Scottish Rugby

We asked for your views after Scotland were drawn with Ireland, Uruguay and Portugal in Pool D at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Here's what some of you said:

Andy: Shocker of a draw for Scotland that will most likely see us out the tournament before the crunch games start. While unlucky to be in group where runners-up immediately face a group winner, Scotland need to focus on one game v Ireland that will determine their fate and I have zero confidence in Gregor Townsend to deliver a win when it's most required.

Kenny: The draw this time has been much kinder when compared with the last World Cup draw. Ireland, as always, should prove difficult to beat but we must be confident of getting through to the latter stages this time. The real question lies in what team(s) are we going to meet thereafter.

George: Scotland have to beat Ireland in the Six Nations and show all what they are made of. The other two games should be won but it's Scotland remember. We should make the next round at least.

Sean: Townsend has never beaten Ireland - despite their own drop in form I can't see that changing, particularly given all signs of lack of ability to turn up and perform in big games (notably against Ireland). That would most likely leave France in the round of 16, which all points to another abject early WC exit.

Ross: Ireland have had our number for many years but it may not all be that bad. Versus the likes of England, South Africa, France and Argentina, Ireland are in a slump with ageing players. It's whether we can improve and start putting in 60-70 minute performances.

Scotty: There's effectively just under two years to go before this tournament kicks off and a lot can happen in two years - two Six Nations and a Nations Cup to be exact. While Scotland clearly struggle against Ireland, the other teams that are on our side of the draw we have beaten before and hold no fear.

Callum: This is becoming boring, three World Cups in a row we've been drawn with Ireland! Surely there is a better way of mixing up the draw. With all the changes being made to the game to make it more entertaining, this is something World Rugby should look into.

Nigel: This looks an interesting and not a favourable draw by any means. Portugal are up and coming, Uruguay did well in the 2023 WC, and Ireland just love playing against Scotland don't they?

Hear from head coach Gregor Townsend and captain Sione Tuipulotu after Scotland draw Ireland, Uruguay and Portugal in Pool D at the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Plus, Tom English and Andy Burke analyse Scotland's chances and preview Glasgow and Edinburgh in the Champions Cup this weekend.

It's all on the latest episode of the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast - listen and subscribe on BBC Sounds.

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Scotland centre Sione Tuipulotu is looking forward to the challenge of the 2027 Rugby World Cup after finding out their opponents for the competition.

The Scots will be in pool D alongside Portugal, Uruguay and Ireland for the tournament in Australia in two years' time.

It's the third World Cup in a row that the two nations have been in the same group and Townsend's men have not had an easy time against the Irish in recent years.

In fact, Ireland have won the last 11 meetings between the sides.

"I think if you would have picked any of the top-six teams and put them in our draw, we're sitting in the exact same situation we're sitting in right now," Tuipulotu.

"It's just exciting times. It's kind of strange, two years out from a World Cup, seeing the draw and the different format as well, and trying to work out how things work. But I think it's extremely exciting, and we've got two other pretty tough teams in our pool as well who performed pretty well at the last World Cup. So we know what's in front of us now.

"Ireland have been a hurdle that we've struggled to get over and personally I think it's something that we're going to have to do over the next two games [against them], and to try and tackle that just before we go to the World Cup.

"Having that Lions experience as well with that, sharing the training field with a lot of those players and getting coached by a lot of their coaching, I think our players have taken a lot from that as well.

"It's interesting now with the journey of both teams and we're going to meet at the World Cup again in two years, but maybe that's the way it's supposed to be.

"That is our reality now and we've got to try and tackle that because in order for us to go perform as best we can or progress as deep as we can, we have to beat Ireland and that's just a reality we've got to get over that.

"It's a challenge that I'm really looking forward to as well. Because, like you say, I consider some of those boys my friends now and there's no one who you want to beat more than your friends.

"So I look forward to playing those boys in the Six Nations, as I'm sure they'll look forward to playing us."

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Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend stresses the importance of beating Ireland in the upcoming Six Nations to give his side a confidence boost for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Ireland and Scotland have faced each other 143 times and the Irish have come out on top in 72 of those meetings, in fact they haven't lost in the last 11 meetings between the sides.

Townsend's men will face off with the Irish before 2027 in the Six Nations and the Scotland boss is urging his side to break their 11-game winless run.

"We'll respect all three teams we have to face but obviously Ireland are a team that has beaten us pretty regularly these last few years," he said.

"We'll have to be better to beat them.

"We have two occasions - one in Dublin, one at Murrayfield - before the World Cup. The goal is always to beat Ireland and the other teams in the Six Nations but it's even more important now.

"It will be more difficult in the World Cup if we don't manage to beat Ireland in the next two meetings."

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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If there was one team Scotland fans did not want to be drawn with in their World Cup pool, it was Ireland.

Perhaps you would throw the Springboks into that mix, but given how infrequently the Scots play the world champions, South Africa have not inflicted the same psychological damage as the Irish have over the past few years.

Ireland have beaten Scotland in their last 11 meetings, and arguably the two worst Scotland performances in that run were in the World Cup pool matches in 2019 and 2023.

There is a theory that Ireland are starting to slip from their lofty heights, that they are an ageing team and perhaps some of their key players don't have another World Cup in them.

We'll know more in just under two years when the action starts Down Under, but Scotland need to find a way to crack the Irish code before then.

Uruguay and Portugal should not represent any problems, so we can at least be almost certain Scotland will make it out their pool for the first time since the 2015 World Cup.

Scotland have been drawn against Ireland, Uruguay and Portugal in the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

We want to know what you make of that draw. Are you pleased with Scotland's opponents? How do you feel about the chances of progressing?

Have your say on Scotland's draw via this link

Grant Young
Fan writer

Do Glasgow have a problem? Or is this part of the new SRU journey?

A humiliating defeat away to Scarlets for Glasgow restarted this block of fixtures the way no Warriors fan could imagine.

A defeat is bad enough but to not even register a point and be completely outplayed by the URC bottom club is galling.

Glasgow in past seasons have tended to have a couple of blips, but the slip-ups have come early this term with defeats in Italy and now Llanelli.

More could be on the way as the changes SRU performance director David Nucifora has made are clearly being felt by the pro team coaches.

Glasgow last season on the same weekend against the same opponent not only scraped victory but had a back-row of Ally Miller, Henco Venter and Jack Mann. This term it was the impressive Gregor Brown, inexperienced Angus Fraser and breakout backrower Macenzzie Duncan.

It's a much less experienced line-up and it showed. Will fans need to accept short-term struggles before seeing the growth the Nucifora plan apparently promises?

At least Glasgow should be bolstered by the return of international players for the Champions Cup opener at Sale on Friday night.

Got any burning questions on Scottish rugby? As usual on a Monday, we're giving you the chance to put your questions to our reporters, Tom English and Andy Burke.

Send them in via this link and a selection of answers will be published on this page later in the week.

'A wins a win for a' that', Rabbie Burns would have probably written if he was an Edinburgh supporter. I suspect his allegiances might have lain elsewhere but the sentiment remains regardless.

The side we selected to take on what was always going to be a depleted Ospreys team had full debutants, players making first starts and players making first appearances of the season but it also had a core of experience running through it. It should have had enough in it to win at home against Ospreys and on that assessment alone it was job done.

However, it was a horrible watch and at no point in the 80 minutes did it feel like we had the game tied up. The fear that bubbled under throughout reached the surface after Ospreys got back to within a penalty of snatching the points.

There was a lot of hard work done by the forwards. A 100% completion record for both scrums and lineouts. There were also big numbers of carries by the pack. The back line however was largely devoid of any sort of penetration, invention or cohesion.

Duhan van der Merwe did have a big involvement in a couple of tries, unfortunately they were Ospreys tries and apart from Harry Paterson's late score the best moment of the game was hearing the Murrayfield stand choir chanting "Duhan made a tackle, na na na".

Findlay Thomson's player of the match award came with the comment that it was a hard pick. I'd have given it to Liam McConnell for his turnover which effectively secured the win in the closing minutes. Only Harri Morris put in more tackles in Edinburgh colours.

We missed Darcy Graham because without him the only back that looked like he knew how to avoid a tackle was Wes Goosen. We also missed James Lang for his experience and link play.

A full 80 minutes from the excellent Grant Gilchrist as well as nearly a full shift from Paul Hill probably reflect that this turned out to be a much harder game than anyone expected.

It may have been more prosaic than poetic but it was still an important win in the context of a tough period that starts with a visit this weekend from French giants Toulon who are sitting pretty in third in the Top 14.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external.

We asked Glasgow and Edinburgh fans for their views on their teams' URC weekend action.

Glasgow lost 23-0 to Scarlets and Edinburgh edged out Ospreys 19-17.

What Glasgow fans said:

Tom: I was at the game and could not believe none of our players were able to keep the ball for more than a couple of phases. Coughed up possession and handed a desperate Scarlets team momentum and hope. Jare Oguntibeju and Dan Lancaster were the worst on the night but everyone was culpable. I hope Franco Smith gives them a rocket for letting the fans down.

David: Dismal performance from what should be a top-level team, albeit not with their first-string players. They had better players with a higher skill set than Scarlets, however they were pushed around in the scrum and couldn't challenge the line-out with any consistency. It also seemed that any time they had possession they'd elect to kick, give away penalties, drop the ball and generally played as if there was no plan. If you want to win the season you really can't afford to take your foot off the pedal.

Garry: It looked like the classic example of 'never underestimate your opponent'. Scarlets turned up expecting a tough game and Warriors didn't turn up. Very poor display from Warriors. Scarlets earned that win.

Kenny: Hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong here. Basically nothing seemed to go right. The lengthy international breaks always seems to disrupt much of the club season each year, yet Scarlets handled this situation much better than us.

What Edinburgh fans said:

Keith: A win is about all you can say. Good performance from Harri Morris with a try and perfect line-out, but should have won that easily considering opposition.

Adam: A frantic performance and a team clearly rusty from lack of playing time together, while the same could not be said of this Ospreys team. They were a huge pack by the way. We were lucky to win, so easily could have gone the other way. I am not sure about Ross Thompson at fly-half, his poor kick gave Ospreys their first try. His kicks for touch were generally poor, while his running game just doesn't bring any class to our performance. I would prefer to look to Cammy Scott, maybe someone who can make it happen in this position.

Stair: Edinburgh lacked invention and really struggled against a poor Ospreys team. The introduction of Scott changed the attacking intent of Edinburgh. Although they struggled to see out the game, they were far more entertaining in the last 20 minutes.

Rod: Two very poor teams. Edinburgh with endless mistakes, too many box kicks to nowhere and very little, if any, imagination in attack versus an Ospreys team who were even worse. Someone needs to finally sort Edinburgh out. We won but this was embarrassing. If this continues next week RC Toulon will win by a landslide.

Glasgow failed to register a point as they suffered a mauling away to Scarlets in the URC.

Warriors fans, what did you make of it?

Let us know here.

Edinburgh picked up a third win in this season's United Rugby Championship as they came from behind to beat Ospreys by two points.

Read the full match report here.

Have your say on the game via this link.

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Wing Kerr Johnston will make his first Glasgow Warriors start away to Scarlets on Saturday evening.

The 21-year-old has not featured since making his debut as a substitute nine months ago.

Ten of the 23-man squad were involved in Scotland's autumn internationals, although Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Steyn, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey and Jamie Dobbie are rested, along with Zander and Matt Fagerson.

Ollie Smith gets a run at outside centre, combining with captain for the day Stafford McDowall.

Scrum-half Ben Afshar makes his first start of the season after coming off the bench in the past two United Rugby Championship matches.

Scarlets sit rock bottom of the table after four successive defeats, while the Warriors lie third with four wins from their five outings.

"We are excited to kick off an important block of fixtures over the next 10 weeks," said head coach Franco Smith.

"The whole squad has worked hard over the last couple of weeks to put ourselves in the best possible position, as we know that the way we apply ourselves will be extremely important."

Glasgow Warriors: McKay, Rowe, Smith, McDowall, Johnston, Lancaster, Afshar; Bhatti, Matthews, Schickerling, Craig, Oguntibeju, Brown, Fraser, Duncan.

Replacements: Hiddleston, McBeth, Talakai, Williamson, Samuel, Miller, Horne, Hastings.

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Hooker Harri Morris and centre Findlay Thomson make their first home starts for Edinburgh against Ospreys on Saturday.

They are joined by returning Scotland trio Pierre Schoeman, Grant Gilchrist and Duhan van der Merwe, while Dylan Richardson, Marshall Sykes, and Magnus Bradbury make the bench after the autumn internationals.

Darcy Graham and Ewan Ashman are rested after their heavier workloads for Scotland.

Ben Muncaster returns from an ankle injury to make his 50th club appearance and he will have 21-year-old duo Liam McConnell and Tom Currie for company in the back row.

"There is a good balance between youth and experience," said head coach Sean Everitt.

"Ospreys are a side that fight for everything, so we'll need to bring a huge amount of energy."

Edinburgh sit 11th in the table, two points above the Welsh visitors.

Edinburgh: Goosen, Wells, O'Conor, Thomson, Van der Merwe, Thompson, Vellacott; Schoeman, Morris, Hill, Hunter-Hill, Gilchrist, McConnell, Muncaster, Currie.

Replacements: Richardson, Venter, Blyth-Lafferty, Sykes, Bradbury, McAlpine, Scott, Paterson.

BBC Sport Scotland's Andy Burke has been answering some of your questions in the wake of Scotland's Autumn Nations Series.

Alistair asked: Is the writing on the wall for Gregor Townsend if he's coming out with claims that Scotland fans are entitled? He should know it comes out of endless optimism.

Andy answered: I suspect if Townsend could take back his "entitlement" quote that he gave to us on BBC Radio Scotland after the Tonga match, he would.

My sense when he said that was perhaps the comment was directed more at us in the media who were critical of him and the team in the aftermath of the Argentina capitulation, as opposed to a direct pop at the Scotland fans. That would be an unwise tact to take for any national head coach.

However, the criticisms voiced in the media by journalists and pundits – that the team has a habit of dropping off badly in games, as they did when leading 21-0 against the Pumas - are opinions shared by many Scottish rugby supporters, and that's why Townsend's comments have been interpreted the way they have.

I agree any expectation around Scotland comes from seeing what they can deliver at their best. It's just they're not delivering it enough to reach the heights we all wants to see them get to.

Stuart asked: Where do Scotland go from here after a mediocre autumn campaign? Can we ever really challenge the top teams?

Andy answered: The sense has never been stronger that this Scotland team has reached its level and is unable to break through to become contenders.

We know they can be devastating at their best, self-destructive at their worst. On that front, we have learned nothing new this autumn.

Townsend will still be in charge come the Six Nations, and many feel we already know what we can expect from Scotland – two, perhaps three wins at a push. But even that looks a tall order.

England have finally got their act together, and they and France will come to Murrayfield as favourites. Scotland have never won at the Aviva Stadium, and even allowing for Ireland's own current problems, they will still be a formidable test in Dublin.

As Scotland found out on their last visit, Italy in Rome is no gimme, while Steve Tandy will fancy he can raise his Wales team to give the Scots a real test in Cardiff.

I really hope Scotland surprise us and enjoy a successful campaign, but looking at the fixtures right now, it could be a very challenging Six Nations.

Sandy Smith
Edinburgh Rugby fan columnist

A month of Scotland games should have helped put Edinburgh's capitulation against Cardiff firmly in the rear view mirror, but the national side's inability to close out a good start against Argentina instead served as a grim reminder of what we are coming back to.

The best thing to come from this period was the lack of serious injuries among any of our players - with the exception of a leg problem D'Arcy Rae suffered against Argentina.

The next phase of the season includes a return to the Champions Cup and the 1872 Cup matches, but it all starts this weekend at the Hive against the Ospreys in the URC.

It should be noted this game kicks off just a little after Wales' match against South Africa concludes at the Principality Stadium.

On the face of it, that's a boost for Edinburgh as it undoubtedly means Ospreys will be without any players involved in that game, as well as the superb Jac Morgan who was injured earlier in the autumn.

However, Edinburgh could also be without a few Scotland players, who may be granted a rest week. While no players participated in all four Scotland games, a few had to put in a bit more grunt than some of their peers.

Pierre Schoeman only played two games, but that included the full 80 minutes against Argentina.

Darcy Graham played three games and the most minutes, while Ewan Ashman probably had the best series of any Edinburgh player in Scotland colours, scoring four tries in three games.

Further afield, Boan Venter can point to three wins for South Africa, although that might not earn him a rest.

We now have 11 games before the Six Nations starts, and a decent block to get our season back on track. With the aforementioned circumstances of this weekend's game, we should get that block off to a decent start.

The start isn't where the worries lie though. The finish? Well, that's a different story.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external.

On the latest episode of the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast, Tom English and Andy Burke review the Autumn Nations campaign and ponder whether a "new voice" is needed as national team head coach.

They also look forward to the World Cup draw on 3 December and celebrate the rise of history-making Scottish referee Hollie Davidson.

Listen and subscribe on BBC Sounds

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Glasgow Warriors centre Huw Jones has become only the second-ever Scot to be named in World Rugby's 'Dream Team of the Year'.

The 31-year-old has enjoyed a scintillating season for club, country and the British and Irish Lions, although he missed Scotland's autumn internationals through injury.

And while it has not been a year to remember for the national side, Jones has impressed, grabbing a hat-trick in the Six Nations opener against Italy and a further score in the 16-15 loss to England.

Jones' form earned him selection for the tour of Australia, where he was one of 11 Lions players to start all three Tests, scoring in the second match as Andy Farrell's side secured series victory.

At club level, Jones scored six tries in 10 appearances for Glasgow last term.

The World Rugby 'Dream Team' began in 2021, with former full-back Stuart Hogg in the inaugural year the only other Scot named.

World Rugby team of the year: Ox Nche (South Africa), Malcolm Marx (South Africa), Thomas du Toit (South Africa), Maro Itoje (England), Tadhg Beirne (Ireland), Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa), Tom Curry (England), Harry Wilson (Australia), Cam Roigard (New Zealand), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (South Africa), Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France), Len Ikitau (Australia), Huw Jones (Scotland), Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa), Will Jordan (New Zealand).