed

Doesn't come cheap though, especially because an Admin has to do it!

I'll give you 5p if you change GC's name to "Orgasms@AyrPlayers"

reallybored wrote:How are we feeling about the French match?

I'm optimistic but wary of the fact they beat Australia in the Autumn and winning in Paris is a big ask.

Concerned about the prospect of getting out muscled up front, Glasgow have looked vulnerable at the scrum and driving maul recently.  Traditionally this is where the French are strong and if we lose the territory battle we could be in for a long-evening.  That said; Ford, Gray Snr, Cowan and Denton are bigger than their Glasgow counterparts plus Harley will hopefully be fit.

We should be able to match them in the backs, especially if we go for Scott and Dunbar.  

It's a complete cliché, but the whole 'which French side will turn up' thing is completely apt in this case.  It's their first game, so we really don't have a clue.

Worth remembering we've not beaten France away since 1999 - would be a very famous victory indeed if we managed it this time.

I definitely think we can do it, whether we do or not is a completely different question!

looking at the squads , I would guess that :
- front row : advantage for Scotland till the 60th minutes then comes our 150kg prop (Atonio) who means business
- 2nd row : clear advantage to Scotland
- backrow : I would go with France on that one, we dont have a real N8 though.
- half back : even . havent seen much of laidlaw recently but would put russel and lopez on similar level
- centres : Fofana form is ok but whoever plays outside him have been average recently so would go for Scotland specially if dumbar+bennett are paired.
- back 3 : would go for france

whocares wrote:looking at the squads , I would guess that :
- front row : advantage for Scotland till the 60th minutes then comes our 150kg prop (Atonio) who means business
- 2nd row : clear advantage to Scotland
- backrow : I would go with France on that one, we dont have a real N8 though.
- half back : even . havent seen much of laidlaw recently but would put russel and lopez on similar level
- centres : Fofana form is ok but whoever plays outside him have been average recently so would go for Scotland specially if dumbar+bennett are paired.
- back 3 : would go for france

So the clear plan here is for Scotland to put France away before the 60th minute and then avoid scrums like the plague from then on.  Which should in theory see us through with a cheeky wee win.  How could this go wrong?!

EWT Spoons wrote:

whocares wrote:looking at the squads , I would guess that :
- front row : advantage for Scotland till the 60th minutes then comes our 150kg prop (Atonio) who means business
- 2nd row : clear advantage to Scotland
- backrow : I would go with France on that one, we dont have a real N8 though.
- half back : even . havent seen much of laidlaw recently but would put russel and lopez on similar level
- centres : Fofana form is ok but whoever plays outside him have been average recently so would go for Scotland specially if dumbar+bennett are paired.
- back 3 : would go for france

So the clear plan here is for Scotland to put France away before the 60th minute and then avoid scrums like the plague from then on.  Which should in theory see us through with a cheeky wee win.  How could this go wrong?!

Kind of like Glasgow v Bath? That went well...

When they bring on a 150kg prop, that means Scotland bring on Hogg/Bennett to run around him. I doubt there will be much agility there, though I may be wrong. Just don't let him get the ball and get up steam running!

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- what Alive555 really gets up to living in Bangkok;
- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks;
- why Numbers has been ignoring us all recently;
- whether we can convince Asbo and Schiz to re-join the group for this tournament;
- why MacKnocked-on chose that as a user name;
- how big BigGee actually is;
- why teh_Dingmeister cannot correct the spelling mistake in his user name;
- where Nematode is now that he's been forced to move from Edinburgh's pitch;
- how much tigertattie likes BVC;
- why EWT Spoons is called EWT Spoons and WTF that actually means;
- what cakeordeath's favourite cake is;
- whether there is any truth to the rumour that highland_scot cannot post more frequently due to the sporadic nature of internet connection in the Highlands;
- what jimbopip thinks about DevoMax;
- how young Bru's stones are currently getting on;
- whether who cares is French, actually Scottish or a hard drinking hybrid of the two;
- whether Bsando has worked through his complicated heritage issues and decided whether to be an Aussie or a Jock;
- what the riskiest sport is that Riskysports has ever tried;
- why lostinwales doesn't just use the satnav on his phone to get out of Wales;
- what Radge thinks is the best thing about Dunfermline;
- whether madmaccas has punched an old woman, urinated in a shop's cash register or done anything properly, certifiably mad;
- whether CP10 lives in Stockbridge or somewhere that, well, just isn't as good as Stockbridge;
- what Miss Dotty Mantooth thinks about life;
- how Maj knows so freakishly much about Scots players and whether, in fact, he uses his brainpower for anything else;
- whether Baby FES has already asked her dad if her formula milk is organic;
- why Prothero chose to live in Salisbury;
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him;
- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland;
- whether TattieScones believes that Frankie Boyle really should have been banned from television.

That should tide us over.

Discuss.

Glad to see that my increased posting on the board has been noticed by his modness, GC. 'Tis merely an example of Internet vernacular. All the cool kids do it these days as an esteemed form of irony.

In the light of Beattie's recall to the squad and all the knocks to the players it'd be interesting to see if his Browness will be worthy of a call up should the mad Stroker go down.

Would Harley actually be match fit to start considering he's been out for a while?

Weegie Wizard wrote:One of Will Carling's middle names is George.

Something to fess up to GC?

Happy to clarify the difference using the medium of photgraphy:

                                   

One of the funniest men ever       A bumfaced clown made of mummified foreskin and bitterness

I've seen a bit McKibbon for the Tahs in SR. Didn't feature much last year when they won the title, offers a decent goalkicking option but nothing that much stands out in other areas though I suppose it'd be good to have as an option to increase depth at scrum half.

Maitland was a lot better yesterday, hard to really say whether Seymour or Visser would have scored from that position in the Bath game.

Bring on the 6 nations!!

whocares wrote:looking at the squads , I would guess that :
- front row : advantage for Scotland till the 60th minutes then comes our 150kg prop (Atonio) who means business
- 2nd row : clear advantage to Scotland
- backrow : I would go with France on that one, we dont have a real N8 though.
- half back : even . havent seen much of laidlaw recently but would put russel and lopez on similar level
- centres : Fofana form is ok but whoever plays outside him have been average recently so would go for Scotland specially if dumbar+bennett are paired.
- back 3 : would go for france

Says something that no-one has taken umbrage at the thought that our most exciting back three for years might be bested. I would say that if the backs inside them can provide good ball, we should at least be on par.

George Carlin wrote:Absolutely - topics to be discussed in the intervening two weeks surely have to include:

- what Alive555 really gets up to living in Bangkok;
- whether GLove really does get sunburned watching fireworks;
- why Numbers has been ignoring us all recently;
- whether we can convince Asbo and Schiz to re-join the group for this tournament;
- why MacKnocked-on chose that as a user name;
- how big BigGee actually is;
- why teh_Dingmeister cannot correct the spelling mistake in his user name;
- where Nematode is now that he's been forced to move from Edinburgh's pitch;
- how much tigertattie likes BVC;
- why EWT Spoons is called EWT Spoons and WTF that actually means;
- what cakeordeath's favourite cake is;
- whether there is any truth to the rumour that highland_scot cannot post more frequently due to the sporadic nature of internet connection in the Highlands;
- what jimbopip thinks about DevoMax;
- how young Bru's stones are currently getting on;
- whether who cares is French, actually Scottish or a hard drinking hybrid of the two;
- whether Bsando has worked through his complicated heritage issues and decided whether to be an Aussie or a Jock;
- what the riskiest sport is that Riskysports has ever tried;
- why lostinwales doesn't just use the satnav on his phone to get out of Wales;
- what Radge thinks is the best thing about Dunfermline;
- whether madmaccas has punched an old woman, urinated in a shop's cash register or done anything properly, certifiably mad;
- whether CP10 lives in Stockbridge or somewhere that, well, just isn't as good as Stockbridge;
- what Miss Dotty Mantooth thinks about life;
- how Maj knows so freakishly much about Scots players and whether, in fact, he uses his brainpower for anything else;
- whether Baby FES has already asked her dad if her formula milk is organic;
- why Prothero chose to live in Salisbury;
- why TheMildlyFranticLlama doesn't already have 3 pubs named after him;
- why RDW cannot stop making fun of Sean Maitland;
- whether TattieScones believes that Frankie Boyle really should have been banned from television.

That should tide us over.

Discuss.

One doesn't just choose to live in Salisbury, it calls and you answer!

Nah wife Got a contract down here so i ended up leaving the greatest city in the world (Edinburgh) for this quaint lil "city". Originally from Berwickshire though.

Really do not rate Hogg that much - so would prefer Maitland at Full Back

In the light of Dodson reaffirming his theory that we ought to win the world cup we really ought to be winning this game. I don't think the French have a particularly strong team this year and we've come close recently so I think it's time for a win otherwise we would be looking at 10 years without beating them which is not acceptable . I think the team picks itself to an extent unless Harley and Hogg etc. are unavailable, ideally they should play club rugby this weekend for one of the prem teams rather than coming in cold.
Also has anyone any idea the standard of u20s this year?

Riskysports wrote:When will Funny Exiled Scot update his name to take into account he now is is Scotland - or does his Chateau technically class as a separate county?

I consider Stockbridge akin to a principality - rather like Monaco to the Cote D'Azur in France, where the beautiful people reside.....