Ok, disclaimer. I’ve had one or two glasses of wine.
Complaint? I really don’t like the make-up of the team selected by Mike Blair for part 1 of the 1872 cup at Scotstoun.
Let's put the ‘unavailable’ thing aside for a minute and come back to it at the end. I know that may not sit well with everyone but it’s my blog so suck it up.
I’d add to that I hope my concerns are unfounded. More than anything I hope that.
Here are my concerns.
Front row. No WP Nel, starting or on the bench. I was hoping that he would be at least on the bench. He would have had the measure of Bhatti without having to try too hard, Atalifo is decent of course but as we know Nel gives that edge in the scrum. Scrum penalties would have been nice especially with Boffelli seemingly capable of knocking them over from distance.
The young props on the bench haven’t done anything wrong but they only have 7 appearances between them
Second row. I’m a big fan of the young guns selected, especially Hodgson. However Richie Gray is an excellent lineout operator and Cummings isn't too far behind so we could really have done with Gilco in there to provide the experience and reliability that he brings.
Back row. Can’t complain. Crosbie, Bradbury, Watson is a quality row and concerns above aside I hope they can show the pretenders in the Glasgow side why some of them ended up there and not still at Edinburgh. However we have no ready made back row replacements on the bench so if one of those goes down and given how attritional the way the back row is would that be a surprise? We will be compromised if that happens.
Half backs? Player of the season so far for Edinburgh and a man undoubtedly determined to show he should be in that Scotland squad, Ben Vellacott will be seething he’s on the bench. There’s being fair and then there’s just change for change's sake. I’m not unappreciative of Henry Pyrgos’ qualities but given what i’ve already said wouldn’t a man hopeful of a cap relish the chance to go up against the Lions scrummie.
At 10 we are throwing Jaco back in for what seems like the first game this season. Is that wise in a game that's not quite a must win but means more to most of us than anything. No pressure then.
Centres. No issue
Back 3. No issue.
So, big list of players shown as ‘unavailable’. Check back on the team lists this season and it’s always been ‘unavailable due to injury’. That could just be a turn of phrase but it feels like more than that. Injury? Isolation? Rested?
I’m not going to go through the list. Do that for yourself. If you read this blog then you probably follow all the guys on instagram. So I’ll pick just one example without naming names. Videos dancing. PIctures with mixed households. Dated as recently as yesterday. So, unlikely to be injured although I accept not all injuries require moonboots, but definitely not isolating. Yet despite having featured heavily thus far he’s not even in the 23.
So if it’s resting how does that work? We’ve not played in the last fortnight and as already mentioned this is a crucial game both points wise if we intend to actually challenge for this competition and bragging rights wise. I know the ability to boast won’t be at the top of MIke Blair’s concerns but still it’s 5 points and we could do with them.
In all fairness, some of those ‘unavailable’ may be isolating and some may be injured and this was just a device designed to protect their privacy. However I have my concerns that squad rotation for what may be wider concerns is going to come back and haunt us.
As always I hope I'm way off the mark and we win in whatever fashion.
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