[Six Nations 2018] Round 2: Scotland vs France (11/02/2018)

[Hastie7]

Horrible first ten minutes again for Scotland and Russell was poor today. Thereafter a pretty solid team performance.

Surprised to see people claiming Scotland got the rub from the ref. France didn't turn up second half and were clearly giving away penalties when Scotland lifted the tempo and put them under pressure.

They looked tired and ill disclined which Magne also stated in the studio. The Scotland team showed good character but will need to improve 20-30% to beat a very good England team.

 

[ncurd]

The reason why they felt the ref was giving the rub of the green is they watched the England/Wales games and forgot what a breakdown penalty looked like

 

[TommiG88]

Horrible first ten minutes again for Scotland and Russell was poor today. Thereafter a pretty solid team performance.

Surprised to see people claiming Scotland got the rub from the ref. France didn't turn up second half and were clearly giving away penalties when Scotland lifted the tempo and put them under pressure.

They looked tired and ill disclined which Magne also stated in the studio. The Scotland team showed good character but will need to improve 20-30% to beat a very good England team.

I just questioned the maul decision nearing the end. Other than that, I felt Scotland controlled the game in the second half. France looked shattered from the 50th minute, and once you got Russell off, I couldn't see you losing.

Playing through the forwards seems like the best way to beat France, they couldn't handle quick ball with your backs picking and going.

 

[FrenchFan]

France have some cracking player some marvellous talent so they always stand a chance against anyone , I wouldn't be so down beat tho they had Ireland beat and that was just unlucky and they should of closed that game out against Scotland but for their indiscipline and some Scottish rub of the green from the ref - they been a bit unlucky it's always the way when your in a transition period nothing goes for you , they do lack structure though and they need to stick with a co-signer halfback pairing once they sort all that I see good things for France - I hope they get it together

It's over for the union in this country. Les Bleus are an absolute charade. The clubs are making far better use of the individual talent.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lacey is an embarrassment to the sport, he really is.
He couldn't be more biased against France if he was wearing a kilt eating battered mars bars and dying of heart disease.

Think it's more overall standard of refs has dipped alot. You aren't wrong but I find it hard to see how there is not a bigger rotation of refs. Like for last 5 years or so it's been same 5/6 refs at top in Europe. I don't watch AP enough but I'm sure he have produced few in that time who aren't getting the push. Like here Joy Neville is a superb ref and there is a few others too.

 

[MikeTheNative]

I know Russel had a pretty poor game with his kicks and his attacking but it doesn't help with Laidlaw's ponderous service. I know it's harsh to criticise him too much after the game but he doesn't suit the game Scotland want to play.

 

[munstermuffin]

What happened with French in Edinburgh that FFR are investigating

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I know Russel had a pretty poor game with his kicks and his attacking but it doesn't help with Laidlaw's ponderous service. I know it's harsh to criticise him too much after the game but he doesn't suit the game Scotland want to play.

I think a lot of blame can go to Russel, he is hyped up as a great FH yet keeps losing his head. He had Price last week but made the same errors, against England last year the same, against Sarries the same. He looks good going forwards but is really bad under pressure.

 

[MikeTheNative]

What happened with French in Edinburgh that FFR are investigating

According to twitter 7 of them got into a fight with locals at a bar after going out after the Scotland game.

 

[munstermuffin]

According to twitter 7 of them got into a fight with locals at a bar after going out after the Scotland game.

Cool. I see now they're cleared

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

agreed. No need change my tune https://www.therugbyforum.com/threads/6-nations-hype-thread.40616/#post-885674
They always were in a fight for the wooden spoon from day 1. THey're a penalty giving machine. Typical of a poorly coached and shambolic side.

Not many were buying the union's little story about 'developing' players in a young squad. Brunel's recall of 32 yo Beauxis is very odd and contradicts the talk of 'developing players' when they leave 21 yo Belleau on bench. The union havent settled on a consistent HB pair in almost a decade.

Italy will def fancy their chance. A home win will just delay the inevitable. A defeat - and fan (and sponsors) backlash will eventually catch up with the FFR.

Very good of the FFR to suspend players for the Italy match for alleged misconduct in a night out in Edinburgh. Especially Teddy Thomas who has made a number of players look very foolish in the first two weeks. The thought of him running a line against Boni is thankfullly a nightmare I won't have to visualise!

 

[FrenchFan]

Very good of the FFR to suspend players for the Italy match for alleged misconduct in a night out in Edinburgh. Especially Teddy Thomas who has made a number of players look very foolish in the first two weeks. The thought of him running a line against Boni is thankfullly a nightmare I won't have to visualise!

Storm in a teacup. They were cleared of any wrong doing by the police.
But because of the unions poor handling of the situation the clubs are now getting involved. They don't like what they're hearing in the medias about their players. That and the HIA mess - which incidentally has been neatly pushed under the carpet by the 6N committee. The union is responsible for the HIA mess by appointing their own doctor. But it's the players that have been branded 'cheats' all over the medias. The view here is when the players play for the union **** happens...

the union are in meltdown over the national team. And Brunel's decision to exclude 9 players is laughable. Terrible management. And terrible replacements - Leroux, Bastareaud . The FFR are working hard at their own demise.

Brunel's scratch side to lose to Italy and implode v England and Wales.

 

[MikeTheNative]

They could have been told not to go out as they had an early flight in the morning but unless there is more transparency from the FFR we are never really going to know. They still have to play England and go away to Wales so Italy is going to be the wooden spoon clash.

 

[FrenchFan]

and in an amusing twist the players (Picamoles Thomas etc.) who have been excluded by Brunel after the Edinburgh non-event were selected to play last week-end for their clubs. The clubs were clearly making a statement to the union by fielding the players the union had just banned - What a laugh.

Sums up the club-country disconnect perfectly.

 

[FrenchFan]

and in an amusing twist the players (Picamoles Thomas etc.) who have been excluded by Brunel after the Edinburgh non-event were selected to play last week-end for their clubs. The clubs were clearly making a statement to the union by fielding the players the union had just banned - What a laugh.

Sums up the club-country disconnect perfectly.

The Edinburgh non-event has created a rift btw Picamoles and Brunel. Both men are no longer on same wavelength. Picamoles has made it clear he didn't like how Brunel and the union handled the situation. He has ruled himself out of the June tour even though he's fully fit (he's captain for his club in the final this weekend). He's not impressed with Brunel as a coach. What a surprise (Not!)... https://www.rugbyrama.fr/rugby/top-...t-a-l-equipe-de-france_sto6785643/story.shtml

This is what I've said before. The union and clubs couldn't be more at odds on their management of not just the players but even a mere post-game ****-up. I don't care about Edinburgh. It's the fallout that's interesting. The union took the schoolmaster approach with pro players and let the media blow the whole thing out of proporptions.

The clubs ignored the union ban, sent the media packing and selected their players to play the following weekend.

In the end the incident has backfired on the union who's had to handle a very avoidable **** storm in the media. They lost the services of players like Teddy Thomas, Louis Picamoles and Arthur Iturria who could have made a difference in another ****-poor 6N campaign. Iturria got so annoyed by the media coverage he got hold somehow of the CCTV footage from the hotel (don't know how he did it) and published the images that cleared his name (he was accused of coming back to hotel with face covered in bruises from a bar fight whereas the CCTV photos showed it wasn't true).

This is not over for the union. They're looking at a disaster tour of NZ this month with 12 or 13 first starters missing, falling revenues from drop in 6N attendance and a hard to avoid pool exit next year in Japan.