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Aaron Reed in line for Scotland cap as star winger's injury opens door
Scotland have suffered a blow with wing Darcy Graham being ruled out of the opening two matches of the Six Nations Championship, with uncapped Arron Reed now in line for a place in Scotland’s squad against Wales.
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Graham and Duhan van der Merwe are stick-ons for the Scotland wing berths when fit, but head coach Gregor Townsend revealed in his 39-man squad selected last week for the tournament that he was concerned about depth of strength behind the top try-scoring pair. Graham was coming back well from a hip injury suffered in Scotland’s defeat to Ireland in the World Cup, but suffered a quad injury in Edinburgh’s recent European Challenge Cup defeat to Gloucester.
He is out for at least three weeks, but, after missing last year’s Six Nations with a serious knee injury, is still hopeful of returning later in the championship.
With full-back Ollie Smith also injured, Townsend last week called in Edinburgh youngster Harry Paterson and Sale wing Reed as uncapped newcomers to the Scotland ranks. He also has Kyle Steyn and Kyle Rowe seemingly ahead of Reed in the pecking order for wing spots, and has now added Ross McCann, a 26-year-old Scotland and GB sevens player, who has played for Edinburgh.
Many imagined the uncapped call-ups were there to gain experience, with an eye on the future, but while Van Der Merwe and Steyn are now the expected wing choices, Reed may find himself thrust into the squad aiming for a first win over Wales in Cardiff in 22 years.
The 24-year-old is similar in stature to Graham, and his pace and ability to beat players on either side at Sale has been similar to the Edinburgh man’s style. Reed was born in Chester and came through the Sale academy system, going on to play for England at under-18 and under-20 level – the latter including scoring against Scotland in the 2019 under-20s Six Nations.
He credits his Scottish father Allan, a keen flanker, for persuading him to switch football for rugby, however, followers of Scottish rugby might remember his uncle, Steven, who was a pacy centre/wing with Boroughmuir in the 1990s and Edinburgh at the time rugby turned professional. He also played for Bath, but focused more on his career as a police officer before becoming a defence lawyer. Arron’s Scottish grandmother Christine also comes from a rugby background, having grown up in the Borders, and the success of Townsend’s persuasion of Reed to follow his Scottish roots may prove very timely for the Sale flyer.
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Comments on RugbyPass
The article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
20 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
44 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
44 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
44 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
7 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
7 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to comments