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Fans satisfied that form players have been rewarded by Scotland

Nick Haining (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Gregor Townsend has named his Scotland side to face Ireland this weekend at the Aviva Stadium and the starting XV only contains five players that started in their last outing versus Japan at the World Cup. 

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Retirements and injuries in the wake of the RWC have forced Townsend’s hand when making this selection, not to mention Finn Russell’s recent misdemeanour which has seen him banned. 

With that being said, many players that will start in Dublin are being rewarded for their good form over the past few months. 

Edinburgh’s summer signing Nick Haining, who joined from Premiership outfit Bristol, is a surprising call at No8, but one that equally warrants a start which will be his first cap for Scotland. 

The 29-year-old is slightly fortuitous with injuries to Magnus Bradbury, Blade Thomson and Matt Fagerson, but there would still be a compelling case for him to start, which many Scotland fans have said. 

(Continue reading below…)

Jamie Joseph is desperate to avoid a club versus country conflict in Japan

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The Australian-born loose forward has competed with Bill Mata for the eight shirt this season in Edinburgh, which is a good indication of where his game is at the moment as he has been able to hold the Fijian back. 

Although his age may concern some, particularly at the beginning of a new RWC cycle, Scotland supporters have highlighted that form players should play, regardless of the circumstances. 

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https://twitter.com/RugbyMccaw/status/1222849617156616192?s=20

In the backs, Huw Jones has also been praised for bouncing back after the disappointment of missing out on the RWC. The outside centre is starting to produce the kind of performances for Glasgow Warriors that he showed when he first arrived at Scotstoun. 

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Jones is starting ahead of Rory Hutchinson, who is yet another player that has been spurred on after missing out on the RWC.

He is also having an impressive campaign with Northampton Saints and will have a fascinating battle with Jones to see who will start throughout the tournament and indeed the coming years. 

With a lot of disruptions leading into the Six Nations for Scotland, chiefly the Russell debacle, pressure has mounted on Townsend. But he can now hope that his players bring the form they have shown for their clubs this season to the national team. 

WATCH: World Rugby have added pressure on teams to improve their results in 2020

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NB 41 minutes ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Nice bit if revisioniusm but that's all it is JW.


For your further education, I found the following breakdown of one prominent club's finances in the Top 14 [Clermont].


For Clermont (budget of €29.5 million for 2021-2022) :

- 20% from ticket sales

- 17% from the LNR (includes TV Rights, compensation from producing french internationals and other minor stuff)

- 5% from public collectivities (so you're looking at funds from the city of Clermont, the department of Puy-De-Dôme and the region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)

- 4% from merchandising and events

- 3% from miscellaneous

- 51 % from sponsorships and partnerships. They've got 550 different partners. The main ones are CGI, Groupama, Limagrain/Jacquet, Omerin, Paprec, Renault and of course Michelin (not surprising since they're actually the founders of the club).


As you can see nothing comes from the FFR at all. The LNR is a separate entitiy to FFR and their aims frequently do not accord.


It is also why the European breakaway plotted by LNR and PR back in 2013 had nothing to do with the governing bodies of either England or France - and it most certainly did not have their blessing https://www.espn.co.uk/rugby/story/_/id/15331030/jean-pierre-lux-anglo-french-cup-detrimental-european-rugby


And from the horse's mouth [ex AB skipper Sean Fitapatrick] about the comp between Top 14 and Super Rugby:


"The Top 14 in France is probably the best rugby competition in the world at the moment, purely for the week-in, week-out.”


“I think the quality of players. They are bigger, they are faster, they are stronger. Which then carries on into the international game.”

Take it from someone who knows JW😅

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