Scotland player ratings vs France
Scotland player ratings: Gregor Townsend made three changes to his Scotland XV to play France in Murrayfield. Fresh from the round three win over Italy in Rome after opening defeats to Ireland and England, the Scots changed up their pack for the visit of the Grand Slam-chasing French.
In their 20 meetings in the Guinness Six Nations, France have won 17 times, but Scotland had won two of their last four, both in Murrayfield. The RugbyPass Index also predicted a 71 per cent win chance for Townsend’s men.
Here are our Scotland player ratings:
STUART HOGG 6
Noises from inside the camp are that Hogg was to the manor born as a captain, and if you allow for his first-round fumble, this Six Nations has been a return to form after a flat Rugby World Cup. His vision and smart decision making with ball in hand told in many of Scotland’s most productive plays. However, his kick selection and accuracy let him down here at times. No doubt his initial steps as skipper will see a temporary depreciation in his own game.
SEAN MAITLAND 8
We’ve been quite harsh on Maitland’s performances to date in this tournament on the back of some phoned-in performances in the opening rounds. The Saracen opened brightly here however – carrying well and brilliantly won the ball in the air in the 16th minute. Bagged his two tries liked he worked in Tescos.
CHRIS HARRIS 7
He’s earned his way into the team after the strangely flat form of Huw Jones in the first two rounds, and his second start in a row saw him get a chance to showcase his rangy running style. He doesn’t seem to miss tackles, so a gold star for that.
SAM JOHNSON 6.5
Sometimes when you look at the game Townsend wants Scotland to play, Johnson might look like the odd one out – a short-term rather than a long-term fix. A sliced kick into touch wasn’t a great start, but his selfless pass to Maitland in the 41st minute summed up his game. An altruistic grafter.
BLAIR KINGHORN 7.5
Solid under the highball and survived when put under the pressure by the French when turning in defence. Ran hard and chased ever kick like a trusty Golden Retriever. Deserved a try at the end but the kick ahead didn’t quite play out.
ADAM HASTINGS 7.5
A return to form after a patchy performance in Italy in which he missed three kicks. He kicked a lot of ball in the first half despite what looked like a dry Murrayfield track. Has lots of time on the ball. He’s said in the media that he wants to prove himself but here we saw him truly expressing himself. Finn who? (Jokes, please don’t write in)
ALI PRICE 5.5
Thoroughly middle of the road contribution at the base of the scrum. Scotland used to base their game on super-fast ruck speed – some of the Scottish rucks today could be measured in minutes. If Scotland want to play the fastest rugby in the world, then Price needs to press the fast forward button. His excellent 20 metre angled run in France’s 22 was a highlight in attack.
RORY SUTHERLAND 7.5
Scotland’s prop duo of Sutherland and Fagerson have probably been the form pairing in the 2020 Six Nations. Carried well when and didn’t take a backward step all day.
FRASER BROWN 7.5
Brown won his 50th cap today and it was his best performance in this year’s competition to date. Great work over the ball helping to earn a turnover in the 14th minute was one of his many excellent contributions. A landmark cap to be very proud of.
ZANDER FAGERSON 7.5
It was 70-30 in favour of the Scots in the scrums, until the sending off of Mohammed Haouas. Fagerson got the better of Jefferson Poirot.
SCOTT CUMMINGS 5
Can be a bit of a non-entity at times. It’s very early days in his career but this game largely passed him by. No doubt there is more in the tank from this 23-year-old prospect.
GRANT GILCHRIST 7
Up-ended by Cros in the opening minute in a weird contact that won a yellow card. Got the ball away from the ruck for Scotland’s try just before halftime and a hell of a lot faster than Ali Price too.
JAMIE RITCHIE 8
Continues to be a nuisance and managed to incite a big right hook from France’s Haouas. That alone warranted two of his eight points here. Brian Moore’s Man of the Match.
HAMISH WATSON 8
While he was kept in check with ball in hand, his savagery over the ball was there for all to marvel at. His 42nd turnover might well have won the match.
NICK HAINING 7
Today was always going to be a massive test for the 6’4, 115kg No.8 against a powerful but mobile French forward pack. Was unlucky to give away the first penalty, which Ntamack duly missed. Plenty of aggression and in the thick of it when things boiled over. Litmus test passed.
REPS:
STUART MCINALLY 6.5
Townsend seems to be swapping him and Brown in a sort of horse-for-courses manner. His bodged lineout throw as conditions deteriorated wasn’t a great start. His 8th try for Scotland came moments later when he pounced on a fumbled stolen lineout (off his own throw), and all was forgotten.
ALLAN DELL 6
Again, the scrum looks a tad shakier with Scotland’s Dell n’ Nel coming off the bench. Bamba put a lot of pressure on at scrumtime.
WILLEM NEL 6
Known for his scrummaging, but as with his dance partner Dell, the Loeriesfontein bron tighthead didn’t get much of a chance to put a stamp on the game.
Scotland just flipped this Six Nations on its head! #SCOvFRA pic.twitter.com/4NjKcPfFsy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 8, 2020
SAM SKINNER NA
Not on long enough to rate.
MAGNUS BRADBURY 6
Swapped back out to accommodate Hainings’ return. Tackled hard and brought physicality.
GEORGE HORNE 6.5
The wet conditions that he came into aren’t ideal conditions for a livewire like Horne. Looked dangerous but maybe a little too eager to make a big play. Playing second fiddle as an impact sub but would like to see him start a game.
Scotland were incredible today! #SCOvFRA pic.twitter.com/zpDJvQNWp8
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 8, 2020
DUNCAN WEIR 7
Hardly on long enough to rate but he did manage a turnover so why shouldn’t he get a seven?
KYLE STEYN 6
Won his first cap in the 66th minute. Made a positive contribution disrupting on kick-chase duty.
WATCH: Wales coach Wayne Pivac and captain Alun Wyn Jones speak at a press conference following the team’s Guinness Six Nations match against England.
Comments on RugbyPass
Billy's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
28 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
2 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
3 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
28 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to comments