Just listened to The Times rugby podcast. One of the usual idiots (think Alex Lowe?) claimed “England don’t have project players like Scotland, or Ireland”. That’s a complete lie. England have had them for years. They literally capped a project player just for one 6N match, before dropping him.

Huge day for OBL. Would love to see him smash it. He has the raw talent. Imagine an up & coming TH monster settling in quietly behind Zander just in time for a WC cycle. Zander looked very powerful last night too.

Remember when Scotland had Schoey, Suzz & Kebble all lining up to smash that LH side?

Even accounting for the poor conditions, the player rotation, and Broussett…I’m struggling to understand why Glasgow have toiled here.

Despite his horrendous adductor injury, once recovered the sight of Suzz packing down at LH was a genuine thrill. Beast in the set piece & constantly looking to go ball in hand. But he’s just not the same player these days and it’s leaking late game pens.

Commentator taking about Glasgow being close to a card. They’ve only conceded five pens all game. Excitement in his voice is ridiculous whenever Sale attack.

Glasgow need another score. Far too tight.

No wonder Demmo has had enough. Dead ruck and Sale are battering players from the side.

The 20 minute red card was brought in for accidental/technique offences But now they’re being used for deliberate stamps

As good as Staff is, that score also really reinforces just how phenomenal Huw Jones is on those lines. Staff has to ride a tackle to get loose. Shrug hits the same line and is so late, and do well concealed, he’s clean through.

That’s poor from Glasgow. A metre out and the line begging.

Curry being coached, not refereed.

47 minutes and we finally see Sale penalised for swinging around the ruck.

Some player.

No matter the result tonight, if Glasgow are to sustain two challenges this season then they absolutely MUST rediscover the ability to recover from rotation they showed once before - and ideally before they face TLS.

With both the wind & fatigue, Glasgow should enjoy more pressure this half. However, they’re really not adjusting to the amount of illegality Broussett is allowing Sale to deploy tonight - and in these conditions that’s potentially dangerous.

Sale are desperately illegal here. Players offside. Tacklers on their knees near the try line.

Sale absolutely do not want to scrum tonight.

Not even sure a Sale player was on that ball - but still poor from Glasgow. Especially on kick off restart.

Just blatantly came in from the side there to attach directly on to the ball carrier.

Surely even this lunatic cannot ignore these side entries from Sale the entire game…?

Horne switched play against grain there…so the Sale tackler immediately rolled into his stance to delay him. Blatant - but not penalised. Sale clearly fear the pace of Glasgow’s game, but it won’t matter with these officials. So the visitors will have to adapt.

Fagerson targeting Curry a poor error there - but also understandable given we’ve watched a quarter of rugby where the referee may in fact be legally blind.

Glasgow need to problem solve quickly here. Sanderson has clearly coached his players arriving second/third to take well beyond the ruck, and Broussett is evidently an idiot. So they’ll have to change their shape & numbers better post contact otherwise the hosts will routinely have a man over.

On the bright side, Zander is absolutely chewing up yet another Prem LH.

He’s just an awful referee. Zero control. Constantly illegal play completely ignored.

Sale are comically offside in defence.

Four minutes in, Broussett already allowing Sale to play the Nine, start a charge down halfway up the ruck, then whistling for a try while the ball is still not cleanly down 🙄

Samuel out. Craig in. Bench impact slightly altered.

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Very much hoping we see some of those injured Edinburgh players back fit for the Six Nations.

Wikipedia has been accurately updated

So, a disciplinary panel rules that going for the eye was intentional. Then decides there "need for deterrent" was zero in the aggravating factors to add to ban. Let that sink in, the panel doesn't believe intentional eye gouging requires a a deterrent.

It’s a strong Glasgow team - and they’ve recently proven themselves well ahead of Prem opposition. However, I’m still expecting them to be quite rusty. Rotation is an excellent approach to the demands of a long rugby season, but it also demands the ability to gel quickly again when required.

Interestingly 5 Springboks in the last 8 years have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs

So basically plan a year out from World Cup is to get SA to tour NH. Then each team selects one player with a ‘clean’ disciplinary record, who then deliberately gouges the eyes of a SA star likely to be crucial for their WC run. Attacker gets 12 weeks rest, victim possibly loses livelihood & sight.

Mid-range entry point. For pushing your thumb into an opponent’s eyes and risking blinding them for life. Mid…range… This sport is an absolute disgrace.

18 weeks down to 12. Rugby Union clearly does not mind if a player is blinded for life.

Traditionally, Sco rugby supporters are pessimistic bunch. We marry deeply held love for players, and indeed sport, with a stoney distrust of success. But even as a stalwart member, I’m finding it hard to stomach Burke on BBC podcast. Just steady stream of timidity, with obsequiousness to TE & Ire.

In 2019, Japan targeted the two teams that stood between them & World Cup qualification. They studied them. They trained *specifically* for them. So much so they almost lost to clearly weaker opponents elsewhere in the Group. The tournament is in 2027. This is where Coaches earn their money.

🤦‍♂️

Just imagine what Scotland’s WC draw might have been had they not screwed those ranking points in the run up. Might have only been an overhyped England between them & the Final.

Well…you certainly can’t fault the confidence here!

The good news is, if we come second in the pool stage, we only need to beat France in the QF & we’ll be a Fiji/Wales game away from a SF against NZ…! 👀

Look at those likely table finishing positions. Then look again. Consider all the likely permutations post pool stage, then laugh at the fact the runner up in Scotland’s pool will face France. Laughable stuff.

As a Scotland supporter, it’s near impossible to decide what’s going to be worse. England rugby pundits talking up their chances of winning the WC after yet another soft draw. Or Ireland rugby pundits claiming a game in eighteen months time will be a walkover.

Unless these clowns are failing to agree on whether he deserves three years versus a lifetime ban, rugby is about to wilfully blot its copy book in a thoroughly despicable fashion.

NZ & SA likely to meet in a QF, while England - yet again, get the softest possible draw.

This.

The only downside is that Scotland can’t be the team knocking Ireland out of yet another World Cup.