Rugby Six Nations update: Scotland

Scotland host Ireland in Six Nations opener at Murrayfield in Edinburgh

The Scotland National Team host the 2014 and 2015 champions Ireland in the opening match of the 2017 RBS 6 Nations Championship on February 4, 2017. The Scots then travel to France in the second week of the championship to compete against the French National Team at Stade de France in Paris. In the third round, Scotland welcomes Wales to BT Murrayfield Stadium on February 25 in Edinburgh, UK. On March 11, 2017, England host Scotland at Twickenham Stadium. Next Scotland host Italy on March 18 at Murrayfield Stadium in the first of three games on "Super Saturday", the final day of the RBS Six Nations championship. After the match, the bars and food areas will stay open for the entire day so rugby fans at the stadium can watch the rest of the day's rugby union action on the big TV screens around the stadium.

2017 Scotland Six Nations Tickets

Great Six Nations tickets for Scotland fixtures are on sale now from LiveRugbyTickets.co.uk – even for sold out matches! Buy Scotland RBS 6 Nations tickets now online!

Scotland v Ireland Tickets 4 Feb Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, UK
France v Scotland Tickets 12 Feb Stade de France Paris, France
Scotland v Wales Tickets 25 Feb Murrayfield Stadium Edinburgh, UK
England v Scotland Tickets 11 Mar Twickenham Stadium Twickenham, UK
Scotland v Italy Tickets 18 Mar Murrayfield Stadium Edinburgh, UK.

Popular Scotland flanker Magnus Bradbury is confident the best is yet to come after signing a new three-year deal at Edinburgh. Twenty-one-year-old Bradbury made his debut for Scotland in the 2016 Autumn Internationals as the Scots defeated Argentina at BT Murrayfield. Bradbury feels confident as he turns his attention to the upcoming 2017 RBS 6 Nations Tournament after linking his future to Edinburgh until 2020.

"It's great to know I'll be part of this team for another three years, as I'm excited along with the rest of the boys about where we can take the club. I love Edinburgh and there's a great group of people at the club, and that is a huge reason for me to stay,” said Bradbury. “It's also great to have the opportunity to continue playing my rugby in Scotland as I look to build on my cap. Now, for me, it's about getting as many as I possibly can."

"We're delighted that Magnus has signed a new three-year deal at the club,” said acting Edinburgh Head Coach Duncan Hodge. "Magnus has worked very hard to get to this point, and his training ethic and determination to continue improving shines through every single day. He drives standards and is a great example to the other young players in the squad. Securing an asset such as Magnus is a real statement of intent going forward." Gregor Peter John Townsend is a former Scottish rugby union player who is the current Head Coach of the Glasgow Warriors. Townsend represented both Scotland and the British and Irish Lions winning 82 caps for Scotland and 2 caps for the Lions. Townsend believes Scotland and Glasgow Warriors have a man for the occasion in Finn Russell. Fly-half Russell has noticeably improved in recent months and with an exciting upcoming RBS 6 Nations Tournament coming up in the New Year, Russell is expected to shine. Twenty-four-year-old Russell was influential in Glasgow's impressive double-header victory against Racing 92 in Europe, and was key in getting another ten points over Edinburgh on Saturday. See match report below.

Scotland is getting prepared for their RBS 6 Nations opener with Ireland on February 4, Manager Townsend is counting on Russell's experience - which includes eight games in the Championship, tp have prepared him to be a winner in the Six Nations games. "He loves a challenge, he loves big games," said Townsend. "There's a lot more to come from Finn and a lot more to come out of his game. He can play better, a lot better. I thought he played better in the away game. He's full of confidence, his running game is coming through, he's taking defenses on with ball in hand and some of his kicking has been excellent. He's the first to admit that there are two or three things that he'd like to have back again. That happens a lot at 10 as you have so many decisions to make. It helps you making decisions through experience. Like any of our players, we want to express them, play to their strengths, be confident in their own ability. He's obviously very confident just now, going to bottle that and keep that for the rest of his career.”

Match Report
Edinburgh 12-25 Glasgow
Edinburgh (6) 12
Pens: Weir 4

Glasgow Warriors (15) 25
Tries: Bulumakau, Strauss, Dunbar Con: Russell 2 Pen: Russell Drop-goal: Russell

Head Coach Gregor Townsend was delighted with his Glasgow Warriors side’s recent hard-fought Pro12 Derby win in Edinburgh as the Warriors ended a run of three league defeats with a 25-12 victory at Murrayfield. Glasgow team spirits were also boosted with back-to-back successes against Racing 92 in the Champions Cup. "We can be a lot better but it's great that we've built on those last couple of wins," said Townsend. "We've not won here in the last two seasons and we needed a big performance." Junior Bulumakau and Josh Strauss gave Glasgow a 15-6 lead at the interval, with Alex Dunbar adding in the second half. Edinburgh were limited to four Duncan Weir penalties. "Derby games can be physical affairs where the rugby doesn't flow as much," added Townsend after the game. "There was some good rugby from both teams though. Good defense. I think we needed about a hundred phases for Alex Dunbar's try!

Bulumakau took advantage of a Blair Kinghorn error for the first try. Edinburgh responded and then Glasgow lost Alex Allen to the sin bin with a yellow card before going 6-5 behind. "Once we got the man in the sin bin we played our best rugby of the game," continued Townsend. "Scoring early is not always a blessing and Edinburgh had most of the ball and the referee seemed to penalizing the defensive side a lot more. It was tough for us to get any rhythm and a couple of times we weren't accurate enough. Once we got the ball, we looked much better. We should have scored a try in the first 10 minutes of the second half when we were really on the front foot. It's three tries and we had opportunities to go to four, so there's a fair bit to build on.” "Our forwards played really well, line-out drive and line-out defense was good,” added Townsend. "Brian Alainu'uese and Josh Strauss really got us over the gain line with their ball carrying. but we didn't get to the number of phases we normally do."

Edinburgh had won the last three derbys at Murrayfield, but could not find a way to score even once. "It's a huge disappointment," said acting head coach Duncan Hodge. "We just couldn't quite get close enough. We had possession and territory but couldn't convert it into points. We didn't get enough quick balls. The ball they had was probably quicker and they made better use of it. It didn't seem like there was a lot of space out there for both teams to really attack well. The last 15 minutes of the first half was a big turning point. We conceded five or six penalties in a row and they managed to get in front." Both sides travel to Italy at the weekend, with Warriors taking on Treviso and Edinburgh at Zebre."We need to pick ourselves up and get some league points on the board," said Hodge. "We've got to learn and move on and today we didn't do that and that upsets us all."

Squads

Edinburgh
Blair Kinghorn; Damien Hoyland, Chris Dean, Phil Burleigh, Tom Brown; Duncan Weir, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne; Alasdair Dickinson, Ross Ford, Simon Berghan, Ben Toolis, Grant Gilchrist, Magnus Bradbury, Hamish Watson, Cornell du Preez. Replacements: Stuart McInally, Allan Dell, Murray McCallum, Fraser McKenzie, Viliame Mata, Sean Kennedy, Jason Tovey, Glenn Bryce.
Glasgow Warriors
Stuart Hogg; Junior Bulumakau, Mark Bennett, Alex Dunbar, Lee Jones; Finn Russell, Henry Pyrgos; Alex Allan, Fraser Brown, Zander Fagerson, Brian Alainu'uese, Jonny Gray, Rob Harley, Simone Favaro, Josh Strauss. Replacements: Pat McArthur, Ryan Grant, Sila Puafisi, Adam Ashe, Chris Fusaro, Ali Price, Nick Grigg, Sean Lamont.