Scottish Rugby

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your Scottish rugby questions before Gregor Townsend announces his Six Nations squad on Wednesday.

Mark asked: Where do Scotland sit in regards to the Six Nations, are we ready to kick on? And is there a wildcard player who could come in and make a difference or shake the squad up?

Tom answered: The Six Nations squad is getting announced on Wednesday, so we'll know the full picture as regards to wildcards, if any, pretty soon.

I'd certainly like to see Fergus Burke in there. Finn Russell and Tom Jordan are the only fit and viable 10s in my opinion and Russell is 32 now. Burke is an excellent footballer and he's doing well at Saracens. England haven't named him in their squad so Scotland need to grab this opportunity to secure a young-ish 10 for the future.

I've been getting mixed messages on whether Jonny Gray is making himself available for the Six Nations. I'd love to see him back on the basis that you can't have too many warriors. Max Williamson, if he was fit, would be playing a big part in the championship, I think. Hopefully we'll see him at some point.

Gregor Townsend might throw in one or two bolters, but the squad is so settled at this stage it's hard to see how they'll make an impact. You could almost name the 23 for Italy right now, injuries permitting.

Alan asked: How do you think professionalisation of rugby has impacted the success, or lack of success, of the Scotland rugby team? Is success more than winning Championships?

Tom answered: The game going professional was bad news for Scotland. Under the individual and collective reigns of Jim Telfer and Ian McGeechan, Scotland were among the fittest, best-drilled and hardest teams in the world because the two legends made it so.

Few countries had a brains-trust like those two and few countries had players who were prepared to do the things that Telfer insisted the Scottish boys do. They were savagely effective.

Professionalism took away Scotland's advantage. Suddenly, everybody had time to be fitter, faster, stronger and they had the desire to work harder than ever before because it was now their livelihood.

Is success more than winning championships? Yes and no.

Scotland could win four of five in the Six Nations this season and finish second. That's success to me. Not ultimate success, but success nonetheless. I think Scotland have reached a point now, though, where they are entitled to look on a championship win as the only thing that really represents success. It's been a long road.

The squad is very, very good. In certain positions, it's totally world class. The backline as a whole is among the best in the world. So, second would be really impressive, but first is not out of the question. That's the goal.

Sandy Smith
Fan writer

First up let me say in the spirit of BBC's Holiday programme, what a great town Vannes is.

Friendly, picturesque and well worth a visit. Their ground Stade De La Rabine has a stunning entrance and if you haven't been, look it up.

They are mad for their rugby club and as I explored the town, loads of locals said hello and wished us bonne chance.

And on the day we took the chance.

It started out like it was going to be straightforward as we scored two early tries , but at the end we were hanging on to a four-point margin.

It was a huge effort. The top eight tacklers in the game were all Edinburgh players and Vannes dominated the territory and the possession. The Breton side were big and powerful but the flair all came from the men in orange. Yes, you read that right.

There wasn't a single article before this game that didn't highlight the fact that Vannes are bottom of the Pro14. That has to be seen through the optic of that league being one of the toughest around and Edinburgh haven't exactly been setting the heather alight on the road this season, so I'd be wary of dismissing this narrow victory.

Instead, let's focus on the five points gained and the fact that we are top of pool three going into the last game of the group stages.

Fun fact, readers: Three games into Edinburgh's Challenge Cup campaign and we have scored 13 tries. All of them have come from the backline. Not one forward try.

Which leads neatly to our next game against the Richard Cockerill led side, Black Lion.

The Tbilisi-based side who are a sort of Georgian Barbarians are bottom of pool three and in keeping with stereotypes, three of the four tries they have scored in their games have come from forwards.

It's worth noting that they have scored 56 points in their three games and 30 of those points have come from penalties. Discipline, people.

Cockers return to Edinburgh, Black Lion's poor record and Edinburgh's ability to throw a spanner into our own works could point to the kind of upset that the bookies might dread, but I'm hopeful that our home form, a noisy crowd at the Hive and the prospect of a home tie in the round of 16 will be enough to keep everyone focussed.

The outcome is entirely in our own hands which is a luxury we need to capitalise on.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external

Grant Young
Fan writer

Another milestone ticked off by this history-making squad as the result, and others across the weekend, confirmed Glasgow would have a home time in the Champions Cup round of 16.

When you look at the calibre of teams in the competition, that's a pretty big step forward Warriors have taken from recent seasons.

Franco Smith set out his team confident of a result and my golly, did Glasgow come out in the first half.

It was video game rugby the way the ball was zipping round. Confidence was oozing and it seemed Warriors would cross the line every time they attacked.

From the second minute, when George Horne - now European leading try scorer for the Warriors crossed the line, the floodgates were firmly open. Glasgow tore the Parisians to shreds.

Glasgow were running away with it when a bulldozing Sione Tuipulotu - who has had nearly every word in the dictionary used to describe how incredibly he has performed this season - sliced cleanly through to touch down try number four.

For 60 minutes Glasgow were brilliant, Rory Darge scored a fifth early in the second half to cap a brilliant ¾ of the game.

But, if there's one question mark over Glasgow, it's their inability to dominate for the full 80 minutes. They have a tendency to slightly step off the gas.

Racing came into the game and for the first time, showed a little tempo themselves. A cynical, almost tired, hand in the ruck meant Matt Fagerson missed the final 10 minutes with an avoidable yellow. This galvanised the French side, who within four minutes of being a man up, had scored two tries. The defence looked tired in the end but held together as Glasgow ran out 10 point victors.

The midfield duo of Huwipulotu continue to cause every team issues.

Once deemed unimpactful as a defender, Huw Jones is incredible. Both he and Tuipulotu are the ticking heartbeat to the defence and it is no wonder that both are being spoken of for Lions inclusion.

After Champions Cup victories for both Glasgow and Edinburgh, we are offering you the chance to throw questions at our rugby writers Tom English and Andy Burke.

Send them in via this link, external and they will be answered on this page later in the week.

Lewis Irons
BBC Scotland Sports Presenter

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Glasgow Warriors back-rower Matt Fagerson insists it would be "massive" if their Champions Cup round of 16 home match was to be played at Hampden.

The 26-year-old enjoyed the "incredible atmosphere" at the national football stadium last month in the first leg of the 1872 Cup.

Franco Smith's side have secured a home tie in this round of the European competition the first time, which Fagerson said was "the goal".

"We set out this year with the goal to do well in Europe, so to do it with one game in hand is massive for us," he said while previewing Saturday's trip down south to take on Harlequins.

"It's a great achievement but we know we have one more big game to play down in London, so all eyes are on that at the moment.

"It would be massive if we could play at Hampden. When we played there it was an incredible atmosphere, 30,000-odd fans there from Glasgow – I think it was the biggest we've ever had.

"Hopefully we can do that every year [in the 1872 Cup] and if it comes to these knockout games, doing it at a place like Hampden would be brilliant.

"The Hampden staff were awesome, we had our branding all over the place and we could hear the fans – hopefully we'd get the weather next time! But if we could do that again, it would be brilliant."

Fagerson added confidence is high among the Warriors group who are still beaming from their URC success last season.

"The confidence we got from winning the league last year means this group is full of internal confidence," he added.

"To come away with a win in the round of 16 would be huge, but again though, this weekend is our only focus.

"There's a big difference between confidence and arrogance. Internal confidence is great and every club needs that. If you don't go out there thinking you can win then why are you going out on the pitch?

"There's a great buzz around the group at the minute and a great culture that we've driven over these last two or three years since Franco Smith came in. I think we're all excited."

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Sensational Sione continues to shine

It's becoming difficult to come up with anything original to say about Sione Tuipulotu. The centre has been playing at such a high level for such a long time and influencing just about every game he plays in.

He set the tone inside 30 seconds against Racing, bursting through a tackle and breaking from deep to get Glasgow immediately on the front foot.

Tuipulotu said after the match he was determined to be better this year than he was in 2024. If he accomplishes that then we will see something very special.

The Scotland captain is in outstanding form heading into the Six Nations and his midfield partner Huw Jones looked razor sharp in attack too.

Us Scots are reluctant to build up anybody too much, but with Tuipulotu playing the way he is, you can't help but hop aboard the hype train.

Horne makes history

George Horne was not on the pitch for long – he failed to reappear after departing for a head injury assessment - but he still managed to create a bit of history during his limited appearance.

His opening try saw him move out on his own as Glasgow's all-time top try-scorer in European competition.

Horne's strike-rate has been astonishing for a long time now. He has redefined the art of the scrum-half support line and his anticipation of when a chance might present itself is second to none.

His try took him onto 51 for Warriors, three shy of DTH van der Merwe's club record. Surely it's only a matter of time…

Cancelliere – Glasgow's Mr Dependable

When you watch Glasgow, the eye is perhaps drawn to the explosiveness of Sione Tuipulotu or the guile of Huw Jones, but the consistent excellence of Sebastian Cancelliere is no less impressive.

The Argentine winger is one of Warriors greatest ever foreign signings. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time and has that happy knack of coming up with big tries in big games, as he did against Racing.

He popped up with crucial tries against the Stormers in the quarter-final and Munster in the semi-final as Warriors swept to the URC title last season.

Other stars may grab the headlines, but Glasgow would not be the force they are without the dependable Cancelliere.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Signs of attack sharpening up

The big criticism of Sean Everitt's team in recent times has been the lack of spark in attack, but there were signs against Vannes that when it clicks, Edinburgh do have the tools to hurt teams.

Darcy Graham, unsurprisingly, was at the heart of a lot of Edinburgh's best moments. He was instrumental in a wonderful third try, linking up with James Lang who then set Ali Price free to score.

It was a terrific move, the kind that a team with so many exciting runners produces far too infrequently.

Everitt must find a way to embolden his creative players to express themselves more. Edinburgh will be better for it.

Soft defence a cause for concern

If the attack is showing encouraging signs of improvement, some of the defence on show against Vannes was a real concern.

Salesi Rayasi time and again was able to blast through a succession of soft shoulders, while Tani Vili was able to do likewise for his try in the second half.

Everitt and his players spoke after the 1872 Cup victory over Glasgow at Murrayfield about how the standard had been set in terms of aggression and discipline in defence. They fell well short of that against Vannes.

Edinburgh got away with it against an inexperienced side, but they won't when they take on the top teams in the URC and at the business end of the Challenge Cup, should they make it there.

Price gives Townsend food for thought

Ali Price has found himself slipping down the Scotland pecking order in the last couple of years with the fine form of Ben White and George Horne and the emergence of Jamie Dobie.

Eyebrows were raised when Price was selected to start the first of the autumn Tests against Fiji, with Townsend saying he was the form Scottish scrum-half. He saw no further action in that series.

Against Vannes, Price showed flashes of his old self, especially in the first half when he scored two tries off good support lines after firing a lovely pass out to Wes Goosen for the opening try.

White's consistency and control, Horne's tempo and goalkicking and Dobie's speed and versatility means forcing his way to the front of the scrum-half queue is going to be tough, but Townsend has always been Price's biggest fan and he will have taken note of his good moments against Vannes as the head coach gets set to name his squad for the Six Nations on Wednesday.

Image source, Getty Images

Glasgow Warriors have secured a home tie in the Champions Cup round of 16 for the first time.

Franco Smith's side had already booked their spot in the knockout stages following Friday's 29-19 win over Racing 92 at Scotstoun.

But results since then mean they will also have home advantage in the next stage.

Harlequins' 33-21 defeat away to Toulon on Sunday means the English side cannot now catch Warriors, who sit second in Pool 4, one point behind the French outfit.

Glasgow will therefore head to London on Saturday for their final group game assured of progress but with their hosts level with Stormers and Sale and only a point ahead of Racing in the race to finish third or fourth in the section in order to progress.

Bordeaux-Begles, Toulouse, Leinster, Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers have also already qualified from their sections.

We asked for your views on Glasgow's Champions Cup victory over Racing 92 and Edinburgh's Challenge Cup win at Vannes.

Here's what some of you said:

Glasgow

Ben: Glasgow are in a great position for the rest of the season. We have had our mini injury crisis, mostly survived it and built more depth. If we can go down to Harlequins and get a result, which we have the talent to do, then getting to a semi-final is absolutely achievable. In one-off knockout games, anything can happen as we showed last year!

Matthew: Glasgow looked much more the URC champion team they are for the first 60 minutes of this game, compared to the shadow of a team that faced Edinburgh last week. The switch-off in the final 20 minutes was disappointing and will be much more costly against the top sides in the competition and Glasgow will have to be more clinical throughout to come out on top.

David: Some beautiful tries scored by Glasgow in the first 60 minutes. You have to add that Racing were off their game until they brought their subs on. Zander Fagerson, who had played really well, made a silly error to get yellow carded and Glasgow's superiority ended. Franco Smith will not be pleased. The mix-up that led to Racing's last try was not good.

Darwin: Slightly concerned how Glasgow will cope going forward against teams with big powerful packs, they were creaking a bit and looked a bit lightweight in the last 20 minutes.

Edinburgh

Andrew: An important elusive away win for Edinburgh against Vannes to start 2025, building momentum after beating Glasgow. It'll be a good second half to the season if they can carry this momentum forward with them against Black Lion and into the URC, and why shouldn't they? For me the signs are things under Sean Everitt are improving!

Image source, Inpho

Clovers moved level with Irish rivals Wolfhounds at the top of the Celtic Challenge table with a comprehensive 40-19 victory over Edinburgh in Cork.

Amee-Leigh Costigan, Beth Buttimer, Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, Enya Breen, Jemima Adams Verling and Chisom Ugwueru all crossed as Clovers secured their third bonus-point win to keep pace with Wolfhounds, who thrashed Brython Thunder earlier on Saturday.

Denis Fogarty's side led 21-5 at half-time thanks to fine tries from Amee-Leigh Costigan and Nic a Bhaird either side of Buttimer's maul score, with Hannah Walker crossing for the visitors.

After the break, Clovers captain Enya Breen, Jemima Adams Verling, and replacement Chisom Ugwueru all struck to put the game well beyond Edinburgh's reach.

The Scots, however, rallied late on through Lauryn Walter and Cieron Bell.

Clovers are next in action against Glasgow on 25 January.

Clovers: Aoife Corey; Amee-Leigh Costigan, Anna McGann, Enya Breen (capt), Maabh Deely; Nicole Fowley, Emily Lane; Siobhan McCarthy, Beth Buttimer, Sadhbh McGrath, Ruth Campbell, Jane Neill, Jemima Adams Verling, Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird, Ivana Kiripati.

Replacements: Emily Gavin, Grainne Burke, Sophie Barrett, Jane Clohessy, Shirley Bailey, Grainne Moran, Caitriona Finn, Chisom Ugwueru.

Edinburgh: Lucia Scott; Cieron Bell, Giselle Chicot, Lucy MacRae, Hannah Walker; Hannah Ramsay, Rhea Clarke; Alison Wilson, Aila Ronald, Hannah McMahon, Adelle Ferrie, Natasha Logan, Charlotte Fosbeary, Alex Stewart (capt), Samaanther Taganekurukuru.

Replacements: Kaylee Fraser, Talei Tawake, Megan Riach, Lucy Christie, Lauryn Walter, Pip Benson, Sarah Denholm, Nicole Marlow.

Referee: Shane Tuohy (IRFU)

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Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt: "It was a tough game but I'm just glad we were able to pull through. There was good rugby from both sides so I hope the spectators enjoyed it.

"The scrums can be frustrating because we do have a good pack of forwards. We also know the French clubs have good packs and they take a lot of pride in their set piece.

"We'll have a look at it. We have been very good in that area, but at the end of the day we got our four tries and that's important for the log."

Edinburgh took a big step towards the knockout stages of the Challenge Cup with a bonus-point victory in France over Vannes.

Tries from Ali Price, Wes Goosen, and Duhan van der Merwe put Edinburgh in pole position and they held off a Vannes fightback to take maximum points.

Sean Everitt's side face Georgian outfit Black Lion back on home soil next Sunday.

What did you make of that, Edinburgh fans? Were you ever confident of a rare away victory? Who impressed you?

Let us know your thoughts., external

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Sione Tuipulotu says Glasgow Warriors are motivated to avenge last season's Champions Cup exit to Harlequins when they visit the Stoop on Saturday.

Warriors booked their place in the knockout stages thanks to a bonus-point victory over Racing 92 on Friday night, with Tuipulotu scoring a try and turning in a man-of-the-match performance.

The target for Franco Smith's men is to secure a home quarter-final and to do that they must overcome the side that knocked them out in the last 16 last season.

"I want to get that one back from last year, they're 1-0 up against us, so I really want to go back there and to win that game next week," Tuipulotu told BBC Scotland.

"It's something that I suppose is a little bit personal for the group. I'm actually really looking forward to seeing (former Glasgow coach) Danny (Wilson). I'm real close with him. I need to get that one back against him."

Warriors delivered a scintillating first-half performance against Racing, running in four tries, before dropping off near the end to allow the French side to give the full-time scoreline a different complexion at 29-19.

"We can't compete with the top end if we don't show 70, 80-minute performances," said Scotland captain Tuipulotu.

"I think the positives are that our first 40 minutes, teams are going to find it pretty hard to live with us.

"We know we've got athletes out there, we know we've got footie players out there that can really make a defence hurt. We've just got to be able to have the maturity now to hold that for 80 minutes and we can put any team under pressure."

Glasgow fans, did you brave the cold at Scotstoun on Friday night or were you following the action from home? Either way, we want your views on the victory over Racing.

Who impressed you? Do Glasgow have what it takes to go the distance in this competition?

And will Gregor Townsend have a particular interest in anyone in that Glasgow squad.

Have your say., external

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Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith: "We obviously want to improve, it's early in the year.

"It's the Christmas period, and sometimes when you're not in the building for a week, some things will give.

"The first hour, I was happy with. The boys stuck to script. There was good positive steps. Some frustration from the Edinburgh loss helped.

"We need to kick on. We need put on an 80-minute performance, like we used to do. It is there, one or two games that will allow us to be ourselves up until the end.

"Sione Tuipulotu plays well. The reason he's walking away with the man of the match medal so often is because he plays well. He's in a good space. His contribution is massively appreciated.

"It's Champions Cup, it's quality teams. They brought on a lot of experience and energy from their bench and they did what was asked.

"Our yellow card was unneccesary. We defended well enough to not give that away and that led to a couple of tries that we've leaked. Enough to work on but excited we've made progress.

"We fell two minutes short [against Harlequins last season]. We regroup, have a look on Monday. We've got a plan to go there and see how we can progress from tonight."

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Sean Everitt has made five changes to his Edinburgh side for Saturday's Challenge Cup Pool 3 game against Vannes in France.

James Lang makes his first start of the season in the centres, while stand-off Ben Healy - who was the league's top points scorer last season - makes just a second start this term and a first since October.

Mosese Tuipulotu and Ross Thompson drop to the bench from the team that narrowly beat Glasgow in the second leg of the 1872 Cup two weeks ago.

Both props are rotated, meaning Pierre Schoeman and Javan Sebastian come in and Boan Venter and D'Arcy Rae - who signed a new contract this week - drop to the bench.

Marshall Sykes comes into the second row, with club co-captain Grant Gilchrist unavailable through a hand injury. In the absence of Gilchrist and Ben Vellacott, Jamie Ritchie skippers the side.

Edinburgh top Pool 3 with six points from two games, with Vannes second on points difference.

Head coach Everitt said: "This is great challenge for us. Vannes are a different beast at home and they'll want to put in a strong performance in front of a passionate support.

"We're joint top and this is a competition we want to go far in. We travel to France with plenty of confidence after our win over Glasgow."

Edinburgh: Goosen, Graham, Currie, Lang, Van der Merwe; Healy, Price; Schoeman, Cherry, Sebastian, Sykes, Skinner, Ritchie (c), Crosbie, Muncaster.

Replacements: Harrison, Venter, Rae, Young, Watson, Shiel, Thompson, Tuipulotu.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your Scottish rugby questions.

Allan: When are we going to be able to get a third pro team? Dundee would be a great location for it and get the Caley Reds back. We need to increase the minutes players are getting so we have more players competing for international rugby.

Tom answered: The chances of a third professional team are, sadly, zero. The SRU can scarcely afford to fund the teams they have.

Edinburgh and Glasgow are both going to have their budgets cut next season, so the situation is grim, not just in Scotland but pretty much everywhere else as well. A whole lot more is going to have to be done to get fixtures for underage teams and A teams. As you say, these boys need games.

James asked: As well as Finn Russell is playing right now, Scotland need options at 10 long term. What are the chances of Saracens' Fergus Burke committing to Scotland? And might we see his name in the Six Nations squad this year?

Tom answered: The line from the Scottish management is no official approach has been made to Burke and there won't be unless they're convinced he's better than what they have.

I'd be surprised if they haven't quietly sussed out Burke on whether he wants to declare for Scotland or not. He qualifies for England as well. They've got young 10s in Marcus Smith and Fin Smith, but Burke looks class and you can't have too many options.

Scotland have Russell, but he's 32 now. There's Tom Jordan, Adam Hastings (an unfortunate injury profile) and I think that's about it, realistically. You'd really, really hope Gregor Townsend is making a play for Burke behind the scenes. He's only 25 and would be a hell of an asset.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your Scottish rugby questions.

Michael asked: Winning the URC last season was a remarkable achievement. However, is Nigel Carolan realistic in his assertion that Glasgow are genuine contenders for the Champions Cup?

Tom answered: I think he's right to see Glasgow in that way. There's a smallish group of clubs that win it and Glasgow, with the luck of the draw, are among that group. Maybe at the bottom of it, but in there nonetheless.

Clearly, Blair Kinghorn's Toulouse are red-hot favourites. You have Johnny Gray's Bordeaux and La Rochelle as well from France. I thought Bath would go far but they've lost both of their games so far. Northampton and Harlequins have a chance.

Glasgow definitely belong in that company. The squad is very strong and they have players to come back from injury as well. Home advantage will be absolutely key.

Keith asked: Should Franco Smith be making discrete inquiries about the availability of Harry Byrne after his medical joker stint with Bristol is finished, and would David Nuicifora be on board with the acquisition of a non-Scottish qualified player?

Tom answered: It's still painful to think of how Glasgow let Tom Jordan slip away from them. A colossal misstep from the Warriors.

Byrne is probably fourth choice at Leinster, hence his short-term move to Bristol. I'm not so sure about him and, as you mention, I'm not at all convinced Nucifora would sanction a move for him.

I suspect Nucifora is really going to tighten the rules around recruitment of non-Scottish qualified players. That'll be a good thing for the pathway structure but it's going to cause Franco Smith and Sean Everitt some angst, if it happens.

I wouldn't go for Byrne and I doubt they'll be a major signing because they can't afford it. I'd like to have a look at Richie Simpson and any other young ones on the periphery…