Scottish Rugby

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Captain Rachel Malcolm believes Scotland's challenging start to the upcoming WXV tournament will stand them in good stead.

The Scots face beaten World Cup finalists Canada in their opening fixture on Saturday before taking on New Zealand a week later. They then play Australia in three straight matches.

"Canada were World Cup finalists last year, so we're definitely not starting off easy," Malcolm told BBC Radio Scotland.

"You want to play the best and be challenged. The focus is on us - we need to start building performances and learn about ourselves.

"There's no better way to do that than playing against some of the best teams in the world who will expose where we're weak. We can learn from that and then go into three Tests against Australia as strong as we can be.

"It will be a tough couple of weeks but an important step in our journey."

Malcolm missed the final three matches of this year's Six Nations, but is back to lead a new-look squad picked by interim head coach Dave Butcher.

Glasgow Warriors trio Imogen Spence, Ceitidh Ainsworth and Nicole Flynn could win their first caps, as could Exeter Chiefs wing Katie Buchanan.

"It's really important at this stage in a World Cup cycle that we have new players coming in. We've had a month-long pre-season and more time on the training park.

"In terms of gelling, we're definitely in a much better place than we were pre-Six Nations."

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Glasgow Warriors have confirmed hooker Grant Stewart has left the club prior to the start of the new season.

The 31-year-old was in his second spell at Glasgow after coming through the academy and making his professional debut in 2018 before departing for Connacht.

He was part of the Warriors side that reached the 2019 Pro14 final at Celtic Park, scoring a try in the match.

Stewart rejoined Glasgow two years ago but has now left the club again after making 61 appearances across his two stints.

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Edinburgh have appointed Michael Hodge as their skills and contact coach on a two-year deal.

Hodge, 37, joins from the Irish Rugby Football Union, where he coached at both under-18 and under-20 level.

He joins Tim Sampson, Brad Davis and Stevie Lawrie in head coach Sean Everitt's backroom staff.

"It's great to complete our coaching team for 2026-27," Everitt said.

"Tim and Brad have already brought new ideas and energy into the environment, and Stevie has continued his brilliant work with our forward pack.

"Michael comes in at a really positive time for the club. He's a young and highly-rated coach who will bring fresh ideas and expertise to our skills and contact work, and that gives us even more to look forward to as we build towards the new season.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do with this playing group at Edinburgh Rugby."

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Glasgow Warriors expect to be challenging for silverware on two fronts again next season despite another summer of high-profile departures, according to assistant coach Scott Forrest.

Huw Jones, Jack Dempsey and Adam Hastings are among a host of big-name players to have left the club after last season.

It was a similar story last summer when Tom Jordan, Sebastian Cancelliere and Henco Venter left Scotstoun, but Franco Smith's side coped admirably, with thrilling runs in both the United Rugby Championship and the Champions Cup.

After topping the URC table at the end of the regular season, Glasgow were knocked out by the Bulls in the URC semi-finals while their European adventure was ended by Toulon at the quarter-final stage.

Forrest believes Glasgow are equipped to go deep in both competitions once again.

"I think the squad, all the players, everyone involved believes we're in a position to go and we want to go better than we did last year," he told BBC Scotland.

"Ultimately, we didn't win last year and that's what it comes down to. Some of the stats around the highest win percentage in a season, finishing top of the URC in the regular season, it's great, but ultimately you want to win competitions, that's why we're all here.

"I know externally, the media, fans will make a deal about [key players leaving the club]. There's a number of internationals that have left, we've not really, in terms of on paper, replaced like-for-like, but I just think that's the nature of where we are. Players are going to move up and out essentially.

"I think we're fortunate that when you look at the guys we have retained, in terms of internationals, it still forms the core of our squad. Scotland's squad is still very similar so we're confident in that. The other side of it is we've got a lot of young players that are ready to step up.

"That group of academy boys that get announced in terms of their progression and signing their first pro deals, a lot of those guys are ready to go, they're just waiting for their opportunity.

"Likewise, we've got the likes of Gregor Huddleston and Seb Stephen, who go and get their first Scotland caps in the summer. We've got young internationals that actually are ready to go and push on and make a name for themselves.

"I think that's the way we look at it. In terms of names on paper, we've lost some high-quality individuals, but I think as a squad we've got the right blend of senior, experienced players and young, motivated professionals that we feel we can go and do something special this year."

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Scottish Rugby has expressed surprise at Sione Fukofuka's Australia appointment, but will receive compensation for the recently departed women's head coach.

The 47-year-old stepped down from his Scotland job after eight months citing "the stress and the strain" of being apart from his family in Australia.

Performance director David Nucifora had said Scottish Rugby fully respected and understood Fukofuka's reasons for leaving.

Now Fukofuka has signed a contract with the Wallaroos until the 2029 Rugby World Cup, although he will not take up the position until January.

"This is an unusual situation in so far as we released Sione on compassionate grounds a week ago," said Scottish Rugby via a statement.

"Whilst we always expected Sione to work again and would never wish to hold anyone back, we were surprised to learn of this news so quickly.

"We have a release agreement in place with Sione, which will allow him to take up his post at the start of 2027, and an agreement in place with Rugby Australia who will pay Scottish Rugby an agreed fee."

Fukofuka was previously United States women head coach, Queensland Reds women attack coach and Wallaroos assistant coach.

He said: "I would like to express my gratitude to Scottish Rugby for their understanding of my family situation and desire to return home to Australia.

"Although a difficult decision to leave the Scottish role, this opportunity allows me to be in Sydney closer to my family. I wish the players and staff all the best for the future.

"I know many of the players and coaches well from my time in the Queensland and Australian systems and, as we transition to a full-time program this year, the opportunity for growth is enormous."

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Former Scotland captain Jamie Ritchie is confident that a switch to Glasgow Warriors will suit his style as he looks forward to reuniting with some old friends.

The flanker, 29, spent 11 years playing with Edinburgh before spending last season in France with Perpignan.

"For me, obviously seeing the success that Glasgow have had over the last few years is a huge motivating factor in wanting to join the group," Ritchie said in a club interview.

"Obviously I know a lot of the boys really well and I have a great deal of respect for Franco Smith's coaching and what he's done here.

"I think the way they play rugby will suit how I like to play and hopefully I can contribute really well here. I'm really excited.

"The biggest thing that comes to mind when we were previewing Glasgow whenever we (at Edinburgh) came to play them was always the threat they had with ball in hand.

"So for me, I'm really excited to be part of that. I think there's parts of my game that can contribute to that being done well.

"I would like to think myself as a reasonably skilful player that I can pass the ball well, so when we're in those forwards pods, that part of my game hopefully can contribute well."

Ritchie is familiar with much of the Glasgow squad through their battles with Edinburgh and from his eight years as an international, which has yielded 63 caps.

"There's a couple of guys who I've known a lot longer than our professional careers," he added. "I was at school with Matt and Zander Fagerson.

"George Horne and I have known each other since we were super young, his mum used to be my tennis coach when I was about four years old.

"And I used to live with Ally Miller when we both came up together at Edinburgh, so there's lots of guys in there that I'm super excited to be back seeing on a regular basis."

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Edinburgh have named Louise Dalgliesh as the club's new women's team head coach.

Dalgliesh joins Edinburgh from the University of Edinburgh where she served as head of performance for women's rugby.

She played 67 times for Scotland in her playing career and has previously worked with the Japan national team as well as Premiership Women's Rugby outfit Sale Sharks.

Dalgliesh has also worked as head coach of the Scotland Women Under-20 programme where she worked with young players, many of which are now emerging in the Edinburgh women's squad.

"This is a role I'm hugely proud to be stepping into," the new boss told club media.

"I've absolutely loved my time at The University of Edinburgh and taking on this position feels like a natural next step.

"I've been part of this city's rugby fabric for a long time, in one way or another, and I already know so many of these players from BUCS and the national pathway. That gives me a real head start, but it also makes this exciting for a different reason – I get to keep building with players I've already seen grow.

"Women's rugby is on the rise, and Edinburgh Rugby are right at the front of that push. I can't wait to get started."

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Scotland interim head coach Dave Butcher has named a 32-player squad for the upcoming WXV series, which features four uncapped players.

Glasgow Warriors trio Imogen Spence, Ceitidh Ainsworth and Nicole Flynn could win their first caps, as could Exeter Chiefs wing Katie Buchanan.

Rachel Malcolm returns to captain the side after missing the last three games of this year's Six Nations through injury.

Anne Young, Evie Gallagher, and Sarah Bonar are also back in the squad after returning to fitness.

However, Francesca McGhie, Lisa Thomson and Emily Coubrough are unavailable because of injuries.

The Scots host World Cup runners-up Canada, world number two New Zealand and Australia at Hive Stadium on 12, 19 and 26 September respectively.

Forwards: Leah Bartlett (Sale Sharks), Holland Bogan (Glasgow Warriors), Sarah Bonar (Harlequins), Hollie Cunningham (Bristol Bears), Elliann Clarke (Glasgow Warriors), Eva Donaldson (Sale Sharks), Evie Gallagher (Bristol Bears), Rachel Malcolm (Trailfinders Women, captain), Elis Martin (Edinburgh Rugby), Rachel McLachlan (Montpellier), Molly Poolman (Edinburgh Rugby), Imogen Spence (Glasgow Warriors), Lana Skeldon (Bristol Bears), Alex Stewart (Edinburgh Rugby), Aicha Sutcliffe (Glasgow Warriors), Demi Swann (Exeter Chiefs), Emma Wassell (Trailfinders Women), Anne Young (Glasgow Warriors).

Backs: Ceitidh Ainsworth (Glasgow Warriors), Leia Brebner-Holden (Edinburgh Rugby), Katie Buchanan (Exeter Chiefs), Shona Campbell (Sale Sharks), Rhea Clarke (Glasgow Warriors), Nicole Flynn (Glasgow Warriors), Rhona Lloyd (Sale Sharks), Helen Nelson (Trailfinders Women), Rachel Philipps (Edinburgh Rugby), Hannah Ramsay (Edinburgh Rugby), Chloe Rollie (Edinburgh Rugby), Lucia Scott (Glasgow Warriors), Meryl Smith (Bristol Bears), Evie Wills (Glasgow Warriors).

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Ollie Smith says a period of soul searching that followed Scotland's November defeats by New Zealand and Argentina was the springboard for a recent upturn in results.

The Scots rounded off the first block of Nations Championship fixtures with a bonus-point win over Fiji, coming off the back of a superb away victory in Argentina and a credible performance in defeat to world champions South Africa in Pretoria.

After taking the scalps of England and France in the Six Nations, Gregor Townsend's side now look forward with confidence to matches against the All Blacks, Australia and Japan a year on from the pain of the last autumn series.

"It's the story of the Scotland team in the past few years - it's always been the what ifs," Smith told BBC Scotland.

"We're so close to doing something so well and it gets away from us. It's just brought us together as a group.

"If you look at how we finished the home series nearly [in November], the performances against New Zealand and Argentina, we were so close against New Zealand and we were 21 points up against Argentina and then ultimately lost.

"The way that some people were commenting on us as a group, I think it really brought us closer together. We really had to look inwardly.

"The Six Nations didn't start the way we wanted to. It was a poor result against Italy but our response against England, the way we finished, playing against France the way we did and putting 50 points on them, I think we really showed the people on the sidelines what we can do and what we can do against the big nations and take it forward into the World Cup next year.

"There's a lot of good rugby to come and a lot of teams that we want to beat."

Scotland won a hard-fought bonus-point victory against a reborn Fiji in a pulsating Nations Championship battle at Murrayfield.

Read the full match report here

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Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend tells BBC: "What an occasion.

"Fiji played really well, we knew they would, I felt they picked their strongest side today and it took a lot of work for us to break them down but also it took a really good defensive performance.

"Fiji didn't really break us that often, in that final quarter the guys were outstanding. We'll take a few positives from that

"The areas we need to work on is when we have all that possession and pressure we have to get seven and 14 points and make it a bit easier for ourselves.

"The maul is an area every team has struggled with in this competition because of the law changes. Credit to Fiji they made it hard for us but we'll look back and there were two or three clear opportunities we should have taken but they made us work for everything.

"I thought our bench did really well. Something I've learned over the last 12 months, the bench can help you change momentum. The players can come up with solutions themselves but the bench can give you energy and solutions but also bravery.

"We're a team that will back our decisions and that put real pressure on Fiji.

"I'm pleased there were no serious injuries today. We changed the team, that was always the plan, we want to build more depth.

"I was really pleased with how well the players who played last week played today and trained this week, it shows how much Scotland means to them.

"We delivered against Argentina, we created a lot against the Boks and learned a lot from that game. We can go into the break now with a positive campaign behind us and a positive Six Nations as well."