Scottish Rugby

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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George Turner says the desire to reach a half-century of caps is the "driving force" behind his return to the Scotland set-up.

The 32-year-old has missed a year of Test rugby having elected to play his club rugby in Japan last season with Kobe Steelers.

Now having joined English Premiership side Harlequins for next season, the former Glasgow Warriors hooker has returned to the national fold for the summer tour looking to add to his 45 caps.

"I've wanted to hit 50 caps for a while and I'm nearly there, so I think that's a good driving force," Turner, who last appeared for Scotland in the 2024 Six Nations, said.

"I'm getting older, but I'm still young enough to have a few more years left. It's cool to be back straight in, just like old times, it's nice."

Turner admits "it was tough" watching Scotland games from afar over the last year has no regrets about his move to Japan.

"It was just really cool," Turner said. "It was really good for my family, they had a great time, they integrated well.

"I didn't want to leave in the end, I felt a bit bad, but no, it was a really cool year for us and for rugby as well, to experience that kind of bit more fast-paced, loose, crazy rugby.

"It took a bit of getting used to, but no, I think it was really cool, really good for me."

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Bundee Aki says it was "frustrating" that he did not link up better with midfield partner Sione Tuipulotu in the British and Irish Lions' defeat by Argentina in Dublin on Friday.

Andy Farrell's side were beaten 28-24 by the Pumas in what was their sole warm-up fixture before they head to Australia for a nine-game tour that includes three Tests against the Wallabies.

While there were encouraging signs with ball in hand, too often key passes did not stick and Aki felt he did not "connect well" with his fellow centre.

"We all know how Sione is as a player, he's class," said Aki, who was also on the Lions' tour to South Africa four years ago.

"The frustrating thing for me was I wasn't able to connect well with him. He's an unbelievable player and there's no excuse, we've got to get better as a partnership going forward."

After the stuttering start for the touring side, Aki believes individual combinations improving will be "better and beneficial for the group".

"He speaks out loud, which is good because that's what we need, him being himself and I just feed off him and he feeds off me. So it's brilliant," Aki said.

"We've just got to be better at it and keep learning together, the more we grow as a partnership and then as a group, it's going to be better and beneficial for the group."

Tuipulotu and Aki would both more regularly be deployed as inside centres, while fellow tourists Garry Ringrose, Huw Jones and Elliot Daly are all more used to wearing the 13 jersey.

Tuipulotu has an established partnership with Jones for both Glasgow and Scotland, while Aki and Ringrose know each other well from Irish sides.

Aki added: "Whoever it is, Garry, Huw, Elliot, as a unit we've got to make sure we gel together and try to get that cohesiveness fairly quick because we need to be better."

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Assistant coach Matt Banahan has left Scotland two months before the Women's Rugby World Cup.

Head coach Bryan Easson admitted he is "disappointed" at the exit of Banahan - who has moved on to another coaching opportunity - but thanked him for "kicking on" the attack team during his tenure.

Ross Miller, who worked with the squad during the 2021 World Cup, and Steve Shingler have been appointed as assistant coaches.

Miller most recently led the Scotland men's Under-18 team at the Six Nations and rejoined the women's programme earlier this month.

Former Scarlets fly-half Shingler joins on secondment from PWR side Trailfinders, where he has been assistant coach for the past season.

Fomer England winger Banahan said he is "incredibly grateful" for his spell with Scotland but said the chance of a new coaching role "closer to home was too good to turn down".

Easson said: "This does now present an exciting opportunity to reset and refresh our coaching team.

"We welcomed Steve into camp during this year's Six Nations and we were really impressed by him then.

"We have several players at Trailfinders, including some of our key attacking players, who have a fantastic relationship with him already and know what he's about which will give us a smooth transition.

"Ross has bedded back in with us really well, we've had a brilliant few weeks as a group with him so far. We've worked together for a long time, and he did a great job with us at the last Rugby World Cup.

"I think he's a brilliant addition to the group, he knows the players and the players know him which helps too."

Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland

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Transferable skills often go a long way in sport and Francesca McGhie certainly sees the benefit of them.

Seven years ago, her main pursuit was as a dancer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, but it was a path which didn't enthuse her.

Then her mum saw a social media advert for a girls rugby team in Prestonpans, and the rest is history.

The 21-year-old Scotland winger is now using her fleetness of foot to dodge incoming tackles and bolt to the line.

"I was excited to try something new, and just fell in love with it," said McGhie. "Fourteen-year-old me would be very proud."

McGhie was first called up to represent the senior Scotland squad in 2023 and made her debut against England, where she now plies her trade with Leicester Tigers in the country where she will take part in her maiden Rugby World Cup.

That's still eight weeks away, but if the recent training camp is anything to go by, those couple of months will pass in a flash.

"I think it's going to fly in," said McGhie.

"These last three weeks have gone super fast. We've enjoyed every second of it and all of us are just super excited to get stuck into this World Cup."

Awaiting in Scotland's pool are Canada, Wales and Fiji - ranked second, 10th and 16th in the world respectively, compared to Scotland's seventh.

"We have a very competitive pool," said McGhie, who has amassed 24 caps already.

"Each team brings something different and we'll have to adapt to that.

"It'll be exciting to play Canada, I've never played them before. Wales is a competitor we play every year and they're always an exciting for us, and Fiji are totally different from both of them."

The target for Scotland will be to finish in top two of that pool to earn a quarter-final spot.

And despite the showpiece tournament not being in a more far-flung location, McGhie is convinced it'll be a tremendous sporting and life experience.

"It would be great to travel elsewhere but when you're in it you'll feel like you're floating around somewhere in the rugby bubble," she said.

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Australia head coach Joe Schmidt described Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu as a "southern hemisphere centre partnership" when running the rule over Andy Farrell's first British and Irish Lions selection.

The Lions take on Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night in what is their only fixture before a nine-game game tour of Australia.

Ireland's Aki and Scotland's Tuipulotu, born in New Zealand and Australia respectively, will be the Lions' midfield pairing against the Pumas despite both players more usually starting at inside centre.

Schmidt gave Aki his Ireland debut after the 35-year-old Connacht man qualified on residency in 2017, while Tuipulotu has been able to captain Gregor Townsend's side thanks to a grandmother born in Greenock.

"A southern hemisphere centre partnership that will be pretty formidable," said Schmidt at the media conference to confirm his squad for next month's game against Fiji.

Schmidt added: "I coached Bundee for several years and know him really well and respect him massively as a player. He's a great contributor to the team environment.

"I've only had glancing conversations with Sione but again, by all accounts a champion bloke. You don't get to be captain of a national team without being a great bloke and really professional in those high-performance environments."

That eight of Andy Farrell's 38-man squad were born overseas has been a talking point before the side make the trip down under.

Lions assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth was later asked about Schmidt's comments and said every player involved in the tour has "earned the right" to represent the side.

"I don't know if they are questioning their commitment. Everyone has earned the right to pull on the Lions jersey," said the former England scrum-half.

"They are, to a man, incredibly proud to be here.

"It is not your background or how you have got here, it's what sort of player you are and what sort of man you are. We have got great men and great players."

Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland

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To say Emma Orr is steeped in rugby tradition is a massive understatement.

In fact, if she hadn't opted for a career chasing the oval ball it might have shaken the family tree, and perhaps the population of Biggar, quite considerably.

"Both my mum and dad played when they were younger," said the 21 year-old Scotland and Bristol Bears centre.

"I've also got three older siblings who have played rugby. I grew up watching them play at Biggar Rugby Club and that's how I fell into the sport. It's definitely a family affair at Biggar.

"My sister still plays there, one of my brothers is retired and one is playing at Ayr, so we've definitely carried on the rugby."

Now Orr, who represented Scotland as a 17-year-old at the 2021 Rugby World Cup, has the chance to make an even bigger footprint on the 2025 edition in England when it starts in August.

She trusts it will show all those who have encouraged her along the way that the effort has been worth it.

"Hopefully it will give them a reward because I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my family and Biggar Rugby Club," said Orr.

"It would be really special for all that hard work they invested in me to hopefully be representing my country at a World Cup.

"It would be amazing and testament to how they've brought me up and what they've taught me."

Canada, ranked second in the world, as well as Wales and Fiji make up Scotland's pool, and it's the clash with the other home nation that makes Orr's mouth water the most.

"Wales first up will certainly be a huge match," she said. "It's always a battle with Wales. There's very often very few points between us.

"So we're hoping to hit the ground running with that game and carry on the momentum through the pool.

"We fell short at the last World Cup and I think we're a totally different squad from them in terms of experience. So we're hopefully aiming to get out of that pool, if not further."

Much has been made of the uncertainty over the long-term contracts of the Scotland team, with SRU chief executive Alex Williamson saying on Wednesday he hopes to have the situation resolved before the World Cup.

Orr also hopes that can be the case, saying: "We're trying to stay very tight, but fingers crossed that will all take care of itself."

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Freddy Douglas and Johnny Ventisei will co-captain Scotland at the upcoming World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Italy.

Having led the team during this year's Under-20 Six Nations, Edinburgh's Douglas and Glasgow Warriors' Ventisei will fulfil the same leadership roles this summer.

Nineteen of the 30-man squad are made up of Edinburgh (10) and Glasgow (nine) players.

Three of the squad have made debuts for Scottish professional sides in the past season as Douglas, who earned a senior Scotland cap last autumn, and Jack Brown featured for Edinburgh in the URC while Seb Stephen recently made his Glasgow bow away to Leinster.

Scotland will play England on 29 June, Australia on 4 July and South Africa on 9 July in the group stages of the competition.

Head coach Kenny Murray said: "We've had a long preparation block with a wider squad and a really strong group to pick from.

"The group took some confidence from beating Ireland in the friendly last week, but there was also plenty for us to work on and we know we'll have to be better in the Championship.

"The group-stage fixtures will obviously be tough, but we've trained well and the opportunity is there for the players to put in 80-minute performances that really show what we're capable of."

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Scotland's Sione Tuipulotu and Duhan van der Merwe will start for the British and Irish Lions against Argentina in Dublin on Friday night.

A further two Scots - Pierre Schoeman and Scott Cummings - have been named on the bench for the opening warm-up match before the tour of Australia.

Glasgow Warriors' Tuipulotu makes his Lions debut in his first international game since November as he pairs up with Bundee Aki at centre, while Edinburgh's Van Der Merwe starts on the wing.

Scotland have seven players heading down under with the Lions this month after Zander Fagerson was forced to withdraw through injury.

Read more: Lions pair Tuipulotu and Aki together to face Pumas

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BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English casts his expert eye over the recently-ended Scottish rugby season to pick out some favourite moments and performers.

Game of the season: Final match of the Under-20 Six Nations. The champions France 45, the fifth-place Scots 40. At various points, France were 13, 14, 15 and 16 points ahead but couldn't shake off a brilliant Scotland effort with some outstanding individual performances to gladden the heart. Five tries for the visitors in a classic.

Moment of the season: Darcy Graham responding to his omission from the Lions - an injustice - by scoring a hat-trick against Ulster in his next game. For club and country he's scored 39 tries in his past 50 games - and he's not a Lion?

Try of the season: Freddy Douglas putting two French defenders on their backside and eluding two more as he scored up the left wing in the dying moments of that epic U20 game. A remarkable player.

Men's player of the year: Torn between Graham (constant game-breaking class), Huw Jones (an incredible attacker), Finn Russell (controlled and inspired as Bath's Premiership and Challenge Cup winning architect), Zander Fagerson (force of nature). The big man went the full 80 in Paris and was still hammering away at the end. Cruelly denied the Lions tour that he richly deserved. Going with Russell. He's just a joy to watch.

Women's player of the year: The fact Evie Gallagher was picked on the Six Nations team of the championship just shows you how good she was. There were so many contenders but she was picked as the leading openside. A turnover machine. She topped the stats charts with most steals, with twice as many as anybody else. Averaged 3.2 turnovers per 80 minutes. Terrific.

Best Edinburgh player: You can't keep a good man down for long. Hamish Watson roared back into form, bounced defenders like he used to do in the Test arena and was a total menace over ball. He's 33 but the emerging Edinburgh back-rows are going to have to rip the jersey off his back if they want to get in ahead of him.

Best Glasgow player: He played 20 games for his club and scored 14 tries, but there's more to George Horne than his outrageous try-scoring record. He's the tempo of the team, the heartbeat, the guy who gets bums off seats. He embodies the best of the Warriors.

Highlight: Scotland women beating a fancied Ireland in the final round of the Six Nations. A reminder that it is possible for blue to beat green in Test rugby.

Lowlight: Scotland losing limply again to Ireland in the Six Nations. They were 17-0 down after 40 minutes then went another 27 minutes without scoring. Ireland did a physical and psychological number on them once more.

Most controversial moment: Tommy Freeman's 'try' at Twickenham? Russell being moved closer to the touchline to an incorrect position for the potentially match-winning conversion? Franco Smith's apparent come-and-get-me interview when asked about the rumours linking him to the Wales job? We'll pick Franco, because it was so out of character. Odd then and still odd now. Everybody loves you Franco, but are you staying or going?

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Evie Wills is the latest Scotland player on the move in Premiership Women's Rugby after she joined Sale Sharks.

The 24-year-old centre, who has four caps for Scotland, returned from a knee injury last season for Leicester Tigers and fought her way back into the national squad, appearing on the bench three times in the recent Six Nations.

She has now been named in the training squad for the upcoming World Cup, and will join her international teammates Molly Wright and Rachel Phillips at the Sharks next season.

She is the latest Scot to depart the Tigers after Francesca McGhie joined Trailfinders earlier in the month. However, scrum-half Jenny Maxwell has penned a new deal at Welford Road, and Scottish-qualified back-row Rowann Sinclair has joined the club permanently.

Elsewhere, Caity Mattison and Lisa Thomson will remain at Trailfinders, while Leia Brebner-Holden and Becky Boyd will stay at Loughborough Lightning.

There has also been an influx of Scots to Harlequins, with second rows Fi McIntosh and Natasha Logan joining Sarah Bonar in the engine room. Flying winger Coreen Grant has already joined from Saracens.

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Edinburgh loosehead Boan Venter has earned a surprise South Africa call-up in a blow to Scotland's hopes of capping the 28-year-old.

Venter, born and raised in South Africa, signed for Edinburgh from Cheetahs in 2021 and is due to become Scottish qualified in February 2026 on residency grounds.

He has previously spoken about his desire to play for Scotland, external and follow in the footsteps of fellow South African-born props Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel.

However, Venter has now been selected in a 45-man squad as the Springboks prepare for a clash with the Barbarians on 28 June, before Tests against Italy and Georgia next month.

"Boan has been consistent for Edinburgh in the URC and the Challenge Cup, and he is familiar with the South African structures after playing for the Cheetahs and coming through our junior ranks, so we are looking forward to seeing him in action on the field," South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said.

A Scottish Rugby directive to have fewer foreign players in professional club squads has led to Henco Venter and Sebastian Cancelliere leaving Glasgow in recent weeks.