Scottish Rugby

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There were a couple of new names in Scotland's training squad for the upcoming Women's Six Nations, including Edinburgh's Alex Stewart. For anyone who'd watched the Celtic Challenge, Stewart's inclusion was no surprise.

Stewart had impressed during the recent Celtic Challenge, but a call-up to the national set-up still came as a shock to the back-rower.

"I was not expecting that at all," she admitted. "The way I was playing for Edinburgh I was gunning to get in, but I wasn’t expecting it.

"I didn’t think I would perform as well as I did, especially up against the bigger players, the players that already have caps behind them and it was quite nice to think that I could compete at that level."

Stewart says training with players she has long admired is still "a bit surreal", but praised the welcoming nature of the Scotland camp.

"No one really knows what you're going to step into, but everyone has been really welcoming, there's been a lot of detail that I’ve not been accustomed to so that is different but really good.

"It’s a bit surreal, you walk in and you don’t really know what to do, but then you soon realise they are just normal human beings and you can go and chat to them.

"It is still quite gobsmacking, especially when you are talking to your family and people outside camp and you are just talking about ‘Rachel’ [Malcolm] like she is your friend."

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Scotland women head coach Bryan Easson insists his side are closing the gap on England and France, but said "it will be a little bit longer than everybody expects".

Easson has seen improvements since the SRU handed out professional contracts 18 months ago, which he says are reflected in bigger crowds.

"It does take time for [the players] to get used to training, resting, eating, all that stuff that comes with professionalism," Easson said. "We can see that it's beginning to take hold and it will tighten up.

"The gap will get closer, but it will be a little bit longer than everybody expects in terms of professionalism. We just want to put performances in against those teams, France and England.

"We're not quite benchmarking ourselves against England and France as yet," Easson said. "We would benchmark performances and I would say performances year on year are improving and we are closing the gap.

"It will take time. We've only been professional now for 18 months. Wales, Ireland, Italy, and ourselves are all pretty much in the same boat. We know it's going to be a close fight between us all for that automatic qualification for World Cup.

"They look like they could be two sell-outs for us in Edinburgh, which is a first-ever. We'll break records in those two games and that just shows the players that we're getting their support base because of their performances."

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Scotland international Rory Hutchinson has ignored any speculation linking him with a move north by signing a new contract at Northampton Saints.

The utility back, who has played his way back into the Scotland squad during the Six Nations, has been at Franklin's Gardens for a decade.

He joins Scotland prop Elliot Millar-Mills in signing a new deal at the Premiership leaders.

The SRU had been interested in bringing the 28-year-old to either Glasgow or Edinburgh, according to reports, external.

Speaking to the Saints' website, Hutchinson said: “Northampton is my home club.

“I’ve been here ten seasons now, growing up and playing alongside a lot of the boys in the current squad, and it feels good to have worked my way up here – I would never have thought I would make it to 150 games for Saints."

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Geordie Gwynn and Ruaraidh Hart will co-captain Scotland Under-20s against Ireland in their final Six Nations fixture, as the youngsters aim for their first win of the tournament.

They remain without captain Liam McConnell as Kenny Murray names a side with four changes from the chastening 47-14 defeat to Italy last weekend.

Full-back Jack Brown and replacements Marcus Brogan, Andrew McLean and Finn Douglas will all make their first appearances of the tournament.

Brown replaces Jack Hocking, who is rested alongside Gavin Parry, Luke Coulston, Murdoch Lock and Matthew Urwin. Second-row Ryan Burke and back Fergus Watson both have to sit out with to injury.

Outside-centre Johnny Ventisei, loosehead prop Callum Smyth and blindside flanker Jonny Morris are the other changes. Robbie Deans drops to the bench.

Scotland Under-20s: Brown, Doyle, Ventisei, Thomson, Gwynn (cc), Coates, Patterson; Smyth, J Blyth-Lafferty, Norrie, McVie, Hart (cc), Morris, Douglas, Currie.

Replacements: Brogan, Deans, Whitefield, Clarke, Job, Davey, McLean, Douglas.

• Watch the game on Friday 15 March (19:00) live on BBC iPlayer.

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Glasgow back-rower Jack Mann has signed a contract extension at Scotstoun just two months after breaking his leg in a training game.

24-year-old Mann only has one professional appearance to his name but impressed against Bath in his debut back in December 2022.

A series of injuries have kept him out ever since, but he has now penned a deal until the end of the 2024-25 season.

He could still feature this season, after sustaining a leg fracture in January during a training game against Scotland Under-20s.

“For the club to put their faith in me like this is massive, and I really want to reciprocate as much as I can," Mann told Glasgow Warriors' club website.

"Whether that’s on the pitch or helping those selected be in the best possible position, I want to do everything I can for this club and this team."

Head coach Franco Smith added: “Jack is a player that we believe has a great deal of potential and we’re looking forward to working with him to continue his development.

“He has been unfortunate with his run of injuries, but every time he has worked hard and put 100% into his return to play process with our physios and S&C team."

Tom English and Andy Burke are joined by Scotland and Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown to reflect on the defeat in Rome and Saturday's game against Ireland in Dublin.

Listen to the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast here.

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Assistant coach Steve Tandy said Scotland's review of their defeat to Italy was "hard-hitting" but believes his side have the mental capacity to come through tough moments.

The Scots led in Rome before going on to lose to the Italians for the first time since 2013, and effectively end any chance of lifting the Six Nations title.

“As you can imagine, it was a pretty quiet place after the game and then coming in on Monday, the review was hard-hitting," Tandy said. "The boys have reflected, they've looked at the footage, they've fed back themselves.

“We had a pretty good meeting yesterday - as much as it could be good after a loss - but there's obviously some bits of growth and learning within the games.”

Despite wins over Wales and England, it's been a mixed campaign for the Scots with questions asked after those wins, and after losses to France and now Italy.

“We've shown moments of regathering ourselves, such as in Wales when we got that momentum back at the back end of the game to get the win.

"After the disappointment of France, where everyone said we should have won the game, getting over that to beat England shows we've got the mental capacity to do those things. But it's always a work in progress, there's always space to learn and grow."

Scotland now head to Dublin knowing a win would give them the Triple Crown - an honour not won since 1990.

"[Ireland] are a fantastic team, well-coached, well-organised with outstanding players and I think the lesson they gave us in the World Cup definitely makes you think about how you grow.

"We’re playing for a trophy - I don’t know how many years it is since we have been playing for a trophy.

“We know we’re going to have to play really well to get what we want, but it’s a game, anything can happen. It’s crazy - we had that disappointment and now we’re going to play for a Triple Crown.

“That’s the beauty of sport, the fact you can be down at the lowest of lows but now we have the potential to be at the highest of highs, which is exciting for us.”

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Glasgow Warriors hooker Fraser Brown dismissed the notion that Scotland are plagued by a "mental fragility" after their Six Nations loss to Italy last weekend.

Speaking to the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast, the 34-year-old said he believes that there is a problem, but "it's not systemic".

"There has been a lot said around Scotland's mental fragility," Brown said. "It gets brought up time and time again when there is a game like there was at the weekend.

"On the flip side of that, Scotland have come back from points down against England two weeks ago to put that game to bed, points down a year ago against England at Twickenham where they won for the first time in front of a crowd in 30-odd years.

"There's been multiple occasions where that group of players and that group of management have had the mental capability to dig in, fight their way through, come back and win games."

Scotland were 22-10 at one stage in Rome and looked to be cruising to a third win of the campaign, but a second-half collapse saw Italy win their first Six Nations game at home in 11 years.

"I don't think it's a mental fragility," Brown added. "There's something there, but it's not systemic. It's not something that is there all the time.

"A lot of the criticism over the last couple of days has been ‘this is a mentally weak squad’. They have come back and they've won big pressure games and big pressure environments.

"They have Aaron Walsh [a mental skills coach] in working with them. It's not an overnight fix. It's something that comes from winning. The more you win, the more confidence you get, the more relaxed you become when you're in those situations.

"At the weekend, I just don't think that emotional level was there as a team. They looked a little bit flat at times."

• You can listen to the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast here.

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Scotland prop Elliot Millar-Mills has signed a new contract with Premiership leaders Northampton Saints.

The 31-year-old tighthead was called up to the Scotland squad for the first time ahead of this year's Six Nations.

"It's pretty cool to be able to call myself a Scottish international now," Millar-Mills said. "I wouldn't have done it without Saints. This time last year, I didn't have a job.

"If Saints hadn't have come in, I might have been done with rugby, so it's been a remarkable year. I hope we can do something special together by the end of this season."

Millar-Mills made his debut in the opening round of the Six Nations, in Scotland's win at Cardiff, and now has three caps to his name.

Grant Young
Glasgow Warriors fan columnist

Scotland’s deserved defeat to Italy will get put through the microscope to determine where exactly it went wrong.

For many, a loss to Italy has been coming. Their wins over Wales in recent years in Cardiff was the first sign of things to come, and then there's the positive results for their under-20 side and Benetton's form in the URC.

Scotland's resolve will be tested further with the trip to Dublin, but how does it impact Glasgow?

There were 10 Warriors involved in the Scotland 23 in Rome, nine saw action with only Kyle Rowe left on the bench. Those 10 have had some major performances for Glasgow this season and it can only be hoped there isn't much of a hangover from a mentally draining Six Nations campaign.

We have seen real depth in the Warriors squad this season, and the returning players are yet to earn a spot in the 23 for any fixtures.

Sandy Smith
Edinburgh fan columnist

Even as a Scotland fan of advancing years, it's hard to express my disappointment in the game against Italy, and even harder to explain it.

As an Edinburgh fan It’s also hard to look at our players and point to someone who put in an outstanding shift. They all seemed to do something that you’d knock off a few ratings points for.

Pierre Schoeman’s needless penalty at the start of the second half that saw George Horne's try chalked off. Duhan Van der Merwe being out of position for Italy’s second try - again - and butchering a basic two-on-one. Sam Skinner conceding the penalty that gave Italy a two-score lead.

The other substitutes, Jamie Ritchie and Ewan Ashman, looked solid in the time they got but their efforts made no difference to the result.

And I almost forgot about Ali Price, which tells you all you need to know there.

Grant Gilchrist did nothing wrong and Scotland's line-out was solid under his direction but as someone in the ‘leadership group’ could he have done more to steady the ship as a whole?

We badly needed someone of his stature to figuratively put their foot on the ball and get the team to take a collective breath but there was little in the way of leadership on the field, co-captains notwithstanding, and the blame for that has to lie with the head coach.

It’s hard not to draw the conclusion that the issue is not about lack of talent or ability but is instead one of application and mental fragility.

I'm paraphrasing Churchill when I say never has so little been achieved by those capable of so much more.

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Saracens lock Fi McIntosh is hoping to pick up her first Scotland cap in the upcoming Six Nations after breaking into the national squad last year.

The 24-year-old received her maiden call-up for the WXV2 tournament last October, but didn't make it onto the pitch.

"Obviously the goal of being in Scotland and being in camp is to get a cap and contribute to us going out and winning games," McIntosh said.

"It's a goal that I'm working towards, and I hope that it comes at some point soon. It's an amazing environment, especially in camp. All the girls are so positive with everything that we do."

McIntosh also featured for Edinburgh in the recent Celtic Challenge, and played a key role in their second-place finish.

"It's been great to play with some other players who I haven't necessarily played with before. I'm constantly learning off people that I'm playing with."

Although born in England, McIntosh qualifies through both sides of her family.

"The entirety of my dad's family is all Scottish. My grandparents, my dad and my mum's parents are also Scottish.

"We always joke as a family that the only thing that makes me and my brothers English is the fact that we were born here."

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Round 14 of the PWR took place over the weekend with many Scots taking to the field.

Gloucester-Hartpury, who sit top of the Premiership, kicked the weekend off with a statement 57-24 win over Harlequins at home. Scottish scrum-half Caity Mattinson was on the bench for the hosts.

Loughborough Lightning enter the Six Nations break with a loss after suffering a 43-7 defeat to Exeter Chiefs. Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm crossed the whitewash for Lightning in the 16th minute - her second try in as many games.

Helen Nelson enjoyed a run out at full-back for Lightning alongside her Scotland teammate Malcolm and prop Christine Belisle.

Winger Eilidh Sinclair was also in action over the weekend against her Scottish team-mates for Exeter.

Elliann Clarke started for Bristol Bears in their game against Saracens alongside Evie Gallagher. Lana Skeldon and Meryl Smith were replacements for the Bears. They faced fellow Scots Fi McIntosh, Louise McMillan, Coreen Grant and Beth Blacklock. Bears came out on top beating the London side 35-10.

Anne Young was on the bench for Sale Sharks in their 26-10 defeat against Trailfinders.

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Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend has updated his squad ahead of the final Six Nations game against Ireland.

Glen Young and Hamish Watson have been released back to Edinburgh along with Jamie Bhatti who returns to Glasgow Warriors.

Glasgow Warriors' Ally Miller has been called into the squad with Max Williamson and Alex Samuel also training with the squad.

After Scotland's defeat in Rome on Saturday afternoon, Opta has broken down the game for us.

• The hosts got on the scoreboard first but it didn't take long for the momentum to swing the way of the Scots. The hosts lost their last 26 games in the Championship before Saturday's clash.

• Gregor Townsend's men were victorious in their last 13 games against the Azzurri, including their last two trips to Rome.

• This time the Italians have won despite trailing 22-16 at half time and only having 41% of the possession.

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• The first half was dominated by the visitors and their attack threats which would have been reassuring for the Scottish fans as they didn't seem to be giving Italy much breathing space.

• The Azzurri however didn't necessarily gain more possession in the second half, they were simply able to convert points as soon as they got the ball.

• The stats show that Scotland still had the momentum behind them but it wasn't enough to secure the win.

We asked for your thoughts after Italy stunned Scotland with their first home win in 11 years.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Stewart: [Gregor] Townsend needs to go. The players have a responsibility but the buck should stop with him.

Roy: The major question after the weekend is not the result, which was bad enough, but what are the Italians doing at under-20 and youth level that we are not. The future is not looking bright.

Davy: Townsend needs to go. Promise after promise but nothing delivered. He’s had at his disposal the best crop of Scottish players for generations - but what has been achieved? Hee-haw.

Allan: Gregor has to go. Lovely man but completely out his depth these days. The players on the pitch are much better than his coaching.

Billy: That was a gutting loss. Started well at a frenetic pace and we were edging the contact battle to begin with and were deservedley leading in the first half. Warning signs ignored and the second half capitulation was truly rotten.

Dave: Our lack of discipline has cost us against Italy, France, and nearly Wales. Can't keep shifting that many penalties and expect to win test matches.

James: Disappointed by the discipline lack of leadership on the field and the fact that once Scotland establish a lead score against a team they switch off. They lack the urgency, cohesion and structure that they start the game with and they start to play as individuals rather than a team.

David: Played great first 15 minutes, that was it. I've said it before, there's a real mentality and attitude problem throughout the whole team.

John: New coach needed, new captain (one, not two), new mentality - killer instinct! Otherwise we will remain the 'just might be team'.

James: It's clear after two mediocre World Cups, and now the abject collapse of leadership and discipline in the second halves of games in this tournament, that the present management has taken this squad as far as it can. If we don't want to squander the best squad we have had in a long time we need new ideas.

Stu: We've seen this all too often from Scotland. A complete lack of leadership and composure. Congratulations to Italy but we never should have lost that game. Two failed World Cups and now a very disappointing Six Nations for Townsend. Maybe time for someone else to come in and see if they can get a bit more out of a talented group of players.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland

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Huw Jones says a failure of game management was at the heart of Scotland’s dismal Six Nations defeat to Italy.

The Scots built a commanding 22-10 lead inside half an hour, but an abject second half display allowed the Azzurri to storm back to win 31-29.

The defeat in Rome all but extinguished the Scots’ title hopes.

“We are gutted with our performance,” said Jones.

“Across the board we managed it badly. The leadership and the processes and the communication was good but we’ve all got to look at ourselves and the actions we took.

“We didn’t execute our plan well enough and Italy played well. We hate losing. It’s really tough to take, hugely disappointing.

“We spoke during the week before the game about having our best performance, having an 80-minute performance, but we were really poor in the second half. We let the game slip away from us.”

Despite another Six Nations title challenge fizzling out before the final weekend, Jones says the team remain firmly behind head coach Gregor Townsend and hope to end the campaign with a better showing against Ireland in Dublin.

“We wanted to get a win and then go to Dublin next week full of confidence and try to do something but this obviously takes the wind out of the sails a bit.

“We’ve got to react, we’ve got to react quickly and prepare for another game.

“We’ll go through a range of emotions but we’ve got to review it objectively and then turn our attention to Ireland.”

Scotland suffer defeat in Rome as Italy record their first Six Nations home win since 2013. We hear from Gregor Townsend and Rory Darge as well as the Sportsound Rugby team.

Listen here.

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Gregor Townsend's side will be the "laughing stock of the weekend" after their defeat to Italy in Rome, according to former Scotland prop Peter Wright.

Italy stunned Scotland 31-29 to earn their first home Six Nations win in 11 years.

"We'll be the laughing stock this weekend and this is the sad thing because Italy should be given all the credit," Wright said. "We played rubbish but we played rubbish because Italy played so well.

"Italy played well, did the basics better than Scotland did. We've got a good coach but we've got players who abdicate responsibility. We've said we're a good team for the last eight years and have nothing to show for it.

"They've won nothing. Have they been close? No, they've never won three games in a row in the Six Nations.

"You've got good players on the park today for Scotland but there aren't any real leaders. We keep saying we need to learn and we're going to learn but when will we actually learn?"

Former Scotland sevens captain Colin Gregor echoed Wright's thoughts on a lack of leaders, and believes they are struggling with the mental side of the game.

Gregor said: "When the chips are down, why is everyone playing as individuals?"

"That's a sign of no leaders. Scotland need to weather the storm and stop shipping points in the process.

"Scotland were unable to reestablish control without it becoming catastrophic. That's not on the field training, that's mental and they're struggling with that."