Hamish Watson , having played exactly 0 minutes for Edinburgh this season he miraculously recovered just in time to get the opening 40 minutes against Tonga with speculation that pain killing medication was required to allow him to play. He had an unsurprisingly quietish game by his standards but that 40 mins allowed him to be at full steam ahead against Australia when he topped the tackle count and was awarded player of the match. Michael Hooper? Who he?
He was rotated out of the starting XV against SA by Townsend who looked to be bulking up his forwards for the challenge of the Springboks but that plan, through no fault of Watson’s, backfired and by the time Mish came on with 29 mins to go SA were wellahead and despite fronting up personally the tide of the game was set.
He returned to the starting lineup against Japan and showed throughout why that omission was an error. He was second only to Gilco in the tackle stakes as Scotland's defence was repeatedly stress tested by the Japanese attack.
Pierre Schoeman made his Scotand debut against Tonga and was clearly delighted by his selection. Good luck to him as well. As I said on his Twitter feed ‘no one could have possibly embraced a new life in Scotland with the enthusiasm you have’. I find it sad that we have to justify this. This is modern Scotland. If you want to come and live here and pay taxes here you are welcome. Whether that’s as a heart surgeon, a fruit picker or a rugby player then you are as Scottish as the next person. Anyway, it was a good debut and was followed up by another strong showing against Australia as Scotland dominated the scrum.
Unfortunately if his opening two games made him think that this international rugby thing was easy the game against South africa will have disabused him of that notion. He was nowhere near as visible in the loose as he had been previously and Scotland's scrum and lineout struggled throughout. It was the world champions. He will learn from this.
Schooey was given a spot on the bench against Japan to allow Jamie Bhatti to get a start and as the Glasgow mans 10 minutes on the naughty step was up early in the second half Schoeman took his place on the field.
Overall Schoeman has shown that he is comfortable at this level with only the lessons handed out by the two best front rows in world rugby, who both happen to play for South Africa, blotting his copybook. I’m preaching to the converted mostly here but he will be hard to dislodge now especially with Suzz’ injury concerns.
Nick Haining. Barring an early exit from Edinburgh’s pre-season friendly against Benetton, Haining hadn't taken to the field since Scotland’s game against Ireland in the 6N. He got 29 minutes off the bench against Tonga, scored a try and filled in at outside centre due to Scotland going with only 2 backs on a bench.
He wasn’t in the 23 for the game against Australia and then somewhat controversially was preferred in the back row to Hamish Watson against South Africa. He was hooked at 51 minutes for Mish and during his spell on the pitch missed more tackles than anyone else in the whole 80. His inclusion as a starter against SA was a gamble that didn't pay off.
Jamie Ritchie. A full 80 minutes against Tonga, Australia and South Africa and was probably Scotland's most consistent performer in those matches. In a nod to the future he was captain against Tonga and in all three matches the word I had written down to describe his performances was ‘nuisance’. There was a filthy offload in the Tonga game that almost led to a try and then against SA he was the games top offloader with 15! He was also the games top tackler and won a great turnover that should really have led to 3 pts for Scotland. He gave away a few penalties (3) in that game with only Haining being responsible for more but I think that has to be considered part of the territory he operates in and the good stuff more than compensated for that.
He started again against Japan and got 61 minutes before being replaced for a well earned rest making him the man with the most time on the field in the series for Scotland.
Jamie Hodgson. Hodgson had an excellent game against Tonga on debut. He was Scotland's second top tackler, only just behind Ritchie, and was the turnover king. 17 and 9 minutes respectively against Australia and SA followed and whilst he did nothing wrong in either of those games he didn't really have the time to make an impact. He did get a turnover against South Africa moments after he took to the field. He wasn’t selected in the 23 for the game against Japan but on a personal level can be happy with his first minutes as an international.
Blair Kinghorn. I predicted in the run up to the match against Tonga that Blair would have an excellent game at fly half. He didn't quite reach that height but did have a pretty good showing and displayed a decent range of skills. His restarts are fantastic and always allow for competition and there was a exquisite long pass for the Mclean try and a lovely crossfield kick for Steyn to score in the opposite corner. He topped the offload charts and only Rob Harley and Jamie Hodgson only made more tackles for Scotland than he did.
There was some criticism in the wake of the game about this goal kick success which was 50%. A few of those misses were from tries in the corner and hardly gimmes. The success rate against South Africa was only 40% and at least a couple of those should have been a lot easier. Of course those misses, which it could be argued were more cucial to the outcome of the match, didn’t attract anywhere near the same level of criticism. That is hardly a surprise given the leanings of a lot of Scottish Rugby commentary.
Kinghorn wasn't in the 23 for the game against Australia but then got 29 minutes off the bench on the wing against the world champions. He didn't get a lot to do but although Scotland squandered the chance a good chase and tackle by him around the 60 minute mark led to a lineout deep in the SA 22.
He got another 19 minutes off the bench on the wing against Japan but didn't really have an impact on the match in those few minutes.
Darcy Graham. Chosen at fullback against Tonga, Darcy felt the full force of Island power a few times in the game but showed up well in attack without getting on the scoreboard himself. He was back in his favoured position a week later against Australia and looked eager to remind Townsend of what he brings to the wing berth, again without getting on the scoresheet himself. He beat 4 defenders during the match which was only just behind his Australian counterpart Tom Wright in top place and was second only to Hoggy in the distance stakes.
Darcy was left out of the 23 against South Africa before returning on the wing against Japan when he finally got on the scoresheet when he belied his size, as he always does, to power over for a try in the corner.
Darcy can clearly fill in at 15 but is a winger and had he been selected against Tonga in that position would surely have emulated what the 2 young players chosen on the wing that day got but I’d imagine Townsend knew that and was looking merely to introduce some depth across the back line. We know that Darcy is all heart and would take on a lion even if the only way to stop the beast was to get caught up in its feet as it ran over the top of you.
Grant Gilchrist. Gilco was injured for the game against Tonga but thereafter was ever present throughout this series. It was a mixed bag. He had a very good game against Australia in defence and put in some big tackle numbers. The lineout also performed well. Against South Africa it was a different story albeit not one that only featured Gilco. There were knock ons, penalties conceded and the lineout was poor throughout. Against Japan however he was back to his best and topped the tackle count for Scotland with 16. The lineout also functioned better and the big man will have been much happier about this performance in this one.
Had Cummings and Jonny Gray been fit I expect Glichist may have struggled to even get a place on the bench as more versatile options are available to Townsend in the form of Skinner and Bayliss for that role but SA apart, where Scotland pretty much struggled to a man, he showed why he can be relied upon.
Stuart McInally. Rambo didn’t come into this series in great form. He came on in the second half against Tonga following injury to George Turner and did little to remedy that. Unsurprisingly he dropped out of the 23 for the game against Australia before returning as a starter against South Africa as Townsend looked to experience and bulk to take on the world champions. Unfortunately the lineout did not function and Scotland found several new reverse gears for their scrum. Not all his fault of course but it did little to help his cause and for Japan again he had to be content with an appearance off the bench as Turner was preferred as a starter. He got 27 minutes and scored a try off the back of an excellent Scotland maul.
There's something not quite right with Rambo at the moment. He hasn’t been at his best for Edinburgh before this series and overall that continued in Scotland colours.
Luke Crosbie. Finally made his Scotand debut off the bench against Tonga and got 40 minutes to show what he can do. It was a quietish debut but I’m sure he will get another chance to make an impact.
Marshall Sykes. Made his Scotland debut against Tonga with a 17 minute cameo off the bench. Had to play in the back row as Scotland were hit by injuries.
Mark Bennett was selected in the squad as announced prior to the series commencing but dropped out through injury. Neither Damien Hoyland (in from the start) or Magnus Bradbury and Dave Cherry were drafted in to cover injuries elsewhere got any game time.
What does this mean for Edinburgh?
Some - Jamie Hodgson , Marshall Sykes and Luke Crosbie have been given a taste of international rugby which will no doubt have made them want more even as they were learning from the experience.
It appears that none of the Edinburgh players have suffered any injuries and from recent footage Mark Bennett having been unlucky in the run up seems to be back to full fitness.
In addition to Bennett, the three players mentioned as being in the squad who got no game time will either be itching to return to the field or will be rusty for forthcoming URC games but that remains to be seen.
I don't expect to see Watson or Ritchie this side of Christmas for Edinburgh as Ritchie was used extensively in the autumn series and Watson has only just recovered from his own injury issues and yet still played a lot of minutes. You could perhaps add Grant Gilchrist to that list.
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