Scottish Rugby

Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland

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Transferable skills often go a long way in sport and Francesca McGhie certainly sees the benefit of them.

Seven years ago, her main pursuit was as a dancer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, but it was a path which didn't enthuse her.

Then her mum saw a social media advert for a girls rugby team in Prestonpans, and the rest is history.

The 21-year-old Scotland winger is now using her fleetness of foot to dodge incoming tackles and bolt to the line.

"I was excited to try something new, and just fell in love with it," said McGhie. "Fourteen-year-old me would be very proud."

McGhie was first called up to represent the senior Scotland squad in 2023 and made her debut against England, where she now plies her trade with Leicester Tigers in the country where she will take part in her maiden Rugby World Cup.

That's still eight weeks away, but if the recent training camp is anything to go by, those couple of months will pass in a flash.

"I think it's going to fly in," said McGhie.

"These last three weeks have gone super fast. We've enjoyed every second of it and all of us are just super excited to get stuck into this World Cup."

Awaiting in Scotland's pool are Canada, Wales and Fiji - ranked second, 10th and 16th in the world respectively, compared to Scotland's seventh.

"We have a very competitive pool," said McGhie, who has amassed 24 caps already.

"Each team brings something different and we'll have to adapt to that.

"It'll be exciting to play Canada, I've never played them before. Wales is a competitor we play every year and they're always an exciting for us, and Fiji are totally different from both of them."

The target for Scotland will be to finish in top two of that pool to earn a quarter-final spot.

And despite the showpiece tournament not being in a more far-flung location, McGhie is convinced it'll be a tremendous sporting and life experience.

"It would be great to travel elsewhere but when you're in it you'll feel like you're floating around somewhere in the rugby bubble," she said.

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Australia head coach Joe Schmidt described Bundee Aki and Sione Tuipulotu as a "southern hemisphere centre partnership" when running the rule over Andy Farrell's first British and Irish Lions selection.

The Lions take on Argentina at the Aviva Stadium on Friday night in what is their only fixture before a nine-game game tour of Australia.

Ireland's Aki and Scotland's Tuipulotu, born in New Zealand and Australia respectively, will be the Lions' midfield pairing against the Pumas despite both players more usually starting at inside centre.

Schmidt gave Aki his Ireland debut after the 35-year-old Connacht man qualified on residency in 2017, while Tuipulotu has been able to captain Gregor Townsend's side thanks to a grandmother born in Greenock.

"A southern hemisphere centre partnership that will be pretty formidable," said Schmidt at the media conference to confirm his squad for next month's game against Fiji.

Schmidt added: "I coached Bundee for several years and know him really well and respect him massively as a player. He's a great contributor to the team environment.

"I've only had glancing conversations with Sione but again, by all accounts a champion bloke. You don't get to be captain of a national team without being a great bloke and really professional in those high-performance environments."

That eight of Andy Farrell's 38-man squad were born overseas has been a talking point before the side make the trip down under.

Lions assistant coach Richard Wigglesworth was later asked about Schmidt's comments and said every player involved in the tour has "earned the right" to represent the side.

"I don't know if they are questioning their commitment. Everyone has earned the right to pull on the Lions jersey," said the former England scrum-half.

"They are, to a man, incredibly proud to be here.

"It is not your background or how you have got here, it's what sort of player you are and what sort of man you are. We have got great men and great players."

Kenny Crawford
BBC Sport Scotland

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To say Emma Orr is steeped in rugby tradition is a massive understatement.

In fact, if she hadn't opted for a career chasing the oval ball it might have shaken the family tree, and perhaps the population of Biggar, quite considerably.

"Both my mum and dad played when they were younger," said the 21 year-old Scotland and Bristol Bears centre.

"I've also got three older siblings who have played rugby. I grew up watching them play at Biggar Rugby Club and that's how I fell into the sport. It's definitely a family affair at Biggar.

"My sister still plays there, one of my brothers is retired and one is playing at Ayr, so we've definitely carried on the rugby."

Now Orr, who represented Scotland as a 17-year-old at the 2021 Rugby World Cup, has the chance to make an even bigger footprint on the 2025 edition in England when it starts in August.

She trusts it will show all those who have encouraged her along the way that the effort has been worth it.

"Hopefully it will give them a reward because I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for my family and Biggar Rugby Club," said Orr.

"It would be really special for all that hard work they invested in me to hopefully be representing my country at a World Cup.

"It would be amazing and testament to how they've brought me up and what they've taught me."

Canada, ranked second in the world, as well as Wales and Fiji make up Scotland's pool, and it's the clash with the other home nation that makes Orr's mouth water the most.

"Wales first up will certainly be a huge match," she said. "It's always a battle with Wales. There's very often very few points between us.

"So we're hoping to hit the ground running with that game and carry on the momentum through the pool.

"We fell short at the last World Cup and I think we're a totally different squad from them in terms of experience. So we're hopefully aiming to get out of that pool, if not further."

Much has been made of the uncertainty over the long-term contracts of the Scotland team, with SRU chief executive Alex Williamson saying on Wednesday he hopes to have the situation resolved before the World Cup.

Orr also hopes that can be the case, saying: "We're trying to stay very tight, but fingers crossed that will all take care of itself."

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Freddy Douglas and Johnny Ventisei will co-captain Scotland at the upcoming World Rugby Under-20 Championship in Italy.

Having led the team during this year's Under-20 Six Nations, Edinburgh's Douglas and Glasgow Warriors' Ventisei will fulfil the same leadership roles this summer.

Nineteen of the 30-man squad are made up of Edinburgh (10) and Glasgow (nine) players.

Three of the squad have made debuts for Scottish professional sides in the past season as Douglas, who earned a senior Scotland cap last autumn, and Jack Brown featured for Edinburgh in the URC while Seb Stephen recently made his Glasgow bow away to Leinster.

Scotland will play England on 29 June, Australia on 4 July and South Africa on 9 July in the group stages of the competition.

Head coach Kenny Murray said: "We've had a long preparation block with a wider squad and a really strong group to pick from.

"The group took some confidence from beating Ireland in the friendly last week, but there was also plenty for us to work on and we know we'll have to be better in the Championship.

"The group-stage fixtures will obviously be tough, but we've trained well and the opportunity is there for the players to put in 80-minute performances that really show what we're capable of."

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Scotland's Sione Tuipulotu and Duhan van der Merwe will start for the British and Irish Lions against Argentina in Dublin on Friday night.

A further two Scots - Pierre Schoeman and Scott Cummings - have been named on the bench for the opening warm-up match before the tour of Australia.

Glasgow Warriors' Tuipulotu makes his Lions debut in his first international game since November as he pairs up with Bundee Aki at centre, while Edinburgh's Van Der Merwe starts on the wing.

Scotland have seven players heading down under with the Lions this month after Zander Fagerson was forced to withdraw through injury.

Read more: Lions pair Tuipulotu and Aki together to face Pumas

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BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English casts his expert eye over the recently-ended Scottish rugby season to pick out some favourite moments and performers.

Game of the season: Final match of the Under-20 Six Nations. The champions France 45, the fifth-place Scots 40. At various points, France were 13, 14, 15 and 16 points ahead but couldn't shake off a brilliant Scotland effort with some outstanding individual performances to gladden the heart. Five tries for the visitors in a classic.

Moment of the season: Darcy Graham responding to his omission from the Lions - an injustice - by scoring a hat-trick against Ulster in his next game. For club and country he's scored 39 tries in his past 50 games - and he's not a Lion?

Try of the season: Freddy Douglas putting two French defenders on their backside and eluding two more as he scored up the left wing in the dying moments of that epic U20 game. A remarkable player.

Men's player of the year: Torn between Graham (constant game-breaking class), Huw Jones (an incredible attacker), Finn Russell (controlled and inspired as Bath's Premiership and Challenge Cup winning architect), Zander Fagerson (force of nature). The big man went the full 80 in Paris and was still hammering away at the end. Cruelly denied the Lions tour that he richly deserved. Going with Russell. He's just a joy to watch.

Women's player of the year: The fact Evie Gallagher was picked on the Six Nations team of the championship just shows you how good she was. There were so many contenders but she was picked as the leading openside. A turnover machine. She topped the stats charts with most steals, with twice as many as anybody else. Averaged 3.2 turnovers per 80 minutes. Terrific.

Best Edinburgh player: You can't keep a good man down for long. Hamish Watson roared back into form, bounced defenders like he used to do in the Test arena and was a total menace over ball. He's 33 but the emerging Edinburgh back-rows are going to have to rip the jersey off his back if they want to get in ahead of him.

Best Glasgow player: He played 20 games for his club and scored 14 tries, but there's more to George Horne than his outrageous try-scoring record. He's the tempo of the team, the heartbeat, the guy who gets bums off seats. He embodies the best of the Warriors.

Highlight: Scotland women beating a fancied Ireland in the final round of the Six Nations. A reminder that it is possible for blue to beat green in Test rugby.

Lowlight: Scotland losing limply again to Ireland in the Six Nations. They were 17-0 down after 40 minutes then went another 27 minutes without scoring. Ireland did a physical and psychological number on them once more.

Most controversial moment: Tommy Freeman's 'try' at Twickenham? Russell being moved closer to the touchline to an incorrect position for the potentially match-winning conversion? Franco Smith's apparent come-and-get-me interview when asked about the rumours linking him to the Wales job? We'll pick Franco, because it was so out of character. Odd then and still odd now. Everybody loves you Franco, but are you staying or going?

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Evie Wills is the latest Scotland player on the move in Premiership Women's Rugby after she joined Sale Sharks.

The 24-year-old centre, who has four caps for Scotland, returned from a knee injury last season for Leicester Tigers and fought her way back into the national squad, appearing on the bench three times in the recent Six Nations.

She has now been named in the training squad for the upcoming World Cup, and will join her international teammates Molly Wright and Rachel Phillips at the Sharks next season.

She is the latest Scot to depart the Tigers after Francesca McGhie joined Trailfinders earlier in the month. However, scrum-half Jenny Maxwell has penned a new deal at Welford Road, and Scottish-qualified back-row Rowann Sinclair has joined the club permanently.

Elsewhere, Caity Mattison and Lisa Thomson will remain at Trailfinders, while Leia Brebner-Holden and Becky Boyd will stay at Loughborough Lightning.

There has also been an influx of Scots to Harlequins, with second rows Fi McIntosh and Natasha Logan joining Sarah Bonar in the engine room. Flying winger Coreen Grant has already joined from Saracens.

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Edinburgh loosehead Boan Venter has earned a surprise South Africa call-up in a blow to Scotland's hopes of capping the 28-year-old.

Venter, born and raised in South Africa, signed for Edinburgh from Cheetahs in 2021 and is due to become Scottish qualified in February 2026 on residency grounds.

He has previously spoken about his desire to play for Scotland, external and follow in the footsteps of fellow South African-born props Pierre Schoeman and WP Nel.

However, Venter has now been selected in a 45-man squad as the Springboks prepare for a clash with the Barbarians on 28 June, before Tests against Italy and Georgia next month.

"Boan has been consistent for Edinburgh in the URC and the Challenge Cup, and he is familiar with the South African structures after playing for the Cheetahs and coming through our junior ranks, so we are looking forward to seeing him in action on the field," South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus said.

A Scottish Rugby directive to have fewer foreign players in professional club squads has led to Henco Venter and Sebastian Cancelliere leaving Glasgow in recent weeks.

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"Invaluable" Scotland captain Rory Darge has signed a three-year contract extension with Glasgow Warriors.

The flanker, who Gregor Townsend named as skipper for this summer's Pacific Tour, has made 67 Warriors appearances since joining in 2021.

Head coach Franco Smith the 25-year-old is "one of the best in his position in Europe".

The 25-year-old, who played in 14 games during Warriors' URC title-winning campaign last year, said it was "a straightforward decision" to extend his stay at Scotstoun.

"I love my time in Glasgow and the club is the best place for me to be just now," he told the club's website.

"I'm loving my rugby and this is the best possible place for me to keep developing."

Smith said the openside flanker is "an invaluable asset" to his team.

"We still believe that he is only scratching the surface of his potential.

"His work in both attack and defence makes him an invaluable asset for both club and country; his statistics speak for themselves and only serve to underline his quality.

"He is someone who embodies what it means to be a Warrior."

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Glasgow Warriors' new assistant coaches gave their reaction to their new role...

Scott Forrest: "I'm really looking forward to working with everyone – it's an incredibly exciting coaching group.

"Having had the opportunity to work alongside Franco and Nigel over the past season in my role with the club's A team and academy, I'm excited to take this a step further over the coming seasons.

"I'd also like to mention that working alongside Pete Murchie this season has been of huge benefit – he leaves huge large shoes to fill, but I'm excited to build on the excellent work he's done since leading the team's defence."

Roddy Grant: "The opportunity to come into such a successful environment and such a top-level culture was one I jumped at, and I'm looking forward to being able to contribute to that environment.

"It's a really exciting group here. Having coached against Franco for a number of years, I can't wait to work alongside him. I'm a huge admirer of Nigel's work as well, he's been hugely successful wherever he's been.

"To have the chance to work with Scott, too, is a special opportunity. We've known each other since 2006, so to be able to coach alongside each other is an exciting prospect."

Nigel Carolan: "I've really enjoyed my time at Scotstoun so far, and I'm excited to continue on the journey that this club is on.

"We've got a strong group as we build towards next season, with a mix of established internationals, players looking to push on to that next level, and some exciting new talent coming through."

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Former Scotland Sevens internationals Scott Forrest and Roddy Grant have joined existing Glasgow Warriors attack coach, Nigel Carolan, as Franco Smith's new assistant coaches.

Carolan has been at Scotstoun since 2021, overseeing their attack during their URC triumph last season.

Forrest, a former Scotland Sevens captain, worked with Warriors academy last season, while former Edinburgh flanker Grant is the Georgia national team's assistant coach - and will join up after they face South Africa next month.

Defence coach Pete Murchie departed at the end of the season.

Warriors' URC title defence came to an end with defeat to Leinster in Saturday's semi-final and Smith is acting quick to prepare for next season.

"We are pleased to be able to retain Nigel's services as we prepare for the new campaign – he is someone that is thoroughly respected by everyone in both the playing group and backroom team, and his experience and expertise are valuable assets to the club," said head coach Smith.

"We are also excited to welcome Roddy and Scott into their new roles – both men have already shown that they are fully bought into what we are looking to build here, and the players and I are looking forward to working closely with them when pre-season gets underway."

BBC Sport Scotland rugby reporter Andy Burke has been answering some of your questions after Gregor Townsend announced his summer Pacific Tour squad.

Peter asked: What has Magnus Bradbury done to Gregor Townsend? He was the stand-out forward for Edinburgh in the latter part of the season and must be miffed to miss out on the tour. Having said that, it will give his body a rest for the coming season...

Andy answered: Bradbury finished the season very strongly and was a key player in Edinburgh's upward curve towards the end of the campaign.

Townsend told us on this week's Scotland Rugby Podcast that Bradbury was in the mix for the summer tour, but was ruled out due to a personal issue rather than down to form. Whether he would have made the final cut, we'll never know.

I thought Bradbury might have been in there. Likewise Hamish Watson and possibly Freddie Douglas, but Townsend said he hoped at least one Scottish back-row – most likely Jamie Ritchie or Rory Darge – might have made the Lions squad and the fact they didn't means competition is fierce in the Scotland back-row.

Doug asked: Should Franco Smith replace Townsend next year? I think Scotland need change but will we find out Gregor is exceeding our squad capability or holding us back?

If Franco were to move to Scotland head coach who could replace him at Glasgow? John Dalziel would be my favourite for the role. I think he deserves the opportunity and has done well in previous roles in the SRU and realistically we will not be going after a big name.

Andy answered: This whole situation around the big coaching jobs in Scottish rugby is both fascinating and unsettling.

Franco Smith is clearly considering his options right now. If it's the Scotland job he's after, he's got at least another year to wait until the expiry of Gregor Townsend's contract.

If after the next Six Nations we are looking at another "what might have been" campaign, I think at that stage it would time for a new approach and Smith would be the obvious candidate.

That's not to say a new coach is suddenly going to transform Scotland into winners. Ireland and France have better squads while England look to have turned a corner. No matter who's in charge, Scotland are going to be up against it to win a trophy.

If that scenario does come to pass and Smith replaces Townsend, I suspect Glasgow will look to an internal candidate to step up and and I agree that Scotland forwards coach Dalziel would be the leading contender.

He's worked his way up through the Scottish system, is well liked and respected by the players and will gain invaluable experience alongside Andy Farrell on this summer's Lions tour.

Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend sits down with Andy Burke to discuss his squad selections for their upcoming summer Pacific Tour.

They also discuss his future as Scotland boss as he enters the final year of his contract, as well as the opportunities that may still arise for the Scottish players that missed out on places on the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.

Listen and subscribe to the podcast here.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Gregor Townsend says it is too early to say if he will remain as Scotland head coach beyond the end of his current contract, which expires next year.

In the immediate aftermath of the Six Nations, in which Scotland finished fourth, Townsend said he had no plans to step down and that the job – which he has held since 2017 – "gives me a big purpose in my life".

Townsend says no discussions have taken place with Scottish Rugby over any new deal.

"If you get more into the year, those discussions would have to happen, whether they're initiated by my bosses or by myself," Townsend told the BBC's Scotland Rugby Podcast.

"I think there's obviously a lot of discussions around the Six Nations, the reviews of that, where we believe we need to improve, but also the longer-term future, what are the challenges coming up for Scotland and that ties in with the pathway and the longer-term strategy.

"But I feel there's a lot to be optimistic about with the current group we have, the players that are coming through and the experiences the players had this year.

"Yes, we're disappointed we didn't win more games, but I know the performances that the players are delivering are putting us in positions to beat the best teams in the world and that's a good foundation to have.

"The next step is making sure we win those games we put that effort into winning."

Townsend also expects to retain the services of his assistant, Steve Tandy, who has been linked with the vacant Wales job.

"He's a brilliant coach, he's very connected with our players, he's excited about this summer tour," he added.

"He's buzzing about working with the players again and there's nothing but speculation about him and other people that have been linked to the job outside of Scotland.

"We're very lucky to have Steve, we know that, and the players love working with him."