Banging the drum for rugby's casualties
- 23 Jan 07, 02:29 PM
Glasgow - Anyone know where Charlotte Church is? I need her to sing at a gig in Edinburgh in a couple of weeks?
Sometimes there is so much more to life than a mere result and although I am writing this while we all wait for the Scottish rugby team to take on England to be announced, sometimes it鈥檚 worth pausing to realise that friendship is more important than who scores more points.
A couple of my former Scottish team mates have health problems and I want to say hello to them without naming them, and I talked to two current Scottish rugby players last night.
Scrum half Chris Cusiter and back row man Kelly Brown are going to play in my band on 10 February at a big function to try to raise money for .
Chris is a demon on the guitar, and Kelly is a singer. Both are very good lads.
The gig is in Edinburgh the night after and the rugby community is getting together to raise cash for those hurt by the game.
And it is a sore sport by the way. Just feel my hip, both knees, one ankle, a shoulder, several finger joints, my neck and please run your fingers down by lower back. See what I mean?
All we need is for Charlotte to step up on stage and if Gavin Henson is playing then maybe she鈥檒l be in town. Or perhaps some of the Welsh lads are good singers.
Guitar playing and singing are unlikely to be among Frank Hadden's selection criteria when he picks the team for Twickenham, set to be revealed on Wednesday.
But I fancy both Chris and Kelly will be in the squad and for Cusiter this will be a very rapid recovery from injury.
It鈥檚 a tough game this one at Twickenham without . I played in the last team to win at Twickenham, which was in 1983. I know, it鈥檚 a long, long time ago!
And my gut feeling is that England will be severely dischuffed at the press coverage they have had and will be one of the teams of the tournament.
And for the one and only time during this blog series, I will mention my son. Yes, I know, I am not old enough to have a son involved in the national squad. What鈥檚 it like ? Honest answer? It鈥檚 a flaming nightmare.
Speak to you soon and, Charlotte, if you fancy a gig for charity in front of a thousand rugby fans give me a call.
Wales 27-18 England
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It is going to be very tough without potential Lions Captain material Jason White.
Also it will be a very very tough call for Mr Hadden over whether to gamble and put into the team guys who have only just come back from injury.
Can he gamble on England being as tactically impotent as last year?
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Yup, Frank Hadden has said in interviews that what counted against England in previous years was their predictability.
I agree with you, Frank will know that England will be much more difficult to come to terms with this time. He does also, as you say, have a long injury list and I think he will be tempted to play Chris Cusiter who is recovering well from his shoulder operation. There's the usual shortage of front five players to contend with.
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Im 26 and am proud to note the last 3 times Scotland have beaten England I was in the crowd, in fact I have never seen Scotland lose to the Auld enemy. maybe fate has stopped me getting a ticket and losing my impressive supporter form.
For me growing up beating the english in England has happened once in my lifetime in 83 and I think this is the year it could happen again.
The guys will be smarting from falling apart to Oz and I dont think England can solve all their problems 12 days before an international. But as always it depends on selection. What is your starting 15 ?
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15 Hugo Southwell
14 Sean Lamont
13 Rob Dewey
12 Andy Henderson
11 Chris Paterson
10 Gordon Ross (will be Parks)
9 Rory Lawson
1 Euan Marray
2 Dougie Hall
3 Bruce Douglas
4 Scot Murray
5 James Hamilton
6 James Beattie
7 David Callum
8 Simon Taylor
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with Rory Lawson at scrum half scotland will be ok as he is playing very well but they should expect a huge back lash after last years embarisment i fear scotland could be beatan 50 odd nill
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England will certainley be unpredictable,Brian Ashton's main frustration will be how does he formulate and execute a plan when he can't say at this stage what his team will be, it will more than likely not be a first choice line up. That means places up for grabs, names to be made possibly compromises, i just hope there is a desire and will to perform as a unit.
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The team will be
15 Southwell
14 Lamont
13 Di Rollo
12 Dewey
11 Paterson
10 Parks
9 Lawson
1 Murray
2 Hall
3 Kerr
4 Murray
5 Kellock
6 Brown
7 Hogg
8 Beattie
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It wont be Lawson at number 9. If all goes well tonight then Chris Cusiter will be at 9. I,as a die hard cusiter fan, am pleased with this but I do feel for Rory and Sam Pinder!! Good luck as well to the Glasgow Warriors tonight they totally deserve a win. And where is Thom Evans in the Scotland squad??? He should be starting!!!
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Andy Henderson should be starting at inside centre, Dewey is to inexperienced at this level to be starting, Plus Henderson has been in great form for Glasgow for the last few weeks. I would start Jim Hamilton to give a bit more dig in the pack.
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Good luck with your gig and v England.
If you are looking for one C Church, dont ask Pat Kenny, RTE Broadcaster. He has been a big fan of one gavin henson ever since being told on the eve of the Ireland Wales match last year that he goes into church before and after every game!
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Why does the name Parks always send shudders down my spine. Let's hope he's a hero rather than a zero come Saturday.
Great to hear Cusiter is back in the team, I'm sure we're likely to see Lawson getting a run out later though.
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