Scottish Rugby

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

Of all the troubling losses Edinburgh have suffered in the United Rugby Championship in recent seasons, and in a very stiff field, their defeat to Zebre on Friday night was a challenger for the most 'Edinburgh' of the lot.

Zebre were reduced to 14 men after 67 minutes and then got a red card in the 71st minute. So, against 14 players for seven minutes and against 13 for six minutes, Edinburgh still couldn't get the try that would have levelled the contest.

Their efforts - slow and plodding and utterly without conviction or invention - might have made their supporters cringe. Zebre had little bother repelling an attack so one-dimensional it made you wonder what on earth they do all week in training.

True, Edinburgh were missing important international players, but this kind of mishap hardly dropped out of the sky. This has been the way of it at Edinburgh for way too long.

Tenth last season and 12th the season before puts paid to the missing Test players argument. Even when they've had them they haven't been good enough to achieve the bare minimum of top eight in the league, a modest target for a squad funded to the tune of about £6m a season.

Zebre are improving. They've now won back-to-back away games which brings their total wins in this season's URC to four - double the number they managed in the three seasons before.

Edinburgh were, of course, kindly hosts. They didn't have some frontliners, but they had six of Gregor Townsend's current Six Nations squad plus Hamish Watson, Ali Price, and their player of the year last season, Wes Goosen. The 50-cap Puma Emiliano Boffelli was also back from injury, 15 of their 23 have played Test rugby.

The defeat will see Edinburgh drop out of the play-off spots by the end of the weekend. The black sheep of the SRU family, they've been nothing but trouble. No coach can seem to fire them up. Sean Everitt is toiling horribly, just as others toiled before him.

Douglas Struth is managing director of Edinburgh, but the power lies above him. This is an early test for new SRU chief executive Alex Williamson and new performance director David Nucifora.

They're not long in the building but five minutes observing the scene will have told them change is needed at Edinburgh. When you've only got two teams in the URC, Scottish Rugby cannot afford one of them to be a serial, and expensive, failure.

This falls into Nucifora's remit. When he first arrived in Scotland he gave a press conference outlining, in vague terms, what he hoped to achieve in the role. Since then, he's been announced on the Lions management ticket. He'll be gone for the summer. It's hardly a statement of intent in his new position.

If he's the SRU's performance director then you might have expected him to be with Scotland on their summer tour, but no.

Everything seems to be on the drift at Murrayfield right now. Scotland are facing a game to save their season at Twickenham next Saturday, the Under-20s are zero from two, Edinburgh have relapsed into dreary mediocrity under Everitt and even the one shining light, Glasgow, have some alarm bells ringing.

Franco Smith, the stellar coach who led them to URC glory last season, is high in the betting to succeed Warren Gatland at Wales. He's also been heavily linked with Leicester.

Glasgow and SRU sources become coy when asked about the Leicester connection. Smith, they say, has another year left on his contract and they will fight hard to keep him.

No doubt they will, but the Leicester chat is not going away. Wales? It's hard to see Smith going back to international coaching given the day-to-day stuff is what floats his boat the most. But every Warrior should be worried until the Leicester thing is put to bed.

Smith cannot be impressed with the Warriors allowing Tom Jordan and Jack Mann to leave and it would be a surprise if there weren't approaches for some of the other fine young players Smith has cultivated.

Edinburgh is the big issue, though. They're going nowhere, only up and down, bobbing along without direction. Everitt is a good man, but it's not happening for him. This goes deeper than a coach, but the rebuild has to start somewhere.

The new leadership at Murrayfield - Nucifora, primarily - had better start coming up with ways of helping the problem child, presuming there's time amid all that Lions planning that needs to be done.

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Edinburgh's loss to Zebre was another low in a disappointing season for Sean Everitt's side, as the capital club were outclassed by their visitors at the Hive.

What did you make of the game? Where did it go wrong for Edinburgh?

Were there any positives to take? What must Everitt do now?

Let us know your thoughts here., external

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Edinburgh coach Sean Everitt told Premier Sports: "They put us under pressure, it's not something that we didn't prepare for. We lost the physicality battle, especially at the breakdown.

"If you look at the stats, we had 150 rucks to their 60-odd. They managed to put us under pressure there. We couldn't play, so credit to them - the passion they showed and the physicality they showed. They scored a good maul try against us and we take pride in our maul.

"It didn't happen this evening so back to the drawing board for Edinburgh.

"Something you can't measure is passion. There were a lot of guys who tried hard out there. Luke Crosbie was outstanding tonight. We'll have to go back and have a look at it.

"It's a contact sport and if you don't win the contact, you're always going to be on the back-foot and we lost momentum there.

"The Munster game becomes important. We're not dead in this competition, everyone is alive, but we need to pick ourselves up on Monday, work harder and start winning away from home.

"We had enough time to prepare. Everyone is in the same position. The Italians also play in the Six Nations. We have to look at ourselves."

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Glasgow welcome back five players from Scotland's Six Nations camp for the URC game with Dragons at Rodney Parade on Sunday.

George Horne, Jamie Bhatti, Euan Ferrie, Jack Mann and Ollie Smith all start, while there is a return from injury for second-row Jare Oguntibeju, who has caught the eye in his three appearances so far.

Youngsters Duncan Munn, Fin Richardson and Alex Samuel keep their places from the side that beat Connacht three weeks ago.

Grant Stewart makes a first start of the season at hooker, with Johnny Matthews only taking a spot on the bench, and Smith continues at outside centre.

Duncan Weir captains for the second consecutive game from fly-half, while Argentine winger Sebastian Cancelliere makes his 50th Warriors appearance.

On the bench, there are potential debutants for back-row Maccenzie Duncan and winger Kerr Johnston.

Glasgow are second in the table while Dragons lie eight points adrift at the bottom.

Warriors head coach Franco Smith said: "We know the Dragons have talented players throughout their squad, and will be playing for a passionate home support.

"We're also pleased to include Macenzzie and Kerr in our matchday 23 once more, and to see Sebastian reach 50 appearances - he is someone who knows what it means to be a Warrior and always gives 100%."

Glasgow Warriors: McKay, Cancelliere, Smith, Munn, Cordero; Weir (c), Horne; Bhatti, Stewart, Richardson, Oguntibeju, Samuel, Ferrie, Venter, Mann.

Replacements: Matthews, McBeth, Schickerling, Miller, Fraser, Duncan, Afshar, Johnston.

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Winger Emiliano Boffelli is set to make his long-awaited comeback from injury when Edinburgh host Zebre in the URC on Friday.

The Argentina international, who will make his first appearance of the season since recovering from back surgery, is one of eight changes for Sean Everitt's side from the defeat to Scarlets last month, and the head coach is delighted to call on the 30-year-old again.

"We're delighted to welcome Emiliano back to the team," Everitt said. "He has worked incredibly hard to return to full fitness and I know how proud he is to be pulling on the Edinburgh jersey once again."

Boffellli's fellow winger Ross McCann returns from a calf injury to start at Hive Stadium too, while Mosese Tuipulotu, at inside centre, and Ross Thompson, at stand-off, also join the backline.

Scotland squad players D'Arcy Rae, Marshall Sykes, Luke Crosbie, Paddy Harrison and Matt Currie are all available and will start against Zebre, with Crosbie captaining the team.

Tom Currie, the younger brother of Matt, who made his debut at Parc y Scarlets last month, makes his first professional start at number eight, but Ben Muncaster and Harry Paterson both miss out due to concussion.

The Edinburgh players will wear the socks of their boyhood teams against Zebre as part of the URC's 'Origin Round', where the league encourages teams, players and fans to celebrate the communities and people who helped launch the careers of hundreds of rugby players and coaches.

Edinburgh: Goosen, Boffelli, M. Currie, Tuipulotu, McCann; Thompson, Price; Venter, Harrison, Rae, Sykes, Young, Crosbie, Watson, T. Currie.

Replacements: Morris, Hislop, Hill, Skinner, McConnell, Vellacott, Healy, Lang.

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

James asked: Do you think the Scotland team has an attitude problem? I watch Glasgow week in and week out and there always seems to be some tenacity to them but at international level, the same players seem to lose it.

Tom answered: No, I think it's more complicated than that. There was nothing wrong with their attitude in Dublin 12 months ago, or against France in Edinburgh, or against South Africa in Murrayfield in the autumn. These are honest players who are giving everything.

I don't want to come over all Sigmund Freud here, but I wonder about their absolute desperation to beat Ireland and whether they out-psyched themselves beforehand.

Were they too emotional? To me, they lacked aggression in the first 30 minutes on Sunday and I've watched those minutes over and over in an attempt to find out why.

Ireland are very, very good, obviously, but the way they dominated physically (at Murrayfield!) was odd.

Whatever the rights and wrongs about Gregor Townsend's gameplan, it didn't stand a chance if it wasn't accompanied by a manic aggression. That's what I was expecting, but it was 17-0 before Scotland roused themselves. Too late.

Did they want it too much and exhaust themselves as a result? I don't know. It's a theory.

Stair asked: Why do so many so-called fans want rid of Gregor Townsend? Do they not remember the 20 years of chaos before he was appointed? Is there another top-class coach prepared to take on the poison chalice of Scotland? Be very careful what you wish for.

Tom answered: That's exactly the point Johnnie Beattie made on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast. Anybody who doesn't acknowledge how far Townsend has taken this team isn't worth listening to.

He's done really, really well to get Scotland to the point whereby they have dominated England for much of his reign. They're now well over the Wales hoodoo, they've been very competitive against France, they've beaten Australia four times out of five, they've played well in defeat in both games against New Zealand on Townsend's watch.

This has to be a balanced debate or else what's the point? The flip side to the positive argument is there's been two dismal World Cup campaigns, there's this on-going horror show against Ireland and a legitimate sense of 'has he taken this team as far as he can?'

It's too early to say that, but the next three games are very, very important. Even there, there are nuances.

Scotland are stymied by injuries right now. Sione Tuipulotu would be in the midfield, Dylan Richardson would be very much in the frame as back-up hooker, Scott Cummings would be in the second-row, Max Williamson would probably be in the 23 as would Andy Onyeama-Christie and possibly Josh Bayliss.

That's a lot of guys missing, which just makes the Townsend debate all the more complex.

Malcolm asked: Scotland show they can 'out rugby' most teams but get bullied by Ireland and South Africa. We match their skills and speed but do not have the power players they do. How do we address this?

Tom answered: On occasion, they do have the power, that's the frustrating thing. If they didn't have a lot of power they wouldn't have beaten England four times in a row.

For large chunks of the game against the Boks, they were very attritional. None of that was visible against Ireland on Sunday and that was part of why it was so disappointing.

I'd argue that if you could get Tuipulotu and Cummings into this team then your power factor increases substantially. If you then add Williamson, Onyeama-Christie and/or Bayliss to the squad then you're really getting there.

Jonny Gray and Grant Gilchrist have been unbelievable players for Scotland for many years but they're not offering nearly enough with ball in hand. Scotland needs to move on and bring in the carriers. Cummings has been a huge loss.

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Former Scotland number eight Johnnie Beattie joins Andy Burke and Tom English to rake over the Six Nations defeat by Ireland, Gregor Townsend's future and the upcoming trip to Twickenham.

Listen and subscribe to the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast

Daldeep Kaur
BBC Sport Scotland

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Pete Murchie revealed Glasgow Warriors have got "creative" to prepare for their return to URC action by facing Edinburgh and Scotland Under-20s in training.

Warriors, with a squad depleted by Scotland players competing in the Six Nations, play their first game in three weeks when they visit bottom club Dragons on Sunday.

"We were off after the Connacht game, so that looked after itself, and then we had a training session against Edinburgh last week which was really good," assistant coach Murchie told BBC Scotland.

"Obviously we're low on numbers, so to be able to go 15 on 15 and perhaps against people who don't know what you're doing, was important. And then we've got the Under-20s here today, so you have to be a little bit more creative.

"Maybe you haven't got the numbers you normally would, but there's ways and it's good that we're aligned in the country.

"We're a small enough country that we should be able to get together and help each other out, so it's good that we're doing that.

"We're seeing the Six Nations off this weekend - all eyes are going to be on URC."

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Tom Jordan is relishing the prospect of a "hostile" atmosphere and "very physical" Calcutta Cup showdown with England in his first away game for Scotland.

All six of the Glasgow back's caps have come at Murrayfield so far, with the trip to Twickenham on 22 February set to be his first start away from Edinburgh in dark blue.

New Zealand-born Jordan, who can operate at stand-off, full-back and centre, said: "From all the (Calcutta Cup) games I've watched and even the last few years when a lot of my mates have played for Scotland down there and done really well there, you can tell how the English think of the Scottish.

"I'm sure the atmosphere will be amazing there and obviously they're coming off a big win (over France). It'll be exciting to get down there. I'm sure all the boys will be looking forward to it."

Jordan believes having a free weekend to stew over their 32-18 defeat by Ireland can benefit the squad and he hopes they can go "flying into the game next week".

"I think it's good we've got the weekend off to sort of refresh and get the bodies right, so we should be flying into the game next week," said the 26-year-old.

"I think it's just about getting back on the horse, fixing up what we need to and we go again.

"Speaking probably as a fan at this moment, because I haven't experienced it myself, it's probably going to be pretty hostile.

"I'm sure England will be pretty keen to get one on us, so you could imagine how they'll prepare for that game. I'm sure they'll have a bit more sting in their tackles, for sure. It'll be very physical as there's obviously a lot to play for, for both teams."

Both sides go into the game with a record of one win and one defeat and hooker Ewan Ashman admits Scotland have to bounce back after their defeat to Ireland.

"There's no dancing around it, it's a huge game," said the 24-year-old Edinburgh forward.

"We have to bounce back from Sunday. It will test the resilience of the team. They'll be absolutely flying after their last result so it'll be a real test for the boys."

Sandy Smith
Fan writer

This is an Edinburgh column but it's been written in the wake of Sunday's Scotland game, so you'll understand my frustration if I mention that Ireland are an excellent team and would still be even if they played within the rules occasionally.

As well as being a good team they somehow manage to get inside the Scottish psyche before a man in a green shirt is offside or a deliberate knock-on actually happens.

There is rugby this weekend as the United Rugby Championship resumes and Edinburgh take on Zebre Parma on Friday night. It's a pretty big game for the capital side. Only five points separate sixth from 12th and Edinburgh are currently sitting in eighth at the heart of that maelstrom.

It's a game Edinburgh should win as our record against Zebre is very good. We have played them 19 times and only lost four. But, and it's the usual but, when it comes to Edinburgh, we can confound even the smartest betting algorithm.

To add to the jeopardy it's hard to see what team we will be able to put out.

As far as Scotland releases go, none of the following have played any part in the opening two games of the Six Nations and could be made available - Luke Crosbie, Matt Currie, Patrick Harrison, D'Arcy Rae, and Marshall Sykes.

Ben Muncaster is good to go and there is exciting news that Emiliano Boffelli is fit, which is a real fillip.

Edinburgh should be good enough to continue a winning streak against Zebre that goes back to 2018, just so long as we approach it on the basis that they have only won one less game in their campaign than we have and react accordingly.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external

After Sunday's defeat to Ireland, Scotland's Six Nations hopes are hanging in the balance.

With a huge match against England next on the cards, do you have any questions for 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.

We asked for your views after Scotland's humbling 18-32 loss to Ireland in the Six Nations. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

Hugh: Since Gregor Townsend took over, we have achieved nothing. Middle of the road every time in championships like the World Cup and Six Nations. With our talent, there should be more power. His team selections have not been good. It's time at the end of this Six Nations to boot him into touch and get someone better.

Ian: Second-best in every facet of the game today. Played more in the two minutes either side of half-time than we did in the first 38 minutes. We need to find a way to take control of games when the tide is going against us.

Andy: How much longer do we have to put up with a sub-standard coach in Gregor Townsend? He's failed to qualify from groups in the last two World Cups and is unable to get the best out of a talented group of players. Against Ireland, he didn't have the players ready to cope with pressure and while unlucky with injuries, he's simply not good enough.

Craig: This isn't an anti-Townsend post, as I think he has done a reasonable job with this side over the years, but it feels like we need someone else now. Some fresh ideas, a new voice, particularly against the top teams in the world as we never lay a glove on them. It's another Six Nations where we are going to be also-rans.

Stu: Not a great performance. Ireland have our number and losing two of our key players at the outset didn't set us up well. The challenge is coming back from this. Scotland have sadly reached a ceiling.

Dave: Ireland capitalised on the Scottish mistakes, the same mistakes they showed against Italy. The game plan went out of the window and then chaos ensued. This game was talked up as being a close one, and even maybe a banana skin for Ireland. The Irish blew us away and I'm dreading the Calcutta Cup.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Ireland win in cruise control

Losing to Ireland for the 11th consecutive time was always going to hurt, but the fact the Six Nations champions were able to turn Scotland over on their own patch without hitting anything like top gear was particularly galling.

"A six out of ten Ireland performance," said former Scotland hooker Fraser Brown on BBC Radio Scotland. Ireland great Ronan O'Gara said the 14-point victory felt more like a 40-point win, such was the Irish dominance.

The men in green took a firm grip from the off, winning the gain-line battle and forcing Scotland onto the backfoot.

Scotland were defending the try-line for their lives in the opening exchanges and a 17-0 lead after half an hour hardly flattered the visitors.

Eleven unanswered points either side of the break offered hope, but having ground their way back within six, a botched restart handed the initiative back to Ireland and they did not relinquish it.

There was a sense throughout that Ireland had more gears should they be required, and for a Scotland team trying to bridge the gap to the world's best, that is a tough pill to swallow.

Injury curse strikes again

Two weeks out from the Six Nations opener against Italy, Scotland's injury list seemed encouragingly small. How quickly things change.

The grievous blow of losing captain Sione Tuipulotu severely punctured the pre-tournament optimism, and the casualty list only grew with Max Williamson, Scott Cummings and Dylan Richardson all ruled out for the tournament and Kyle Steyn left in a race against time to play a part in the final two rounds.

The injury curse struck again in one cruel blow against Ireland when Finn Russell and Darcy Graham thumped into each other in a horrible collision that ended both players' involvement in the first half.

The sight of Graham, a man who has had wretched luck on the injury front, leaving the field on a stretcher was distressing. Fortunately he was released from hospital on Sunday evening.

He and Russell will now undergo the return to play concussion protocols and Gregor Townsend will be praying both men recover for the trip to Twickenham in two weeks. Scotland will need them.

What now for Scotland in the Six Nations?

The overriding feeling among the Scotland fans, both inside Murrayfield and commenting online, was an overwhelming sense of deflation.

You have to hope that same despondency is not prevalent among the squad in the coming days because they will need to move on quickly. There is still plenty to play for.

Gregor Townsend attempted to put a positive spin on the performance against Ireland after the match, but the team will need to be a whole lot better if they are to salvage anything from this campaign.

In many ways, England in round three is the perfect game to bounce back. It's the one game Scotland are pretty much guaranteed to bring the required intensity, the recent Calcutta Cup record is exceptional, and a win at Twickenham would be the perfect tonic after the bitter disappointment of being swotted aside by Ireland.

But England will be re-energised after their dramatic late victory over France and desperate to put one over Scotland after four straight defeats in this fixture.

The margin for error is gone for both teams in this Six Nations, and both Townsend and Steve Borthwick will know a defeat that ends their title challenge by round three will lead to some very uncomfortable questions.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Tom Jordan says Scotland must move on quickly from their defeat by Ireland and insists Gregor Townsend's side can still enjoy a successful Six Nations campaign.

The Scots were outclassed in a 32-18 defeat at Murrayfield, their 11th straight loss against the Irish.

Next up is a trip to Twickenham to face England on February 22, having opened their campaign with a win over Italy last week.

"I never like losing and I think after last week, first win of the Six Nations and the world's your oyster really, so really disappointing to take the loss," Jordan said.

"I think we've got to probably sweep it under the carpet as quickly as we can and move forward.

"There's still a lot to play for and we're still in this competition. If we can get a few good wins going forward, then that'll be really good."

Aside from a promising spell either side of half-time when Scotland hauled themselves back from 17-0 down to within six points, Ireland were dominant throughout, but Jordan insists his side are able to compete with the world's best.

"I think we do create a lot of opportunities, I think we play a good style," said the Glasgow Warriors back.

"We're putting ourselves in those positions a lot of the time, even if you look back to the South Africa game (a 32-15 defeat in November). We had, again, a lot of opportunities there where we just didn't capitalise.

"So I think we're right there. If it was easy everyone would be doing it. It's just having that bit more killer instinct right at the end there and just being really accurate.

"If we can tidy up that and get that right, we'll be a really tough team to face. That's what we're striving for."

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Celtic Challenge Cup:

Clovers (31) 41

Tries: McGann, Costigan (2), Lane, Nic a Bhaird (2), Deely Cons: Fowley (3)

Glasgow Warriors: (5) 19

Tries: Fraser, Bogan, McNamara Cons: McNamara (2)

Clovers made it five consecutive wins in the Celtic Challenge as they claimed a bonus-point 41-19 victory against Glasgow Warriors in Cork.

The hosts had the bonus-point secured by half-time, after five first-half tries from five different scorers gave them a commanding 31-5 lead at the break.

Deirbhile Nic a Bhaird and Amee Leigh Costigan, who both touched down in the first half, added further tries after the restart to wrap up the comfortable win.

The victory sees Clovers remain in second in the table, four points behind Wolfhounds with a game in hand.

McGann gave Clovers the lead on five minutes when she spotted a gap and darted through in the left corner.

Three minutes later they had their second try as Enya Breen swivelled past two players and kicked to Costigan, who won the foot race to score in the right corner.

Lane crossed for the third try before Glasgow replacement Katie Yoemans was then shown a yellow card moments after coming on, for a high tackle.

Clovers made their player advantage count as Nic a Bhaird bustled her way over the whitewash with Deely also finishing off a slick move from the home side for their fifth try.

Glasgow registered their first score three minutes before half-time, capitalising on a Clovers handling error as Roma Fraser touched down.

The hosts scored again a minute into the second half as Nic a Bhaird burst over, but Glasgow responded with a try of their own from a driving maul as Hollan Bogan grounded the ball.

Costigan got her second of the game as she raced down the right, evading a number of challenges before sliding over.

Briar McNamara got Glasgow's third try after patient play, but the Clovers were able to see out the win.

Listen to the full episode.

Scotland fans, what did you make of the performance of Gregor Townsend's side as they were swept aside by Ireland?

Where does it leave their Six Nations hopes for this year?

Have your say., external

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Scottish co-captain Rory Darge has been speaking to BBC Sport.

On the loss of Finn Russell and Darcy Graham in the first half: "Obviously it's tough to deal with. Two very important players going down.

"Hopefully they're all right. I think they're both OK but I'm not sure."

On the difference between the two sides: "The boys hung in there but we're obviously disappointed with the result in the end.

"The difference was probably their clinicalness in the finish zone. We had a few opportunities, showing a little bit, but not taking them or converting them into scores."

On preparations for England next up: "Initially with the week off, get some time away. That's a sore loss we've to take on the chin.

"But by the time we come back into camp, make sure that we're ready to go."