Scottish Rugby

Image source, SNS

Clive Lindsay, BBC Sport Scotland

Surprises keep coming for Patrick Harrison after the Edinburgh hooker's family flew more than 7,000 miles to Chile in order to share "a special week" that culminated in his Scotland debut.

The 22-year-old's farmer father even joined him on the pitch as his side's 52-11 victory was followed by an invasion of fans to celebrate.

"Some of the fans came on the pitch and my dad was on the pitch behind me, which gave me a bit of a surprise and was pretty funny," Harrison recalled.

"My mum and dad and one of my brothers flew out on the Friday - the day before the game - so that was pretty special.

"They basically just booked the flights on the Thursday and then flew out on the Friday. It was very last minute."

It has been a whirlwind few months for Harrison, who so far has only made 15 first-team appearances for his United Rugby Championship club since joining in 2020.

Named among a group of young players taken along on Scotland's summer tour by head coach Gregor Townsend largely for experience, Harrison was brought on shortly after the break in Santiago.

"It was an exciting day and a pretty special week leading up to it and then, on the day, getting on the pitch was a good feeling," he said.

"When I got on the pitch, I just tried to do the basics. The important aspects of my game, lineouts and scrum-wise, they went pretty well, so I had a pretty solid game from my point of view.

"It was a surprise getting here, but once I have been out there, the boys have been class and, when I was told I was making my debut, it was pretty exciting."

Harrison admits it "hasn't really sunk in yet", but before he starts thinking of framing his first Scotland shirt and cap back home, he is dreaming of a first start when Townsend's side finish their tour against Uruguay in Montevideo on Saturday.

Image source, SNS

Chris Dean has left Edinburgh by mutual consent "to explore other playing opportunities" after a decade at the club.

The 30-year-old has made the most appearances of any centre in Edinburgh's history, making his 150th game for the club away at Cardiff last season.

"This has been a difficult decision, and one I’ve not taken lightly in any way, however the time felt right for a new challenge," Dean said.

"I’m incredibly thankful to Edinburgh Rugby for their support throughout my time here, and especially for working with me and allowing me to make this decision.

"I’m immensely proud of what I’ve achieved at this club. To be the club’s most-capped centre is a huge honour, and something I’ll always cherish.

"I’ve made some incredible friends for life and played alongside some fantastic teammates over the years, while I’ll always be appreciative for the unwavering support of the Edinburgh fans. I look forward to what the future holds."

Scotland fans, we asked for your views after the convincing eight-try win over Chile in Santiago.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Lyall: Ben Healy is still yet to really impress in a Scotland jersey. Much ado was made of his signing but Adam Hastings showed what we have been missing when he came on.

David: The first 20 minutes were definitely tough for the Scots as they tried to figure out how to combat the physical Chileans. Once pick and drives close to the ruck seemed to provide a way forward the Scotland forwards grew into the game and allowed the backs to show what they can do. Classic 'forwards decide the win, backs by how much'. Great win!

David: This never felt like a proper test match and I don't think Mathieu Raynal treated it with much interest but that was in our favour. Encouraging to watch Matt Currie and Stafford McDowall. Hopefully they can pair against Uruguay. The lineout was excellent. Patrick Harrison shows great promise also. Best to say nothing about the first 20 minutes.

Kenny: A comfortable win at the end of the day. Chile a vastly improved team. Dylan Richardson looks to be a useful player. Lets hope that he remains in Gregor Townsend's plans and that we continue to use those new players in the final match next week.

Stuart: Result was much as was expected with the newer boys seeing and feeling a tougher test match! Good work from Chile to stifle the rolling maul through the match. Ben Healy, Kyle Rowe and Jamie Dobie were very good. Currie terrific as was Chris Harris. Josh Bayliss and Nathan McBeth put in a good shifts. Pleasing to see more depth in the squad.

Arran: A little slow to start with but once they got into gear after the first 20 it was really good to see the backs involved and some nice skill on show. On to arguably our toughest test in Montevideo next week!

Patrick: At times hard-fought, at times ragged, but only to be expected bearing in mind the youth and inexperience at top international level.

Image source, Getty Images

Japanese side Urayasu D-Rocks have appointed former Scotland captain Greig Laidlaw as their new head coach for the 2024-25 season.

The 39-year-old played for the club between 2020 and 2023, and is now tasked with leading them into their Division One campaign.

Laidlaw won 76 caps for Scotland during his international career, and scored 714 points - the second-most in Scotland's history, behind Chris Paterson.

Image source, Getty Images

Sione Tuipulotu is among seven players leaving the Scotland squad before the final Test of their summer tour against Uruguay this Saturday.

The centre, 27, is departing early to spend time with his family following the recent arrival of a new baby.

Josh Bayliss, Alex Craig, Will Hurd, Arron Reed, Dylan Richardson and Gus Warr will also miss next Saturday's Test in Montevideo.

All seven players featured in Saturday's 52-11 defeat of Chile.

Ross McCann, Elliot Millar Mills, Smith, Ross Thompson and Glen Young left the tour before the third Test in Santiago.

Lock Ewan Johnson is the only player to play his club rugby outside of Scotland remaining in the squad.

Scotland secured a third win from three on their summer tour of the Americas, with a convincing eight-try win against Chile

What did you make of their performance? Who stood out for you? Were you watching at home or are you one of the lucky few who made the trip over to South America?

We want to hear from you., external

Image source, Getty Images

Sione Tuipulotu wants Scotland to finish their summer tour "on a high" after making it three wins out of three.

Gregor Townsend's side beat Chile 52-11 in Santiago on Saturday night, following wins in Canada and the United States. Uruguay host Scotland next Saturday.

"They are very physical and very passionate," centre Tuipulotu, 27, said of Chile.

"Chile are a lot better now than they were two years ago, and that's really positive for Chilean rugby. I wish them the best going forward.

"We want to finish the tour on a high next week against Uruguay."

Scotland fly-half Duncan Weir, who is not part of the touring squad, praised the backline in the Chilean capital.

"I thought the backline started to click quite nicely in the second half," said the 33-year-old.

"Once Scotland got the confidence of, 'we're here and we're scoring tries', I thought they started to relax a bit more.

"Fair play to Chile for giving it everything. Even though they had numbers against them, they were still trying to catch people, ball and all."

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland number eight Josh Bayliss wants to deliver a statement performance against Chile on Saturday, as he targets a regular spot in the national team set-up.

Bayliss, 26, starts for the second game in a row on Scotland's summer tour, and he is determined to enjoy his time in the spotlight.

"I’ve been in and out of squads over the past couple of years," he said. "To get that opportunity to start two games on tour is absolutely brilliant and I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

"I want to enjoy it as well, because these opportunities don't come round too often and to pull on this jersey and represent Scotland is all I've ever wanted to do.

"I’m going to put my best foot forward and if that gets me towards the autumn internationals and the Six Nations squads that's brilliant. But I just want to do my best for the team and myself this weekend.''

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish referee Hollie Davidson will officiate the Test match between South Africa and Portugal in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The 31-year-old will become the first woman to ever referee the Springboks, and she says it is an important step for her as she targets an officiating spot at the 2027 World Cup.

"I think it will be a really energetic game at altitude, so that is a challenge in itself, but I think the occasion will be fantastic," Davidson told Scottish Rugby following her appointment.

"Sometimes when you get these appointments you are a little taken aback, so it is good to always reflect on where you started to where you are now.

"I very much see this as part of the journey to getting to the World Cup in 2027, so a good stepping stone."

Image source, Getty Images

Gregor Townsend says Chile will "bring a lot of physicality" to Scotland's third July international.

The Scots hammered Canada and USA on successive weekends, and face Los Condores on Saturday night live on BBC Scotland.

"They play a style of rugby that will challenge our defence," said the head coach, who has made 10 changes from the Washington DC victory.

"They move the ball a lot, they have a lot of individual players who can break tackles. Throughout the World Cup they had some of the best stats in beating defenders.

"They are playing a Six Nations team in their home stadium, so it's going to be massive for them.

''It's a chance for us to look at the players in another Test match setting, it's a different team, a different climate challenge to North America and we are excited to see the group go out again."

Image source, SNS

Scotland 48-10 United States

Euan McVie grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Scotland eased aside United States to lift the World Rugby Under-20 Trophy and secure promotion to the main championship next year.

The hosts took only eight minutes to lay down a marker in the final at The Hive in Edinburgh as lock McVie crossed the line behind a driving maul.

With the visitors rarely out of their own half, Scotland's second try came 20 minutes later as centre Johnny Ventisei dived under the posts and scrum-half Andrew McLean added the conversion.

Another 10 minutes, another try as back-row Tom Currie inched over to give Scotland a 17-0 half-time lead.

Corbin Smith's penalty got the USA on the scoreboard shortly after the break, but Scotland immediately replied as hooker Jerry Blyth-Lafferty went over behind a maul.

Blyth-Lafferty leapt over the line again from the lineout, with Hocking converting and he did so again after McVie added his third try from short range.

Centre Kerr Yule added Scotland's final try before winger Keelan Farrell's consolation try in the dying seconds.

Watch the game on BBC Alba via iPlayer.

Image source, Getty Images

Versatile Sharks forward Dylan Richardson is relishing the opportunity to revive his fledgling Scotland career almost three years on from his debut.

The South Africa-born 25-year-old was first capped by Gregor Townsend against Japan in November 2021 before injuries halted his progress.

However, Richardson earned a recall for this summer's tour of the Americas and marked his second cap by scoring two tries in the 73-12 win over Canada.

"It was very hard because I had a lot of injuries,” said Richardson as he reflected on the near-32-month gap between his first and second appearance for the country of his father's birth.

He added to Scottish Rugby: "One of the key elements to becoming an international player is consistency within your performances at club level and unfortunately I wasn't able to put that together in the past two years, just with little injuries creeping in.

"It was very frustrating. I had to take a step back and realign what was best for my body and decide how I was going to get a really good career out of rugby, and I think I'm starting to get aligned with that."

Richardson - who hopes to earn his third cap against Chile in Santiago on Saturday - has benefitted from putting greater focus on playing at hooker in recent years after making his international debut as a back-rower.

"A lot of people don't really remember it but my first professional rugby game was at hooker, so I've actually played hooker for quite a while," he said.

"I always went back and forth (between positions). The game of rugby is changing and the more positions you can play, the better.

"I think putting my hand up and trying to get more opportunities at hooker is my next step right now."

Image source, SNS

The Scotland contingent at Trailfinders before the new Professional Women's Rugby season continues to grow, with Lisa Thomson the latest addition.

The centre, who is also part of the GB sevens squad for the upcoming Olympics in Paris, follows Sarah Denholm, Chloe Rollie and Caity Mattinson in sealing a move to Trailfinders this summer.

"I’m really looking forward to returning to the Premiership with Trailfinders," Thomson said

"There’s a strong group of players that have been playing an exciting brand of rugby. I can't wait to get stuck in and hopefully contribute to the growth of the team."

International team-mate Denholm made the switch from Edinburgh earlier this week after captaining the side to a second-place finish in the inaugural Celtic Challenge.

Image source, SNS

Scotland women will face Italy, Japan and Australia in the autumn as they bid to retain their WXV 2 title.

The six-team competition takes place in Cape Town, South Africa, and features matches being played in a cross-pool format.

Scotland begin against Italy on 28 September then face Japan - who they defeated in last season's inaugural edition - on 5 October.

The final outing is against Australia, who at number five in the world are ranked one place higher than the Scots, on 12 October.

Scotland qualified for the WXV 2, the second tier of the competition, after finishing fourth in this year's Women’s Six Nations.

Scotland will prepare for their title defence by hosting Wales on 6 September and Fiji on 14 September. Both matches will be played the Hive Stadium in Edinburgh.

Image source, Getty Images

Will Hurd's mother, Sharon, whose family are from Stirling, flew out at short notice to watch her son win his first Scotland cap in Canada two weeks ago.

Hurd had been selected for the Six Nations squad earlier this year but a foot injury sustained on duty with Leicester Tigers robbed him of an opportunity to contribute to the championship effort.

Six months on, the 25-year-old made his bow off the bench in Scotland's 73-12 Ottawa victory and was able to share the joy with his family.

Both his parents and his sister made the trip across the Atlantic, as did Hurd's girlfriend and her mother.

"It was immense," the prop, born and raised in the English Midlands, said of the post-match scenes. "I get emotional thinking about it now.

"My mum is the Scottish connection. She couldn’t express her emotions. She’s always pushed me for the Scotland stuff and I’ve loved it. It’s been a dream of mine.

"When that became reality, seeing her after the game, I got extremely emotional. Seeing her eyes and how proud she was made it all worth it. That post-match eye-to-eye with her was indescribable.

"She wasn’t expecting to make it to the game. She came out Thursday, saw the game Saturday and flew out the next day. She messaged me before the game saying ‘I wouldn’t miss this for the world’.

"She was ecstatic. She doesn’t really understand rugby so I could play terribly and she’d still be ever so proud. Seeing her weeping with tears after the game was immense in every way possible."

Image source, Getty Images

The injured Glen Young is one of five players to fly home midway through Scotland’s summer tour of the Americas.

The Edinburgh lock made his first international start in the opening victory over Canada in Ottawa and has pulled out with a pectoral injury.

Northampton forwards Robbie Smith and Elliot Millar Mills have also left the group along with Edinburgh backs Ross Thompson and Ross McCann.

Millar Mills started against Canada and came off the bench in the weekend win over United States, while Smith featured as a replacement in both matches.

Thompson started against Canada and played 22 minutes in Washington, while McCann featured off the bench in the opening game.

Scotland have announced new Glasgow prop Fin Richardson, Warriors scrum-half Ben Afshar and Edinburgh lock Rob Carmichael have joined the squad as "development players" and will train with their compatriots for the rest of the tour.

Gregor Townsend’s side face Chile in Santiago on Saturday before rounding off their tour against Uruguay seven days later.