Scottish Rugby

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm: "We could have had that game put away well before those cards came into play.

"This tournament has been up and down for us, but in terms of building foundations for the year ahead, we've had players get game time at the top level and I'm really proud of the fight.

"That's what we pride ourselves on and that's what my team did today. I couldn't ask for more."

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Head coach Franco Smith believes Glasgow Warriors’ upcoming games in South Africa will be good preparation for his international players ahead of the Autumn Nations Series.

After a bonus-point victory over Zebre in the United Rugby Championship on Friday, Warriors now travel to face the Sharks and the Stormers in the next two rounds.

Glasgow’s internationals will then link up with the national team for the November Tests against Fiji, South Africa, Portugal and Australia.

In terms of the make-up of the squad he will take to South Africa, Smith says he and Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend are on the same page.

“We had a chat six weeks ago, at the start of the season, and I think we're very much aligned,” Smith told BBC Sport Scotland.

“Our job was now to get everybody as ready as possible. I think two games in South Africa might serve this group of players well, in preparation for tough test matches against Fiji, South Africa, Australia, and I'm not discarding Portugal.

“It's going to be important to have these players rugby ready to compete at that level.

“South Africa is a tough place to tour and these are both very good teams with some very good players, so it’s a big challenge for us.”

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland hooker Lana Skeldon says the thought of retaining the WXV2 title is "surreal", and to do so would be a career highlight.

Bryan Easson's side won last year's competition with wins over hosts South Africa, the United States and Japan, and now sit second in the table, three points behind Australia - who they play on Saturday - after wins over Italy and Japan.

Another victory for the Scots would see them lift the trophy once more, provided the Wallaroos do not take two bonus points from the Cape Town contest.

"I never thought I'd be in a position to win a trophy back-to-back, it's almost a bit surreal to me, something that would just be incredible," Skeldon said. "It would be one of the highlights of my career if we could do it back-to-back.

"It's a bit of history for us to set down again. This squad has been doing a lot of firsts, and this will be another first for us.

"It's something we're extremely passionate about and something we're incredibly motivated to get our hands on that trophy again."

Scotland's two wins in the tournament so far have been build on a well-structured defence.

They conceded just 13 points across 160 minutes, and Skeldon says such displays make all the hard work in training worth it.

"The amount of work that this squad puts in is incredible, the sessions are really tough and the defensive stuff that we’ve been doing has been incredible," she said.

"We've taken that into games and you've seen it, it is extremely rewarding to see what we've done in training go into the games, because ultimately that's why we do it."

Glasgow fans, what did you make of your side's performance against Zebre as they secured a five-try bonus-point win at Scotstoun?

Have your say here, external.

Image source, SNS

Glasgow centre Huw Jones was named player of the match and spoke to BBC Scotland post-match:

"Always nice to score a couple of tries. We had some good periods at times; at others it felt like nothing was really happening out there.

"The scoreline shows we did a decent job. We kept them from scoring which was one of the aims coming in, so on the whole, a good night.

"They gave us a scare towards the end of last season and they are a lot stronger than people give them credit for."

On facing Sharks and Stormers in South Africa next, Jones added: "To be successful in this tournament, you have to win away.

"So it's a huge test for us, early on in the season going out to South Africa. We can hopefully show how we can defend our championship."

Image source, Getty Images

Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt has made six changes to the side comfortably beaten by Lions last week for Saturday's United Rugby Championship match at home to Stormers.

Patrick Harrison and Ben Muncaster - who both came off the bench and scored tries against Lions - come into the forward pack, replacing Ewan Ashman and Hamish Watson, while lock Jamie Hodgson is preferred to Marshall Sykes.

Both half-backs from the Lions defeat - Ben Vellacott and Ben Healy - are dropped, with Healy not even making the matchday squad. Ali Price and Ross Thompson start.

Duhan van der Merwe is also fit to return, having dropped out of last week's side with a small injury.

Harri Morris, Luke Crosbie and Cammy Scott could all make their first appearance of the season as replacements.

"We know that last week's performance was unacceptable, but we also know what went wrong for us," Everitt said.

"Stormers bring similar challenges to Lions and Bulls, being hugely physical and fast in transition, but we know if we perform at our best, we'll be able to get a result."

Edinburgh: Goosen, Graham, Tuipulotu, M Scott, Van der Merwe, Thompson, Price; Schoeman, Harrison, Hill, Hodgson, Gilchrist (c), Ritchie, Muncaster, Bradbury.

Replacements: Morris, Venter, Rae, Sykes, Crosbie, Vellacott, C. Scott, Currie.

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

Rod asked: Sean Everitt's time may be coming to an end but who would replace him? There's clearly a fundamental player management and commitment issue with Edinburgh, so how do you change this as many coaches have tried and failed?

Tom answered: You're right, Rod. Many have tried and failed. It's not like Edinburgh were successful under the previous coaches but now it's even worse.

So, sure, Everitt will lose his job if this continues for much longer, but, as you say, it's deeper than that. Way deeper. The culture at Edinburgh is clearly lousy. They get into positions to win games and lose them. They get into positions to get a four-try bonus point and don't get it.

Opposition teams, and I've heard it from one in particular, think that when you apply enough pressure on Edinburgh they'll fold. They don't have the resilience. It's been that way for too long. They finished 10th last season and won six out of 18 the season before. It's feeble.

It's hard to know how to change it while looking from the outside. I do think, though, too many of these Edinburgh players have been there too long and are drifting. I'm not sure the club means as much to them as Glasgow means to the Warriors boys. That's down to culture. It's not been right in there for quite a while, well before Everitt arrived.

The right coach can change the fortunes of a club but only if he has an inherently strong dressing room, as Franco Smith had when he arrived at Scotstoun. The Warriors had just lost their way and needed a full reset and Smith provided it.

It's more serious than that at Edinburgh, though. At times like this you want your senior pros to step up but some of the senior pros are a fundamental part of the problem. There doesn't seem to be much leadership or personality in this team. I fear for Everitt. I struggle to see how he can turn it around, Everything is just soft at Edinburgh.

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

Peter asked: What’s the likelihood of Tom Jordan being called up to the Scotland Six Nations squad? He is a different 10 from Finn Russell and Adam Hastings. And at the moment on form head and shoulders above Ben Healy. I am a big fan of TJ!

Tom answered: I think he's a certainty, Peter. In fact, I'd be staggered if he's not capped in the autumn. He'll be eligible sometime in November.

Like you, I think he's terrific. He can play 10 and he can play in the midfield, which makes him an excellent option off the bench. He's tough as hell and can create. When he's eligible it'll be very close between himself and Hastings as back-up to Russell. Healy is slipping down the pecking order.

Doc Ken asked: What are your thoughts on the news Glasgow will play the first leg of the 1872 Cup at Hampden? A bold move by the Warriors to raise awareness of rugby in a football city and grow the fanbase, or a way of generating more revenue by increased ticket sales to keep our star players? Or maybe a bit of both?

Tom answered: It's definitely both, Ken. In their last three home 1872 Cup games, Edinburgh drew crowds of 24,000, 25,000 and close to 38,000 in the one last season. The revenues must have been significant.

Glasgow are stuck at around 7,000. When you see Leinster moving their game with Munster to Croke Park and selling 70,000 tickets in the relative blink of an eye, you see how Glasgow must adapt.

In every conceivable way, this makes sense. Commercially, it'll be a winner because I reckon they could get 25,000-plus at that game. That's a lot more money in the coffers. And in trying to promote the club and reach new fans, it's a glorious opportunity.

They want to expand the appeal of the team and this is the moment. They're the reigning champions so this is a perfect time to build on what they achieved last season.

They're also a fantastically exciting team to watch, full of top-class players, so entertainment is pretty much guaranteed. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it goes.

Image source, SNS

Josh McKay and Sione Tuipulotu have been rested amid seven Glasgow changes for the URC visit of Zebre Parma on Friday.

Stafford McDowall will lead the Warriors out at Scotstoun after the centre was named as captain on his return from injury.

Johnny Matthews is retained in an all-Scotland front-row, with props Jamie Bhatti and Zander Fagerson coming into the starting line-up.

Gregor Brown moves to the second-row from blindside flank, where Euan Ferrie gets the nod, while Rory Darge returns after recovering from a head injury sustained in the home win over Benetton.

George Horne and Adam Hastings form the half-back combination, having also recovered from head injuries.

A reshuffled back-three means Kyle Rowe moves to full-back as Jamie Dobie and Facundo Cordero line up on the wings.

Glasgow have opened their title defence with two wins from three, while Italians Zebre have one victory so far.

Warriors head coach Franco Smith said: "We were pleased to come away with five points from Cardiff last weekend, but we know there are still more levels to come.

"Zebre have shown this season already that they will be a match for any team and will compete hard in all areas."

Glasgow: Bhatti, Matthews, Fagerson, Brown, Cummings, Ferrie, Darge, Dempsey, Horne, Hastings, Cordero, McDowall (c), Jones, Dobie, Rowe.

Replacements: Stewart, McBeth, Schickerling, Samuel, Williamson, Venter, Afshar, Jordan.

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Getty Images

Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson says they want to retain their WXV2 title for Emma Wassell when they face Australia in Cape Town on Saturday.

Wassell, 29, was ruled out of the tournament last month having been diagnosed with a tumour in her chest.

The lock has credited her "rugby family" for getting her through the stresses of surgery just months after her mother died.

Scotland must beat Australia and deny the Wallaroos two bonus points if they are to lift the trophy, and Nelson says Wassell is an inspiration for the whole squad.

"She's amazing. Everything she's been through in the last wee while, she's just incredibly tough, resilient and we were there to just support her as best we could," Nelson said.

"It's sad not to have her with us [in South Africa], she's such a big personality, but knowing she's back home recovering and preparing for what's to come next, we're happy that she's being looking after.

"Knowing we have the opportunity to make her proud, we've talked about it quite a lot, just doing everything we can to represent her."

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

So, Edinburgh.

Second bottom of the URC, most tries conceded in the championship this season. Most points conceded in the championship this season. The biggest half-time deficit in the championship, ever. Lovely.

How could a team made up mostly of international players trail 48-0 to anybody after 40 minutes of rugby? Mortifying doesn't even come close.

But hey, Sean Everitt, their beleaguered coach, says they showed a lot of character in the second half last Saturday at Ellis Park. They didn't ship 60 or 70 to the Lions. Fair play, boys.

Everitt says his players have "accepted accountability" for the performance. The problem is Edinburgh players have been accepting accountability for horrible defeats for a few seasons now. The mea culpa routine is wearing thin.

They finished 10th in the URC last season and missed the modest target of making the play-offs. The lads accepted accountability, though. They finished 12th the season before, winning six of 18 games. Accountability accepted then as well.

Different seasons, different coaches and the same feeble failure. A core of senior players have been there for all of this. They talk of culture, but do they really have one at Edinburgh?

Pierre Schoeman, Grant Gilchrist, Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Darcy Graham, Mark Bennett, Duhan van der Merwe - how many experienced operators do Edinburgh actually need in order to form a culture made of steel and not paper?

How much more punching below their weight are they intending to do before building an environment that stands for something?

Everybody can see Glasgow's style of play, embodied by the power and creativity and wonderful leadership of Sione Tuipulotu, but what do Edinburgh represent? Who are they? What are they trying to do?

What team in its right mind kicks loosely to the Lions in their own backyard? The dogs in the street know that's what the Lions prey on, so they can unleash their devastating counter-attacking game. Enter gullible Edinburgh.

At best, Edinburgh are in a period of stagnation. In 2022-23, they lost six URC games by a score. In 2023-24 they won six by a score. In 2024-25 they've lost two of their three games by a score, as well as that annihilation in South Africa. Running to stand still.

Last season's failing was a chronic inability to secure bonus points. In six different URC different games they finished on three tries. In most of those they had ample time to make it four.

Their opener this season saw them score five tries against Leinster. Hallelujah! But they lost. One step up and two steps back.

Between their three games this season and their last two URC games of last term they have conceded 25 tries in five matches. Last Saturday at half-time, people were laughing at them.

They're a very well-funded squad full of internationals and yet they are weak and failing. Perhaps a change of coach might change that, but it didn’t the last time or the time before that or the time before that. Coaching is a serious issue, but this runs deeper than coaching.

This is a comfort zone. Softness runs through the place. There might be a reaction on Saturday when the Stormers are in town. They might summon enough fury, based on humiliation, to deliver a big performance, but what then? What happens when the anger subsides?

Do they revert to type or was last Saturday's ignominy a turning point? It needs to be, but the hard-bitten cynics would have cause to doubt it.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith has welcomed the home 1872 Cup tie with Edinburgh in December moving to Hampden, saying is a chance to "exhibit our game" and allow more fans to attend.

Hear more from Smith & Edinburgh counterpart Sean Everitt on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Glasgow Warriors captain Kyle Steyn says Sione Tuipulotu is setting the standard for the rest of the squad on and off the pitch.

Tuipulotu delivered a superb player-of-the-match display in last week’s victory over Cardiff which included a scintillating solo try.

The Scotland centre is now being tipped for selection for Andy Farrell’s British and Irish Lions squad for next summer’s tour to Australia.

“You can just see after Friday night that Sione’s focus is where he wants it to be,” Steyn said on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast.

“I think the biggest thing is you just see the impact he's having on the wider group at the moment. He's immense for us.

“Everyone's seeing the way he goes about his work during the week and what that's producing on the weekend.

“Boys are chasing to try and get up to that standard. So really chuffed for him and his family, but really chuffed for the Warriors as well.

“Collectively we didn't play as well as we wanted to together against Cardiff, but the moments of individual brilliance were just through the roof. So there's a lot of buzz around those boys, Sione and Kyle Rowe, guys like that.”

Listen and subscribe to the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast

Sandy Smith
Fan writer

Before Saturday, Edinburgh had played Lions three times and on each of those occasions the margin of victory in either direction was no more than six points. That changed at the weekend, but why?

We have been here before. Three times in the last three years.

2022. A convincing win v Dragons, a narrow loss to Bulls. A seemingly upward trajectory derailed by a complete collapse to Stormers.

2023. A handsome win v Zebre, a creditable loss to Munster. Raised expectations then annihilation by Benetton.

2024. A creditable loss to Leinster. A valuable point gained v Bulls. We then had a good chance to get the season on track but were dismantled by the Lions.

Cherry picking? Maybe, but these fruits are pretty rotten. There's a pattern and for this observer it points to some kind of ongoing mental fragility.

So is the bell tolling for Sean Everitt? He doesn't inspire confidence when interviewed. That doesn't make him a bad coach though.

Mike Blair could tell a great story. Richard Cockerill was awesome for a quote. The press loved them and they both failed despite their vastly different approach to coaching and their media chops.

Edinburgh didn't arrange these fixtures and even had they been spread across the season we may still have lost all three. It’s not the loss that hurts but the nature of it.

It's the position we are in after Ulster visit in May 2025 that counts. Let's give the quiet man a chance to put things right.

The only way is (just about) up.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external