Scottish rugby

[132goals1958]

32 minutes ago, leginten said:

I often think the Murrayfield experience is a poor one. If you are seated at the end of a row and you’re in the lower tiers, you’ll spend your entire afternoon having your view blocked by people who’re up and down for food and drink or the toilet seemingly five or six times in the 80 minutes. Especially if it’s one of the autumn tests, where half of the crowd seems to consist of people who have no interest whatsoever in watching the game. And don’t get me started on the completely shite, over-the-top, cringeworthy PA announcements and ear-splittingly loud bursts of music when there’s a score. Kills any hint of a real atmosphere. From what I hear from other Six Nations grounds on TV, it’s a lot more dignified and less americanised.

 

Tynecastle is an infinitely better spectator experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agree with your comments. I was endeavouring to provide a light hearted overview on my sporting weekend.  I found the razzmatazz way ott,  and I thought we had seen the last of   the Mexican wave. Cant understand all those folk jumping up and down with their backs to the game. One thing that needs to be addressed is the opportunity for football clubs to generate an additional revenue stream in selling alcohol within the confines of the ground even if it is on a selective basis.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

1 hour ago, Dawnrazor said:

Hopefully he starts, he played well recently and undoubtedly our best 10, but the personal rift between him and Townsend means I'd not be surprised if he comes on in the second half, sort of letting Townsend look as is he's stronger than he is. If we got beat next week and Russell didn't play he'd be under more pressure than he already is. I think this decision makes Townsend look weak, the personal dislike is well reported, he he went with playes at 10 who aren't i  the same class as Russell and it hasn't really worked, now he's went cap in hand to Russell, bad leadership for me.

They clearly have no time for each other and given that Townsend is on his way out, neither will be motivated to help the other. There’s no point now, the whole thing will move on soon enough.

 

What’s hard to know is who’s to blame. You’d assume Russell on a discipline basis but Hogg stepping out of line and going to that pub was interesting. I always thought of him as a Townsend loyalist, his main man, but it implied that even he was getting fed up with the structure. Townsend should either have shut Russell out completely or made peace with him early doors. The flip flopping is no good for anyone.

[briever]

1 hour ago, 132goals1958 said:

 

Agree with your comments. I was endeavouring to provide a light hearted overview on my sporting weekend.  I found the razzmatazz way ott,  and I thought we had seen the last of   the Mexican wave. Cant understand all those folk jumping up and down with their backs to the game. One thing that needs to be addressed is the opportunity for football clubs to generate an additional revenue stream in selling alcohol within the confines of the ground even if it is on a selective basis.

 

Murrayfield isn't really targeted at real sporting fans now - it's all about the pishy experience and apparently other demographics demand something else.

I noticed all the Autumn test games had terrible songs when tries were scored - almost as if Amazon were insisting on it.

[briever]

1 hour ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

They clearly have no time for each other and given that Townsend is on his way out, neither will be motivated to help the other. There’s no point now, the whole thing will move on soon enough.

 

What’s hard to know is who’s to blame. You’d assume Russell on a discipline basis but Hogg stepping out of line and going to that pub was interesting. I always thought of him as a Townsend loyalist, his main man, but it implied that even he was getting fed up with the structure. Townsend should either have shut Russell out completely or made peace with him early doors. The flip flopping is no good for anyone.

 

Technically he hasn't flipped flopped - his hand was forced.  There is no way they could go into the next two tests with a 10 on the bench who has managed 22mins of rugby this season.  That to me is the most pathetic part of this whole nonsense - Thomson hasn't had any gametime, but you get the feeling he could have broken his leg and Toonie would still have had him ahead of Finn in the squad.

 

Townsend knows himself he's got 11 months of his contract left - he wont want to tarnish his rep that much but his sights are set in the next year or two as the Lions Head coach - he cant afford to feck that up.  Sadly his ego will probably mean he will mess Russell about, praying really hard that Kinghorn somehow turns into a test 10.  It isn't going to happen - I just hope Finn stays around for the post Toonie era.

The chat is Hogg apologised for the night out, which Russell should have done too - but that's not Russell, he really doesn't care about much apart from playing rugby - especially apologising to a coach he doesn't have a massive amount of respect for, the origins of which are half time at Twickenham in 2019.

[Thunder and Lightning]

3 hours ago, JWL said:

 

We were paying £5.50 for cans of Tennents at the Australia game. It is what it is though. Actually thought a fiver for my burger and onions wasn't too bad.

 

The burger I got was £8. 😂 Nothing fancy, to be fair I needed it. No breakfast and a few cans made it a requirement. 

[Thunder and Lightning]

4 hours ago, 132goals1958 said:

 

Got two pints from that E -Bar £17.70 plus 2 Haggis Neeps and Taties £18.00 nearly £36 quid for 2 pints of flat beer in a plastic glass and cartons of greasy mash. To be fair I got a free ticket from someone who couldn't make it. Not been to the Rugby for some time and doubt if I will be back anytime soon. Spent most of the time watching on the big screen otherwise you miss loads of the action. Contrast that to sitting in my seat in the Wheatfield yesterday with a spectacular view of all the action followed by reasonably priced bevvy in the Mill and the option of a free pie. 

I went with the can option, just as I thought it may have a little more fizz than the pints that seemed to be just sitting about. 

[JWL]

35 minutes ago, Thunder and Lightning said:

 

The burger I got was £8. 😂 Nothing fancy, to be fair I needed it. No breakfast and a few cans made it a requirement. 

 

Not sure if mine was cheaper because it was after the game. Anyway, same as you, much needed as had nothing since 12.00 and in the pub from 13.00 and a few at the game. It was actually pretty tasty as well.

[Dawnrazor]

2 hours ago, Dusk_Till_Dawn said:

They clearly have no time for each other and given that Townsend is on his way out, neither will be motivated to help the other. There’s no point now, the whole thing will move on soon enough.

 

What’s hard to know is who’s to blame. You’d assume Russell on a discipline basis but Hogg stepping out of line and going to that pub was interesting. I always thought of him as a Townsend loyalist, his main man, but it implied that even he was getting fed up with the structure. Townsend should either have shut Russell out completely or made peace with him early doors. The flip flopping is no good for anyone.

I just think he's managed Finn Russell poorly, if you're a coach and have one of the best fly halfs around it's your job to manage him, it's your job to get the best out of him and make things work, that's what a coach is paid to do, not let personal feeling get in the way of the team.

Edited November 7, 2022 by Dawnrazor

[Mikey1874]

15 hours ago, Dawnrazor said:

I just think he's managed Finn Russell poorly, if you're a coach and have one of the best fly halfs around it's your job to manage him, it's your job to get the best out of him and make things work, that's what a coach is paid to do, not let personal feeling get in the way of the team.

 

The Fiji coach who was at Glasgow with Russell before Townsend set out the situation quite well last week. Said Russell had a good attitude and didn't understand why he would be dropped.

 

Current coaches at Racing 92 also praise Russell for his approach to games including diet, fitness and preparation. Though Russell has said France has a better attitude to players.

 

Townsend maybe just recreating his own difficulties when he was arguably discarded by Scotland too early. 

[Luckies1874]

Hogg making a bit of a tit of himself. Apparently now deleted but you'd think he'd have more pressing concerns after how poorly we've played the last 2 weekends and with the All Blacks on deck.

 

 

 

[briever]

1 hour ago, Mikey1874 said:

 

The Fiji coach who was at Glasgow with Russell before Townsend set out the situation quite well last week. Said Russell had a good attitude and didn't understand why he would be dropped.

 

Current coaches at Racing 92 also praise Russell for his approach to games including diet, fitness and preparation. Though Russell has said France has a better attitude to players.

 

Townsend maybe just recreating his own difficulties when he was arguably discarded by Scotland too early. 

 

You need to read Johnnie Beattie on that to get the real truth.

[I P Knightley]

3 hours ago, Luckies1874 said:

Hogg making a bit of a tit of himself. Apparently now deleted but you'd think he'd have more pressing concerns after how poorly we've played the last 2 weekends and with the All Blacks on deck.

 

 

 

He plays rugby union; hardly a world where the opportunity of a piss-take is turned down.

 

Almost every onscreen shot of him during the match when he didn't have the ball in hand, he was sorting out his pony tail. I saw the same when I watched some of a Chiefs match. If he was my team mate, there's no way that that would pass without frequent mentions.

 

Plus the fact that he's been borrowing Adam Hastings' teeth - that's bound to be worthy of a piss take.

[briever]

1 hour ago, I P Knightley said:

He plays rugby union; hardly a world where the opportunity of a piss-take is turned down.

 

Almost every onscreen shot of him during the match when he didn't have the ball in hand, he was sorting out his pony tail. I saw the same when I watched some of a Chiefs match. If he was my team mate, there's no way that that would pass without frequent mentions.

 

Plus the fact that he's been borrowing Adam Hastings' teeth - that's bound to be worthy of a piss take.

 

Hair and teeth transplants and he thinks he's not going to get the piss taken out of him.  

 

He's an attention seeking muppet that DOES need to focus on his game.

[New Town Loafer]

Finn Russell starting on Sunday. Townsend is all over the place, has undermined his own authority and should really be gone before the World Cup.

[PortyJambo]

#

Teams

Scotland: S Hogg, D Graham, C Harris, S Tuipulotu, D Van Der Merwe, F Russell, A Price; P Schoeman, F Brown, Z Fagerson, R Gray, G Gilchrist, J Ritchie, H Watson, M Fagerson

Replacements: E Ashman, R Sutherland, WP Nel, J Gray, J Dempsey, B White, B Kinghorn, M Bennett

New Zealand: J Barrett, M Telea, A Lienert-Brown, D Havili, C Clarke, B Barrett, F Christie; E De Groot, S Taukei'aho, N Laulala, S Whitelock (capt), S Barrett, A Ioane, D Papali'i, A Savea

Replacements: C Taylor, G Bower, F Newell, T Vaa'i, S Frizell, TJ Perenara, S Perofeta, R Ioane

Edited November 11, 2022 by PortyJambo

[Tazio]

I would have started Ashman as he had a good game in the loose last week when he came on. 

[Dawnrazor]

2 hours ago, New Town Loafer said:

Finn Russell starting on Sunday. Townsend is all over the place, has undermined his own authority and should really be gone before the World Cup.

Yep.

[merrymac]

Humble pie from Townsend, backed himself into a corner and then bottled it, needs to go asap.

Would have liked him to go the whole hog and start White at scrum half, much quicker than Price and offers a threat from the scrum base.

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

54 minutes ago, merrymac said:

Humble pie from Townsend, backed himself into a corner and then bottled it, needs to go asap.

Would have liked him to go the whole hog and start White at scrum half, much quicker than Price and offers a threat from the scrum base.

Price is v slow at the breakdown.

 

Hopefully this means Russell will play at the World Cup, it’s the only way Scotland have any chance of getting out the group

[Tazio]

 O Scottish involvement and a different code but the League semi- final between Australia and New Zealand is live on BBC2 just now. Australia should win no problem but the Kiwis are well up for it and some incredibly skilful players. 

[Malinga the Swinga]

11 minutes ago, Tazio said:

 O Scottish involvement and a different code but the League semi- final between Australia and New Zealand is live on BBC2 just now. Australia should win no problem but the Kiwis are well up for it and some incredibly skilful players. 

England have been given a virtual bye to final, they will hammer Samoa in semi but still believe Australia will be too strong overall.

Aussie double in men and women's league WC, but England women will win their final tomorrow.

 

[Tazio]

1 minute ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

England have been given a virtual bye to final, they will hammer Samoa in semi but still believe Australia will be too strong overall.

Aussie double in men and women's league WC, but England women will win their final tomorrow.

 

Yep, they’ve lulled themselves into thinking they’re going to win it. 
This is an interesting game with the different styles, Australian efficiency and gameplay against the looser Kiwi style with flair and offloads galore. 

[Dawnrazor]

5 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Yep, they’ve lulled themselves into thinking they’re going to win it. 

As England do in every competition they're in!

We've got the Bath v Tigers game on.

[Tazio]

11 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

As England do in every competition they're in!

We've got the Bath v Tigers game on.

You should swap codes. This is a great semi final. The Kiwis might not win but by god they’re good to watch.  

[Dawnrazor]

3 minutes ago, Tazio said:

You should swap codes. This is a great semi final. The Kiwis might not win but by god they’re good to watch.  

I'd be happy to watch the league game but my son has finished playing league for the season and is into the Union season, he's been given permission to play up a year with the Colts team so he's pretty focused!

 

 

[Malinga the Swinga]

3 minutes ago, Tazio said:

You should swap codes. This is a great semi final. The Kiwis might not win but by god they’re good to watch.  

Kiwis up at half time but all to play for in second half. Brutal game with tackles flying in from all over 

Kiwis battle hardened after Fiji quarter final though and they look determined.

Next 40 minutes will be a good watch.

[Dawnrazor]

Bad spill that.

[Tazio]

Fantastic game to watch. The Aussies winning by such a tight margin should have England nervous as they won’t let it happen again when it comes to the final. England have a good team in theory but they’ve not been tested and an easy semi isn’t what they need. 

[Malinga the Swinga]

Just now, Tazio said:

Fantastic game to watch. The Aussies winning by such a tight margin should have England nervous as they won’t let it happen again when it comes to the final. England have a good team in theory but they’ve not been tested and an easy semi isn’t what they need. 

Hopefully Samoa get stuck in to England but to me, that was final. Australia are so strong under high ball and England's forwards and backs aren't as big as NZ.

Great match tonight with two evenly matched teams.

[Tazio]

5 minutes ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

Hopefully Samoa get stuck in to England but to me, that was final. Australia are so strong under high ball and England's forwards and backs aren't as big as NZ.

Great match tonight with two evenly matched teams.

Also most of the good metres that NZ made was from great passing skills and offloads that the England team don’t have that skillset. 

[Malinga the Swinga]

5 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Also most of the good metres that NZ made was from great passing skills and offloads that the England team don’t have that skillset. 

Looking at report, tonights game has been described as greatest game of RL seen. Hard to disagree

[Dawnrazor]

5 minutes ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

Looking at report, tonights game has been described as greatest game of RL seen. Hard to disagree

I got to watch the second half and it's hard to argue with that description, phenomenal.

Hope England get humped.

[ri Alban]

RL is best sport on planet Earth.

[Malinga the Swinga]

NZ stun England in women's rugby union world cup final by 34-31.

Rec card in 1st 20 minutes cost England big time as you can't play about an hour a player short. First defeat in 30 test matches and what a game to lose it in.

Massive crowd, massive game and massive result.

Edited November 12, 2022 by Malinga the Swinga

[Tazio]

4 minutes ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

NZ stun England in women's rugby union world cup final by 34-31.

Rec card in 1st 20 minutes cost England big time as you can't play about an hour a player short. First defeat in 30 test matches and what a game to lose it in.

Massive crowd, massive game and massive result.

It sounds childish but the coverage after the match is ridiculous. It’s almost like the broadcaster and the guests in the studio had nothing at all planned in the event of England losing as it was already decided they were winning. 

[Malinga the Swinga]

2 minutes ago, Tazio said:

It sounds childish but the coverage after the match is ridiculous. It’s almost like the broadcaster and the guests in the studio had nothing at all planned in the event of England losing as it was already decided they were winning. 

To be fair, everyone expected England to win. Thought the England captain was good at speaking at end of game and gave full credit to winners.

England smashed NZ by about 40 points in last couple of games and it is some turnaround.

Only line out NZ stopped was that last one, 2 metres from your line, with 5 seconds to go and game on line. That line out touch won world cup.

Massive improvement in women's game in last couple of years, as in the league version. Need to improve kicking for points but rest of game is strong. Scotland investing money into game now as well as Wales and Ireland so hopefully they can push on.

[PortyJambo]

6 hours ago, ri Alban said:

RL is best sport on planet Earth.

[Dawnrazor]

1 hour ago, Tazio said:

It sounds childish but the coverage after the match is ridiculous. It’s almost like the broadcaster and the guests in the studio had nothing at all planned in the event of England losing as it was already decided they were winning. 

It's not childish at all, it's bang on the money, same in just about everything England enter.

[ri Alban]

2 hours ago, PortyJambo said:

RL

NFL 

Aussie Rules 

All fighting

Fitbaw 

Ice hockey

Darts/Snooker 

100m 

Dominos 

Strongman 

Cycling

Tennis 

And the mental sports.

 

[John Findlay]

3 hours ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

NZ stun England in women's rugby union world cup final by 34-31.

Rec card in 1st 20 minutes cost England big time as you can't play about an hour a player short. First defeat in 30 test matches and what a game to lose it in.

Massive crowd, massive game and massive result.

I would just like to point out that New Zealand only had 14 players on the pitch too, when they scored the winning try.

[briever]

9 hours ago, ri Alban said:

RL is best sport on planet Earth.

 

80mins of hump the turf, an appalling sport.

[Mikey1874]

Scottish referee in English defeat overnight. 

 

Bit of a pattern in the arrogance of the English women's elite teams. 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Mikey1874

[Dawnrazor]

Tremendous try by Fiji.

[I P Knightley]

Sickening for Fiji to have two tries against them by a guy who should have been in the bin. 

The commentators and the ref are doing my nut. I'm going to watch Italy v oz for the second half. 

[Dawnrazor]

1 minute ago, I P Knightley said:

Sickening for Fiji to have two tries against them by a guy who should have been in the bin. 

The commentators and the ref are doing my nut. I'm going to watch Italy v oz for the second half. 

Are Italy still winning?

[I P Knightley]

8 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said:

Are Italy still winning?

17-8 to the Eyeties. 

[Captain Sausage]

Townsend should’ve been gone after overseeing the abject failure in Japan. 
 

The fact he was given another term and the most talented squad in a generation and has nothing but some fourth place finishes in the 6 nations to show for it is a disgrace. 
 

Get him right to **** and bring in Scott Robertson. 

[Dusk_Till_Dawn]

The great thing about this is that Ireland will convince themselves that the World

Cup is possible, then they’ll bottle it. Will be 

 

[Tazio]

19 hours ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

England have been given a virtual bye to final, they will hammer Samoa in semi 

 

Samoa not sticking to the script so far. Leading at half time. 

[Dawnrazor]

1 hour ago, I P Knightley said:

17-8 to the Eyeties. 

What a result that is!!