Scotland v France 08/03/14
The majority of Scottish rugby fans over the past few seasons have learnt not to expect too much from the team that are now supposedly the 10th best side in the world. No matter how proud to be a Scot the increasingly Un novel ,novelty act The Red Hot Chilli Pipers makes you feel or how passionately the flower of Scotland is sung, Scotland fans have learnt never to be overly confident in their rugby team. Especially with their poor showing so far in the 2014 Six Nations.
However in the second last Six Nations game of 2014 against France within the first 20 minutes Scotland showed that they could play some nice expansive rugby, when given the opportunity to play in the right positions. A lot of the success in the first twenty minutes was down to some incredible long range kicks from hand from Fullback Stuart Hogg. In the tournament this year he has only really shown his skills with the boot and we haven’t seen his running form that made him one of the most dangerous runners in the competition last year. Having said that his kicking in this game had Scotland being able play in dangerous areas. After 10 minutes the French side were 6-0 up after Racing Metro’s Machenaud had kicked two relatively easy penalties.
After a good box kick from Greig Laidlaw, Scotland had retained possession in the French twenty-two and the crowd of 60,000 witnessed the first sign of Scotland going through dangerous phases. After an infringement spotted by referee Chris Pollok, he gave Scotland the advantage and Stuart Hogg kicked a high up and under which was spilt by the French full back Dulin which Hogg gathered and scored, in which Laidlaw kicked the conversion. 11 minutes had been played with Scotland up 7-6.
Another Penalty from Machenaud put France back in the lead. Every time France got the ball in Scotland’s half they always looked as if they could create something, but overall Scotland were dominating in most aspects of the game.
After a 40 yard rifle kick from Hogg, Scotland found them playing again in the French twenty-two. As they increased the pressure the French defense eventually gave in as Scotland scored at 21 minutes after a brilliantly worked backs movement that involved Matt Scott giving a brilliant pop-pass to Tommy Seymour who burst through a gap and scored near the corner. With Laidlaw converting, Scotland went in at Half time 14-9 and looked just the better team.
After the break Scotland again looked very inventive with ball in hand. As they continued to recycle ball and go through the phases they eventually worked an overlap, when the ball reached Duncan Weir as the usual first receiver he took slightly to long to get the ball wide and Huget managed intercept as he ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts. The try that looked very like Stuart Hogg’s from the previous Six Nations campaign against Italy. Machenaud converted making the score 16-9. The rest of the second half was a lot more physical than the first half and not as much free flowing rugby was played which perhaps suited France’s larger players.
Surprisingly Scotland were beginning to dominate in the scrum and won numerous penalties that Laidlaw and Weir failed to convert, which would prove costly. After Scotland’s continual domination in the scrum and also beginning to in open play it was inevitable they would eventually get another 3 points on the board, which they did, Scotland 17 France 16.
As the game unfolded it began to look as if the usual Scottish underdogs were going to hold out for their first win against France in 6 years. However in the 77th minute Scotland’s lock replacement Tim Swinson was penalized and Doussain kicked over the penalty from close range. The last few minutes of the game there were a few strange decisions made by the Scottish players, possibly due to a lack of leadership on the pitch or the might have been unaware that the 80 minutes was nearly up. Duncan Weir re-started the game after the successful penalty and kicked it long in which the French Fullback kicked long to the throat of Stuart Hogg, Hogg then had plenty of time to gather the ball and possibly run with it, but instead he choose the ball to go behind the Scottish twenty-two and touch it down for a drop from the twenty-two. Duncan Weir tried to kick it high for Tommy Seymour to gather but he couldn't gather the high ball and the French kicked it out of play to win in dramatic circumstances.
Full time Scotland 17 France 19.
Scottish player ratings-
Hogg- 8.5. Good kicking. Bizarre decision in last minute.
Seymour- 7. Took his try well however still questions over his defense.
Dunbar- 7.5 Quieter game this week, but did defensive duties well.
Scott- 7. Quiet game. Good set up for try. Tackled well
Evans- 7. Wasn't overly noticeable with ball in hand but as always good work rate.
Weir- 7.5. Did well defensively. Some good play making. Poor pass for French try.
Laidlaw- 7. Not having same effect as he did in 2013.
Grant- 8. Great work rate for a prop. Did well in scrum. Made a good break.
Lawson- 7. Opposite to Ross Ford does nothing accept accurate line out throwing. That’s a hookers job however.
Cross- 7. Decent in scrum.
Gray- 7.5. Good in ruck and good option for line out. Needs to work on ball carrying.
Hamilton- 8. Good leader. Instrumental in the Line out.
Denton- 8.5. Carried ball very well. A pest in the ruck
Brown- 7. Looked to eager to impress and showed in his discipline.
Wilson- 7. Wasn’t overly noticeable but did job in tackling.
My Team for Wales game
15. Hogg 14.Seymour 13. Dunbar 12.Scott 11. Lamont (If not injured) 10. Jackson 9. Cusiter 8. Denton 7. Fusaro 6. Brown 5. Gray 4. Hamilton 3.Grant 2. Hall 1. Murray
By Joseph James
The majority of Scottish rugby fans over the past few seasons have learnt not to expect too much from the team that are now supposedly the 10th best side in the world. No matter how proud to be a Scot the increasingly Un novel ,novelty act The Red Hot Chilli Pipers makes you feel or how passionately the flower of Scotland is sung, Scotland fans have learnt never to be overly confident in their rugby team. Especially with their poor showing so far in the 2014 Six Nations.
However in the second last Six Nations game of 2014 against France within the first 20 minutes Scotland showed that they could play some nice expansive rugby, when given the opportunity to play in the right positions. A lot of the success in the first twenty minutes was down to some incredible long range kicks from hand from Fullback Stuart Hogg. In the tournament this year he has only really shown his skills with the boot and we haven’t seen his running form that made him one of the most dangerous runners in the competition last year. Having said that his kicking in this game had Scotland being able play in dangerous areas. After 10 minutes the French side were 6-0 up after Racing Metro’s Machenaud had kicked two relatively easy penalties.
After a good box kick from Greig Laidlaw, Scotland had retained possession in the French twenty-two and the crowd of 60,000 witnessed the first sign of Scotland going through dangerous phases. After an infringement spotted by referee Chris Pollok, he gave Scotland the advantage and Stuart Hogg kicked a high up and under which was spilt by the French full back Dulin which Hogg gathered and scored, in which Laidlaw kicked the conversion. 11 minutes had been played with Scotland up 7-6.
Another Penalty from Machenaud put France back in the lead. Every time France got the ball in Scotland’s half they always looked as if they could create something, but overall Scotland were dominating in most aspects of the game.
After a 40 yard rifle kick from Hogg, Scotland found them playing again in the French twenty-two. As they increased the pressure the French defense eventually gave in as Scotland scored at 21 minutes after a brilliantly worked backs movement that involved Matt Scott giving a brilliant pop-pass to Tommy Seymour who burst through a gap and scored near the corner. With Laidlaw converting, Scotland went in at Half time 14-9 and looked just the better team.
After the break Scotland again looked very inventive with ball in hand. As they continued to recycle ball and go through the phases they eventually worked an overlap, when the ball reached Duncan Weir as the usual first receiver he took slightly to long to get the ball wide and Huget managed intercept as he ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts. The try that looked very like Stuart Hogg’s from the previous Six Nations campaign against Italy. Machenaud converted making the score 16-9. The rest of the second half was a lot more physical than the first half and not as much free flowing rugby was played which perhaps suited France’s larger players.
Surprisingly Scotland were beginning to dominate in the scrum and won numerous penalties that Laidlaw and Weir failed to convert, which would prove costly. After Scotland’s continual domination in the scrum and also beginning to in open play it was inevitable they would eventually get another 3 points on the board, which they did, Scotland 17 France 16.
As the game unfolded it began to look as if the usual Scottish underdogs were going to hold out for their first win against France in 6 years. However in the 77th minute Scotland’s lock replacement Tim Swinson was penalized and Doussain kicked over the penalty from close range. The last few minutes of the game there were a few strange decisions made by the Scottish players, possibly due to a lack of leadership on the pitch or the might have been unaware that the 80 minutes was nearly up. Duncan Weir re-started the game after the successful penalty and kicked it long in which the French Fullback kicked long to the throat of Stuart Hogg, Hogg then had plenty of time to gather the ball and possibly run with it, but instead he choose the ball to go behind the Scottish twenty-two and touch it down for a drop from the twenty-two. Duncan Weir tried to kick it high for Tommy Seymour to gather but he couldn't gather the high ball and the French kicked it out of play to win in dramatic circumstances.
Full time Scotland 17 France 19.
Scottish player ratings-
Hogg- 8.5. Good kicking. Bizarre decision in last minute.
Seymour- 7. Took his try well however still questions over his defense.
Dunbar- 7.5 Quieter game this week, but did defensive duties well.
Scott- 7. Quiet game. Good set up for try. Tackled well
Evans- 7. Wasn't overly noticeable with ball in hand but as always good work rate.
Weir- 7.5. Did well defensively. Some good play making. Poor pass for French try.
Laidlaw- 7. Not having same effect as he did in 2013.
Grant- 8. Great work rate for a prop. Did well in scrum. Made a good break.
Lawson- 7. Opposite to Ross Ford does nothing accept accurate line out throwing. That’s a hookers job however.
Cross- 7. Decent in scrum.
Gray- 7.5. Good in ruck and good option for line out. Needs to work on ball carrying.
Hamilton- 8. Good leader. Instrumental in the Line out.
Denton- 8.5. Carried ball very well. A pest in the ruck
Brown- 7. Looked to eager to impress and showed in his discipline.
Wilson- 7. Wasn’t overly noticeable but did job in tackling.
My Team for Wales game
15. Hogg 14.Seymour 13. Dunbar 12.Scott 11. Lamont (If not injured) 10. Jackson 9. Cusiter 8. Denton 7. Fusaro 6. Brown 5. Gray 4. Hamilton 3.Grant 2. Hall 1. Murray
By Joseph James