Winners and losers from Scotland's 35-man Six Nations squad
It is typically hard to predict a Gregor Townsend squad and even harder to guess how Scotland will fare this spring, as they look to lace their new-found ruggedness with attacking incision.
Townsend lobbed a curve-ball or two with the selection of his 35-man Six Nations group. Cam Redpath, it seems, will now be a Scotland international rather than an England one. Sam Skinner, a favourite of the Scotland coach, is left out.
Not only must Townsend contend with injuries to his two front-line hookers, the usual fluctuations in form and the potency of his opposition, but he also had to pick his men with Covid-19 in mind. In some cases, where a player is not a sure-fire pick, it may be deemed wiser to leave him out for now than to risk the penetration of the squad’s ‘bubble’ by having him go back and forth to his club during the championship.
The upshot is an intriguing and exciting posse. And these are the men who have gained and lost the most.
The winners
CAM REDPATH
What a story. The son of great former Scotland captain Bryan, Redpath would almost certainly be capped by Eddie Jones had he not been injured before England’s 2018 summer tour.
There has been a fascinating battle to claim the 21-year-old centre these past few years and Townsend seems to have struck the knockout blow. Redpath is deeply coveted for his precocious play-making brilliance, and since joining Bath from Sale Sharks, has been one of the form backs in the Premiership.
For some time, it seemed he had thrown his lot in with England, having represented both countries at age-grade level and been involved with Jones’ senior squad. But in an interview last June, his father suggested that Redpath had chosen to preserve his England Qualified Player status out of appreciation for Sale.
“He got a bad shoulder injury and Sale paid for the surgery to get him back in shape,” Redpath Snr told The Scotsman. “The way things work down here is that clubs get funding from the RFU for having most of their squad English-qualified and Cameron felt some debt and gratitude to them for their help.”
Incredibly, Redpath could now play against England at Twickenham in the Calcutta Cup curtain-raiser, the latest twist in a remarkable saga.
GARY GRAHAM
Graham, too, is the progeny of an ardent Scottish international who very nearly wore the rose. Three years ago, he was in Jones’ Six Nations squad and infamously told the Daily Mail: “I’d f***ing love to play against Scotland next week, make 1,000 tackles and shove it in their face — but it might have to wait until next year.”
In fact, by the following championship, Graham was making his Scotland debut against Italy at Murrayfield. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then, and the bearded Newcastle Falcon has yet to add to the two caps garnered in that tournament.
But what Scotland lack above all is a ball-carrying fulcrum in their back-row, a beast of a man who can gobble up yards in horribly tight spaces. They have always struggled to develop players with these colossal physical attributes.
Matt Fagerson is the long-term answer but it is hard to ignore Graham, a wonderful performer in a Newcastle side that has taken the Premiership by storm since winning promotion.
Graham averages 18 carries and 10 tackles per game this season. He is not a huge specimen at 6’2 and 112KG but he is robust and tough in every sense. Sticking him in a back-row with Jamie Ritchie and Hamish Watson would be to create a trident of mayhem-wreaking wild dogs. After a year in the Championship, and away from the Scotland set-up, now is Graham’s time to shine.
RICHIE GRAY
How long we have waited for a fit and bullocking Gray to thrust himself back into the Test arena. At his best, he is Scotland’s finest line-out forward, a brute in the scrum and a galloping menace about the paddock.
Gray made an unholy mess of Edinburgh’s line-out in the first 1872 Cup derby this month, pinching four throws, and nicked a couple more in the second on Saturday.
He was briefly involved with Scotland in the autumn and the most recent of his 65 caps came in March 2018. There has been a slew of hip, back, calf and brain injuries to contend with since, but back from his spell in the Top 14, the giant is svelte, hungry and a serious piece of weaponry.
DAVE CHERRY AND EWAN ASHMAN
Injuries to Stuart McInally and Fraser Brown open the door to two uncapped hookers in Cherry and Ashman.
The Edinburgh man is a dynamic ball-carrier in solid form, and has plotted an arduous route to Test honours via the English Championship and third tier of French rugby. At 30 years old, he made the Six Nations squad in 2019 amidst a similar injury spate, but is now in pole position to be named on the bench behind George Turner at Twickenham.
Ashman is a particularly stimulating inclusion. Scouted by Alan Tait, he went to the Junior World Championship with Scotland U20 and was the tournament’s top try-scorer. He can do a turn in the back-row, and is making sound progress at Sale. Townsend is known to be a major fan of the all-action 20-year-old and a debut cap is not beyond him.
The losers:
SAM SKINNER
Townsend rates the Exeter Chiefs forward very highly indeed, so his omission comes as a major surprise. Skinner covers lock and blind-side flanker, and is particularly prized by the Scotland coach for his explosiveness on both sides of the ball and his line-out prowess. Preserving the integrity of the bubble seems to have been a key factor in his non-selection.
SAM HIDALGO-CLYNE
The same, perhaps, can be said for Hidalgo-Clyne, who falls victim to Townsend’s call to run with only two scrum-halves. He fought his way back into the national squad last year after a club-hopping odyssey from Scarlets to Exeter via Harlequins, Racing 92 and Lyon. At the end of last season, he was excellent in helping Chiefs to their English and European double. Should Scott Steele or Ali Price pick up an injury, he will be the next cab off the rank.
DUNCAN WEIR
Bubble notwithstanding, this selection is brutally hard on Weir, who is immensely passionate about playing for his country, has developed his game considerably at Worcester, and never lets Scotland down.
In the autumn, he delivered when Finn Russell and Adam Hastings were struck down, but was jettisoned for the Nations Cup play-off so that Townsend could cap Jaco van der Walt before the end of the tournament.
Russell is fit again, and now that he is eligible, van der Walt usurps Weir in the pecking order. Townsend can also call upon James Lang, Redpath, or even Stuart Hogg to play 10 if he is in a real bind, leaving no place for the unlucky squat Warrior.
RORY HUTCHINSON
The scope of Scotland’s shift from off-loading mayhem to defensive pragmatism has been startling. As Townsend looks to re-instil some of the elan of old, Hutchinson, the Northampton Saints centre, is unlucky to fall short.
Admittedly, the 24-year-old has not played much rugby of late, and even less in his best position at 13, owing first to injury and then to the Covid-19 outbreak in the Northampton squad. But he offers a precious line-breaking incision that deserted Scotland for chunks of their autumn programme.
Mark Bennett must have been close to winning a recall too, while Sam Johnson has only just returned from injury.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jake White talks more sense than anything I've read in the last 5 years. Hope someone's listening.
9 Go to commentsThe Springboks tried going down the road of only picking home-based players and it was an unmitigated disaster in 2016 and 2017. Picking overseas-based players has been one of the main reason the Boks have done so well since 2018, not only because of the quality Rassie could call on, but because of the knowledge and experience those players brought into camp from England, France and Japan. With some of the big names playing abroad it also gave younger players in SA the chance to break through at franchise level. Would we have seen the emergence of a Ruan Nortje if RG and Lood were still at the Bulls? Not so sure. I understand why Jake would want to block players leaving since his job depends on good results but it’s an approach that would take Bok rugby back to the bad old days and no South African wants to see that.
9 Go to commentsExeter were thumped by 38 points. And they only had to hop on a train.
35 Go to commentsI am De Groot.
1 Go to commentsHad hoped you might write an article on this game, Nick. It’s a good one. Things have not gone as smoothly for ROG since beating Leinster last year at the Aviva in the CC final. LAR had the Top 14 Final won till Raymond Rhule missed a simple tackle on the excellent Ntamack, and Toulouse reaped the rewards of just staying in the fight till the death. Then the disruption of the RWC this season. LAR have not handled that well, but they were not alone, and we saw Pau heading the Top 14 table at one stage early season. I would think one of the reasons for the poor showing would have to be that the younger players coming through, and the more mature amongst the group outside the top 25/30, are not as strong as would be hoped for. I note that Romain Sazy retired at the end of last season. He had been with LAR since 2010, and was thus one of their foundation players when they were promoted to Top 14. Records show he ended up with 336 games played with LAR. That is some experience, some rock in the team. He has been replaced for the most part by Ultan Dillane. At 30, Dillane is not young, but given the chances, he may be a fair enough replacement for Sazy. But that won’be for more than a few years. I honestly know little of the pathways into the LAR setup from within France. I did read somewhere a couple of years ago that on the way up to Top 14, the club very successfully picked up players from the academies of other French teams who were not offered places by those teams. These guys were often great signings…can’t find the article right now, so can’t name any….but the Tadgh Beirne type players. So all in all, it will be interesting to see where the replacements for all the older players come from. Only Lleyd’s and Rhule from SA currently, both backs. So maybe a few SA forwards ?? By contrast, Leinster have a pretty clear line of good players coming through in the majority of positions. Props maybe a weak spot ? And they are very fleet footed and shrewd in appointing very good coaches. Or maybe it is also true that very good coaches do very well in the Leinster setup. So, Nick, I would fully concurr that “On the evidence of Saturday’s semi-final between the two clubs, the rebuild in the Bay of Biscay is going to take longer than it is on the east coast of Ireland”
11 Go to commentsWhat was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
35 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
86 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
86 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
9 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
35 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
9 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
9 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
11 Go to comments