Bullscot
Top-level sport is often decided by small margins. Take the events in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Saturday.
Scotland trailed Italy 20-18 with the clock showing that 79 minutes had elapsed. Scotland had one chance to snatch a desperately-needed win.
Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has named an unchanged starting team for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations showdown with England at Twickenham (kick-off 4pm). Paul O’Connell will lead the side on the occasion of his 90th cap as Ireland seek their first win at Twickenham since 2010.
After a round of games played in dreadful conditions during which yet another fixture fell foul of the weather, players and spectators alike must be hoping that Round 14 of the Pro12 fares better.
The round kicks off with two games in the Irish capitals on Friday night, one in Belfast and one in Dublin, both featuring Welsh opposition.
Melrose Rugby Club has confirmed four invitational teams that will appear at this year’s Melrose 7s on Saturday 12 April at The Greenyards.
Scottish professional side, Glasgow Warriors will be joined by French Top 14 outfit Clermont Auvergne, Trinidad and Tobago and USA Tigers.
The Welsh Rugby Union is pleased at the progress made at today’s Six Nations meeting in Paris towards agreement for the European competition structure from next season.
Scotland Women head coach, Jules Maxton, has shown faith in the same 23 person squad, who lost to Ireland in the opening Six Nations tie, to take on England today, Sunday February 9th in Aberdeen.
The match is due to kick off at 16:00 SA Time (14:00 GMT) and will be broadcast live on Scottish Rugby Unions YouTube channel.
Our resident Scot, Bullscot, is at the game.
The Six Nations rugby tournament is worth about £52m a year to Scotland, economists have estimated.
Edinburgh’s bars, restaurants, hotels and shops benefit when rugby fans head for matches at Murrayfield stadium.
After just over a month out of the limelight, the focus returns once more to the Pro12 and the first of four successive rounds that could have a huge impact on the outcome of this season’s tournament.
Edinburgh Rugby’s next home match against Ospreys on Friday 28 February (kick-off 7.35pm) will be played at Meggetland, the club confirmed on Wednesday
Concerns over the current Murrayfield Stadium playing surface – caused by a parasitic infection that damaged the roots – mean the club will relocate the RaboDirect PRO12 clash to ensure the international pitch is in robust health for Scotland’s home fixtures in the 2014 RBS 6 Nations, against England and France.
Winger Lee Jones has been added to the Glasgow Warriors squad for the forthcoming RaboDirect PRO12 matches, to provide injury cover until the end of the season.
The 25-year-old returns from Scotland 7s duty in New Zealand following his agreed loan from Edinburgh Rugby and will be available for this Sunday’s game against Connacht at Scotstoun Stadium.
Scotland have made three changes to their starting XV and three more changes to their bench for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations Championship match against England at Murrayfield.
There’s a new cap at openside flanker where Chris Fusaro, the 24-year-old Glasgow Warrior, a product of Bell Baxter High School and the Howe of Fife club, who has graduated from Scotland 7’s and Scotland A, replaces Kelly Brown. Fusaro will be Scotland’s 1052nd cap.
Sam Warburton will lead Wales against Ireland in Saturday’s Six Nations match in Dublin. The Cardiff Blues flanker is named at open-side, with Ospreys’ Justin Tipuric dropping to the bench.
Kevin Pietersen’s England career is over after he was told he is no longer part of the national team’s plans.
The 33-year-old batsman, England’s all-time leading run-scorer across all formats, was given the news by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
Scottish Rugby is making the biggest single investment in its Murrayfield home since the stadium was reconstructed in 1994.
A new hybrid grass pitch will be installed later this year to be ready for the start of the 2014-15 season, it was announced today.
England team director Andy Flower has left his role following the 5-0 Ashes whitewash by Australia.
Appointed in 2009, Flower led England to three successive Ashes series victories but has paid the price for their disastrous showing down under.
Scotland A are scheduled to play against England Saxons on Friday night (31 January) at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow and will be looking at getting their third victory in a row against the Saxons. Kick off is at 21:30 SA Time (19:30 GMT). The game will be broadcast live on Scottish Rugby’s Youtube channel.
Mention of the fact France have won the Five or Six Nations every year after a British and Irish Lions tour in the professional era can elicit deep consideration, confusion or shrugs, depending on who you mention it to.
That’s the thing about history, it can be interpreted in different ways. Or ignored. Or forgotten. Or remembered and its significance disregarded.
Scotland have made four changes to their starting XV and a further positional switch in their team to open the 2014 RBS 6 Nations Championship away to Ireland on Sunday.
The 2014 RBS Six Nations tournament kicks off this weekend with current holders Wales hosting Italy on Saturday, while England travel to Paris to play France on the same day. The final fixture of the weekend sees Scotland playing against Ireland in Dublin.
The senior mens Six Nations tournament attracts most of the attention but let us not forget that the women and juniors (under 20s) also take part in their section of the competition. Ireland won the womens tournament last year while England are the current holders of the U20s title.
Wing Chris Ashton and scrum-half Ben Youngs have been left out of England’s opening Six Nations match in France. Uncapped Exeter wing Jack Nowell is in a 26-man squad along with Gloucester’s Jonny May, who has one cap.
Wales captain Sam Warburton has ended speculation about his future by signing a national contract with the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU).
Warburton’s salary will be paid by the WRU but he will continue to play for Cardiff Blues and will be released for games outside his Wales duties at no cost to the region.
The Cheetahs had to come from behind to earn a 36-21 victory over a spirited Southern Kings side at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
Trailing 21-12 at half-time, the Cheetahs controlled most of the possession in the second half to whittle away at the Kings’ lead and to finally emerge winners in a hard-fought battle.
Sometimes it seems you have only to say things are going better for events to make you look a fool. Last Saturday I wrote that Edinburgh’s coaches had successfully tightened up their defence, and then their team concedes six tries to Munster.
Jonny Gray will turn out in the RBS Premiership this afternoon, which will delight Currie but has annoyed opponents Aberdeen GSFP after they were denied the use of their talented young lock due to Scotland under-20 selection.
Natal Sharks director of rugby Jake White thinks his team’s game against Saracens could lead to regular club matches between English and South African sides.
Scotland and Glasgow Warriors lock, Jonny Gray, will captain Scotland A next Friday night when his side take on England Saxons at Scotstoun Stadium (kick-off 7.30pm GMT).
Labelled as a training match, the intensity of the game being played at Netherdale tonight (22 January) between Scotland under-20 and Scotland Club XV suggested anything but, with some ten tries being scored.
Despite the Club XV having a 17-point advantage early in the second-half, a late surge from the under-20s made for an exciting finish to the international training match.
The 2014 RBS 6 Nations launched in London today as coaches and captains convened at the Hurlingham Club. Wales, led by victorious British & Irish Lions captain Sam Warburton and coach Warren Gatland, will seek to make history by becoming the first side to win a third successive RBS 6 Nations title.
Glasgow Warriors’ assistant coach Shade Munro has been named today as head coach of Scotland A for their game against England Saxons at Scotstoun Stadium later this month.
The Scotland squad came together yesterday with head coach Scott Johnson’s first task being to re-focus minds away from Heineken Cup disappointments and on to a Six Nations Championship.
Ryan Jones has been ruled out of Wales’ Six Nations campaign because of a hamstring injury. The 32-year-old back-row forward led Wales in three of their matches in the 2013 tournament as they retained the Championship title.
Edinburgh loose forward Cornell du Preez and Connacht duo Kieran Marmion and Nathan White have been cited after the weekend’s final round of the European Cup pool stages.
Edinburgh Rugby forwards Ross Rennie and Stuart McInally will join former Scotland head coach Andy Robinson on loan to Bristol Rugby to the end of the season.
If the qualification picture for the European Cup quarterfinals is now significantly clearer following last weekend’s Round Five games, the closing series of pool matches in Europe’s premier club tournament retains its customary intrigue.
Kelly Brown has been told the Scotland captaincy is his to keep – if he proves himself as their best openside flanker. Head coach Scott Johnson has named the 31-year-old Saracens skipper every time he has played.