Scotland v England

[An Tarbh]

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Scotland v England

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So England travel to Murrayfield looking to retain the Calcutta Cup won so easily at Twickenham last year and confidence will certainly be high following their Le Crunch victory in Paris, add to that the dismal performances put in by Scotland so far and there can surely only be one winner.

You'd think so but you'd have thought the same in 2000 when the Scots had lost to all before them before England arrived at Murrayfield with the seemingly inevitable task of winning the game and taking home a grand slam to boot, but as we know things didn't work out like that.

So 8 years later can history repeat itself or will England keep their championship hopes alive heading into their final game with Ireland???

 

[Prestwick]

This is my synopsis of the upcoming clash:

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[lineens weegie army]

As much as I hope and pray Scotland can put in a 2000'esq performance, I can only really see England lifting the Calcutta Cup at full time.

That said, part of me reckons this one will be MUCH tighter than many people believe!

 

[chinwaggler]

When do the squads get announced? I know they trained today but.. is it Tuesday?

Bets for Ballshaw being in it? :cryy:

 

[An Tarbh]

Even with Balshaw in the team that's no excuse for not getting the job done on Saturday

 

[nick_w]

Even with Balshaw in the team that's no excuse for not getting the job done on Saturday
[/b]

Spot on. England need to show that "Le Crunch" victory was not a flash in the pan.

Ashton has got to break the mould here, take some risks and use some young blood. Its good to see Care and Sinbad in the squad, but I hope they aren't there just to make up the numbers. Simpson-Daniel has always had a strong case for England, and Danny Care has been knocking on the door since last October.

My choice for the starting 22;

15- Cipriani
14- Simpson Daniel
13- Flood
12- Tait
11- Vainikolo
10- Wilkinson
9- Care
8- Narraway
7- Croft
6- Haskell
5- Borthwick
4- Shaw
3- Sheridan
2- Mears
1- Vickery

Some surprises, but let me explain. Firstly Cipriani at Full Back. He played here when he first started at Wasps and its a good way to induct him into the international game without putting him under the pressures of working at Fly Half.

Tait in the centre. He hasn't been given much of a chance in this years 6n, and he has more to add to the game than Noon does (well, thats what I think).

Vainikolo still in the team. Despite his age, I think if he comes off the wing more, and if the centers involve him more I think he could have a devastating impact. You only have to look at his work at Gloucester (esp whenever he got the ball against Quins yesterday) to see that he puts fear into opponents.

Wilkinson still in the team. Simply because i don't think Cipriani is ready yet, and Charlie Hodgson (despite his brilliance at Sale) seems to struggle at international level.

 

[shtove]

I'd like to see Ashton sticking to his guns - if they are his guns - and England putting on a total performance. If they can't do it against Scotland, then Ashton should go because there's just too much fannying about.

Scotland? They have the muscle to match England, but there just isn't the wit out wide to win this match. Good luck, all the same - sometimes a single win can give that crucial confidence.

 

[chinwaggler]

Doesn't anyone else think Lewsey should be at full-back?

And who's sinbad... and Vickery and Sheridan are the wrong way round.. and why take Wiggles off when he played well last week.. and I'm gay

 

[CatmanF1]

Being half English and half Scottish I'm in two minds! Up to the France game I would have been set for a Scottish surprise - but now England may have sorted their 2nd half blunders I'm not sure! All I hope for is a good game. Twill be interesting to see Patterson vs Wilkinson. I agree theres not much out wide and I think England will take advantage of that!

 

[Incredible Schalk]

We just have to sort out defense its an absoloute joke how easy it is to break, with players constantly being caught out of position. We have a chance, but we need to play for 80 minutes and not 20 ala Ireland and France and 0 minutes versus Wales.

 

[dundeesmiffy]

I'm not betting on this game because I don't want to be unpatriotic.
My team however my team would be;

1. Jacobsen
2. Ford
3. Murray
4. Hines
5. Murray © if White is absent.
6. White © / Strokosch (if White's not fit)
7. Hogg
8. Brown
9. Blair
10. Paterson
11. R. Lamont
12. Henderson
13. Webster
14. Danielli
15. Southwell

16. Hall
17. Kerr
18. Kellock (if fit)
19. Strokosch/Rennie
20. Lawson
21. Godman
22. Cairns/McRae

I was at the Scotland A's defeat of Ireland A, Dannielli was on form, I've been sketchy about him if I'm honest but he had a great game.
Cairns and McRae can cover a variety of positions well, namely center and wing which would have the biggest potential for f*** up IMO.
Looking at Danielli and Webster there, they are both prone to letting there nerves get the best of them.

 

[polonius]

I see from the SRU website a few tickets may still available ...

http://www.scottishrugby.org/sru/index.cfm...B3-E3929DB45BC4

 

[Col]

Doesn't anyone else think Lewsey should be at full-back?

And who's sinbad... and Vickery and Sheridan are the wrong way round.. and why take Wiggles off when he played well last week.. and I'm gay
[/b]

1. Yes.
2. James Simpson-Daniel
3. Wigglesworth will start, I'm certain.

 

[Fantasy King]

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7276614.stm:

Scotland have made two changes for the Calcutta Cup clash against England at Murrayfield on Saturday.

Simon Taylor returns in the back row, while centre Graham Morrison makes his first start in four years.

Kelly Brown and Andrew Henderson drop out of Frank Hadden's starting line-up for the match.

Meanwhile, in the backs Morrison will make his first start for Scotland since 2004, as he is preferred to Glasgow team-mate Henderson at inside centre.

Scotland centre Nick De Luca was ruled out of the squad with an ankle injury.

Scotland team:

H Southwell (Edinburgh); R Lamont (Sale Sharks), S Webster (Edinburgh), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), N Walker (Ospreys); C Paterson (Gloucester), M Blair (Edinburgh, captain); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton Saints), N Hines (Perpignan), S MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets), A Strokosch (Gloucester), S Taylor (Stade Francais), A Hogg (Edinburgh).

Replacements: F Thomson (Glasgow Warriors), A Dickinson (Gloucester), C Smith (Edinburgh), J White (Sale Sharks), K Brown (Glasgow Warriors), R Lawson (Gloucester), D Parks (Glasgow Warriors).

 

[edinburgh_gunner]

Surprised Henderson was dropped and that Webbo is still at centre. I also though Cairns has done enough to warrant a call up.

 

[crispy]

Surprised Henderson was dropped and that Webbo is still at centre. I also though Cairns has done enough to warrant a call up.
[/b]

It's not really that surprising. Henderson is great when he doesn't have the ball, he's solid in defence and works hard to get into good positions, but his passing game isn't that good and he rarely breaks the gain line. Morrison's been playing really well for Scotland A and deserves his call up. I agree that Cairns should be in at 13 to replace De Luca, although Webster looked pretty lively against Ireland.

Interesting that there's a whole front row on the bench, but no lock replacement except for Jason White. I think not playing Rennie at openside is a mistake, a backrow of Strokosch, Rennie and Hogg would work better than Strokosch, Hogg, Taylor, since Hogg isn't a natural openside.

 

[Incredible Schalk]

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Surprised Henderson was dropped and that Webbo is still at centre. I also though Cairns has done enough to warrant a call up.
[/b]

It's not really that surprising. Henderson is great when he doesn't have the ball, he's solid in defence and works hard to get into good positions, but his passing game isn't that good and he rarely breaks the gain line. [/b][/quote]


What? thats one of his strengths, breaking the gainline. His weakness is a lack of pace..

 

[lineens weegie army]

Not sure what to make of the team really, while some players call-ups are definatly warranted (G-Dog in particular) i think dropping Barclay for Hogg is a strange one! Also (trying to stay away from talking about that "anti-Glasgow bias" - although there certainly seems to be favour shown towards exiles) I think Moray Low is much more deserving of a place in the side than Al Dickinson. (considering he was getting praise from neutrals and opposition fans on friday, as he has been all season)

As for Henderson, its the same decision Lineen made last week, I wonder who's pulling the strings now? (only joking, see reasons above as to why Hadden is still in charge)

My biggest concern about this game, though, is the man in the middle - a certain Mr Kaplan, whom was also refereeing at Firhill last friday and whom TBH wasnt up to standard. It took him several minutes to spot Kellock in a scuffle with an Ospreys forward, and when Al got injured at the beginning of the second half there were several breaks in play and he failed to notice him completley. (indeed, im not even sure he realised he had gone off - rather scary considering he was captaining the side.)

 

[Fantasy King]

From BBC:

England team to face Scotland at Murrayfield, Saturday 8 March:

D Cipriani (Wasps); P Sackey (Wasps), J Noon (Newcastle), T Flood (Newcastle), L Vainikolo (Gloucester); J Wilkinson (Newcastle), R Wigglesworth (Sale Sharks); A Sheridan (Sale Sharks), L Mears (Bath), P Vickery (Wasps, capt), S Shaw (Wasps), S Borthwick (Bath), T Croft (Leicester), M Lipman (Bath), N Easter (Harlequins)
Replacements: G Chuter (Leicester), M Stevens (Bath), B Kay (Leicester), L Narraway (Gloucester), P Hodgson (London Irish), M Tait (Newcastle), I Balshaw (Gloucester).

 

[An Tarbh]

So the lovechild is finally dropped, only took 3 games of abject failure to get the message through