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Scotland explain why first start in 17 months for a soon-to-be 35-year-old is best way to replace banned Fagerson
Gregor Townsend has hailed his promotion of veteran tighthead WP Nel to the starting Scotland line-up for Sunday’s Guinness Six Nations clash with Ireland at Murrayfield. With current first-choice Zander Fagerson suspended, the Scottish coach had a big void to fill in his pack.
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Nel has not started a match since the October 2019 World Cup pool loss to Japan, but Townsend had no hesitation in selecting the South African-born front-rower for his 43rd cap seven weeks before his 35th birthday on April 30.
Asked to explain the rationale behind the four changes to the Scotland line-up from the team that began the February 13 defeat to Wales, Townsend said: “Zander Fagerson is unavailable due to suspension so WP Nel comes in for him, someone who has been in really, really good form this year for his club (Edinburgh).
“Physically he is in the best shape of his career so there is a lot more rugby left in him. We know he brings a lot of experience and power at scrum time.
“Jamie Ritchie comes back in. He was available for our last game, the (postponed) French game, so he is raring to go and has been training really well. Sam Johnson, again another player that was available for France, is back in at 12. He is someone who has featured a lot over the last couple of seasons and is now back to full fitness.
Scotland apparently never wanted to kick the French when they were down by demanding a Six Nations walk-over #SixNations #FRAvSCO
https://t.co/1Vqu07pGNt— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 12, 2021
“And Sean Maitland gets the nod ahead of Darcy Graham. Our three wingers have played really well in the championship, Duhan (van der Merwe), Sean and Darcy. Sean has played a couple of games for his club (Saracens) since that England game and we feel, given our opponents’ potential strategy this week, that Sean’s strengths are better suited to this game.”
Switching to the bench, Townsend has not selected a specialist out-half reserve but he is confident he hasn’t left his team short of a viable alternative. “Stuart Hogg played there (at out-half) for about 30 minutes against Wales in the autumn.
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“Last time we played Ireland, Jaco van der Welt started and we didn’t have fly-half cover on the bench. Stuart was due to cover that position if required. We feel that where Stuart is now, getting him on the ball more would be a positive thing. He is our captain so going into 10 as an attack leader, a team leader, would be something that flows naturally.”
This opinion is completely opposite to what ex-Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan alleged about the Scots in December#SixNations #SCOvIRE
https://t.co/n6vbZfUSJQ— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 9, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
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