Scotland
Scotland’s interim head coach Scott Johnson stressed at the RBS 6 Nations Championship official launch in London today that he would not “chase rainbows” during the course of the competition.
Former Crusaders wing Sean Maitland has expressed his pride in his Scottish roots after being named in Scotland’s Six Nations squad.
Scotland’s most-capped scrumhalf Mike Blair has announced his retirement from international rugby at the age of 31.
Blair was capped 85 times for his country and was captain of the side on 14 occasions.
The last remaining bastion of the amateur era’s traditions looks set to fall.
Scotland play the last of their three end of year tests on Saturday against Tonga at Pittodrie Football Stadium in Aberdeen. Both teams were announced yesterday with various changes being made by Scotland from the team that played the Springboks while Tonga only made one change to their team that beat the United States last weekend.
Uncapped, Inverness-born stand-off Tom Heathcote has tonight joined the Scotland squad in Aberdeen in preparation for Saturday’s EMC Test against Tonga. Heathcote, 20, who has already featured in the Heineken Cup for Bath Rugby, has previously played age-grade for England but is “delighted” to accept the call-up from the land of his birth.
Scotland head coach Andy Robinson said: “Tom has worked his way into the Bath first team squad from the academy and we’ve been monitoring his progress for the last couple of years.”
Scotland (3) 10 / 21 (14) Springboks (Final Score)
Scotland and the South African Springboks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 16:30 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Seems that the planners of the End Of Year Tours all colluded to make it as difficult as possible for us to see all the games. This afternoon no less than 3 important Tests takes place at the same time, being Italy vs All Blacks (16:00 SA Time), England vs Wallabies (16:30 SA Time) and Scotland vs Springboks (16:30 SA Time). The other matches following are the Ireland vs Fiji (19:30 SA Time) and France vs Pumas (22:00 SA Time) matches.
Scotland flanker Ross Rennie has been given treatment on his dislocated shoulder suffered in the 22-51 loss to Rugby World Cup champions New Zealand at Murrayfield.
The Springboks may have an alternative captain leading them onto the field for their second tour match against Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on Saturday.
Scotland (17) 22 / 51 (34) All Blacks (Final Score)
Scotland and the New Zealand All Blacks did battle in the End Of Year Tours at Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 16:30 SA Time (14:30 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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The customary time of the year when Southern Hemisphere International teams descend on the Northern Hemisphere is now upon us. We can look forward to four action packed weekends with twenty matches involving the various international teams (nineteen of which will be test matches).
Kelly Brown, the 30-year-old back-row forward, will captain Scotland for the first time in next weekend’s EMC Test against New Zealand. The announcement was made today by head coach Andy Robinson as the national squad’s three day St Andrews camp drew to a close.
Wellington – World champions New Zealand will play Tests against Scotland, Italy, Wales and England on their tour of Europe in November, the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) said on Monday.
Scotland have named a 28-strong playing squad for their summer tour to Australasia (Australia, Fiji, Samoa) which includes Edinburgh Rugby backs Tom Brown and Tim Visser.
Six months ago Chris Paterson announced his retirement from International rugby after 109 International caps but now he’s gone a step further and announced his overall retirement from the game, his last game to be played this weekend.
English coach Stuart Lancaster will now be able to remove less than flattering terms such as ‘caretaker’ and ‘interim’ from his title, with the 42-year-old appointed permanent head coach by the Rugby Football Union board.
Scotland (10) 17 France (10) 23 (Final Score)
Scotland and France did battle in the Six Nations at Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Wales (3) 27 / Scotland (3) 13 (Final Score)
Wales and Scotland did battle in week 2 of the Six Nations of 2012 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff at 17:00 SA Time (15:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & SHD on TV in SA.
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Scotland international fly half Dan Parks has announced that he will retire from playing international rugby with immediate effect leaving Scotland without a first choice pivot for the rest of the Six nations.
Scotland (6) 6 / England (3) 13 (Final Score)
Scotland and England did battle in the Second Six Nations encounter of 2012 at Murrayfield, Edinburgh at 19:00 SA Time (17:00 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1 & M-Net on TV in SA.
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Old hurts and new hopes will all be in the air when Scotland and England start their Six Nations campaign with the latest edition of international rugby union’s oldest match on Saturday.
Scotland coach Andy Robinson is to hand uncapped Edinburgh winger Lee Jones a debut against England in the RBS Six Nations opener at Murrayfield on Saturday.
Wales came from nowhere to win it in 2008 with a Grand Slam to boot. Ireland emulated them twelve months later, France followed suit in 2010 and last year England made it to the top of the pile before their World Cup implosion.
There is nothing to beat the RBS 6 Nations and not merely because of its capacity to spread the title around. Four different champions in successive years had last happened long before the Five became Six, a sequence completed in 1982 when Ollie Campbell’s fusillade of seven goals swamped a lone Scottish try to guarantee Ireland the Triple Crown and, ultimately, the championship.
Twenty-seven-year-old Edinburgh Rugby hooker Ross Ford has been appointed Scotland captain for the opening match of the Six Nations Championship – against England at Murrayfield.
Australian Super Rugby teams will attempt to hold on to their momentum and keep their players match fit in June with friendly matches against Scotland, Wales and a South African Currie Cup team.
The British and Irish Lions have revealed that three of the current Six Nations coaches will effectively be on trial for the Lions head coaching job to be announced later this year.
Almost time for the Six Nations competition. First games will be played in four weeks time. Here is some History of the Championship.
Played annually, the format of the Championship is simple: each team plays every other team once, with home field advantage alternating from one year to the next.
Two points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss and unlike most other rugby union competitions the bonus point system is not used.
Centre Steven Shingler is the surprise inclusion as one of six new faces in Scotland’s squad for the opening two matches of the 2012 RBS 6 Nations.
Despite being born in Swansea and playing for Wales Under-20s, Shingler qualifies for Scotland through his mother Jeanette and his impressive form for English side London Irish has prompted Andy Robinson to include him in the 36-man squad.
Scotland’s most-capped player Chris Paterson has put an end to his 12-year international career, but won’t hang up his boots altogether and will continue playing for Edinburgh.
With the international season taking a bit of a breather, I thought some informative statistics would be interesting. I am looking at the home record of the top nations, seeing when was the last time they lost a home test to each of the other nations.
I would think any nation would expect at least a 75% home win record as the minimm standard to attain. anything less would mean your home ground advantage counts for very little and travelling teams do not find it a daunting task to tour.
Springboks Bjorn Basson and Chiliboy Ralepelle will have to wait a while longer before they know their fate in the ongoing doping saga.
Chilliboy Ralepelle and Bjorn Basson will face a SARU judicial committee at 09h00 this morning. Continue reading
People might think we are making a huge fuss about this Springbok “doping” scandal but I guess they do not see the implications of it for us, as sports lovers, and moreso the impact it has on our already tainted reputation as world leaders in Rugby. For me its a major embarassment, especially to think that our whole team may have been exposed. Continue reading
The chances of more positive tests for banned substances on the Springbok tour appear to be extremely slim.