Listen to latest episode of BBC Scotland Rugby Podpublished at 18:05 17 July
18:05 17 July
The latest episode of the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast is now available.
George O'Neill is joined by former Scotland 7s international Colin Gregor and BBC Scotland's chief sports writer, Tom English.
They talk British and Irish Lions selection, with Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones all picked to start Saturday's first Test against Australia, Scotland's defeat by Fiji and their upcoming Test against Samoa.
'Pressure on' Scotland after 'frustrating' Fiji defeat - Dargepublished at 14:08 17 July
14:08 17 July
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Scotland captain Rory Darge says he is feeling added responsibility as they try to finish their summer tour on a high.
Darge will lead out the Scots against Samoa in Auckland on Friday, determined to atone for their previous outing.
Scotland were beaten 29-14 by Fiji last week following an opening victory over Maori All Blacks.
With Finn Russell away on Lions duty, Darge has stepped up to take the captaincy on his own.
"It's something that I feel like I've enjoyed more and more, leading the team in some sort of way," the Glasgow flanker said. "And whatever way it is, I'm obviously happy to do it.
"Being given the honour of captain is something that I'll never take for granted. I'm just enjoying it, I'm enjoying the challenges of it as well.
"Obviously it was a frustrating performance last weekend and when you're the captain you maybe feel that more on yourself. It's something that I think I'm just starting to grow in.
"I suppose that's what makes last Saturday more frustrating. I don't think we really gave the tour justice and that's why this Friday is so important.
"It's been great from everyone involved. The connections that we've had and the quality time we've spent together.
"The time difference means that not a lot of people are up at the same time as you from back home. So your companions out here are the only ones you really spend any time with.
"It's great for us to spend that time together. That's what made last Saturday more frustrating. But it puts more pressure on us this Friday to give a performance that the tour deserves."
Watch Samoa v Scotland live on BBCpublished at 11:10 17 July
11:10 17 July
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Scotland's summer tour comes to a close on Friday against Samoa in Auckland and the match is available to watch live on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website.
Build-up gets under way at 08:25 with kick-off at 08:35.
The Scots beat Maori All Blacks 29-26 in Whangarei but lost 29-14 to Fiji in Suva last weekend.
Gregor Townsend has urged his side to finish on a high after that disappointing reverse against Fiji.
"Tours are remembered in part by what you experience off the field but also by how well you play and the results you produce," he said.
Burke feels force of destiny in Scotland debutpublished at 23:18 15 July
23:18 15 July
Clive Lindsay BBC Sport Scotland
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Image caption,
Fergus Burke could earn his second Scotland cap in the land of his birth
New Zealand-born Fergus Burke feels like "it was meant to be" after making his Scotland debut in the southern hemisphere.
The 25-year-old Saracens fly-half was in Gregor Townsend's squad for this year's Six Nations, but it was not until Friday's 29-14 summer tour defeat by Fiji that he earned his first cap.
It could be quickly followed by a second against Samoa at Eden Park in the land of his birth on Friday and, not surprisingly, he has "a fair few people" chasing him for tickets.
"I've had a few messages from people I haven't heard from for a while, but I'll hopefully get a good contingent of support there and it'll be cool," Burke said.
"It is a weird one. Obviously I was in for the Six Nations but didn't get a crack, so it is almost like this was the way it was meant to be when I get my first opportunity so my family could actually be here."
Darcy Graham was sent off after a second yellow card while Ewan Ashman was also sin-binned in Suva and Burke thinks the Scots can perform better against Samoa if they improve their discipline.
"I think in parts of that Fiji game we showed how good we are as a team when we get it right, but we got our discipline wrong and ended up making a lot more tackles than we needed to," he said.
Burke expects "a similar challenge to Fiji" but hopes to spend less time on defence against Samoa.
"I think they are going to be a little more structured than Fiji was - Fiji was quite loose and the looser the game got, the better they got," he suggested.
"I've got a feeling Samoa are going to kick a little bit more. We know how important this game is and we are pretty focused on getting it right."
Burke ended the game playing at full-back after Adam Hastings' introduction.
"I wasn't expecting that, but I played a little bit of full-back when I was still in New Zealand at Crusaders, so I felt reasonably comfortable there and I enjoyed playing with Adam as well," he added.
"I thought it was good when he came on and we probably got our most attacking in that last 10 minutes with ball in hand."
Edinburgh & Glasgow learn Champions Cup pool fixturespublished at 13:53 15 July
13:53 15 July
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Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors have learned their fixtures for the pool stage of the 2025-26 Investec Champions Cup.
Glasgow have been handed a tough draw as they will face with three-time winners Saracens and record six-time champions Toulouse in Pool 1, with both sides set to visit Scotstoun.
The Warriors also face trips to Sale Sharks and Clermont Auvergne.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh also have a challenging group of opponents in Pool 2, with Premiership champions Bath, who won last year's Challenge Cup, joining Gloucester, Castres and three-time winners Toulon.
Edinburgh will host Toulon and Gloucester and travel to Castres and Bath.
'Super proud' Burke hopes Scots are more in tune against Samoapublished at 09:56 15 July
09:56 15 July
Clive Lindsay BBC Sport Scotland
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Image caption,
Fergus Burke could earn his second Scotland cap against Samoa
Fergus Burke will be hoping his rendition of "Eda Sa Qaqa" proves prophetic as the Saracens fly-half looks to fulfil his "burning desire" to recover from a debut defeat in a Scotland jersey.
The New Zealand-born 25-year-old chose the Fijian song, which translates as "We Have Overcome", as his initiation piece after Friday's 29-14 loss in the South Pacific island.
This Friday, he hopes to turn the tables on another rugby nation he knows well, Samoa, as Scotland end their summer tour at Ellis Park in the land of his birth.
"It was a super proud day for me and my family to get my first international cap for Scotland," he said.
"But obviously we didn't get the result we were after, so it was tainted a little bit and it was a weird one - I didn't know how to feel really.
"Immensely proud but got a bit of a burning desire to get the right result this week."
Burke said that, despite the defeat, it "was super special" to live out his childhood "dream", hearing "Flower Of Scotland" before the game and being presented with his first cap by captain Rory Darge.
"I even had to sing a song in the after-match, which was entertaining," he said.
"I wasn't expecting it at all. I wasn't given a heads up."
Explaining his choice of a hymn particularly associated with the Fijian rugby team, he added: "So I went for a Fijian song so the Fijian community could join in and help me.
"I think I did the first line of the song and then let them take over."
Scots put 'big focus' on breakdown errors after Fiji defeatpublished at 12:49 14 July
12:49 14 July
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Image caption,
Four-try Fiji inflicted a costly defeat on Scotland
Assistant coach Pete Horne is "sure we'll see a reaction" from Scotland against Samoa following their bruising loss to Fiji.
Horne says errors in the "breakdown area" played a big part in the defeat, which has severely dented the Scots' hopes of getting a favourable World Cup draw.
Therefore, the squad have put "a big focus" on addressing that prior to Friday's meeting with Samoa.
"A lot of the things that went wrong at the weekend were around the breakdown area, so there's been a big focus on that," Horne said.
"Especially that last 15 minutes. They really hammered us there. We showed a bit of footage on little ways that we can find solutions to be better and stop them getting over the ball. Ands that will just sharpen the focus.
"We defended so well for large parts of that game and just gave them a few cheap easy ins through offsides. Something like an offside, that's an easy fix.
"The players are all over it. The leaders have already spoken about that. I'm sure we'll see a reaction."
Scotland will face Samoa without winger Darcy Graham, who has left Gregor Townsend's set-up to join eight compatriots in the British and Irish Lions squad.
Prop Rory Sutherland and hooker Ewan Ashman will follow him after Friday's match and could feature for the Lions next Tuesday against a First Nations & Pasifika XV.
'We're sick to death of these performances' - your views on Fiji defeatpublished at 15:58 13 July
15:58 13 July
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We asked your for your views following Scotland's disappointing defeat to Fiji in Suva.
Here's what some of you said:
David: If this was such an important fixture, why was it arranged when eight first choice Scotland players were on tour with the Lions? It beggars belief that Scotland's chances in the next World Cup could be put at risk in this way.
Gordon: Awful from Scotland. Poor discipline, poor handling and they looked knackered from the 10 minute mark. Another group of death at the World Cup awaits and Townsend deserves nothing less.
No idea why some of the guys who played last week didn't play this week, shocking decision from the coaches.
Doug: This is Groundhog Day with Scotland.
One week promising, the next disappointing. Townsend has never achieved consistency with Scotland which has meant no serious challenge for any trophy.
I think he has achieved some great results at times but we will have the same conversations about missed opportunities after the 2026 Six Nations that we have done the last two years.
We need a change, no guarantees of improvement but we can't keep going on the same mediocre cycles.
Charlie: While the result isn't necessarily his fault, the buck must rest with the head coach. Townsend has done a very good job taking Scotland this far, however, it looks as though we are in for another tough World Cup pool and, thus, an early exit. It's time to promote Franco.
Shaun: One of the worst performances I've ever seen from the team.
We as fans are sick to death with these performances now. If Alex Williamson is seriously considering offering a new deal then his head needs examined.
We as fans can see Gregor's time is up ,so Alex needs to have the guts to act before it's too late! To say I'm furious after that would be an understatement 😡!
Scotland must be 'much better' after humbling Fiji defeat - Dargepublished at 10:44 12 July
10:44 12 July
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Image caption,
Scotland suffered a 29-14 defeat in Fiji on Saturday morning
Scotland captain Rory Darge says the side will have to put in a "much better" performance than what they showed in Fiji for next weekend's Test match against Samoa.
Despite scoring early in the first half, the Scots suffered a humbling 29-14 defeat in Suva.
The loss will cost the Scots world rankings points and likely push them out of the top six for December's World Cup draw, putting a dent in their hopes of getting a favourable draw.
"We were all really looking forward to playing Fiji," Darge said.
"It's a unique experience. It's the first time for a lot of us playing here. We knew the challenge we were going into and what a quality side Fiji are.
"But I'm sure there'll be a lot of things in the review that we can control and do much better."
Fiji 29-14 Scotland: What Townsend saidpublished at 08:08 12 July
08:08 12 July
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Gregor Townsend admitted "Fiji deserved to win" as his Scotland side were left battered and bruised after a humbling loss in Suva.
The Scots scored early in the first and second halves but couldn't respond to the physical onslaught that their hosts threw at them, with Fiji going on to win 29-14.
"Fiji deserved to win," he admitted. We're disappointed with our own performance and disappointed we didn't capitalise on a good start to the second half and getting back in the game.
"It was tough for us when we were down to 14 men on three occasions, but Fiji deserved to win.
"At times in the second half, players were looking very physically spent because of the big hits, the end to end action."
A combination of their own errors and ill-discipline allowed Fiji into attacking areas throughout the game, while Scotland struggled to fire a shot in reply.
"Discipline [went wrong], clearly," Townsend continued. "There was 14 penalties and three yellow cards. I would imagine most of them are in our control.
"That's unusual for us, to give away so many penalties and yellow cards, and that fatigues us when we're a man down. It also gives the opposition opportunities in our 22m and eventually those opportunities told for Fiji."
Scotland were without several stars who are on tour with the British & Irish Lions but had recalled the likes of Rory Darge, Jamie Ritchie and Darcy Graham, who were rested last week against the Maori All Blacks.
"It would have had an effect when you're missing a few players but we believed in the team, we've got a lot of depth. We felt how we trained, how we've worked together the last two weeks, that we were ready to win this game.
"The start of the game and start of the second half showed what we can do. Some of the effort was excellent, but there was too many times where it was simple mistakes.
"That's nothing to do with the quality of our players. It was just giving away possession and penalties that made it easier for Fiji today."
Scotland didn't 'get the basics of the game right' - Steynpublished at 06:58 12 July
06:58 12 July
Image source, Scottish Rugby/SNS
Image caption,
Fly-half Fergus Burke (centre, top) was singled out for praise by Steyn
Scotland winger Kyle Steyn admitted that Scotland "didn't get the basics" right as they succumbed to a potentially damaging loss to Fiji in Suva.
World rankings points were on offer and the 15-point loss sees Scotland slip down to eighth, behind Australia and perilously close to ninth-placed Fiji.
"It's gutting," he reflected. "We let ourselves down there. There was so much good work in it, good hustle and working for each other, but you can't come to Test rugby and make that amount of basic errors.
"We knew on transition they were going to be dangerous. Credit to them, in front of their home fans, they did exactly that. But we spoke before, against these guys you've got to get the basics of the game right, and we didn't do that.
"We came on this tour wanting three out of three and to take that back to our fans is really gutting. It's all on next week. We've got six days to turn around and tear into Samoa."
Scotland had Ewan Ashman sent to the bin before Darcy Graham was awarded a yellow card in either half, resulting in the Scots playing the last 15 minutes with just 14 men.
"When you're chasing your tail a bit, and playing half the game with 14 men, that definitely adds to the challenges," Steyn said. "Some of the work rate - Fergus Burke on debut, Kyle Rowe and Rory Darge - the way they tried to make sure Fiji didn't score, they were still cracking examples of guys that are working really hard for this group."
Fly-half Burke, making his Scotland debut, came in for particular praise from Steyn.
"Massively special for him. It's nice that it's close to New Zealand, his family were here. He played last week against the Maori and then today against two really physical back lines.
"The way he put his body line, marshalled us around the field with the little ball he had... I'm really buzzing to have him as part of the group."
Image source, Getty Images
