91Èȱ¬

At least there was intent... although agree that it was curious that the style was in so much contrast to the Edinburgh & Glasgow ways - will Godman start in Cardiff?? Other observation was that the centres were too anonymous in terms of working around the french defensive system in terms of cutting the angles to beat what was at times a "headless rush" defence.

Best bit of TV, however, was French reaction to referee's chat and comments!

Cusiter was good, but I thought the stand out player for Scotland was our number 8. I hope our scrum measures up better in the set piece and the loose on Saturday, with more and better ball the attack may improve.

I agree that number 10 is still a problem though, Godman appeared to be far too deep at times.

A look at 10, does that mean a possible bench spot for Ruaridh Jackson? If Paterson stays then he won't have the pressure of kicking and can just get on with his game.

Low was as rubbish as he was against Biarritz at scrum time. Scrum fell apart, lineout was in pieces, Scotland's attacking game and cutting edge was as limp as always. Only this time the scores were too far apart for Patterson to save the day. Back row were played off the pitch at the breakdown. Loads of turnovers. No tries, again.

Scotland were awful, and this "article" trying to paper over the cracks isn't far behind.

Scotland simply don't have good enough players, and haven't for the last decade.

John I would question your last comment. I agree that the Ireland vs. Italy game was fairly tedious, but the game at Twickenham had a sin-binning leading to a huge lead, then a great comeback in the second half by Wales followed by England scoring a try from within their own 22 to seal the game - I'd say that's much more exciting than the six point second half at Murrayfield, with neither side really looking like scoring a try for long periods in that half.

Other than that, great blog!

Agree largely with JB's comments - however as well as Chris Cussiter played, he has developed the Matt Dawson habit of regularly taking a couple of steps before passing, thus allowing the blitz to become even more effective - and not helping an already nervous 10.

As usual the Scots got tantilisingly close to the try lne and then gave the ball away. A bit harsh maybe, but when is the relaince on Chris Patterson's boot to keep us in the game going to be overtaken by a few tries being socred. He won't last for ever.

Hi John - I think I am as frustrated as you are with the defeat to France. I agree 100% that we need a solid srum platform to operate from as the fragility permeated through the team. I'm not sure that Dickinson is a good enough scrummager. I would play Chunk and Euan Murray against Wales.

I would also prefer to see Godman taking the ball flatter off second phase with runners tying in the French (or whoever's) inside backs - before then moving it wide

I think you are being a bit kind here as to me Scotland were no good as an attacking force once again. Yes we had a decent Autumn tests but we only scored tries against Fiji - we could have played all night and wouldn't have broken the French line.

We had a couple of decent breaks (Evans and Lamont) but very rarely was forward momentum achieved from normal play. The link up play was decent but all too often broke down with a handling error - it's just the same old story time and again and it won't change for this championship.

Godman needs to go, he didn't have a clue. Patterson isn't a fly half so lets take a punt (no pun intended) on Lawson. In the pack we're missing the big guys like Jim Hamilton, Jason White and Euan Murray as when the scrum gets bossed the opposition go for blood.

As for the game being better than the other two that weekend I'm not sure what games you were watching as I got very very little entertainment from Murrayfield yesterday - I hope it improves but I can't see it this year - 5th at best

And Scotland were a bit "nice" at times. I watch the Irish and the English mump and moan and push the laws to the limit while we are too honest. But, then, it's a national trait.
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What a load of absolute hogwash! I cant believe you would print such tripe in public domain.
Scots are "nicer" and more law abiding than other nationalities?
Dear oh dear.

An optimistic view of the match, somewhat at variance with what I saw. It's hard to appear "hostile" in the front row when you're popping skywards and disappearing backwards the whole time. If that was one of Low's better games, God save him when he has a horror. Murray can't return soon enough.
Everything else seemed little different to recent years under different coaches...no shortage of effort, perseverance or defensive heart, but absolutely no offensive threat whatever, saving only a couple of individual line breaks, insufficiently supported. As with England, flair and the willingness to make a mistake are required - Godman and Morrison are unlikely to be the answers to that shortage while they breathe.
As for being too honest to push the laws to their limits and beyond, were David Leslie and the Calder brothers not Scots, then? What about John Jeffrey? When was he ever onside after he ran onto the pitch? Nothing to do with the national character, much more with natural ability. The Jeffreys and Rutherfords of this world come around rarely, that's the sad truth.

I disagree... The Scots are not Mr. Nice-team!
True, the English and the Irish know how to be suttle with the referee, the Scots don't, that's another thing! The referees are not stupid!
The Scots have too much respect playing against the great England (the brve heart concept is missing!) and France teams and behave like little flowers, apolgising to their opponents for touching them! Against Wales and Ireland, this is a different kettle of fish. It often comes to them exchanging blows and too frequently, being openly over agressive.
I reckon that this is because they see the Irish and the Welsh as being celtic, the same as themselves, and they don't like the fact that they cannot live up to the success-comparison.
So you see... in my eyes... this is more primitive than suttle! Even in their playing methods yesterday, I would point to many crude moves and few suttle ones! Why don't they look at their own videos?

International rugby is no place for nice guys, but while you don't have to be nasty, you do have to be smart. England and the Irish may moan to the ref (Martin Johnson made both an art and career out of it after all) but the All blacks have always been the masters of playing him.

Most international scrum halves have seen more retiring kiwis than a Cantebury Physiotherapist. But who's is to blame for them taking advantage? Not the players. They have been taught to play the whistle, and as long as the ref coaches infringements before blowing up, then the best black artists will dominate.

"Stay on your feet Five", "Hands off the ball Seven", "Your offiside Twelve", "Roll away Six", "Use it Eight", just a shame we never get "Put it in straight Nine" (eh Brian). "Just blow up please ref", though to be fair what a great call by Nigel Owens to have the cleverness to check his grounding decision.

But the pivotal moment of the opening weekend was not in Murrayfield. For one team, hopes of a Grand Slam, Triple Crown and probably championship were gone as quick as a little piggy going to market.

If you are going to risk your teams chances by spending 10 in the bin, you must surely do something that saves the game or wins an advantage. Oh yes, AWJ was definately tripping! Surely have known the Fundamental Law of Front Row Physics in Open Play, namely: if N = 1, 2 or 3 and dist > 5 then CoG = 0 anyway.

Toughen up Scotland? Smarten up Wales!!!

Meanwhile elsewhere... England continue to kid themselves in cuckooland that they are improving (sure against 14 men), France continue the hunt for their mythical flair (last seen dancing with the tweety birds around Rougerie's head), Ireland get a warm up game and the Italians celebrate the addition of Gok Wan to their coaching staff.

Roll on next weekend!

John, I'm with you on this - we are too nice. If our guys took to the pitch with the same mindset as say a Fin Calder, we'd dominate the breakdown, produce quicker ball and give our backs a better chance. We have the physical size and strength, just lack a bit of the rabid mad dog! Some impressive hits in 1-on-1 open play but I think some mongrel in the tighter contact areas is sorely needed. Get Jim Telfer back on board??
Strikes me that on the occasions we do get good ball (mainly courtesy of what I think is a strong back row), it's our 10 and 12 that can't make the most of our proven finishers at 11, 13 and 14. Jackson needs blooded soon (starting with a bench place for Wales) and Grove should take Morrison's place in our starting line up - I think he's up to the defensive chore that Roberts will present.

Really cant stand these national stereotypes that incredibly seem to make it into journalistic blogs.

First we have Ireland being the perennial nearly men - lacking confidence at the final hurdle. Now they are "arrogant" egotisctic prima donnas.

England are cynical spoilers and the Scots are just too damn nice for their own good.

Its all just ignoring the realities, namely, quality or lack thereof. Scotland have improved under Robinson but they just are not as good as France and their players are worse. Thats the fundemental point.

Their main problem is that they cant score tries rather than, as a nation, being Mr Nice Guy.

I disagree that Nigel Owen was clever to check the grounding decision. The ref had done well to get himself in a position to see the incident clearly, and make the correct call, changing his mind and then asking was it a try yes or no just made him look indicisive.

Generally though I thought he had a good game but would agree that a little less coaching and some more penalising when teams infringe wouldn't go amiss.

I think you are right Mr Beattie.
When Scotland had a great side I don't recall
John Jeffries, David Leslie, Bill Cutherbertson, the
Calders or even your good self being overflowing with the
milk of human kindness!

Hope you find the edge soon - the Championship needs
a stronger Scotland - as a proud Englishman I hate to say it
but we are way overdue Scotlands once a decade Grand Slam!

I felt the expectation on Scotland was simply too high. In 2006 they caught France napping, and for some reason the media seemed to think that's what would happen again this year. And because the media said so, an awful lot of people took it for granted that it would happen. You've only got to look at the Heineken Cup to see where the strength is in Europe, and I'm afraid you have to cross water to find it. And I don't mean the Severn bridge...

As an Englishman with a penchant for French rugby, I thought that not only was this the most enjoyable game of the weekend, but that both sides made it so. Both sides at least tried to play some rugby, and the highlight was the comparative lack of the tedious kicking tennis that went on elsewhere. Once Wales woke up we saw a bit of what they can do, but it was too late. England were better than the Autumn but not by enough - no real direction, just a bit of opportunist luck. Ireland were gifted their first try from a forward pass which doesn't seem to have gained any comment, and Italy were just dull.

For me, Scotland's best player by far was Lamont, who looked dangerous with the ball and prevented the scoreline looking a whole lot worse. I don't think the Scots will beat Wales, but I will certainly be supporting them all the way. But the scrum will need to be a whole lot better for them to even stand a chance. I though Nigel Owens was very generous giving them a coaching session at every scrum, he could have penalised them a lot more.

That's not to say France were perfect, not by a long way. Gave away too much possession through sloppy ball handling, and they still need a consistent place kicker, but I'd guess the French coaching team finished the weekend the happiest of the lot.

It's a shame that nobody has the grace to say what was good about France. For example, Mas and Domingo destroyed Scotland's scrum, Domingo in particular having an excellent game. They both gave the Scotland front-row players an ugly and sore afternoon.

If Trinh-Duc had had a bit more experience and kept his eyes open he'd have seen the huge channels that opened up on the wings in the second half, as Scotland's midfield defence became more and more constricted. At times, Fall stood out on the wing with nobody between him and the line and the entire 15 channel to himself. If Trinh-Duc had kicked a few diagonals for Fall and Clerc, Scotland's defeat may well have been much worse.

We got well beaten by better players.

France will get a much tougher test against Ireland but I thought that even this far in advance of the World Cup, France showed some good signs and their front and back rows were terrific.

John - One of the issues on Sunday was our support play, i.e. no one could anticipate and keep up with Lamont. Is that just a matter of mental concentration or at there other issues here?
Slightly related to this is the contribution of Ross Ford to the team and his speed around the field. Ok, so they are playing different positions but compare the mobility of Ford with Bastareaud. For a guy his size and reputed strength Ford should be able to rampage all over the field and break the defensive line more than I've seen him do. Has he got too big that he just can't run that fast? Let's send him to a sprint coach and get his speed up!
While on the issue of speed, it would appear that Low is faster around the pitch and Euan Murray, and for this reason I'd give Low the start against Wales with Murray coming on the the last quarter from the bench.

captaincarrantuohil can't wait till Murray returns! I assume, to bring much needed experience and stability to the front row which, yesterday, were truly given a lesson in effective scrummaging.

Much as that may be the case I find myself in opposition the idea that, in an era where managers/coaches exhort their charges to give 110%, Murray and, it would appear the majority of commentators on this blog, are happy that he is prepared to give only 80% (willing to play only 4 games out of the 5).

Murray said, in a Daily Record interview: "It's basically all or nothing, following Jesus. I don't believe in pick 'n' mix Christianity. I believe the bible is the word of God, so who am I to ignore something from it?".

Laying my cards face up on the table as an atheist, I make no criticism of him giving 100% to his beliefs and faith but to the acceptance and eager anticipation that it will be ok as the rest of our games are, luckily, on a Saturday.

Interestingly, the other home teams won their games and are still in with a shout for the Grand Slam.

Scotland, on the other hand, grand slam winners on the last two occasions with France and England at home have now, with only one other home game been deprived of that opportunity.

I'm not saying that on yesterday's overall performance that was a real possibility, only that for another week, at least, it could have been.

100% means 100%, not 80% when it suits, so let's give some younger players, as John suggests, their opportunity.

Scotland were poor. Nice guy attitude - please - Scotland haven't the skill or speed to be anywhere near to the line between right and wrong. Rose tinted glasses or what. Good game? France were playing at 60% and still had too much for Scotland - it was dull because you always knew if France wanted to they could up the ante and by out of sight.

One question - if you had to pick a lions team based on the weekends perrformances. How many players would be Scotish? Not many, if any

Ok im not gonna delve into all the theory's about why the teams played the way they did this weekend but what i am happy about is that its is very clear now that we will have a great 6N. No team shun this weekend.
I think Wales were as bad as i have seen them but will be out to prove a point from now on, England looked a lot better then the autumn but were gifted too many points, Ireland played 35 minutes well but then relaxed and made 7 changes to give new guys a run, Scotland I thought played great in spots but would give it away far too easy and france looked good but not great.

I still think France are favorites but i wouldnt be surprised if Ireland and England both beat them.

I know the player pool in Scotland is desperately small and so its no surprise that we suffer from the lack of a convincing (let alone world class) 10 but my criticism of Scotland's back line over the past few years is just how transparent it is in attack. The inability to score is not so much lack of intent but that Scotland's backs are so damned easy to predict and defend against.

Great blog John, a few things to discuss which is always interesting. As a Scotland fan for my entire life, Sunday was an immensely frustrating game. Yes France played extremely well in patches, but in my opinion they were there to be beaten, they certainly switched off in the second half and with a bit more guile I feel we really could have sneaked a win.

I would have to go with quite a few changes for the team to face Wales. For me the pack was bossed too easily, particularly at scrum time but aside from swapping Murray for Low, I wouldn't change anyone else. Also thought Beattie Jnr had a great game and was the stand out forward for Scotland.

The intention when we had the ball was there, the execution wasn't. Godman is not in good form at the minute, I would rather see Paterson given a game at fly half, at least then we would have a 10 who could run and tie up defenders, something we sorely lacked against the French blitz defence.
To combat Roberts in the Wales backline, I would be extremely tempted to play Lamont at Inside Centre, he looked the most dangerous runner on Sunday he just needed the ball more often. I like Morrison as a player, but he hasn't had a good game for Scotland in a while by my recollection.
If R Lamont is fit, then he takes Paterson's place at full back, otherwise Southwell, with Danielli taking S Lamont's place at wing.

My line up looks like this:


1)Jacobson
2)Ford
3)Murray
4)Hines
5)Kellock
6)Brown
7)Barclay
8)Beattie

9)Cusiter
10)Paterson
11)T Evans
12)S Lamont
13)M Evans
14)Danielli
15)R Lamont/Southwell

John,
Couldn't agree more, we are too nice. I was also impressed to see Lamont eyeball Parra. It sends a message that you are at Murrayfield playing Scotland and you don't bloody mess us about! We need more of this attitude. More Jeffries, Calders, Soles, Cronins, and Beatties! And boy do we need a 10. There must be one somewhere that can control a game.

Vigilant-Watcher,
Well said. Thousands of Scots at Murrayfield and watching on TV at home deserve 100 per cent commitment. If Murray won't give it because of his delusions then give his position to someone who will. Murray was needed by Scotland on Sunday but he let thousands of Scots rugby supporters down and possibly cost us the chance of victory. Players should be willing to walk over hot coals, and eat glass to play for Scotland, not give it a miss because of some imaginary friend!

Anyway, on a lighter note I'm off to Cardiff on Friday to shout on the team and party like a young thing regardless of the score. Yeeeeeeehaaaaaaaaaah!

I think the the criticism of Phil Godman is not really fair. He certainly didn't have his best game in blue but he was not at fault for performance of the entire team. The centre partnership didn't seem to be able to hold any French defenders and create space out wide and the ball coming back was almost never clean, especially off first phase. As much as there will always be criticism for the fly-half in a creatively lacking team I think that it should be shared out across the whole team for this performance.

Without doubt the two best players for Scotland on the day were Beattie and Lamont.

Vigilant watcher and Iain B it is easy for you to question Murrays commitment when you yourselves have no beliefs other than that your opinion matters. It is only in the last ten years that Rugby internationals have been played on a Sunday, and it certainly isn't Euan Murray that dictates which games Scotland plays on a sunday so he can avoid them.

I don't se that there is any compromise in his commitment to Scotland by his 100% commitment to his religion.

i dont think Euan Murray should get his place back.
He is a 'born-again' Christian
If he was religious all his life then fair enough, but he only turned to religion in 2005.
While i respect his beleifs i dont think he should get his place as he cant possibly give all his commitment to the campaign.

what happens if theres more sunday games in future 6 nations tournaments?

No one doubts his abolity to lay the game, but i think the place shold be awarded to someone who can play, and get the chance to improve in every game.

Where is Dan Parks? He has been on top form for Glasgow yet has not even made it into the Scotland squad. His club form has been far superior to Godman's. Also, he can kick which would make way for a decent full back. Paterson is a great place kicker but is one of the worst players on the team if you take that fact out.

Hoping to see three better games this weekend.

You are spot on with your comment about a creaking scrum. Ewan Murray is the best tight head we have had since the Bear and his presence will give the rest of the team a big lift. I may be a bit old fashioned but for me the tight head's job is to anchor the scrum and disrupt your opponents put in. Ewan Murray is perfectly entitled to choose not to play on a Sunday, Eric Liddell did the same and they made a film about him.
Great blog, however modesty precludes you from saying just how well John jnr played on Sunday. I thought he was magnificent.
Finally, I'm afraid that Phil Godman is just not up to the job. In an ideal word Chris Paterson would have 70 caps at stand off but he doesn't. What's done is done and we can't change that, I'd give Jackson the 10 shirt on Saturday.....

I think our two best players at the weekend were Lamont and Beattie. Lamont in particular seems to have the kind of attitude which we could use throughout the team as a whole. He's up for having a go at any brick wall put in front of him and nice doesn't come in to it.

The contribution I missed most at the weekend was that of the nice Mr.McLaren.

For once the Beeb's commentary was pretty awful. About 6 or 7 different commentators seemed to be chattering away virtually non-stop for the entire game. Suffice to say Jonathan Davies' (ahem) contribution detracted from my overall enjoyment of the game. I hope Beattie and Sole get another chance in the future if they want it. Their kind of initial chemistry and balance appealed to me as a promising future prospect.

It wasn't very nice of Euan Murray to abandon his countrymen and mates to a particularly tough day in the trenches. That situation must be so exasperating for Robinson to deal with.

Let's hope we find an irreligious, nasty bandit's worth of a fly half before too long.

JB

I've canvassed a few thoughts about Sunday's game between those that saw it at Murrayfield and on the box. There seemed to be 2 real different views from both sets with little agreement between the 2. 50 %, (rather like this blog really) thought that Scotland played with effort and intent and showed signs that under AR they are a force to be reckoned with. The other 50% say that it's back to the Hadden days again with the meagre scraps of possession being wasted, lack of a game plan and defensively naive.

I would put myself in the former category but it's possible that the tint is a slight rose colour. Either camp however stipulated that Godman must go.

Having beaten Australia in the autumn,an enormous achievement by anyone's standards, Scotland must have had a belief that the Grand Slam wasn't so far fetched a proposition but by my reckoning France showed signs that they are still a decent margin ahead of all the other N. Hemisphere teams. I do not share your view regards England....had 17 points not been gifted them they could quite easily have lost to a Welsh team that played some pretty average rugby on Saturday. Ireland, as BO'D admitted weren't firing....though Italy were absolutely shocking.

Despite Sunday's game the Triple Crown is still there for Scotland and on the balance of what was seen over the weekend it shouldn't be out of the question that they are in the race come the last game.

Oh and can I also add that the commentary of Andrew Cotter and the not so wizard Welshman on the 91Èȱ¬ just proved how amazing Bill McLaren was. The game deserves so much better than those 2 I'm afraid and I'm not sure why Mr Davies is there to commentate on any Scotland game with that most infuriating whine of his!

Agree in the main John , the scots can be a bit nice at times . However i think being more streetwise would be more apt. Time and time again in the magners and hc, scots sides and radio scotland commentators ( see peter wright) moan about decisions going with the opposition and how teams like munster 'play the ref' etc. Here's a question , why cant our teams do that for a change ?

Maybe alongside the gym and skills work there should be a dossier on the ref ( don revie style , though without the brown paper bag full of used notes).

On selection murray and welsh in , low is unlucky to share a squad with the best tighthead in the world.jacobson or low off the bench for impact. All four of these probs can scrummage. Geoff cross can scrummage too but doesn't do much else. I's stick with hines and kellock . I thought we missed the physicality of stroker, brown just doesn't have the same menace . Beattie and barclay to stay , although it would be good to see ross rennie get more game time for embra and put some pressure on barclay.

Three quaters are decent , real problem is 10 , but alas that's been the case for a while.

There are a lot of Scottish fans here asking their team to raise its game.

The Scottish fans also need to take a good hard look at themselves and significantly raise their third-rate game.

Not only are we getting played off the park sometimes, but now we're even getting sung out of our own stadium!!! Goodness me, in the second half my ears we're telling me we were playing in Paris!!! At least it drowned out JD's commentary for a few glorious minutes.

Get your act together, Scottish rugby supporters. Stop whining and sing and shout your lungs out! For the full 80 minutes, if you're fit enough and man enough. It'll really motivate our warriors on the pitch. It would give us 16 men out there.

Can you imagine the looks on the Welsh faces if we sing them out of their stadium next weekend? More's the point, they wouldn't take that lying down like we do. They'd sing and shout and scream right back at us.

Stop having a go at the players for once. Look at yourselves. And pipe up like you've actually got a pair (of lungs?) in future.

On the commentary debate what's wrong with using the excellent radio scotland team for the tv . Bill Johnstone is tremendous and not far off mcclaren in his delivery. Very underated commentator much like his football colleague David Begg.

Having beaten Australia in the autumn,an enormous achievement by anyone's standards, Scotland must have had a belief that the Grand Slam wasn't so far fetched a proposition but by my reckoning France showed signs that they are still a decent margin ahead of all the other N. Hemisphere teams. I do not share your view regards England....had 17 points not been gifted them they could quite easily have lost to a Welsh team that played some pretty average rugby on Saturday. Ireland, as BO'D admitted weren't firing....though Italy were absolutely shocking.

Despite Sunday's game the Triple Crown is still there for Scotland and on the balance of what was seen over the weekend it shouldn't be out of the question that they are in the race come the last game.
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Are you being serious?

Scotland felt a grand slam was possible on the back of complete backs to the wall display against Australia? France still a decent margin ahead of the other N.H teams? You must have missed Irelands Grand Slam and beating the world champions.

The bookies had Scotland rank outsiders along with most sane people. They are closer to a wooden spoon than a Grand Slam.

JDR...... of course I'm being serious.

43. At 8:05pm on 08 Feb 2010, Meiklelogie wrote:
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Fair enough but I cant help feel this is an extremell optimistic outlook.

Scotland had a great win over Australia but road there luck in truth and still have a major problem scoring tries.

General concensus is that they are moving in the right direction but a Grand Slam or Triple Crown?!

It will be a competitive 6 nations and already Scotland have their work cut out. I actually felt, Italy aside, that France was their most winnable game as there was a chance they could catch France cold and a bit rusty.

I hope you dont mind JB but I'd like to hikack this forum to express how appalled I was when I turned on 91Èȱ¬1 Scotland at 1pm on Saturday to watch, with my young family, the 91Èȱ¬s tribute to the late great "Sir" Bill McLaren as well as all the pre match build up to the start of the 6Ns, only to find St Mirren playing Rangers in a turgid Scottish Cup affair!! The irony of Scotland being the only nation uanble to view the McLaren tribute on the opening Saturday of the 6Ns is thick - yet another unbelievable decision by 91Èȱ¬ Scotland

John, perhaps you can shed some light on how this decision was arrived at. I understand the tribute was shown before the France game - no good to all the Scottish rugby fans attending the game at Murrayfield.

Come on 91Èȱ¬ Scotland, get a grip!

I did not expect to be suprised by this years six nations games and so far so bad. Some of the players even make catching a ball look difficult and complicated.

When i watch the modern six nations games i am continually frustrated by the forwards being where the backs should be and the backs possessing no creative flair or basic execution of attacking moves.

Defence seems to be celebrated for some strange reason and players are not happy just tackling somebody they seem to want to put every single attacking player in intensive care.

Obviously strength is an important asset to a player but I prefer the old fashioned Dean Richards strength. Everyone knew where they stood and their roles in the team. I don't think a six foot 15 stone scrum half is necessarily a good thing for the spectacle of the game. I also think a line out where you have to use your own muscles is actually more athletic than the modern version.

England showed that winning at all costs remains their moto along with we have no confidence in our team and will accept a ten point advantage and stop playing every time even if it means the distinct possibility of an emabarrasing loss. Scotlands backs once again showed the art of lateral movement and finishing skill of a wet fish and Wales who play best with ball in hand seemed to think kicking the ball anywhere was the key to victory and attractive rugby.

The Scrum: I'm afraid a fair assessment is that Scotland got well and truly stuffed at scrum time, and it could have been a hell of a sight worse with some referees. The French have a great side and an awesome back row so you cannot expect the Scots boys to compete when they are on the backfoot the whole game. They were far from disgraced, although the amount of ball turned over was also concerning.

Unfortunately due to a domestic mini crisis I only saw the first 25 minutes and the last 10-15, and my usual frenetic excitement was tempered, so the dog had a peaceful afternoon. But I thought there were some really encouraging signs with the ball in hand at times and for the first 20 minutes Scotland were really exciting to watch. They attacks were genuinely threatening and penetrative. If they ran out of steam later on that is no disgrace when they have been so comprehensively stuffed at scrum time and playig against such a great side.
Credit where its due Harinordoquy was fantastic. Some lad called Beattie didn't have half a bad game either though.

Moving forward Scotland have to address the scummaging issue. I think as well as Dickinson played in the loose he will probably need to be sacrificed. Personally I think the Scots front row need to get low much more quickly, although obviously not engage until everyone is ready.Psychology is a huge part of the front row battle and to be standing up for ages whilst the French are crouched down low waiting for them sends the wrong mental signals altogether.

I think Dan Parks is probably the man for 10 for now. Whilst I am all for taking attacking and positive selection options, what bit I saw of Ruarigh Jackson in the A side the other night did not convince me he was yet ready to make a major difference at full International level and Scotland cannot afford to risk spoiling a potentially exciting talent for the future by throwing him in before he is ready and knocking his confidence if things don't go well.

And what they need from us supporters is loads of encouragement and plenty of voacal support at the matches. If we are lacking depth of top class players, that is not the fault of the boys out there doing their best.

I thought from what I saw that the ref had a good game. As a player I always liked a ref. who was a communicater and made it clear to the players what he wanted. I, too was amused by his interactions with the non English speaking French players!

The Murray issue: as a bad Catholic boy I am very very sad to see the reaction of some people to the Euan Murray situation. I was far from Saintly either on the field (as many refs would testify)or in the bar, but never went on an Easter tour because I wouldn't play, drink or socialise in Holy week. If there is a player as good that is always available fair enough pick him ahead of Euan, but if he's the best man for the job, and he shows dedication and commitment in training and every other are,why punish him and weaken the team by not selecting him?
Forgive me if I sound sensitive or pious, but such criticism of his stance smacks of religious discrimination to me.

I enjoy reading this blog and with it being the 6-Nations, I thought it's about time I get involved with the discussion!

The Euan Murray thing is my biggest gripe. It's annoying to me because it has only started to be an issue in the last few years to my knowledge. I bet when he was trying to become pro he played the odd game for his club on a Sunday. And then further to this when he was benching for the 'A' team at the beginning of his professional days I assume he played the odd Sundays as well. It seems to me that now that he is Lion, and pivotal part of the national team, and in some eyes the best tight head in the northern hemisphere....he has become all high and mighty. In Hollywood the term may even be 'Diva'! But anyway, that's just my impression, and I am sure I'm wrong.

The other part I wanted to comment on was Godman. I actually don't mind Godman, Robinson molded him at Edinburgh, so I think it's understandable that when trying to have the national team adopt the same style his instinct is to implement with Godman. However on Saturday against France I don't think he got his hands dirty once, his hunger was questionable, and he looked like an annoying whiner. One time in particular in the first half, Thom Evans ran a great inside line off him and Godman got tackled before releasing and lost the ball (knocked on in the tackle by France). This is ok, it happens. But in the aftermath on the replay you can see Godman giving Evans the old "that was your fault". And not taking responsibility himself. And that's not what we need.

Persius,
Forgive me if I sound sensitive or pious, but such criticism of his stance smacks of religious discrimination to me.

Guess what? You sound sensitive and pious. But I'm sure we can forgive you. Also, since when did critisism become discrimination? I agree that we should be giving them our support no matter who's playing.

Anyone else think that Godman could have done "slightly better" in preventing Bastareauds second try? An attempt at a tackle perhaps?

I was very disappointed with the front row, but actually felt it was a bit like watching Glasgow in that they get bullied too easily in key games. Murray should make a difference, and yes he should get back in as he is genuinely world class. Most employers make allowances for religious beliefs, why not the SRU?

Big decision is at 10. Godman has shown in the Magners this season that he is not international class, and Parks took him to bits in the 1872 Cup. Get Parks in for Cardiff and push Wales back to force line outs which they were poor at on Saturday. It is well documented that the Welsh rate Parks and see him as a thorn in their flesh at club level. Long term the position is, as it has been for years, a problem. Jackson is going to be good, but not ready perhaps. This is the problem with 2 pro-teams, it leaves our weaker positions badly under manned. There must be a good 10 out there !

Interesting that the Murrayfield crowd don't boo Godman when he has a 'mare. I mean, shocking to kick the second half re-start straight out. It took 12 or 13 minutes to rcover from that. Not that I condone boo-ing anyone in the blue.

I remain positive for our season overall....starting in Cardiff this week.

"I remember being a wee boy in school in Scotland having come back from Malaysia and reading out loud a passage about a butler taking the rolls out in the morning. I was the only boy in the class who thought we were talking about bread rolls."

Ah! the benefits of a Mossblown education!

Difficult to describe how I found the match; quite mental walking down to the stadium. Very, very French crowd: maybe something to do with the early release of tickets, I don't know. Atmosphere was incredible, no obvious Scots counter to the spontaneous French bursts of Les Marseilles or 'allez les bleus' - seemed that way on the pitch too, sadly.

From the 2nd quarter on and particularly the second half I felt Scotland looked poor, bar the odd unsupported break. Cusiter, Beattie, Lamont and looked able, Gray too for his brief appearance. French pumped us in the front row and appeared permanently offside generally, infringing at the rucks in particular. Nobody from Scotland stepped up and blootered them as a means of dissuasion (this goes back to the slow ball/rucking blog: there should have been Frenchman counting their fingers in the dresing room post match to see if they still had a full compliment). Behind the scrum Godman was ineffectual; no real kicking game, poor decision making, lacking confidence. Didn't have the nous or ability to chip the ball in behind the French offside blitz defence or kick for the corners (maybe just as well as our hooker canny throw for toffee)Consequently the fastest backs we've had for ages got the ball with nothing on and reverted to type running into defenders not space. On Telly I thought Scotland looked a bit better overall though the front row, stand off, ambition and ferocity remain major issues. France were very good, but we let them be very good.

Two or three changes to the starting 15 and bench in the obvious positions(favouring fresh talent and building to the future) Patterson/Jackson combo at stand off, similar thing with Hines/Gray, Lamont at full back, a hooker, Murray maybe Welsh too in the front row. Knock it into Wales on Saturday and get the show back on the road.

Having only watched the game on TV, I felt pretty optimistic after the game. We made several good line breaks in the first half, crucially not panicking with the next phase as seemed customary under Hadden. A bit of maturity and confidence seemed to be appearing, probably born out of the success many of the players are now having at club level. OK Godman didn't quite cut it and Murry Low perhaps isn't a world-class tight head yet but both deserved their chance last Sunday.

Credit where credit is due, that was a very strong French scrummaging performance from their tight five and the French back row did more of the dull stuff well, snuffing out too much of our quick ball. Our back row were eye-catching but did not consistently win the collisions over the breakdowns. The French are a very good big side, particularly in the forwards, who had very good day at the office.

This week, well Wales don't have the scrummaging power France have and I question the discipline (they appear to miss tackles and get out of alignment) of their back row. Although our lineout is a bit suspect I would still really attack the Welsh throw too. Ultimately we need to keep the pressure on their forwards and frustrate the Welsh backs into running everything, plenty reason to be optimistic.