Scottish Rugby

With just one more game until the play-offs, the fates of many URC clubs still hang in the balance. So what do Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh need?

The top four - Munster, Bulls, Leinster and Glasgow - have already secured a home tie in the quarter-finals, but the top two also have that advantage in the semis.

Glasgow needed 10 points from the final two games to secure a home semi-final - ie, a top-two finish - but slipped up against the Lions and dropped down to fourth.

Those top two places are still up for grabs, though. Glasgow face bottom club Zebre at home on Friday 31 May, and are expected to win with a bonus point. That would take them into the top two, but perhaps only fleetingly.

Leinster play 10th-place Connacht the same evening, while Bulls face Sharks and Munster host Ulster the following day. Those two latter games will be much tighter, and Glasgow fans will be hoping for Sharks and Ulster wins.

Image source, URC

Edinburgh's play-off hopes are up in the air. There are still two places up for grabs, after Stormers and Ulster confirmed their passage last weekend, but five teams in contention.

Sean Everitt's side lead those sides, as they currently seventh sit on 49 points with 11 wins. They face eighth-place Benetton in Italy on Saturday 1 June in what is effectively a play-off decider, with the loser almost certain to miss out.

If Edinburgh lose... well, the Lions face already-qualified Stormers, while the Ospreys travel to Cardiff and, as mentioned above, Connacht play Leinster.

Therefore, Edinburgh are the only one of the play-off chasing teams facing a side below them, perhaps putting them in the driving seat.

Of course, an 1872 Cup quarter-final isn't out of the question either. First will play eighth, second will play seventh, third will play sixth and fourth will play fifth.

Should Glasgow and Edinburgh match up, nothing is stopping a third derby this season.

Sandy Smith
Edinburgh fan columnist

Edinburgh v Munster was game of two halves. Not in the traditional sense, because this was as close to an 80-minute performance as Edinburgh have put in this season, but because the first half was controversy free and the second half was punctuated with it.

We'll start with the RG Snyman late tackle. It wasn’t just late, it appeared deliberate. He flinches to the right as he thinks the ball is coming straight at him and then corrects his run and clatters Ben Healy.

Even if that’s unfair, the referee’s decision to award Munster a free-kick in a game which up that point had been physical but without needle of any kind was completely over the top. He may as well have just given them the seven points.

Edinburgh could have been given a penalty try on 63 minutes. Conor Murray was never onside, he was off his feet and his knocking on of the ball was cynical. Ali Price might have had an easy dive over had Murray not taken one for his team. Might, unfortunately, is not certainty so only a penalty and a yellow card resulted.

Scrums are a lottery as an attacking weapon. Munster deployed every trick in the book and managed to waste three minutes of the sin-bin period with resets before the referee made a decision and awarded Edinburgh a penalty. The subsequent try by Boan Venter could have been disallowed but perhaps it balanced out the Snyman nonsense.

Ultimately the ghost of the previous home game against Munster came back to haunt Edinburgh. In that match we were three points ahead at half-time and conceded a try and the lead on 41 minutes. This time we were four ahead at the same juncture and it was on 42 minutes when we gave up a try and the lead.

At least on this occasion we stayed in the fight. More of that fight will be needed against Benetton if we are to do something we haven’t done since 2015 - when a 73rd-minute Greig Tonks penalty helped us to our last win in Treviso.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external

Grant Young
Glasgow Warriors fan columnist

There we have it. The dreaded two-week trip to South Africa has ended and Glasgow have collected two out of a possible 10 points.

The Warriors were put to the sword at the weekend, pounced upon by the dangerous Lions.

The hosts lost a player due to a straight red card and played 10 minutes with 13 men, yet the Warriors could not break them down.

If anything, the opportunistic Lions were galvanised and played off the scraps of several Warriors turnovers to go down the field unchallenged.

All four tries at the start of the second half felt like walk-ins after individual mistakes at the breakdown, and Glasgow had zero answers for them.

The writing was on the wall, though, with the wasteful Warriors showing a lack of clarity in the first half. Several times they were within metres of the Lions try-line before squandering the opportunities.

This all but ends any chance of finishing top, and maybe even second place, with Glasgow dropping from the summit to fourth after the dismal result.

The few positives are this match didn’t bring the squad any more injuries and they return north with a bye week that can be used to gather thoughts before the final regular-season game at Scotstoun against Zebre.

Five points is a must but unlike last week, the final destiny of Glasgow’s regular season hinges on other results and not just their own.

We asked for your thoughts after Edinburgh's play-off hopes were dented by a narrow defeat to Munster, and Glasgow fell to a heavy defeat to a depleted Lions side.

Edinburgh supporters

Gibson: Psychologically weak at big game moments. Had the lineout chance to kill the game and blew it, reminiscent of national side composure issues. Munster as ever very streetwise, feigning injuries and slowing everything down to disrupt momentum.

Steve: On several occasions, Edinburgh kicked away possession and didn’t get the ball out wide enough to really test Munster.

Arran: It was a decent performance from the boys. I liked the idea of taking the points early on and building a lead. But the penalty leading up to the Coombes try was never a penalty, and Snyman was so late and deliberate on Healy that it should’ve been reversed. Small margins decide these games.

Andrew: Although it was an improved Edinburgh performance, the same dismal problems sank them in the end. The back line is too predictable and have no real cutting edge. Have they got the mental strength to go away and beat Benneton?

Glasgow fans

Bill: We never exploited the numerical advantage. The Lions had read our playbook and nullified it, which was quite frightening. Indeed, the breakaway tries were warrioresque. We never really got in behind them, I don’t know if the altitude is the main problem, but we seemed to make bad decisions and lacked energy.

Ali: If Glasgow have any ambition about winning the competition, then they need to be able to win big games away from home. Particularly against 14 players. We will likely now need to travel for a semi, so will soon get a chance to make amends. Very poor performance yesterday.

Campbell: That was one of the worst performances I can recall from Glasgow. Some of the back in particular looked like they couldn't be bothered. Don't want to name names but some very good players had shockers. Soft tackles. Poor shape in attack and defence. Play like that again and we are out of the URC.

David: Glasgow played their poorest game of the season today. They totally lost focus believing that a win was a given when the Lions were reduced to 14 players. They lost three tries by simply kicking the ball away to the Lions.

Glasgow fans, what did you make of the heavy defeat away to Lions in the URC?

Send us your thoughts on the performance here, external.

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Former Scotland captain John Barclay says Edinburgh will go to Benetton "in a reasonably strong position" after their narrow 26-29 loss to reigning URC champions Munster.

Munster came from behind to secure a bonus-point win in the Scottish capital, which leaves Sean Everitt's side sixth in the league table before the rest of the weekend's fixtures.

Edinburgh go to Treviso in their final fixture of the regular season, knowing a win would likely secure a quarter-final spot.

"You could see the emotion throughout the game," Barclay said. "They'll be gutted not to be able to bow out at home with a win.

"Edinburgh go to Benetton in a reasonably strong position knowing that other results can help them and it's down to the last week of the season.

"Finishing eighth now for Edinburgh is huge. Having so many teams battling it out for a top-eight spot is great for the league."

Image source, SNS

Edinburgh co-captain Grant Gilchrist said his side are "devastated" after their 26-29 defeat to Munster.

Reigning URC champions Munster fought back after trailing by four points at half time to come out on top and get a crucial bonus point win.

"It's really hard to speak about because obviously we're devastated," Gilchrist says.

"[Friday] was huge for our season, our fans were huge. We can't fault the effort because the boys were huge for us as well.

"Guys that have given their hearts and souls for this club, we knew it was massive for our season. We had a huge opportunity.

"Now [our play-off hopes] are still in our hands and we need to go and do it on the road against Benetton."

Image source, SNS

Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt believes "small margins count in these big games" after narrowly losing to reigning URC champions Munster.

In front of a sold out Hive, Edinburgh put on an action packed performance but were edged out 26-29.

"The crowd has been really good. The spectators have been amazing in supporting us this year," he said.

"Unfortunately, we couldn't get the result tonight. I'm still a bit disappointed now to comment too much. But I'm just pleased with how we've grown in all aspects of our game.

"And it's small margins that count in these big games."

The head coach was deflated not to get the result after the performance his side produced.

"Very much disappointed. I thought the guys really put in a good showing against the top team in the URC," he added.

"I know they're not top of the log at the moment, but they won it last year. I think it's the bounce of the ball that at times didn't go our way.

"Really close and I think the team's improved so we'll take the positives out of it. And if we can perform like this against Benetton we'll get the result in Italy."

After an action-packed game it was Munster who came out on top in this crucial URC game.

Who stood out for you? Do you think Edinburgh still have a chance to make the play-offs? Were you in Edinburgh taking in the game?

Give us your thoughts here., external

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Saracens and Scotland winger Sean Maitland is to retire at the end of the season.

The 35-year-old has 53 Scotland caps, including appearances at both the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups.

The New Zealand-native played pivotal roles in helping his club win three Premiership titles and three European cups.

He made his Scotland debut in 2013 and also received a call up to the British and Irish Lions Tour of Australia in the same year.

Maitland told club media: “Saracens is such a special place and I cannot thank everyone enough.

"It is a place I will always treasure and I can’t wait to watch as a fan for years to come.

“Thanks to everyone who has contributed to making my career so enjoyable from start to finish.”

Eve McTiernan
BBC Sport Scotland

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Franco Smith has urged Glasgow Warriors to show more belief as they look to win in South Africa for the first time in six years.

URC leaders Glasgow almost overcome a 27-point deficit against the Bulls last weekend, with their comeback falling short in a 40-34 defeat, and Smith wants them to be sharp from the start in the final outing of their South Africa trip against the Lions on Saturday.

"Hopefully we don't have to come back. That is the main thing," said the Warriors head coach.

"I thought we depleted ourselves a little bit from energy in the period that Kyle Steyn was off.

"We fought back nicely in the second part of the game when we started adapting to these conditions and the circumstances.

"We want to deliver an 80-minute performance on Saturday. So the focus is pretty much on us.

"We know what their threats are, but we need to up our execution and play with a little bit more belief from the start."

Image source, SNS

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has made five changes to his side for Saturday's meeting with the Lions in Johannesburg.

Scotland winger Kyle Rowe is the only alteration to the backs as he is favoured over Sebastian Cancelliere, who drops out of the squad from last week's away defeat by the Bulls.

And Euan Ferrie and Henco Venter both start ahead of Jack Dempsey and Matt Fagerson, who are on the bench.

Angus Fraser and Oli Kebble come in to the starting XV to join Murphy Walker in the front row.

Glasgow, currently a point clear at the top with two matches to play, are looking to round off their South Africa trip in style and keep their hopes of a top-two finish in their own hands.

Glasgow: McKay, Steyn (C), McDowall, Tuipulotu, Rowe, Jordan, Horne; Kebble, Fraser, Walker, Brown, Cummings, Ferrie, Darge, Venter.

Replacements: Matthews, Bhatti, Z Fagerson, Williamson, M Fagerson, Dempsey, Dobie, Weir.

Eve McTiernan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

Edinburgh full-back Emiliano Boffelli is out for the rest of the season and may need back surgery, head coach Sean Everitt has confirmed.

The 29-year-old Argentina international, who has played just seven club games this term, has been battling what was thought to be a back spasm issue but Everitt revealed it is in fact nerve damage.

"Boffelli won’t be playing for us again this season," he said. "His injury has got worse and he’ll be seeing a specialist to determine a way forward. He’s got some nerve damage.

“We are hoping that with the break we have now, and if he needs to have surgery and he has it now, then he’ll be raring to go at the start of next season.

“He’s been carrying this problem for three to four years now and I think it has got to the stage where it can’t be managed any more, so it needs to be surgically repaired but we’ll leave that up to the specialist to determine the way forward from here.”

Image source, SNS

Glasgow winger Sebastian Cancelliere is dreaming of URC glory after the painful experience of last season's Challenge Cup final beating.

Franco Smith's league leaders have a quarter-final berth already sewn up and are battling to secure top spot, with their penultimate fixture this Saturday against the Lions in South Africa.

Glasgow had the chance to become the first Scottish club to win a European trophy last May, but were crushed in the Challenge Cup final by Toulon after trailing 21-0 at half-time.

"We definitely have [the capability to go far]," said Cancelliere. "Last season we made it to the Challenge Cup final and we weren't good enough in that game.

"I hope that we took some lessons from that game, in which we didn't - as Franco says - fire all our shots.

"We have the talent, the squad and the mentality. You can say it, but then you have to apply it as well at the weekend.

"We go step by step and every game, especially now - every point counts. The way we have secured our spot in the quarters, it's really important for us.

"We have a massive game this Saturday to finish top and then another big one against Zebre. Of course, you have [the final and winning] in your mind as well. Dreaming, it’s like your fuel."

Image source, SNS

Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt says his side need to be "on song for 80 minutes" if they are to beat reigning URC champions Munster on Friday night.

Everitt, whose side are on a three-match winning run, described the play-off pursuit as a "pressure pot" and wants his team to rise to the occasion on home turf in their penultimate game of the regular season.

“We haven’t changed much from what we’ve done over the last few weeks," he said. "We’ve been in a pressure pot, as we all know with how the league is.

“We also set ourselves a target of winning five games. But for us it’s about working on our performance and focusing on what we need to do to be able to get over the line in big games.

“We haven’t quite got an 80-minute performance against the bigger teams away from home - I’m talking about the Stormers and the Sharks.

"We were good in those games for 40 minutes, and some for 60 minutes, so to beat a quality team like Munster, who are on a seven-game unbeaten streak in the URC, we’ve got to be on song for 80. That will be our focus this weekend."

Edinburgh announced this week that seven players will depart at the end of the season, and Friday night could be their final home outing.

“We all know it’s a massive game anyway as far as the league position is concerned, but certainly for the two players [Viliame Mata and WP Nel] that have given so much to the club, it will be great if we can give them a good send-off with a win over Munster at home," Everitt added.

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Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt has made just one change to the starting XV who put 40 points past Zebre last weekend.

Co-captain Ben Vellacott starts ahead of Ali Price at scrum-half as Edinburgh host reigning champions Munster in a crunch contest on Friday evening.

With two games remaining, Edinburgh are seventh in the chase to reach the play-offs with a top-eight finish.

Munster occupy third and are seeking an eighth consecutive URC win.

Edinburgh: Goosen, Currie, Bennett, Lang, van der Merwe, Healy, Vellacott (CC); Schoeman, Ashman Nel, Skinner, Gilchrist (CC), Ritchie, Watson, Mata.

Replacements: Cherry, Venter, Sebastian, Sykes, Crosbie, Price, Scott, Dean.

Image source, SNS

Sione Tuipulotu has revealed that his shared faith with Franco Smith helps him feel aligned to the way the Glasgow head coach thinks.

The Scotland star praised the "authority and discipline" that Smith has brought to Scotstoun as he spoke about his coach on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast.

"He's obviously a very religious man, and everything is underpinned by God," Tuipulotu said. "That's something that I relate to. He stands by what he says, and when you have a coach like that, it creates an environment where people listen and they follow.

"There's no deviation from the plan. He says what is going to happen and we all march towards that plan. He's brought that in - authority and discipline.

He doesn't want plaudits from the media, he's quite a private guy, and he wants it to be about the team."

The Warriors have seen a significant uptick in form since South African Smith replaced Danny Wilson at the Glasgow helm, and currently sit first in the URC rankings heading into the play-offs.

"He's quite a selfless individual and someone I can relate to in terms of his faith," Tuipulotu added. "I always feel pretty aligned when I play rugby for Glasgow just because I'm aligned with the way he thinks.

"The one thing that I really respect about Franco is how professional the relationship he has with players is. As a man, the morals he has - he always stands by them. If he says he's going to do something, he does it."

The Australia-born centre also revealed his partner is heavily pregnant and spoke of his excitement at impending fatherhood.

"It's coming at the perfect time in my life and the perfect time in my career. I feel like it's going to make me a better rugby player. I'm really focused on being a good dad. I've got to watch the other boys do it before me - Shuggy [Huw Jones], Finn [Russell] - and I've seen what it does to their career.

"It always brings back that there are things bigger than rugby. These little things - seeing your mates go through fatherhood, now my turn is coming round - give you the broader picture of life."

• You can listen to the Rugby Scotland podcast here.

Grant Young
Glasgow Warriors fan columnist

Surely that is the best defeat in recent Warriors memory?

The most crucial of two points were secured away to Bulls, and the last kick of the ball from the experienced Duncan Weir has the potential to be decisive when it comes to the final standings of the regular season.

It was a hard-fought game, and for the opening 60 minutes Glasgow were second best, but they continue to show a never-say-die attitude. We saw it against Cardiff at home and it was on show again last weekend.

Two weeks remain, and it is still largely in our hands.

We need to make sure our trip to South Africa is successful with a trip to Johannesburg to face tenth-placed Lions, who will still have big ambitions of finishing in the top eight.

Lions have the top-ranked scrum in the URC, but Glasgow have been brilliant on both sides of the ball this season, ranking second in both attack and defence.

It's looking more likely than ever that it’ll all be decided with the last game against Zebre. However, looking at the rest of the fixtures, Ulster could play a big part in the final shake-up.

Sandy Smith
Edinburgh fan columnist

Being an Edinburgh supporter means you get used to using the word 'but' a lot.

As in 'we got the job done but it wasn’t pretty'. Or 'we got the five points but that performance won’t be good enough to beat Munster'.

That said, the win over Zebre was the type of match that we sometimes find a way to lose. Therefore, it was encouraging that we kept our discipline and pushed through, first when we went behind, and then again when they closed the gap to just five points.

Ben Vellacott's introduction brought some much needed speed to the breakdown. His try was a cracker and demonstrated speed of thought as well as the dynamism that we seemed to lack previously. If you could give player of the match to someone for a 20-minute appearance then this would be the one.

Chris Dean's try reminded me of the one he scored in the corner at Murrayfield against Glasgow back in 2017. All that was missing this time was Henry Pyrgos clapping him over the line.

Bill Mata limped off in the 79th minute and the crowd, obviously aware that this could be his last Edinburgh involvement, gave him a huge round of applause. Hopefully that’s not the case as he has always shown a remarkable recovery ability.

Two to go and still tighter than even Simply Red could mention, but it is still in our own hands. Just a small Munster-shaped hurdle to overcome at the Hive this Friday.

• You can read more of Sandy's work on The Burgh Watch., external

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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Five hundred and 12 days later, Murphy Walker finally made his return for Glasgow on Saturday after almost 17 months of injury torture.

The tighthead prop started the Warriors bonus-points loss to the Bulls in Pretoria, his first start since December 2022, after four injuries in a row threatened to derail his blossoming career.

"It was just so frustrating," Walker revealed. "When you see your mates going so well, and the team going so well, you just really want to be a part of that.

"I know injuries are part of the job and you've just got to roll with punches - I'm not daft - but having three back to back to back was pretty tough mentally. That was probably the first time I cried in front of my mates and Franco [Smith] in the physio room. I felt pretty done after that."

A prolapsed disc in his neck was followed by a torn calf, which was followed by a torn quad, which was followed by an injured meniscus which required surgery.

Walker was always determined to come back stronger and says Saturday felt like the start of a new chapter.

"It felt like my debut all over again because I didn't know how to feel before the game. It was almost brand new again.

"In terms of being nervous, scared or excited - I didn't really know where I was mentally, I had it all. Usually before games I'm pretty calm, cool, collected but this one I was just a bit excited, like a wee kid. Once we ran out, I was ready to go. All of it just came back."

Walker is tipped to replace Zander Fagerson in the Scotland set-up one day, and with WP Nel retiring at the end of the year, the back-up tighthead shirt is up for grabs.

"I wouldn't say I feel much pressure," he said. "Off the back of the World Cup, I'm confident in myself. I've had conversations with Gregor [Townsend] and Peter De Villiers [Scotland's scrum coach] and I wouldn't say that I feel pressured.

"It is in the back of my head. You look at the projections about who's in front of you or behind you. It's one of those things that players might say they're not looking at, but yeah, it's in the back of my head."

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Edinburgh Rugby have confirmed seven players will leave the club at the end of the current season.

Viliame Mata (Bristol), Charlie Savala (Northampton), Luan de Bruin (Newcastle), Adam McBurney (Connacht) have all signed deals with new clubs, while Jamie Campbell will "pursue playing opportunities outside the UK".

WP Nel announced his decision to retire earlier this year, and Scott Steele will also hang up his boots this summer having struggled with injury throughout the current campaign.

“I’d like to thank all of our departing players for their contributions to Edinburgh Rugby during their time at the club," head coach Sean Everitt said.

"They’ve all been a valuable part of the squad and I wish them all the best in their future endeavours.

“We’re grateful for the effort and commitment that these players have shown throughout their time at Edinburgh. They’ve all played a role in the team’s success and we’ll miss them around the club dearly because of what they brought as individuals and players.

“On behalf of everyone at Edinburgh, I’d like to thank our seven departing players for their hard work and dedication. They’ve all been a pleasure to work with and will still have big roles to play as we aim to finish the season on a high note.”