Scottish Rugby

We asked for your views on Glasgow Warriors' 31-22 win against Munster and Edinburgh's 28-20 defeat against Leinster in the URC.

Here's what some of you said:

Glasgow

Chris: Dan Lancaster is a quality player. Had similar defensive errors to Adam Hastings a few years ago but look how much Hastings has improved defensively under Franco Smith. Still need another 10 but Lancaster can definitely look to secure his position as first choice.

Ethan: Ideal win for Glasgow and Franco, still top of the table despite injuries and Six Nations squads affecting availability, the young team did very well with a bonus point win and plenty to work on. Three of the Munster tries were gifts from Glasgow errors, though both sides could have had two more tries if it weren't for knock-ons/double movement. Lancaster looks more and more at home with each game. Excellent game before the Six Nations break.

Scotty: Another solid performance from the Warriors with 'Bomber' Lancaster really looking good as well as Stafford McDowall leading the team by example. Very satisfying to see the team play smart in the second half to see out an important win. Very impressed with the forwards and front row in taking the game to a more experienced Munster pack laying the foundations for the backs to carve up.

Kenny: Another good home win for Warriors. Lancaster had by far his best game since his arrival and I would have had him player of the match. Eased some of the fears around the forthcoming departure of Hastings.

Dave: Nice performance and result for a Glasgow team missing 15 starters. The commitment of the forwards to take the game to Munster was really pleasing and the backs on occasion opened up the Munster defence. A very Glasgow Warriors performance.

Keith: Considering the number of senior players missing and the youth of the side this win is significant. It was not perfect but to get the bonus point win was really good and says a lot about not only the strength in depth but how Smith manages the team too.

Edinburgh

JT: The collapses of the team in the last quarter of so many games point to a fundamental issue that for some reason isn't being fixed by the team and/or the management. Depressing.

Gordon: Edinburgh are just a poor rugby franchise. As a team they battled hard, but they just haven't got the nuance to win these close games. As a club they have the unenviable ability of turning good players into bog standard average at best.

Graeme S: Seriously, when will this side see out a match when they are ahead? This same mentality is what seeps into the national team. The sooner the SRU wake up and realise the huge mistake of giving Sean Everitt another two years, the better.

Andrew A: You know the script by now. Decent first half followed by horrific second. The conversion failure at the end summed Edinburgh up. Losing bonus point was there only for an unacceptable lack of concentration to deny them that. I'm a huge critic of Everitt but he was let down badly by kickers who should hang their heads in shame.

Andrew: While there were encouraging signs, without a 10 and goalkicker who's up to the job Edinburgh will bleed supporters and quality players, both of whom have had enough. In the absence of a Scottish-qualified 10 who's competent the SRU has to move to sign someone else. Prioritising Scottish-qualified players loses credibility if there are none up to the job. In the cruel world of professional sport Ben Healy, Cammy Scott and Ross Thompson have had their chance to take their chance. Time for fresh thinking!

Graeme: Edinburgh apparently want to develop into the team Glasgow are, can Franco not just manage both Edinburgh/Glasgow and Scotland? Edinburgh in decline, Duhan van der Merwe would benefit from the Franco touch as well and they are desperately missing a 10. Scotland needs two teams performing and developing our youngster talent as well as our current players.

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Brython Thunder edged out Edinburgh 14-7 at Hive Stadium in a battle of the Celtic Challenge's two worst-performing teams.

Stella Orrin and Seren Singleton scored tries for the Welsh outfit either side of half-time as they earned their first victory of this year's competition.

Edinburgh captain Hannah Walker scored a late consolation try for the hosts, but they could not draw level in the limited time remaining.

After a disappointing defeat, Edinburgh are also on one victory after six matches played.

Leinster proved too strong for Edinburgh in the URC as the Irish side came from behind to earn a bonus-point win.

Read the full match report here

Have your say on the match via this link

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Clovers secured a 38-31 bonus-point victory over Glasgow Warriors to register their fourth victory in a row in the Celtic Challenge.

Faith Oviawe's try gave Clovers an early lead before Aoibheann McGrath touched down and Caitriona Finn added the extra two.

The away side pushed further ahead through Katie Whelan with Emily Coubrough closing the gap with a superb try from a scrum.

Just before the break, Anna McGann robbed Glasgow of the ball, charged forward and crossed the white line to extend Clovers' lead.

Shortly after the restart, McGrath added her second try of the afternoon following great link-up play from Sky Phimister and Alana McInerney.

Glasgow registered another try on the breakaway when Hollan Bogan touched down to make it 12-31

Millie Warren added another try for the home side, who were awarded a penalty try shortly after Clovers' Oviawe was shown a yellow card.

However, Denis Fogarty's side responded with Siofra Hession touching down and converting.

The tries weren't done there, though, with Briar McNamara securing the losing bonus-point for Glasgow seconds before the full-time whistle.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Ollie Smith paid tribute to Glasgow Warriors' young stars after victory over Munster made it nine straight wins in all competitions.

Smith was on the scoresheet as Glasgow raced into a 28-5 half-time lead before holding off a spirited Munster fightback after the break to win 31-22.

The win kept Warriors top of the United Rugby Championshp table, and Smith said the victory was hard-earned in the absence of 15 Scotland internationals who were rested ahead of next week's Six Nations opener against Italy.

"I think that just shows you the depth we've got in the squad," Smith told BBC Scotland.

"I think the work that Duncan Weir does with the academy boys just shows. Matty Irwin was outstanding, Seb Stephen, he's a young boy in our group, but he performs every time he gets on the field. To have some guys making their debut and perform so well, I think it just shows that the work that we put in on the training field.

"Some guys have been here two or three years and never had a look in, and then they get it and I thought they were outstanding. So it just shows you that no matter who takes the field, we all know our role and we all know our job and we know how to get it done.

"I think there's a good thing going on here. I think when we play at home especially, we get the buzz going and we get a good vibe going and the boys are loving the way we're playing. It's a great place to be and I love it here."

Glasgow Warriors maintained their spot at the top of the United Rugby Championship table with a bonus-point victory over Munster at Scotstoun.

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Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith: "Obviously very proud of the boys.

"Happy we could get the win in a very important fixture. Munster is a very tough game always.

"For the guys who haven't played as often produce a product like tonight is brilliant.

"The way we stuck to task and kept defending well was important. We're proud of [our winning run] but we've won nothing yet.

"Very excited to finish the block that way."

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Wing Duhan van der Merwe has been released by Scotland for Edinburgh's URC trip to Leinster on Saturday.

Freddy Douglas and Magnus Bradbury are the two other players in Scotland's Six Nations squad available to Sean Everitt as the South African head coach makes six changes from the team beaten by Bulls last time out.

Malelili Satala takes Darcy Graham's spot, while Props Boan Venter and Paul Hill, hooker Jerry Blyth-Lafferty, and lock Callum Hunter-Hill all come in.

Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, D'arcy Rae and Grant Gilchrist are all retained by Scotland, along with Graham.

Liam McConnell misses out with a rib injury picked up against Bulls.

"Going away to Leinster is one of the toughest tests in the URC, but it's a challenge we're ready to embrace – we're going over there to have a real crack at it," Everitt said.

"Magnus resumes the captaincy and his experience in these big away fixtures is invaluable for the group.

"We know exactly what we are capable of when we put it all together. The key for us this week is consistency; we need a complete 80-minute performance to get the result we want."

Edinburgh XV to face Leinster: Paterson, Satala, Goosen, Lang, Van der Merwe, Thompson, Vellacott; Venter, J. Blyth-Lafferty, Hill, Hunter-Hill, Young, Muncaster, Douglas, Bradbury.

Replacements: Morris, Jones, O. Blyth-Lafferty, Dodd, Boyle, Shiel, Scott, O'Conor.

BBC Sport Scotland's Andy Burke has been answering some of your Scottish rugby questions.

Graeme asked: What does success look like for Scotland this year?

Andy answered: Clearly success would be winning the Six Nations for the first time, but there's little evidence to suggest Scotland are capable of finishing top of the pile.

They are probably fourth favourites for the title behind France, England and Ireland, so really the hope is they can perform beyond expectations.

The opener in Rome is fraught with danger and will set the tone for what sort of campaign we can expect.

Away wins over Italy and Wales and knocking over one of England or France at home would be a decent campaign, though not bring the Scotland title challenge the fans crave.

I suspect many Scotland fans would trade another Calcutta Cup win for a victory in Dublin on the final day to finally smash this Ireland hoodoo.

For me, Scotland's potential finishing position would translate as:

1. Glorious

2. Excellent

3. Decent

4. Standard, underwhelming

5. Poor

6. Disaster

My prediction? Another campaign of highs and lows culminating in a fourth-place finish.

David asked: With the rise of the importance of the bench and teams like England putting some of their strongest players on it (Tom Curry and Pollock for example), who would you have as those high-impact players for Scotland? Perhaps a rampaging Jamie Ritchie or could there be a role for a destructive Freddy Douglas?

Andy answered: Gregor Brown is number one on the list. The ferocity he brings to the action is exceptional and we have seen, most notably for Glasgow against Toulouse, how effective his presence can be in the final half hour.

As Brown told us himself on this week's BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast, the game has changed and the impact off the bench is every bit as decisive in games as what the starters are bringing.

I think Douglas could be a good bench option too, especially if Scotland need a disruptor at the breakdown to halt the sort of momentum swing we saw against Argentina in the autumn.

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Scotland full-back Josh McKay is one of 10 changes to the Glasgow Warriors team that host Munster in the URC on Friday night.

Franco Smith's side are depleted, with 15 key players rested before the impending Six Nations, but there are still six Scotland internationals named in the XV.

As a result, the head coach names a heavily rotated side, full of players itching for competitive minutes.

Bhatti and Murphy Walker keep their place in the front-row from the hard-fought win over Zebre last weekend, with 20-year-old Seb Stephen making just a second start of the season.

Alex Craig and Jare Oguntibeju are named in the locks, with Euan Ferrie, Angus Fraser and Ally Miller in the back-row.

Ben Afshar makes a third start of the season at nine, with Dan Lancaster ooutside him. Youngster Kerr Yule and captain Stafford McDowall start in the centre.

Ollie Smith and Kyle Rowe have both been released from Scotland camp to start on the wings, with McKay returning at full-back. The New Zealander has been out since early December with injury.

On the bench, there could be debuts for second-row Dylan Cockburn and fly-half Matthew Urwin, both former Under-20 internationals.

Johnny Matthews, Alex Samuel and Patrick Schickerling are unavailable through injury.

Glasgow Warriors: McKay, Rowe, McDowall (c), Yule, Smith; Lancaster, Afshar; Bhatti, Stephen, Walker, Craig, Oguntibeju, Ferrie, Fraser, Miller.

Replacements: Stewart, McBeth, Talakai, Cockburn, Vailanu, Duncan, Oliver, Urwin.

In our build up to Scotland's Six Nations opener against Italy in Rome, Tom English and Andy Burke chat to Kyle Steyn about competition on Scotland's wing and how to regain the trust of Scotland fans.

We hear from Huw Jones on his journey back from injury and his decision to leave the Warriors and Josh Bayliss chats about the competition to play in Scotland's back row.

Plus we hear from new father Matt Fagerson on the physical and mental demands of preparing for the competition, Pierre Schoeman on why he loves being around other props and Gregor Brown applies the Traitors process to the Scotland squad.

Listen and subscribe to the Scotland Rugby Podcast here

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Captain Sione Tuipulotu wants Scotland to use their autumn "hurt" to fuel a successful Six Nations campaign.

Gregor Townsend's side ran New Zealand close before blowing a 21-0 lead to lose at home to Argentina.

"We're not short of motivation, that's for sure," said Tuipulotu. "And I think it's important that we carry a little bit of the hurt from the autumn into the Six Nations because it's important not to just pass it by and act like it didn't happen.

"It's important that we show progression in this tournament, not only from the autumn, but from the last Six Nations as well.

"As captain, it's my responsibility to lead that, and I'm looking forward to doing that."

Tuipulotu was one of 19 Glasgow players named in Gregor Townsend's initial 40-man squad for the championship and he believes the Warriors' excellent recent form, particularly in the Champions Cup, can give Scotland a boost.

"It is significant, and the combinations and cohesion that we have on the field that we can bring to the Scottish environment is important," he said of the Glasgow contingent.

"But I think it's also important how we mesh with the other boys. Test rugby is a lot different to club rugby. It would be stupid for us to think that because Glasgow beat Toulouse, we're favoured to beat France or anything like that.­

"But it does give us confidence and it's important that boys that have played big roles in those wins that we've had between autumn and the Six Nations, they bring that confidence into the Test arena."

Sandy Smith
Fan writer

Burns night was celebrated at the Hive on Friday night. There was a pipe band and some Scottish country dancers. There was also something wee and tim'rous.

Unfortunately the wee was Edinburgh's entries into the Bulls half after the interval, never mind their 22, and the tim'rous, well I'm sure you can guess.

It started well. Actually, scrub that. It started like it does far too often with a pre-match injury as Ewan Ashman was replaced before kick-off.

That is the fourth time this season that our line-up has been changed prior to kick-off as a result of a late injury. There were six instances of the same thing last season.

Then it got a bit better.

At 10-5 up we had a chance to go two scores clear but went for the tap and go and failed to get across the line.

Every game we have played against Bulls has been settled by 11 points or less, so not taking the three at this juncture felt like a mistake.

However, we scored a further try, D'arcy Rae's first for the club, and had a 12-point lead at half-time, so there was hope, maybe even a little expectation.

Alas, Bulls dominated the second half right from kick-off. And from anticipating a fourth try and a bonus point, reality bit down hard.

Edinburgh failed to score a single point in the second half and as the match progressed the outcome seemed to become an inevitability. It felt like it was only a matter of when, rather than if, the Bulls would snatch the points.

The crowd was unusually flat throughout and only came alive in the last 10 minutes, perhaps sensing we were only a mistimed tackle or an offside away from a penalty that would have won us the game.

However, we repeatedly ran up blind alleys, kicked the ball away and palpably demonstrated the malfunctioning attack that has blighted the entire season.

Last week I was angry. This week it barely registered. It did, however, register with the bulk of the decent sized crowd as the boos on full-time were quite apparent.

Maybe there will be an easy game next week to lift the gloom? Leinster you say? Away? Where we haven't won since 2005?

As Burns once said: "The best laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley".

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external

Grant Young
Fan writer

How a week can change. It's weird to write that after your team wins on the road and then goes to the top of the URC.

A week on from a Globetrotters-like performance in the Champions Cup, to a wet and miserable evening in Parma. Glasgow did get the job done but majorly underperformed.

From the start the passes weren't crisp, the tackles didn't stick and Franco Smith cut a frustrated figure in the stands.

With the exception of the reverse fixture a few weeks back, this first group of Warriors had played a lot of rugby back to back.

Zebre played close to the line and the usual piercing attack from the free-flowing backs was inefficient. The Warriors, though, got scores through their lineout. The set-piece got them the field position and the pack went to work.

With only a week or so until the first line-ups for the Six Nations are announced, Gregor Hiddleston scoring two important tries on a disappointing night was the real talking point.

Surely we will see him at some point as Scotland's hooker? The 23-year-old continues to impress both in the loose and the scrum. Surely his time is soon.

The game did have one of those feelings that Zebre could pinch this, thankfully they didn't. It is tough to win on the road in the URC, but this squad wouldn't want to be the first to lose in Parma in the match-up history and limped home with a five-point win.

On Friday we see Munster at home. After announcing a surprisingly strong team last week, this week's squad is expected to be rotated heavily with anyone likely in the Scotland 23 rested and wrapped in cotton wool.

It's a big opportunity for some younger players to stand up and be counted. There are few games more exciting than welcoming Munster to Scotstoun. Hopefully Glasgow can stay top of the standings come the start of the Six Nations.

Image source, PA Media

Glasgow Warriors hooker Gregor Hiddleston and Sale Sharks scrum-half Gus Warr have been added to Scotland's Six Nations squad.

Edinburgh hooker Dave Cherry and Glasgow back Jamie Dobie remain with the squad while they recover from recent injuries, while flanker Liam McConnell has returned to Edinburgh following a rib issue.

Hiddleston is uncapped at senior level while Warr made his only two Scotland appearances so far in 2024, scoring two tries on his debut against Canada.

The Scots open their championship away to Italy on 7 February.

Do you have any burning questions on Scottish rugby for our experts, Tom English and Andy Burke, after Edinburgh lost and Glasgow Warriors won in the URC?

Or perhaps you want to focus on the Six Nations as Scotland's opener in Rome moves ever closer?

Send in your questions via this link and a selection of answers will be published on this page later in the week.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Head coach Gregor Townsend says the fine form of Glasgow Warriors can provide a platform for Scotland to enjoy a positive Six Nations.

Franco Smith's side are on an eight-game winning run in all competitions, which has included a perfect Champions Cup pool stage with statement wins over the likes of Toulouse and Saracens.

Townsend selected 19 Glasgow players in his 40-man squad for the tournament, and says those established combinations will be key for the national side.

"I think it can shortcut a few things and that if you have Glasgow players playing together, you don't have to over-coach, you can build on what they are doing," Townsend said.

"In terms of coaching, they're going to find solutions to certain problems because they've been together for the last few weeks.

"So that's in our mind about how many of those combinations we put together in the team. Now we've also had a team that's played a lot of rugby together as well and we're selecting from a position of strength in terms of injuries with Huw Jones back in the squad and Zander Fagerson, who missed most of the autumn.

"So players that have played a lot of rugby for us, they should just fit in back in a groove too. Certainly the cohesion, the confidence that Glasgow have shown, we want to lean into that and build on what they've done."