In a time of abject misery for the Scotland rugby team – we probably need to be a bit more specific here, it was 2014 – a fearless radio interviewer stuck a microphone in front of the face of Scott Johnson, the gruff Aussie who was interim coach at the time. Scotland had just suffered … Read more
Allegations of Scotland’s misplaced bullishness in advance of Ireland matches since 2018 are a bit of a misnomer, the comments of Darcy Graham this week, and Blair Kinghorn before the 2023 World Cup clash at the Stade de France notwithstanding. You take umbrage where you can find it as O’Mahony did after the game last … Read more
Ireland team announcement at 2pm Key reads: Join The Irish Times Rugby WhatsApp channel to stay up to date with all the latest Six Nations news, and get The Irish Times rugby coverage sent direct to your inbox by signing up to Gerry Thornley’s Counter Ruck newsletter. Scotland have gone for a new-look secondrow in … Read more
When will we ever learn? As in learn not to rush to judgment after just one round. Recall way back in time – well, a mere four weeks ago – when all three Celtic nations lost on the opening day for the first time since 2000. Warnings followed about the championship being on the road … Read more
Gregor Townsend remained ice cool after Scotland’s exhilarating seven-try victory against France, which keeps them in the hunt for the title with one round to play, a position Scotland have never known in the Six Nations. The win was no big deal, he seemed to be saying. “There have been other games where it’s probably … Read more
Duhan van der Merwe has once again found himself out of the Scotland picture after being dropped for their Six Nations Championship clash with France. In a number of intriguing decisions from Gregor Townsend, Van der Merwe has been replaced by Darcy Graham while Zander Fagerson finds himself on the bench in a 6-2 split … Read more
Following the conclusion of round three of the 2026 Six Nations, we pick out the winners and losers from the weekend. Ireland, Scotland and France emerged victorious this weekend and in doing so, remained in the running for the title as the competition pauses for a rest week before resuming for the final fortnight of … Read more
Following a dramatic 16-15 victory for England over Scotland in the Calcutta Cup clash at Allianz Stadium, we pick out our winners and losers from the Six Nations encounter. Gregor Townsend’s men launched a late effort to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but Steve Borthwick’s side held on to claim the Calcutta Cup … Read more
Scotland have been widely praised for refusing to let Finn Russell return to the pitch after suffering a head injury in the defeat to Ireland on Sunday. But questions have been asked of the concussion protocols following the clash with the fly-half actually passing the test. Russell collided with Darcy Graham at the end of … Read more
The BBC didn’t say, instead they asked on their website what everyone else thought. But in the question was the answer. “What do Irish think of latest Scotland collapse?” it said. Matt Gault, their chief sportswriter, also answered the question in a later piece and set Ireland off on a course to win the competition … Read more