Former Wales captain pours more scorn on Scotland
Laidlaw: derided by Jonathan Davies as "a headless chicken." Picture: Ian Rutherford
WELSH criticism of Scotland’s try-scoring troubles continued yesterday when former Wales captain Gwyn Jones claimed that not even rugby legends Barry John or Dan Carter could improve the situation.
Scotland will start with Greig Laidlaw at stand-off against Wales in tomorrow’s RBS Six Nations match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, replacing Dan Parks who retired from international rugby this week. Laidlaw came on as a replacement for Parks in last week’s Calcutta Cup defeat at Murrayfield, and although he appeared to bring a fresh impetus to the attack and almost broke Scotland’s try duck with an effort that was ruled out by the television match official, he was the subject of derision from Jonathan Davies, the former Wales player.
Davies, summarising for the BBC last week, said that Laidlaw had played like a “headless chicken” when he came on.
Now former flanker Jones, who won 13 caps for Wales, has added his voice to those who doubt that Scotland can make any progress in attack.
Asked whether he felt Laidlaw could be the man to fire the Scotland back line, the BBC Wales commentator said: “I’m not sure that Barry John could get that back-line firing, or Dan Carter or anyone. They’re inert. They’ve been so criticised and will feel embarrassed by the opportunities they had and squandered against England that they will be doing everything possible to show that they have some ability, some flair and that hunger to do it. But at the moment the way they are playing, they are so straight-up-and-down, and so lacking in the basic skills that I would be disappointed if they were to score tries against us.”
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Monday 28 May 2012
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Comments
There are 16 comments to this article
Page 1 of 2
wolfcrag
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 11:44 PMDavies shows no respect to Scotland . Go out and beat Wales, close the roof and run them off the park. Get into them!!
ATG73
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 09:32 PMI think it is a pretty disrespecful and stupid thing to say. When Wales were struggling I dont remember any Scots kicking them when they were down. #2... earned the right? I dont think anyone has "the right" to say things like that. Remember is a flanker, it doesnt necessarily mean he knows anything about back play. It will only serve to motivate the Scottish team anyway. Scotlands problem is, as it has been since 1999 is at 101213 where we have been playing one dimentionals players who can either only kick or run straight. With Laidlaw or Jackson at 10 and a more inventive midfeild with Matt Scott at 12 and Ansbro or Hogg on the outside, Things will change. I think ultimately Laidlaw should be moved to 9 with Jackson at 10. Optimum Scots backline: 9.Laidlaw 10.Jackson 11.Visser(when available) 12.Scott 13.Ansbro 14.Evans 15.Hogg
shrek4
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 07:11 PMJ Davies - awesome player sh*te commentator - absolutely no professionalism whatsoever. Brian Moore annoying as a player but entertaining as a commentator and dishes it out to England as much as the other team. Always enjoy listening to him... Wales are looking the best in 6N just now.
Tightfisted
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 06:52 PMGwynn Jones??.................absolutely NO CLASS !!! Is he a Hearts fan by any chance???
The Lord
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 06:18 PMIgnore him. He is a little chip on the shoulder welshman. Moaning whinging little person. Welsh - the worlds worst winners and the worlds worst losers. He looks like a headless chicken!!!!!!!!!!!!
SeniorandSenior
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 06:00 PMGwyn Jones should know, he played in some pretty weak Wales teams. What is it about the Welsh? They're a cocky bunch, they had over a decade of being pretty much as bad as Scotland are now. Short memories?
leemagee
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 04:19 PMAllenatore dello Sport Scozesse: mate, you obviously have little idea of what it takes to manufacture tries at any level beyond division 3. The scoring of tries does not lie squarely on the shoulders of the backs! If this was the case, all tries would result from a simple missed tackle as it would always be 6 backs on 6 backs. The true fault lies with the coaches...it is their job to manufacture and create tries through angled runs, forwards play, dummy runs, and set moves. Although the missed tries last week were down to poor basic skills, the real problem lies with the coaches who, by the week, seem to be dragging this Scotland squad backwards!!
Donaldinho
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 11:56 AMWelsh in shooting fat gobs off shocker. Anyone surprised? Sadly they are correct and it's down to the players to sort it out. My fear is when Scotland talk of playing expansively, it's usually in kamikaze style. There is no in between. We lack leaders on the pitch. I fear our skills are poor, a product of nearly 20 years struggling to come to grips with pro rugby must be part of it. Davies was a great player and so can speak with authority on back play. However, skilled commentator he is not. Harry Dornochy anyone? Apparently he plays for France.
voice of reason
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 11:51 AMA copy of this article should be placed on the seat of every Scotland player in the dressing room. Neither Andy Robinson nor Ross Ford needs to inject any further motivation. It is actually a huge bonus for any side when the opposition arrogance does your team motivation for you.
Allenatore dello Sport Scozesse
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:47 AMNot scoring tries is not and never has been the fault of Scotland's forwards. It lies squarely with the backs and their inability to make the right decisions and the skills to pass and catch the ball. In the first instance we need to get rid of the "can't pass won't pass" brothers Lamont. Also what have all the SRU elite coaches being doing for the past 10 years? Can they not produce skilful,. line breaking, passing, centres?
Son of the Dog
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:36 AMScotland continue to frustrate their fans with "close but no cigar" performances so it's no great surprise that pundits dismiss our prospects as hopeless and beyond retrieval. Comments from the likes of Jonathan Davies are fuelled too often by personal bias and an insatiable appetite to say something insightful that he considers the rest of the viewing public is incapable of seeing for itself. Moreover, the BBC seems does not seem unduly inclined to do anything about it. I've now come to regard pundits' analyses with the same measure of scepticism as I do coaches' post defeat blethers about performance, passion, stats and game domination. Scotland have upped the anti for themselves this weekend by looking not just to win but to win with style ... away from home. I admire the ambition. I certainly want to see them improve and a try or four wouldn't go amiss. For that matter, neither would a win, stylish or not !!. The team's undergone a fair bit of negative comment this week. So, tomorrow, at a distance and from the comfort of my own sofa, I aim to find a more encouraging voice than we may hear from some less than neutral media pundits. Go Scotland.
Aubrey Wilson
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 10:11 AMHang on: those comments were made not by Jonathan Davies, but Gwyn Jones. The point about the basic skills is well supported and it seems that Scotland cannot play at the pace needed to turn opportunities into tries. But it will be up to Scotland to turn the expected 5-10 points margin win for Wales to a 5-10 margin win for Scotland. Nothing but a win will do for Scotland. No draws, almost there, so unlucky, referee was against us........A win. This has now turned out to be one of the most important matches for Scotland for many years. Because a loss would confirm that all of Andy Robinson's preparations and changes in personnel have come to nought. To date, the record of Scotland under his charge in the 6N is quite staggeringly poor. Quite desperate. Perhaps shameful. This is the match to turn it around. If Scotland win, and I am sure they will score at least one try (that's the way that Wales play - high temp with some risks), then it could be the beginning of a turnaround, although we'd need to have a few more wins to confirm that. But if they lose, then Scotland is faced with the prospect of beating only one team in this championship with all the consequences for the coach. I have spoken to several Welsh fans this week and they all expect Scotland to do very well upfront. So don't believe all you read. Scotland will do well. We expect that of course. But do they have sufficiently able players to win? That's the 64,000 dollar queston. We have asked it many times, over many games and not liked the answer we got. So the question is, will tomorrow be different?
Mutt1170
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 09:59 AMJust remember, if we do win tomorrow, it will be because Wales "were understrength" or Wales "threw it away". Jiffy was a cracking player in his day, but as a Summariser ... The difference between JD and Brian Moore is that Bulldog had a heap of personal demons that affected everything he did and that came out in his aggressive TV style. Once he came to terms with those demons his rugby brain came to the fore and he is a very even and honest Summariser - unless England are playing poorly :-D
braveheart64
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 09:08 AMScotland traditionally play better as underdogs which they certainly are here.One of these days we will make somebody pay - I hope that our very own headless chicken Mr Laidlaw can be the catalyst.Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to shut up Jonathan 'The Hobbit' Davies
bocagrande
Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 06:06 AMDavies is annoying but he has earned the right to criticise and comment. Scottish rugby fans might not like what he says but it needs to be said. Any of the Six Nations squads would have beaten England last week, yet Scotland were completely inept at executing basic attacking play and squandered a perfect opportunity to gain confidence and move forward. Scotland are dreadful. I hope they stick a finger up to all their critics today, but we all know what will likely happen.
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