Scottish Rugby

Grant Young
Fan writer

The skill and power in attack was exquisite on Friday night as Glasgow secured their first away win of the season in emphatic fashion in Cardiff.

The likes of Sione Tuipulotu and Kyle Rowe bulldozed through the helpless hosts as Glasgow continued their recent trend of big-scoring visits to the Welsh capital.

The one concern for the coaches will be the feeble efforts in defence.

However, the positives in attack that maybe had been missing through the opening two rounds came with eight tries - some of them try of the season candidates - in the 52-36 victory.

Is it fine to start the whispers of Tuipulotu being a lock-in for the Lions next summer? The centre continues to make club and country tick and his effort on both sides of the ball is incredible. It seems his standards are contagious as he makes whoever is next to him better.

We should also see Tom Jordan earn his first Scotland cap this season when he becomes eligible. The next in a line of tartan Kiwis to pull on the blue of Scotland, but the question is where is his best position?

Glasgow are back at Scotstoun on Friday, with Zebre the visitors. The Italian side have six points from the opening three games, including a morale-boosting home win against Munster.

The Scotstoun crowd will be expectant now after Glasgow's promising start to the season.

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

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Is Everitt's time up?

There is no doubt Edinburgh are underperforming. Missing out on the play-offs last season was a dismal failure for head coach Sean Everitt and his playing group, and there has been nothing in their opening three league games this time around to suggest the tide is turning.

Three defeats and 110 points conceded, the worst defensive record in the United Rugby Championship. Yes, Edinburgh have faced three good sides, but that is not good enough.

Edinburgh's defensive frailties are nothing new. Under Everitt, the leaky defence remains, but there is none of the exciting running rugby we saw in previous campaigns.

Fans are disenchanted, and understandably so. Their neighbours along the M8 won the URC last season with a squad of players - on paper at least - not so different in ability to Edinburgh's.

Soft underbelly brutally exposed

Not all the blame can be apportioned to Everitt though.

It has long been a trait of Edinburgh teams that when the going gets tough, they are nowhere to be found. Tight games tend to be lost, and they regularly ship multiple tries in short periods of the game.

That inability to battle and grind it out was laid bare again in Johannesburg on Saturday, as Lions ran in seven first-half tries. The South African outfit bullied Edinburgh. They smelled blood and killed the game as a contest inside half an hour.

For a team of established internationals, it was embarrassing. Simply not good enough.

Lack of leaders?

At the top level of club rugby, you will inevitably find yourself up against it, but that is when you turn to your leaders to uphold standards and drag a team through tough spells.

Jamie Ritchie was Scotland captain not long ago, Grant Gilchrist has led his country on multiple occasions, and as mentioned above, this is no team of youngsters. And yet, Lions exposed Edinburgh out wide again and again, with no-one on the park able to stem the flow of tries.

Gilchrist and Ben Vellacott are the club's co-captains, but does sharing the role distil its effectiveness somewhat? With one leader, you know where you stand on the pitch; too many cooks spoil the broth, as they say.

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, Huw Evans Picture Agency

Glasgow are unstoppable when they turn it on...

You don't score eight tries without scintillating attack, but the truth was for long periods, Glasgow struggled to fire a shot at their hosts.

When they did, they almost always scored. They had less possession than Cardiff and far less territory, yet they beat 31 defenders, and had 16 clean breaks.

Sione Tuipulotu was at his wrecking-ball best, to label him a flat-track bully would do a disservice to his superb handling and kicking game, as well as his leadership abilities.

Tom Jordan unlocked the Cardiff defence with deftly-timed offloads, or sometimes with his own sheer pace. Kyle Rowe was another able to conjure up moments of magic from thin air.

Yes, they were uber-clinical and teams won’t always dominate the ball for 80 minutes. But this could have been even further out of sight.

But they looked fallible in defence

Glasgow’s defensive stats made for, at first glance, incredible reading against Ulster and Benetton.

Rory Darge made 39 tackles in the opening round of the URC - only one player has ever made more in recorded URC history (no prizes for guessing who).

They completed 316 tackles as team against Ulster - the second-highest in history again. 57% of those were made within 10 metres of their own line.

The problem with these stats is that they also show just how much defending they have had to do. Now, they only made 161 tackles against Cardiff, and 93% were successful - but they were almost overpowered by the Cardiff momentum.

Tom Jordan is a Scotland player in waiting - but in what position?

Plenty was made pre-match of where Cardiff’s Ben Thomas plays best - 10 or 12? The same question can be asked of Tom Jordan.

The soon-to-be-Scottish-qualified Kiwi is nailed on for a place in Scotland's squad, but where does he best fit?

He is a brilliant playmaker, but can run the hard lines of a 12 and has a fantastic partnership with Sione Tuipulotu.

What do you then do with Huw Jones? Does Jordan’s versatility make him more valuable to come off the bench? We haven’t even mentioned Stafford McDowall yet.

All of the above are questions for both Gregor Townsend and Franco Smith to answer in the coming weeks and months.

After Edinburgh's defeat, Glasgow Warriors' win and another success for Scotland in WXV2, are there any questions you would like to put to Tom English and Andy Burke?

Send them in via this link, external and they will be answered either on this week's Radio Scotland Rugby Podcast or in written form on this very page.

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Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm: "That could have gone either way. Japan were outstanding.

"The physicality they brought was unbelievable, but testament to my team for sticking in and getting the job done. I'm super proud of the girls for sticking at it.

"We're going to have to recover a lot after that. We've got a lot of fix-ups, that wasn't good enough. Hopefully we come out next week and put in a performance to be proud of."

Scotland head coach Bryan Easson: "Disappointing. A good win, but not the standards we set ourselves.

"We can perform better than that, but all credit to the girls - they stuck in and we're alive for next week.

"We've got a brilliant group of players so we can look at the way Australia play. We'll review today and then build up for next week."

We asked for your thoughts after a win for Glasgow against Cardiff, and a defeat for Edinburgh away to Lions in the URC.

Here's what some you had to say:

EDINBURGH

Simon: Yes Sean Everitt will carry most of the blame but we have to start questioning the players as well. We have previous Scotland captains, British and Irish Lions, players with 100s of games for Edinburgh, yet we can't do the basics of passing and catching. Something wrong in the capital city.

Pip: Embarrassing. Shipping 46 points in one half isn't the fault of the coaches. It's the players on the pitch fault. Changing coaches, again, won't be enough for this Edinburgh team. There needs to be a culture change at the club and they need to stop feeling sorry for themselves. Same old story with this squad. Some of the journeymen need to go.

Andrew: Sad to say Edinburgh's evisceration didn't come as a surprise. They have carried on where they left off last season, plodding, predictable, devoid of imagination or adaptability to what the opposition presents. Not looking forward to the Stormers or Cardiff. Can someone introduce the Edinburgh team members to each other. Rugby is a team game!

Stair: Edinburgh must appoint a coach who is capable of setting up a team to play South African opposition. So naive in the first half. Surely ball retention is a priority. Professional players should not be subject to panic attacks and loss of focus. A horrible game to watch.

Andy: Incoherent, disorganised, directionless in attack and a mess in defence. With the players we have, we should be better than this. Over a year of Everitt and I see nothing resembling a game plan or style of play. Changes needed in the coaching setup. A long and painful season ahead.

Geoff: Worst half of rugby I have ever seen Edinburgh play. Their kicking took no heed of the conditions. They were careless and ill disciplined. Something far wrong at the moment. This does not augur well for Scotland! How can internationals play so badly?

Andrew: Not getting easier to remain positive about Edinburgh. Too many players are too comfortable. Successive coaches unable to get them firing. Blair Kinghorn summed it up when he said he was stagnating before moving on. There's something off within the camp that has needed to change for a few years, sticking with the same co-captains doesn't signal change.

Mike: That was a watershed game for Edinburgh. It's simply not working with the coach and players we have. Utterly embarrassing performance. Enough is enough. Everitt needs to consider what's next for Edinburgh Rugby.

GLASGOW

Gareth: A largely second string Glasgow put on a decent showing against an improving Cardiff team. You'd hope Zebre will be a five pointer, but the true test of South Africa will show us where Glasgow are. Still expect a top-four finish for this quite outstanding team.

Dave: Thought the game was dictated by some crazy decisions by the referee leading to a chaotic breakdown. Sione Tuipulotu played really well, the Cardiff stand-off could not stop him and was subbed at half time. His try was ridiculous! Matt Fagerson, Jamie Dobie, Kyle Rowe, Tom Jordan and Johnny Matthews all had great games. Not a game the coaches will enjoy, too many errors.

David: Great game. Very enjoyable to watch, but spoiled by the Cardiff fans cheering Glasgow mistakes. Really impressed by Glasgow's ability to spot gaps in the Cardiff defence to score from deep. The referee was very poor with his interpretation of when the ball was out of the ruck, and the push on Dobie on the try line, a push is penalty.

Rod: A quite extraordinary game. I've never seen the breakdown refereed like that before and suspect I never will again! It confused the Glasgow defence, the commentators and most people watching! Tuipulotu and Jordan were amazing. The Glasgow lineout and scrum were dreadful, and the Glasgow defence coach must be fuming. A very odd game.

Peter: When Jordan came on the scene - the chat in the East Stand at Scotstoun was how poor a kicker he was, he wasn't a good distributor and would not be at Glasgow long. The humble pie tastes good! What a game he had, he is now one of the most impressive and important men in the squad.

Stuart: Warriors did well to end this match as winners. Shocking defence but had resilience to see it through, albeit with the help of Cardiff down to fourteen men. Franco Smith is getting all his squad game time over these first few games and it was a different team this week, so a different dynamic. Game was not helped by an unusual refereeing style.

Ronald: Some of the tries conceded were disappointing but on the other hand some of the attacking play was great. The back row balance wasn't quite right although Jack Dempsey was outstanding. Great performances by Jordan, Tuipulotu and Rowe in the backs.

Tom: Testy second half but it paid off for Smith's men. Have to say I think Jordan was robbed of man of the match, the man was everywhere! Definitely should be in contention for Scotland when he's eligible.

Edinburgh fans, what did you make of your side's crushing URC loss away to Lions?

Do you think Sean Everitt is the right man to lead the club forwards?

Have your say on the performance here, external.

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Edinburgh scrum-half Ben Vellacott: "The damage had already been done in first half. They came out firing, we played into their hands with mistakes and they punished us.

"We were a little bit naive, and we spoke at half-time about respecting the ball a bit. We've got a short turnaround, and then we're into the Stormers. They are a class outfit so we need to be at the top of our game."

Glasgow Warriors ended Cardiff's perfect start to the season in a remarkable 13-try thriller at the Arms Park.

The defending champions stunned the Arms Park as Jamie Dobie, Kyle Rowe, Tom Jordan, Sione Tuipulotu and Huw Jones crossed in the first half.

Second-half tries from Matt Fagerson, Tuipulotu and Jordan - who scored 20 points - settled a remarkable match that will leave both defence coaches fuming.

What did you make of that, Glasgow fans? An incredible attacking display, but were you worried by Cardiff's fightback?

And just how good is Sione Tuipulotu? Should he be on the Lions tour next year?

Let us know your thoughts here., external

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Glasgow head coach Franco Smith has paid tribute to departing second-row Richie Gray, saying his "influence will stand us in good stead even once he has moved on".

Scotland international and Warriors centurion Gray, 35, will leave the URC champions next month to take up a new playing challenge abroad.

Smith highlighted Gray's status as a role model in the Glasgow squad and said: "We wish him all the best.

"You look at the young talent coming through and you realise how valuable it is for them to learn from Richie – he leads our ‘line-out board’ that we’ve set up to share information and prepare our set-piece for each game, and he has been great with helping our young guys come to the table with their suggestions and ideas."

After rejoining Glasgow in the summer of 2020, Gray went on to earn a recall to the Scotland set-up and reached 100 appearances for his hometown club, helping Glasgow to title success last season.

He said: "When I first came through, we were still playing out at Firhill in front of a couple of thousand people, so it's such a proud feeling to see where this club is now.

"To see how everyone has pulled together in the last few years and really grown the club to where we are today shows that we're in a great place."

He also hailed Glasgow's latest batch of second-row forwards and called them "the future" for both the Warriors and Scotland.

“I’m really excited to see how the young guys in the second-row develop. Scott [Cummings]'s development in recent years – both on the field and around the club – has been outstanding, and young Max [Williamson] and Alex [Samuel] are such an exciting duo for both Glasgow and Scotland.

“The two of them were just starting out in the academy when I first came back, and now you look at them and know they'll be the future of the second-row."

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Edinburgh have swapped their half-backs for Saturday's meeting with the Lions in Johannesburg, with Ben Vellacott and Ben Healy making their first starts of the season.

The pair are two of four changes that Sean Everitt has made to his side for the third round of the URC, with Ross McCann and Ewan Ashman coming in at outside centre and hooker respectively.

Ali Price and Ross Thompson started the narrow loss away to the Bulls last week, while Dave Cherry and Mark Bennett were both replaced early in that 22-16 defeat with injuries that have forced them out of this weekend's match.

McCann, 26, is a winger by trade and has never started at outside centre, but Mosese Tuipulotu is only fit enough for the bench while Matt Currie also misses out through injury.

Also among the replacements are Ben Muncaster, who missed the Bulls game due to injury, as well as young hooker Patrick Harrison, who makes his first appearance in a matchday squad this season.

Head coach Everitt, whose side are seeking their first win of the new campaign, said: "This will be another testing encounter for us. However, we feel that, from our performances against Leinster and Bulls, we’re more than capable of securing a positive result.

"The Lions are a tough team, with a good set-piece and exciting backs, especially in transition, so we know that we’ll be in for a fight tomorrow."

Edinburgh: Goosen, Graham, McCann, Scott, van der Merwe; Healy, Vellacott (cc); Schoeman, Ashman, Hill, Sykes, Gilchrist (cc), Ritchie, Watson, Bradbury.

Replacements: Harrison, Venter, Rae, Hodgson, Muncaster, Price, Thompson, Tuipulotu.

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Captain Rachel Malcolm says the ability to make big changes to the starting line- up reflects the strength in depth of the Scotland squad.

After Scotland began their WXV2 title defence with a 19-0 over Italy last weekend, head coach Bryan Easson has made six alterations to his starting line-up for Saturday's game with Japan in South Africa.

"It truly is a 30-player squad and beyond, the strength of this squad is to make changes depending on the team we are playing against," said Malcolm.

"We knew coming into this tournament we would face three very different styles of rugby. The squad we have for this week will definitely allow us to impose ourselves on Japan.

"Japan have put us under a huge amount of pressure previously. Last year it took us 60 minutes to break them down and the first 40 was one of the hardest I've played in a Scotland shirt because they did move us around and keep us pinned in so we have to be aware of that threat.

"We have had to get fitter and stronger and I would say this is probably the fittest Scotland team I've been a part of.

"It shows the strength of the depth that we have, that we can have a bench that can come on and raise the intensity and finish the job for us and put teams under pressure for that last 20 minutes.

"Being able to do that is what's allowed us to take things to that next level."

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Jack Dempsey and Huw Jones will make their first appearances of the new URC campaign when Glasgow Warriors visit Cardiff on Friday night.

The Scotland pair are two of nine changes to the starting line-up for the club's first visit to Cardiff Arms Park in two years.

Jones has been troubled by a calf issue but is fit to resume his centre partnership with Sione Tuipulotu, who captains the side, while wing Facundo Cordero replaces Kyle Steyn.

Prop Rory Sutherland and lock Alex Samuel make their first starts of the season, while Tom Jordan reverts to fly-half after playing centre in last weekend's win over Benetton.

Patrick Schickerling could make his debut after being named among the replacements.

Cardiff have opened the season with two wins from two against Zebre and Scarlets.

Glasgow head coach Franco Smith said: "We were pleased to record our first win of the season last weekend. But we know that there are still plenty of areas in which we can improve.

"Cardiff have recruited well during the summer and have started the season strongly, a start they will be keen to continue in front of their home support.

"We also look forward to seeing Patrick pull on the Glasgow jersey for the first time this weekend – he has quickly bought into our environment and has trained well to earn his opportunity."

Glasgow Warriors: Rory Sutherland, Johnny Matthews, Sam Talakai, Alex Samuel, Scott Cummings, Gregor Brown, Matt Fagerson, Jack Dempsey, Jamie Dobie, Tom Jordan, Facundo Cordero, Sione Tuipulotu (c), Huw Jones, Kyle Rowe, Josh McKay.

Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Jamie Bhatti, Patrick Schickerling, Richie Gray, Max Williamson, Euan Ferrie, Ben Afshar, Duncan Weir.

Image source, SNS

Scotland have made six personnel changes and one positional alteration for Saturday's second WXV2 match against Japan in South Africa (13:00 BST).

Meryl Smith moves from inside to outside centre as Lisa Thomson comes into the side and Emma Orr drops to the bench, while Rhona Lloyd replaces Coreen Grant on the wing.

Leah Bartlett takes over from the benched Anne Young at loosehead and Louise McMillan is in for Fiona McIntosh in the second row.

In the back row, Alex Stewart and Jade Konkel join captain Rachel Malcolm as Evie Gallagher drops to the bench and Rachel McLachlan misses out.

Lock Eva Donaldson comes into the squad as one of the replacements.

Bryan Easson's Scots opened their defence of the title with a 19-0 defeat of Italy on Saturday and will also face Australia in Cape Town.

"We’ve been really lucky with this group over the past two or three years, we’ve grown the depth of the squad and that's really pushing everybody to be better," said head coach Easson.

"We've got a strong bench. Knowing how we’ve played against Japan previously, knowing how tight it has been in the earlier stages of games, we know we've got some real talent to bring off the bench as well so it’s more of a tactical plan than a freshen up.

"It’s important that we are strategically smart in how we want to play the game. The playing conditions last week were akin to a Scottish winter's day, it's to be 32 degrees this weekend.

"It'll be easier to attack this weekend with a drier ball, it will be a fast game, but we are excited at how we are defending and have real confidence around how we are attacking."

Scotland: Chloe Rollie, Rhona Lloyd, Meryl Smith, Lisa Thomson, Francesca McGhie, Helen Nelson, Caity Mattinson; Leah Bartlett, Lana Skeldon, Christine Belisle, Louise McMillan, Sarah Bonar, Rachel Malcolm (captain), Alex Stewart, Jade Konkel.

Replacements: Elis Martin, Anne Young, Lisa Cockburn, Eva Donaldson, Evie Gallagher, Leia Brebner-Holden, Emma Orr, Lucia Scott.

Tom English
BBC Scotland's chief sports writer

After 17 consecutive victories, including an immortal Top 14 and Champions Cup double, Blair Kinghorn finally - shock, horror - lost a match with Toulouse at the weekend.

Bordeaux were the team that ended the run. “Despite 64% possession, Stade Toulouse hit a wall,” reported the rugby newspaper, Midi Olympique. They named four players as the “strongest bricks” in that wall. One of them was Jonny Gray.

When you see that Gray is top of the plaquages chart in the Top 14 you don’t need to speak the lingo to know what his ranking relates to. It’s tackles, of course. His bread and butter. He’s made 54 tackles in 255 minutes so far.

Gray’s return from a serious injury that saw him play no competitive rugby from early May 2023 to early September 2024 is an utter triumph. Only he will know how brutal the road to recovery really was - mentally and physically - but he’s not the type to talk about it. He’s a do-er, not a yapper.

Bordeaux have toppled the champions and lead the Top 14 table on points difference. Welcome back, big fella.

Later this month Gregor Townsend will name his squad for the four-Test autumn series. Even though he won’t be eligible for one of the Tests because it’s outside the Test window, Gray is going to win his first cap in 18 months at some point in November.

Which begs the question, who else might be in Townsend’s squad. In a series of columns in the coming weeks we’ll examine the options position-by-position and we’re starting with the engine room.

Townsend has 10 players to think about. Actually, make that seven because Sam Skinner, Glen Young and Leicester’s Cameron Henderson still haven’t been seen this season following injury.

Jonny Gray is in the best form of the lot and his brother, Richie, will be with him, as long as he’s not thinking of doing anything silly like retiring from Test rugby before Townsend’s announcement. He’s 35, but he’s still a hugely valuable player. Scotland need him to go again.

Grant Gilchrist will be another pick, which makes three. The last time Townsend selected a squad for autumn Tests - outside of World Cup year - was 2022 and he went with an overall total of 40 with five locks.

That leaves Scott Cummings, Max Williamson, Alex Craig and Ewan Johnson competing for two slots. Johnson was on the summer tour but he’s started his season with two yellow cards in two starts for Oyonnax in the second division in France.

Johnson is a long-shot. Craig was brilliant for the Scarlets last season but Williamson is hard to overlook. He started both of Glasgow’s opening games in the URC and is getting better and better under Franco Smith’s coaching and with Richie Gray as a mentor.

So, the top five - Gray Jnr, Gray Snr, Cummings, Gilchrist and Williamson. Townsend might see it differently, but there’s a lot of different talents in that crew. Gray’s return will be a sight to warm the heart on those cold but thrilling November days to come.

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