Another good win and another 5 tries for Scotland as Pool B reached the half way stage. So who was hot and who was not? And did it tally up with the pre-match preview?
BACKS
Stuart Hogg – 7
Puts me in mind of some of Scotland’s most iconic animals, running like a magnificent stag in full flight but unfortunately his passing was more reminiscent of an otter trying to fling a haggis.
Sean Maitland – 7
Spending the last 6 months or so hibernating has clearly been good for Sleepy Sean who was definitely part of the Wide Awake Club on Sunday putting in a strong performance in attack and defence.
Mark Bennett – 7
Keeping his powder dry for bigger tests to come. It will be interesting to see if Scotland manage their biggest ever RWC win by toppling South Africa will Mark actually crack a smile?
Peter Horne – 6
A bit of a missed opportunity to put his case for future selection. May well have been distracted by his opposite number being Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones.
Tim Visser – 7
Call it what you like – try-scorer’s instinct, voodoo, luck – the man has a lot of it and knows how to take advantage.
Finn Russell – 7
Don’t let him be injured and miss the South Africa game. Don’t let him be injured and miss the South Africa game. Don’t let him be injured and miss the South Africa game…
Henry Pyrgos – 6
Captaincy suffered from having to have the ref translated by Sean Maitland and even then not really having a clue what Chris Pillock was on about.
FORWARDS
Ryan Grant – 4
Gordon Reid has been playing and scrummaging better for months now so it seems odd that Ryan has been selected ahead of the Scotstoun Express.
Ross Ford – 6
He does not hook therefore he cannot be a hooker. From now on I’m just going to refer to Ross as the ‘Middle Prop’.
Jon Welsh – 5
The only quieter performance than Jon’s on Sunday was me in front of the telly – I was off my face on painkillers, not sure what Welshy’s excuse was.
Richie Gray – 6
8 carries for 6m. He could’ve made more ground than that just by falling over surely?!
Grant Gilchrist – 5
Started well before being forced off. May want to pack in his mirror-smashing business or at least rethink his methodology of breaking each one with a black cat while standing under a ladder.
Alasdair Strokosch – 6
17 tackles and none missed. Erm…that’s about it really.
Ryan Wilson – 6
A 5 rating playing at 6. A 6 rating at 7. Maybe if he got a shot at 8 he’d get up into the 7s but that’s not going to happen.
Josh Strauss – 7
He’ll have bigger games but double digits for carries and tackles was a strong effort. There will be a South African meltdown if he contributes to a Scotland win on Saturday.
SUBSTITUTES
Kevin Bryce – “Woohoo, I just replaced Ross Ford” thought every Glasgow hooker ever. “It means nothing” thought every Scotland coach ever.
Alasdair Dickinson (7) – seemed an odd choice to lead the kick off chase but did it well.
WP Nel (8) – best 40 minutes I’ve seen from a Scottish tight head in years.
Tim Swinson (7) – the Timinator justified his selection in the squad with a good, aggressive performance.
Fraser Brown (6) – managed to do a reasonably convincing impression of an openside.
Greig Laidlaw (7) – muting the ref mic may be sensible on Saturday with Greig, FDP and Owens all yapping away…
Duncan Weir (6) – Meatball looked sharp but still…please don’t let Finn be injured and miss the South Africa game.
Matt Scott (7) – after a lot of huffing and puffing by the forwards Matt showed them how it was done.
So are these ratings too low, too high or just right? Add your thoughts below!
On Top Of The Moon 