AT THE end of a week which saw two of their key players sidelined for months, Glasgow Warriors could have done with ending their South African stint with a morale-boosting victory. Instead, they stumbled to their most error-strewn and embarrassing defeat of recent years against opponents who won only once in the whole of last season in the PRO14.
SCOTLAND coach Gregor Townsend has highlighted the threat posed by hosts Japan after the two countries were drawn together in Pool A for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Ireland are the top seeds in the pool, which will be completed by two qualifiers yet to be decided.
GLASGOW got their European Champions Cup campaign off to the perfect start last night with a four-try, five-point victory.
FORGET the Rugby World Cup and the respective fortunes of the two teams there. This was a traditional Calcutta Cup match, with an all-too- traditional outcome.
ANYONE seeking a summary of Celtic’s problems in Europe this season need have looked no further than Scott Allan’s chequered contribution in their game against Ajax last night.
GLASGOW stand-off Finn Russell has insisted that his team can still qualify for the knockout stages of the European Champions Cup despite their 26-15 home defeat by Northampton on Saturday night.
IN the PRO12, Glasgow can play below their best for large swathes of the game yet still emerge on top, such is their attacking prowess. In European competition, as was shown on Saturday night at Scotstoun, anything below top form is almost certain to be severely punished.
JAPAN shocked South Africa - and made the rest of the tournament sit up and take notice - with an extraordinary, historic victory over the former world champions.
THE hushed, historic surrounds of Edinburgh University’s Old College library may be among the last places you would expect to meet Nathan Hines, but here he is all the same. It’s Tuesday afternoon, Vern Cotter has just announced his Scotland squad for the Rugby World Cup, and Hines, one of the head coach’s assistants, is here to discuss that selection and how it will be used in the tournament.
SCOTLAND 48 Tries: Lamont 2, Barclay, Visser 2, Bennett. Cons: Laidlaw 2, Russell. Pens: Laidlaw 4. ITALY 7 Try: Campagnaro. Con: Allan.
