Wednesday 1 February 2012

Calcutta Cup Winners? Scotland Getting Ahead Of Themselves A Bit!

As if England didn’t need any more motivation to beat the Scots this weekend the appearance of “Calcutta Cup Winners” T-Shirts on the Scottish RFU website four days before the game will have added some spice. Andy Robinson’s recent comments about English arrogance at the World Cup may be justified in certain quarters, however, I am confident that Stuart Lancaster’s new Elite Squad will make the disappointments (both on and off the pitch) of the New Zealand tournament a distant memory.
I have been impressed with Lancaster’s application so far and he appears to be sticking to his principles in removing the old guard who clearly were clearly past their best or just weren’t good enough in the first place (Nick “£35k down the toilet” Easter!). His handling of the Danny Care drink-driving offence also shows some strong discipline. I don’t expect to see Delon Armitage for the rest of the tournament either. Its not as if either play is a teenager. They are fully grown adults and should know better.
Graham Henry has stated that Lancaster’s approach will backfire. I don’t agree. Alex Ferguson has built a legacy at Man Utd through strong discipline and has never been afraid to fine, drop or even sell his best players if their behaviour is not in the best interests of the club.
Im genuinely looking forward to seeing what the new crop of players can do. I hope that they are able to play without fear or restriction and can replicate their good club form. Wales managed to foster that sort of freedom when they picked a young squad for the World Cup and they are now going into this years Six Nations with a strong expectation of winning.
I wish Robshaw the best of luck with the captaincy. I would personally have chosen Hartley, primarily because of his experience and the fact that as it is Robshaw’s Six Nations debut I would want him to be concentrating on his game rather than having the pressure of international captaincy.
I will be watching the team announcement with interest. I would go with the following from :-
1) Corbisiero
2) Hartley (C)
3) Marler
4) Palmer
5) Botha (Lawes when fit)
6) Croft
7) Robshaw (Wood when fit)
8) Morgan
9) Youngs
10) Farrell
11) Ashton
12) Barritt
13) Turner-Hall (Tuilagi when fit)
14) Sharples
15) Foden
Lets see if Lancaster agrees with me tomorrow. J Good luck boys, lets start by making sure the Scots don’t get to buy those T-Shirts!