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Scotland v Portugal

teams have been named alright,


Not really sure what to make of the Scottish lineup especially the absence of Paterson, thought he would have played in the opener at least.
 
Pretty much what i expected really! Surprised at Ford and Paterson being on the bench but i guess Hadden doesnt want Chris injured!

More or less one of our stronger sides!

EDIT: Just realised:

Where is Henderson! He isnt even on the bench! Thats is a bit too far! Hadden i know wont want him injured but still, not even having him on the Bench!!!
 
Paterson is on bench - but FFS he needs to play! he is Scotlands best stand-off, but he will only play to his full potential if he gets a couple of moral boosting games under his belt (ie. Portugal and Romania)

as for muffles, he IS injured, hence he isnt in the team.

would like to have seen Ford start, but Lawson could also do with match practice so i shalnt complain.

All in all, this should be an easy victory for Scotland, but even in my short time supporting scotland i have learnt not to take anyone lightly. i wont be happy until i see a scotland a good 20 points to the good.
 
I think Parks is playing ahead of Paterson because he didn't feature much in the 2 summer tests so Hadden will give him an 'easy' 60-70mins to prepare him and shoe what he can do to put pressure on Paterson. I presume Parks will kick. Same sort of idea with Ford and Lawson.

Di Rollo has had a poor year for Edinburgh and hasn't really played for Scotland much recently. I hope maybe he can get his head up with a decent performance to, again, put pressure on Rob Dewey. Dewey is just a very fast and big man, very limitied elsewhere. He did well for Edinburgh, because by and large inside centres in the ML aren't that big. For Scotland we're yet to see his real power, and I think he's struggling at outside. But I wouldn't for one minute think about dropping Henderson who is going to be a really big player for us this world cup.

I do think we'll beat Portugal comfortably without really hitting top gear. The biggest problem against 'weaker' opposition is injuries and if we can stay clear of them against Portugal and Romania then we can give the All Blacks a good run for their money and get revenge on Italy.
 
But surely Paterson needs some more game time to settle into the no. 10 slot with more confidence? In the warmup game against Ireland he was sublime, but he showed some serious lapses on defense against the Boks. Was pretty much expected, as the lines of defense at flyhalf differs substantially from that of wing/fullback. I`d have rather given Paterson a good 60 minutes, and maybe ease Parks into some feel with the last 20. That is, if I would have selected Parks at all for the squad.
 
What channel is the Scottish game on?
And does it overlap with any of the 3 games being shown on ITV1 today?
 
ITV4? and STV.

i think the schedule is such that no games should overlap. (barring some serious stoppages)

im actually beginning to get nervous now! well, we should win, but im nervous about how we will perform.
 
I think will be a scotland win on portugal debut, by 40 points.It will be a good learning experience for portugal. We'll see what will happen.
 
Yes hopfully we can win, but watching the Wales - Canada game, we need to put Portugal on the back foot from the start!

And sorry, should of realised that Henderson was injured!
 
I personally don't think you should worry about Portugal the same way we should have worried about Canada.
Scotland's forwards, after some serious gym work, are looking beastly. You'll have the strength, fitness and skill to overcome this side.
The only problem you may encounter is yourselves.
Not being clinical enough, being sloppy on moves - you know the things that plague all the home nations.
But, seriously, the words: "Rampant", "Trouncing", "Beating" are all going to be used in this match today. Hell why not throw in a "Raping" as well?!
 
Wow that was a powerful and very emotional Portuguese national anthem... They are up for this, and they will pour their little hearts and souls into this game...
 
Yep and they are already pushing themselves all the way! they will probably tire themselvves out in the 2nd half though!
 

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