Scotland v Wales

[An Tarbh]

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Scotland v Wales</div>

Scotland welcome the defending champions to Murrayfield for their championship opener.

Frank Hadden should be reasonably confident given the recent form of the clubs and the individual players around Europe.

Wales will have taken further confidence from their performance in the Autumn as well as that of the Ospreys and the Blues in the Heineken Cup.

We should be looking at a Welsh win but any chance of the Scots ruining their day???

 

[munross]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (An Tarbh @ Feb 1 2009, 04:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

We should be looking at a Welsh win but any chance of the Scots ruining their day???[/b]

Nah I don't think so An Tarbh, Welsh clubs have been doing really good in the HC like you said, Scotish clubs haven't been doing that bad themselves but will not have the same intesity like the Welsh I feel, Wales should win quite comfortably

 

[Sir Speedy]

Just to be completely arrogant, and just for the sake of giving the Scots some ammunition if we do in fact lose, Wales losing this would be a massive step backwards and there should be zero chance of us failing.
There, I said it. Now to watch us cock up like in '06.

 

[An Tarbh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sir. Speedy @ Feb 1 2009, 03:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Just to be completely arrogant, and just for the sake of giving the Scots some ammunition if we do in fact lose, Wales losing this would be a massive step backwards and there should be zero chance of us failing.
There, I said it. Now to watch us cock up like in '06.[/b]

I can't see it happening cause it's hard to imagine that Wales won't score at least 2 or 3 tries, the Scots need their defence to be water tight and for them to take the 1 chance that comes their way like in their recent home wins over England and France.

 

[Sir Speedy]

We've started slowly in all competitions under Gatland though:

A match at Twickers which we shouldn't have won;
In SA where we were slaughtered like pigs;
Against SA in Cardiff when we should have won.

Hopefully Scotland will be the turning point of this tradition; or hopefully they'll just be not good enough to capitalize on this weakness.

 

[An Tarbh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Sir. Speedy @ Feb 1 2009, 04:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

We've started slowly in all competitions under Gatland though:

A match at Twickers which we shouldn't have won;
In SA where we were slaughtered like pigs;
Against SA in Cardiff when we should have won.

Hopefully Scotland will be the turning point of this tradition; or hopefully they'll just be not good enough to capitalize on this weakness.[/b]

I'd imagine it'll be more of the latter, the first half should be more than competitive but Wales should have enough class to finish them off in the second half.

 

[Cymro]

Porbably one of the hardest games for Wales to kick off their campaign!

Scotland are no mugs!

 

[An Tarbh]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Cymro @ Feb 1 2009, 05:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Porbably one of the hardest games for Wales to kick off their campaign!

Scotland are no mugs![/b]

true but Wales are grand slam champions going up against the team that has consistently finished in the bottom half of the tournament, there's harder places than Murrayfield to go and get the win.

 

[danny]

I dont see Scotland having enough fire power to win although Im sure they will make it really tough. Prediction Scotland 10 Wales 23.

 

[Incredible Schalk]

I really dont have a clue how this will go, Wales will probably win but if its more than 10 points it will be really dissapointing. Hopefully Murray will be fit, our backline looks good for once, really hoping we can get Evans into the game,Lamont as well.

 

[monkeypigeon]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Cymro @ Feb 1 2009, 05:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Porbably one of the hardest games for Wales to kick off their campaign!

Scotland are no mugs![/b]

To be honest I don't think there's any easy start's in the 6Nations anymore. At home to Scotland or Italy is probably the easiest but the first match, they'll always give you hell.

 

[Hall]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_unio...ish/7862156.stm

Bad times for Scotland if he does miss it. Good times for Wales though.

 

[Sir Speedy]

If we win it with Murray out, there'll be claims of 'lol bu their star playa wuz out', and if he is fit, they'll say 'lol but Scotland iz crap'.

I'm of course referring to 606. Good times are ahead.

 

[Sir Speedy]

If we lose this, I think I'll go into hiding for a year. The flak would be unbearable.

 

[shazbooger]

I work with a Scot and he's fairly optimistic. Good run the Autumn Internationals and the recent form of the Magners teams has been excellent.

At the same time, historically Wales always go from champions to wooden spoon contenders dont they?

Wales are favourites, but its surprising to see so many write off the Sctos so easily.

 

[dullonien]

Here's the team I would put out to face Scotland.

01 Gethin Jenkins
02 Mathew Rees (still a problem position)
03 Adam Jones
04 Ian Gough
05 Alun-Wyn Jones
06 Ryan Jones
07 Martyn Williams
08 Andy Powell

09 Mike Phillips
10 Stephen Jones
11 Shane Williams
12 Gavin Henson
13 Jamie Roberts
14 Leigh Halfpenny
15 Lee Burne

16 John Yapp
17 Huw Bennett
18 Luke Charteris
19 Dafydd Jones (Pitty Jonathan Thomas is injured)
20 Dwayne Peel
21 James Hook
22 Tom Shanklin

Jamie Roberts and Leigh Halfpenny are very useful players to have if there are any injuries, Roberts can cover 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15 whilst Halfpenny covers 11, 14 & 15. This means we can have tom shanklin as centre or wing cover (or move Jamie Roberts to wing/full back. We also have Henson who can cover full back (he's played 10, 11, 13 and 14 before too) and we have Hook who can cover 12 and 15.

I'm certainly excited to see how Wales progress from their (slightly dissapointing) Autumn campaign (would have been happy with the SA win aswell ). But we've gotta get the basics right, something Scotland are better than anyone else in the 6 Nations at doing. I fear they will rape our lineout, restricting our good attacking ball (it's vital there is improvement here). The backrow battle should be pretty even, with both teams possesing good quality there.

Scotland will hopefully be much improved on previous years (they're the other team I'll be supporting), their backline has some serious attacking threat at last, but our midfield partnership should soak up anything thrown at them. Jamie Roberts has been immense in this facet of play, whilst Henson doesn't miss much. I'm struggling to see anywhere Scotland are better than us in the backline, player for player Wales wins hands down, we've just gotta supply them good ball.

Overall, I see a hotly contested game for 50-60min, then Wales' superior fitness and attackling flair to see us home by 10-15.

One last thing - will we finally see the Henson - Roberts partnership everyones been waiting for? God I hope so (no getting injured again Henson!) That back three could also be lethal.

 

[Sir Speedy]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (dullonien @ Feb 3 2009, 11:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I'm struggling to see anywhere Scotland are better than us in the backline, player for player Wales wins hands down[/b]

Erm, I'd say Mike Blair is better than Phillips by a streak and then some.

And Henson has been pathetic recently. Thankfully he'll have the useless Scottish centres to run at... Or will they be ambitious and put the Evans brothers there? They'll cause hell if Henson isn't on his game.
Team is being released tomorrow. Mark Jones has been injured in training - says the BBC - so 1/2penny is likely to start. Hope he continues where he finished the Autumn.

 

[dundeesmiffy]

I can see this match being fought and won in the back row. Wales are going to be nipping at us all match, we need mobility and sold defense...oh and we need to score tries, sometimes I think we forget you are allowed to score 5/7 points some times.

 

[An Tarbh]

Scotland XV: 15 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh), 14 Simon Webster (Edinburgh), 13 Ben Cairns (Edinburgh), 12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), 11 Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints), 10 Phil Godman (Edinburgh), 9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh) CAPTAIN, 1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh), 2 Ross Ford (Edinburgh), 3 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh), 4 Jason White (Sale Sharks), 5 Jim Hamilton (Edinburgh), 6 Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), 8 Simon Taylor (Stade Francais)
7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)

Substitutes: 16 Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors), 17 Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester), 18 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors), 19 Scott Gray (Northampton Saints)
20 Chris Cusiter (Perpignan), 21 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh), 22 Max Evans (Glasgow Warriors)

So Hines and Murray miss out with their knee and rib injuries respectively. They're not sure yet whether they'll be available for the trip to Paris. Debut then for Cross, not sure why Hadden would start Southwell over Patterson, not talking about his kicking but surely Patterson offers more than Southwell who is nothing more than a journey man if even that.

 

[w3lshrugby]

EDIT: Beat me to it Tarby!!!

Scotland team doesn't look to shabby, although missing Murray could be a big blow to the Scots come Sunday afternoon.

Wales team to be announced under an hour!