Sun 16 Oct: RLWC: Scotland v Italy KO 14:30

[jacksy]

I fear for the Scots against the Aussies.

[Farmduck]

Just now, Wendigo7 said:

Are we not a bit surprised how poor Scotland have been? 
Didn’t expect this to be a blowout. 

No. Can someone remind me when the Golden Age of Scottish RL was.

[Futtocks]

Just now, Wendigo7 said:

Are we not a bit surprised how poor Scotland have been? 
Didn’t expect this to be a blowout. 

You only get a good idea of international form in a sport that plays regular internationals. You can look at individual club performances, but that doesn't take into account what the coach brings (see Samoa's status as favourites yesterday).

[shrewsbury roughyed]

Scotland could do with a decent stacking coach- Lee Radford and Richard Agar appear to be going nothing and I think they were in Newcastle at the weekend.

[The Legend]

Very disappointing showing from Scotland. 

Never looked likely. Individuals trying to gain glory and zero team play in attack

[shrewsbury roughyed]

Attacking not stacking 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Enjoyable game, bring on the next one! 

[The Mighty Trin]

Bad result, but we'll played Matty Russell, Euan Aitken, Liam Hood and Ryan Briarley. Class apart from the rest...too many errors in the camp which you cannot make in International RL. Well done to Italy very impressive  

[welshmagpie]

2 minutes ago, Wendigo7 said:

Are we not a bit surprised how poor Scotland have been? 
Didn’t expect this to be a blowout. 

They look very disjointed and without a plan. Italy had been in camp for two weeks in Australia prior and played a warm-up and a behind closed doors game.

They looked like they had a plan and executed it excellently. Equally they looked fitter than Scotland - credit to Italy’s backroom staff there. 

[shrewsbury roughyed]

If Scotland play like this against Australia they’ll need a hundreds column on the scoreboard 

[JefferyLFC]

Enjoyable game, ben fatta Iatlia.

Really enjoying James Grahams summarising and commentary, Sharon Shortle was darn good too.

[Dunbar]

6 minutes ago, The Mighty Trin said:

Bad result, but we'll played Matty Russell, Euan Aitken, Liam Hood and Ryan Briarley. Class apart from the rest...too many errors in the camp which you cannot make in International RL. Well done to Italy very impressive  

I thought Aitken was poor.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

Scotland were carried by Danny Brough's guile for years - those days are gone I'm afraid 

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, Segovia Carpet said:

Italy RL far better than Italy RU

Except in Italy itself.

[DavidM]

2 minutes ago, Dunbar said:

I thought Aitken was poor.

He had a good spell at St George , but last two or three years he’s not pulled up any trees

[RL Tragic]

18 minutes ago, Jim Prendle said:

Should I feel stupid for watching the game rather than the stands?

Watched the game as well enjoyed it immensely. I’m just thinking of simple little things that the higher ups could do to make the game more vibrant and appealing to non RL fans . Presenting a World Cup game the TV viewers as being watched by a few hundred when the stand off camera is crammed with 4-5000 people is not the best marketing I would say . 

[Futtocks]

15 minutes ago, bratman said:

Good player

With his build, he reminds me a bit of Fouad Yaha.

[Mr Frisky]

18 minutes ago, shrewsbury roughyed said:

Attacking not stacking 

Why did you lose your job as a Tank Commander again??

[Gomersall]

2 hours ago, graveyard johnny said:

the ones who are there look to be loving it though and the mascots are all beaming - we cant make horses drink - more fool them

To be fair it looked far better once the match started. The early shots prior to kick off showed a virtually empty stadium but wasn’t the crowd announced as six thousand plus?

[FearNothing]

2 minutes ago, Gomersall said:

To be fair it looked far better once the match started. The early shots prior to kick off showed a virtually empty stadium but wasn’t the crowd announced as six thousand plus?

yeah, 6300-odd, think they pre-recorded some of the pre-match guff earlier.

[MatthewWoody]

28 minutes ago, welshmagpie said:

They look very disjointed and without a plan. Italy had been in camp for two weeks in Australia prior and played a warm-up and a behind closed doors game.

They looked like they had a plan and executed it excellently. Equally they looked fitter than Scotland - credit to Italy’s backroom staff there. 

Yep, an Emerging Italy played a friendly in Australia, too. Not sure about how many of those players were there today. 

[MatthewWoody]

Very very happy.
I'll add surprised as on paper this team should be weaker than the 2013 and 2017 one. If I just think about some of the great SL and NRL player who featured... Minichiello's brothers, Laffranchi, Guerra, Vaughan, Alvaro, Ciraldo, Tedesco, Mantellato (we have such a kicker now in Campagnolo!), etc. 
But this team... this team. Huge performance, defended very well, controlled the whole game. 
Happy for Nathan Brown's motm, although Maizen with 3 tries would have deserved too. Nathan led as a captain together with Santi (who captained Italy during the qualification process). 
Of course, the Fiji challenge will be tougher, as it was in 2017 in Canberra (I was there). But good things happen when you work hard...
Happy to mention my friend Celerino, too. He became the 1st Italian domestic player to play World Cup rugby league, after being called up but not used in 2013 and 2017. He's played club football in England (Newcastle!), Aus and France and he's a well deserved honour. 
Also, the late Tiziano comes to mind. This win is for him. 
Well done to Leo and all his staff, as this was a very well prepared and competent Italian team. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by MatthewWoody

[londonrlfan]

Anyone else bored of Scotland? I fail to see what they bring to the sport. Well done Italy, at least they gave homegrown players a chance, unlike Scotland. Hope they don't qualify next time and someone else gets a chance.

[Rowan]

Here was I thinking it would be a good idea to get various other opinions  on what I thought was a decent enough game between two Championship-level sides only to find out that I am bombarded by the regular miseries banging on about TV cameras, standard of commentary, "plastic" Scots.  Still that's Rugby League for you. I am almost certain that the "welcome" ceremony yesterday was designed to break down just in case some folk could find nothing in a 60-6 win to moan about.  The Sunday Mirror even sent their RU man along to do a hatchet job on the event. Can't wait to see what the same folk think about the next game. Crowd, commentators, length of the grass, colours of the shirts. Bring it on.

[Dunbar]

40 minutes ago, jacksy said:

I fear for the Scots against the Aussies.

Of course they are massively up against it on the scoreboard. 

But as a Rugby League player, facing the Kangaroos would be a great experience and they should enjoy the experience and be massively nervous in equal measure.