February 05, 2006

Glasgow guys play their part in Scottish victory

Posted by Assistant Editor on February 5, 2006 08:50 PM | 15 comments | Print | E-mail author

Dan Parks drew praise from Frank Hadden
The Warriors involved in today's win over France at Murrayfield played their part in getting the Six Nations off to a memorable start for the Scots.

In the midfield, Andy Henderson was busy making and breaking tackles. After Di Rollo was injured, Andy went on to work very well with Simon Webster in an exciting-looking new partnership.

Meanwhile, Dan Parks and Mike Blair controlled the game and varied the play well at half-back. Dan has come under fire in the past and his boss urged the detractors to back off.

After the game, Frank Hadden said: "You guys in the press are invaluable when you talk us up.

"But the people that are still mud-slinging at Dan Parks really need to have a long hard look at themselves. Dan answered them in perfect fashion today."

Glasgow subs, Scott Lawson and Jon Petrie came on in the second half, for that frantic final period, with France desperately throwing the ball about. Both played their part in an impressive defensive effort from the Scottish pack.

The reactions after the match showed how much the result meant to the squad, and the players commented on the contribution of a noisy home support.

Comments
Posted by Big col on February 5, 2006 09:37 PM | Reply to this comment

Excellent performance from the whole team. Amazing though, were the massive cheers when Parks was subed in the second half for wonder boy Ross to come on. Still people are booing and slating Parks despite obviously following Hadden's game plan to the letter. Incidently I though Ross was poor when he came on and his kicking nowhere near as good as Dan,s but then maybe I just biased.

Posted by vicki on February 5, 2006 09:44 PM | Reply to this comment

Thankfully, I wasn't really aware of booing / cheering when Dan came off. It was noisy as the French were moving forward, and felt the double substitution didn't really draw much attention.

Dan did have a good game, and in particular his passing was very slick. Whether he or Gordon Ross did more for the Parks cause is unclear, but it is amazing to see how quiet certain messageboard users are where Dan's performance today is concerned.

Well done to the whole squad on a memorable performance!

Posted by Alan on February 5, 2006 10:14 PM | Reply to this comment

Dan played very well, could have played fine to the end.. if it was the game plan to change at that point, fair enough, but there was no need. Well played JP, caught the ball straight from the kick off when he came on ..well, we don't see that much at Glasgow!!;)

Posted by Grant on February 6, 2006 09:52 AM | Reply to this comment

Total domination from Daniel. A job well done and maybe, just maybe these dribblers or giberers can write about something else....

Posted by Boxing Kangaroo on February 5, 2006 11:04 PM | Reply to this comment

Fantastic to see you Scotties have a great win over France. The confidence shown to certain players by coaches Williams, and Hadden is producing results. These coaches knew who to stick with. Maybe all the knockers will go and have a cold shower, and button their lips. Scotland now have the makings of a class Test side.

Posted by The Pirate on February 6, 2006 05:45 AM | Reply to this comment

Well done to all the Scottish team it is now starting to show when you play with confidence you can match even the best teams. Well done to Frank Hadden for going with what he knows and not going with those fans who cursed against him for making certain choices. Well done Parksy for sticking to your guns your true fans knew you had it in you, keep it up mate.....

Posted by Franklin Kirby on February 6, 2006 06:11 AM | Reply to this comment

Seeing the Scottish forward pack put the shove on against the French was a sight to behold, and they kept doing it all game. A good physical game up front, with all forwards putting in. That number 17 who came on produced some great hits in defence, very enthusiatic player. The fire was there and it didn't look like previous tired performances, Sean Lamont was the most dangerous man on the park and the backs looked keen all game. Park's passing was quick and precise, he looked composed and his kicking was consistently good, I'm sure pulling him off after 60 was in the plan, as there was nothing lacking in the backline up to that point. Shifting the ball wide quickly was one of Scotland's attacking features. It shows when a team is confident and believes in their game plan. Areas for work would be the scrum and lineouts, especially their work on the French lineouts,it all looked a bit shabby in that area. The driving maul was a beautiful thing to watch!

Posted by Jinty on February 6, 2006 11:16 PM | Reply to this comment

Well done to every player ... So much to savour - that Maul and Dan the Man - a performance to be proud of! Only warm applause for him when he came off where I was sitting.

Posted by Franklin Kirby on February 7, 2006 12:50 AM | Reply to this comment

I'm sure people were hoping it was applause for Ross or something negative, but Parks applauded the crowd as he walked off. I'm sure he knew the applause was for his solid effort in a great team performance. He has handled all this negativity with dignity and maturity, and played a solid game, give him some credit for that. Hadden's expansive gameplan was only as effective as the people that carried it out, and they did that with commitment . Again, well done guys. Also had to mention the danger of Blair and Cusiter's darting runs, they caught the French napping with their acceleration and creativity.

Posted by hugues on February 7, 2006 06:46 AM | Reply to this comment

PURE DEAD BRILLIANT!!!
Congratulations to the scots!
No controversial choice about the team from the 3 pro.
I'll be honest, i said last year DP didn't have the International level, he improved a lot as the all team.
NO HAND MISTAKES, confidence is back.
I'm looking forward to seeing the game V Wales.
Hadden was expecting something special and it happened, great.
The forwards:
Very happy to see the improvement compare to last year, that means you don't have to import coaches from Ireland to play your Rugby.
Keep going

Posted by McDruid on February 12, 2006 01:54 PM | Reply to this comment

Heard a report on the touchline yesterday that the Scottish team was on £12,000 a man to beat the French last week. Has anyone else heard this? If it is true it brings an entirely new meaning to the expression "playing for the jersey". The Scottish team will be playing jerseys woven from gold threads, not navy blue.

£12,000 a man, including coaches, would total over £300,000. That's not bad for the cash-strapped SRU that has stopped accreditation payments which used to help finance the development of clubs and that keeps Glasgow and the Borders operating on shoe-string budgets.

Posted by stones on February 12, 2006 09:28 PM | Reply to this comment

"heard it on the touchline" doesn't sound too reliable to me... but 15% of the gate to the guys who put in so much effort last weekend? Hell yeah!

Most professional sports people at that level have some form of performance related pay, be it prize money or bonuses. I don't see what the issue is since it's presumably built into the SRU budget and they haven't exactly had to pay out much lately.

Team sponsors often front some of this sort of payment anyway so this alleged money may not even be taken from the SRU coffers.

Posted by lindsmitch on February 13, 2006 12:55 PM | Reply to this comment

I think it's unacceptable for us to question either the salary or validity of potential bonus payments to the team. We are talking about these guys' careers, some of which have the potential to be rather short I guess. I wouldn't expect to have my salary or bonus payments questioned by the customers who happen to purchase products from my company. Anyhow, where would you rather the money went - into the SRU coffers, (Bermuda Triangle anyone...) or into the pockets of the guys who are doing the grafting.

Posted by hugh on February 13, 2006 08:59 PM | Reply to this comment

I think the point being made is at a time when the SRU has cut payments to clubs throughout Scotland and many clubs are on their knees financially is this the right message to send out.
If clubs go to the wall when will the next generation of players come from.

Posted by The Pirate on February 16, 2006 08:25 AM | Reply to this comment

When a great victory like that happens money should not even enter anyones thoughts. Even if they did the Wales game showed that the passion for the jersey of Scotland is at an all time high bring on England lets stop there so called Grand Slam. We can do it boys good luck on club duties in the next weeks....

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