Can we say Scotland are actually back now?

[g6mcg]

I think it was (and is) fair to be dismissive. We played well in the autumn but the results weren't strong enough to justify any of the big three 6N fearing us. Glasgow have been playing very well but that hasn't translated to international success yet. Most of our better recent international performances have been heroic defeats.

I'd view three wins in this year's tournament as good progress after we've progressed in previous year's to being consistently competitive. Hopefully we can build and start consistently winning more than one game a year!

 

[Maverick1987]

I've been very very impressed . I'm not feeling very confident at all for a fortnight tbh . I keep going back to the struggles their scrum has had as a base but let's be honest our scrum has hardly been great .....

 

[Saint4805]

That's all fair but it depends on how you lose (if you do) and how you perform overall.

I did use the words 'soundly beaten' in my original post.

For me a big sign of progress this year is closing out wins against the likes of Wales and Ireland. We have really struggled to do this in recent years. This should hopefully breed confidence and lead to winning against the top sides on a more regular basis.

 

[ALJ]

I did use the words 'soundly beaten' in my original post.

For me a big sign of progress this year is closing out wins against the likes of Wales and Ireland. We have really struggled to do this in recent years. This should hopefully breed confidence and lead to winning against the top sides on a more regular basis.

Yep, I think we're basically saying the same thing tbh.

 

[sigesige00]

Can Scotland go 4th (World Rugby ranking) by beating England and Italy?

 

[ALJ]

Can Scotland go 4th (World Rugby ranking) by beating England and Italy?

Dunno about the ranking but they could definitely win both games.

 

[DozeyPillock]

Can Scotland go 4th (World Rugby ranking) by beating England and Italy?

I don't think the Italy game has a bearing as they are too far apart in ranking already, but beating England would lift them to 4th I believe
Though that does require Ireland to lose against Wales

 

[RobTaylor]

Scotland have come on leaps and bounds but will only be a success if they follow this up with a strong Autumn and 6Ns 2018. But I do fancy them to cause an upset next week and defo run England close. Possibly one way England could do the deed is tactically. Rucking is in built in the Scottish DNA, so how about this for a think out of the box idea, don't contest it stand around and wave your arms and confuse them for 40 mins :lol2:

 

[welshoptimist]

I think beating England in England is a hard ask for anyone right now, Scotland have been coming on for years now, to be honest I think if they had a few more world class front rowers they would be the best team in the tournament , I hate to say it but if I use my head I would say England by 3 points, its odd to say this but I think England will need a better performance to beat Scotland than any they have had so far .

 

[McTallshort]

I think beating England in England is a hard ask for anyone right now, Scotland have been coming on for years now, to be honest I think if they had a few more world class front rowers they would be the best team in the tournament , I hate to say it but if I use my head I would say England by 3 points, its odd to say this but I think England will need a better performance to beat Scotland than any they have had so far .

It's not odd it's true

 

[welshoptimist]

It's not odd it's true

yeah I suppose so, I guess I thought it was odd because I have been watching the Scotland side for the last couple of years and it hasn't seemed to matter how well anybody has played against them, they just seemed to have a lot of talent and self destruct in the last 20 mins of the game . will be a tough shout for the lions this year

 

[sigesige00]

England game was a huge disappointment. Now is there no chance for Scotland to go 4th in the World Rugby Rankings before the 2019 World Cup pool allocation?

 

[barkinghooker]

Does it matter if Scotland got to 4th? Japan surely would be top 4 seeded as host nation ?

 

[ncurd]

Does it matter if Scotland got to 4th? Japan surely would be top 4 seeded as host nation ?

I suspect top 8 seeds will be world rankings still.

Seeding matters little for the top 8 sides group of deaths are createdoing byou which side are out of it.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

Yeah, no chance of a top 4 ranking for the RWC - stuck in the second pool of seeds. Which arguably confirms that they are "back", as that is historically their level (and one they have been lagging below for some time). 4th in the world rankings will be between Wales and Ireland depending on results next weekend.

 

[barkinghooker]

I just read Wikipedia on how the draw is done. Japan won't be top seeded which I thought is weird considering they are hosts.
Argentina,Fiji, Japan and Georgia make up 9th-12th seeds. Scotland probably will be alright getting out of their group.

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I just read Wikipedia on how the draw is done. Japan won't be top seeded which I thought is weird considering they are hosts.
Argentina,Fiji, Japan and Georgia make up 9th-12th seeds. Scotland probably will be alright getting out of their group.

I'm not certain it's been completely finalised that Japan won't be in the top pool (as with football), but yes, sadly, all the noises suggest they will be ranked way down in the third pool (thereby greatly increasing the chances of a second RWC in a row being lessened as a spectacle due to the hosts not getting out of their group ).

Could be Japan vs New Zealand vs South Africa in the same group, and Japan effectively out of the competition after 7 or 8 days depending on the schedule. Also means if the schedule works the same as in the last RWC, Japan will be shafted (as they were last time with their grotesquely short turnaround time for the Scotland game).

 

[die_mole]

Are their logistical reasons for the draw being this early?

 

[barkinghooker]

Japan certainly will be doomed.

 

[mosfeldt]

So can someone actually explain why they didn't resign Cotter's contract? I'm looking at Cotter's CV vs Townsend's and they are not even close. Townsend has nowhere near the experience Cotter does, he's only been head-coaching since 2012 while Cotter has been at it since 2000. Also taking into account how much better Scotland have been performing the past few years - they can actually score tries now and genuinely look composed and menacing at times, remember when Scotland's only wins were through grinding down the opposition to their sh*te level and Paterson's boot? Sure Townsend has so far done a good job with Glasgow, but they only won the Pro-12 once and let's face it the Pro-12 isn't exactly teeming with quality opposition. Plus they sit at 6th at the moment.

It's just a no-brainer for me. I'm not doubting Townsend's coaching abilities, it could be fantastic for Scotland. But nobody really knows, the experience just isn't there yet. Why fix what's not broken? I'm concerned about this because I really want Scotland's resurgence to improve, it was simply fantastic actually having them in the competition. They were unlucky with all their injures and the YC against England, that could've been a very fun match to watch with Scotland coming 3rd. Anyways Cotter has built up a decent squad, the foundations are there. I will be watching their tour to Australia with interest, though without Hogg I'm not sure if they can be as competitive as their last 2 encounters with the Ozzies (both of which they should really really have won!). Who's Hogg's back-up?