Scotland post mortem

First topic message reminder :

So we're oot.

Question is... what now?

Do we think toonie will stay? If he does take the can which seems quite likely then who do we get to replace him?

I think this has to be the end of a few players too. We can't keep picking people on past form.

Strauss scoring against the great unwashed

Why can’t he do it for Scotland?

Hutchison played at 12 today for Northampton as they went through Leicester, half decent performance by Jones at 13 tonight and we might have the makings of a decent centre partnership in place.

Also of note was Fraser Dingwall. I'd have his agent's number if I was one of the Scottish scouts and be looking to tempt him with a potential 6Ns place over England.

123456789. wrote:Hutchison played at 12 today for Northampton as they went through Leicester, half decent performance by Jones at 13 tonight and we might have the makings of a decent centre partnership in place.

Taylor was excellent for Sarries last weekend as well, at 13. He plainly wasn't match fit at the World Cup, another Toonie blunder.

Hutchinson and Taylor would be a nicely balanced duo outside Finn Russell. From the Scottish sides I'd say Sam Johnson has been ok so far, and Bennett looks sharp. Hard to judge the Edinburgh centres, as the backline doesn't appear to be on the receiving end of professional coaching.

I just watched the saints v Leicester game as well. Hutchinson is an absolute Rolls Royce of a centre, what a game he had, just seems to have so much time on the ball and such vision, he had a hand in virtually every try they scored.

On current form, he is our best centre by a country mile.

My worry with Hutchinson is whether he'll make it to the 6N - he's starting every game this season and has a brutal run in to the championship. I hope he gets looked after!

From games so far I wouldn't be surprised if Hutchinson starts ahead of Johnson in 6N assuming he does remain injury free up until then. Glad to hear Taylor is getting his form back, he definitely looked rusty for Scotland in the warmups and RWC.

I saw Dell isn't starting again today for Irish and he isn't on the bench. Is he injured? Considering Kebble, Schoeman both starting regularly for Edinburgh and Glasgow respectively I am pretty worried about loosehead at the moment. No Scottish players are starting regularly enough at a professional level.

Johnson to be fair, is one of the few Glasgow players coming out of the current malaise with anything like his reputation intact. I think he is still the incumbent and at international level, Hutchy may be better at 13.

Looking forward to seeing Craig and Laing play for Gloucester and Quins this afternoon.

Craig has been up and coming for a while now, but finally seems to be breaking through and nailing down a starting spot.

Laing is a bit of a forgotten man, but seems to have nailed down the 12 shirt for Quins down and has been playing well. He could still come back into the mix.

James Lang putting in a strong display today - he looks like he's packed some extra muscle on and is really physical. Goal kicker too.

I thought they both had pretty good games.

Lang is definitely a solid 12 option now, carries well and has a howitzer of a boot on him.

Craig has really filled out now and is a big solid lad now, it will be interesting to see how he develops now he is getting game time at this level.

Chris Harris was pretty quiet - he's struggling to stand out in this Gloucester team.

If all are fit, Toonie will not have any excuses left for a poor selection. Pete Hornes performance yesterday alone should rule him out, let alone his past record. Id have bennett, hutch and taylor or jones as OC options, johnson, scott and lang for IC. Already that looks a lot better than our WC squad and weve not even looked at the backrows yet. Consider the difference a backrow of Ritchie Watson and Bradbury would make. Like others have said, wilson should not be near the squad, id take crosbie instead. Thomson I'm still on the fence about. Id almost rather we start looking at Haining.

If Skinner is fit he should partner Cummings imo. Gray and GG need a boot up the erse and need to hunt at least 50 bunnies before theyre hard enough. Gray needs to show he can become a great player and not just reliable. GG is in the same boat. Toolis is decent but not good enough imo.

Front row is the biggest worry. We are clutching at straws here. No hookers are in great form for us, no looseheads are in form or eligible, we have one solid tighthead on the brink of intl. retirement and one who is ok but not going to worry many sides. We need some talent to come through in this area urgently or we are donald ducked in 4 years!

Can’t say I agree on Taylor as yet.

In The first half last week he just looked like he was all at sea. He was shooting out the line and forced the inside defence to come sliding over to cover for him.

I’m no centre expert but he looked like he was playing on his own in the first half. Second half was better but was that down to him getting a rollicking at half time and told to screw his head on ?

Still, Sarries rate him so he must offer something.