Incorporating rousing National anthems as a “6 Nations” theme sees the introduction of the “Bread of Heaven” t-shirt in ecru and the ever popular “Swing Low” t-shirt launched in a limited edition black & ecru.

Two additional t-shirts complete the line up with the introduction of “Guts & Glory” in grey marl and “Ruck & Maul” in navy blue. This range will appeal to the rugby fan and fashion conscious sport enthusiasts.

Jon Allen commented “After the success of the Rugby World Cup we’re really looking forward to a great “6 Nations” campaign. The new range of “6 Nations” t-shirts takes inspiration from the great rivalry and heritage of this fantastic tournament and will appeal to the ardent rugby fan and the fashion conscious sport enthusiast.”

The company currently has four stores (Bluewater, Westfield-Stratford, Highcross-Leicester & St David’s-Cardiff) & a concession in Debenhams Gloucester. The range can also be purchased online: www.frontup.co.uk.

We’ve also got one T-shirt to give away to a lucky reader (your choice of home nation). To enter, just email your name and address to enter@scottishrugbyblog.co.uk with the subject “Front Up Competition”. Winners will be selected at random and the competition closes on 17th March.

I have recently been contacted by London Rugby Club in Canada asking if I could possibly locate some exciting, young, creative players to go and play in Ontario, two hours from Toronto and two hours from Niagara Falls.

They are looking for a number 8 and a centre who can give them front foot ball and link play with the rest of their squad.

Believe it or not I actually began writing for this blog whilst I was playing for London a few Summers ago. After being knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Ayr in the semi-final and having gone through the gruelling British and Irish Cup I was looking for some relief in rugby terms, but wanted to keep myself match sharp.

I started correspondence with three clubs in Ontario: Toronto Scottish, Balmy Beach and London. Of the three two appeared to be accommodating and only London seemed to be showing a real personal touch. In the space of three weeks I had organised a stay, a job and a rugby plan.

At short notice I flew out to Canada. I had only just finished my exams and I was straight on a plane. You can imagine how relieved I was when someone was actually at the airport waiting for me, rather than it all being some elaborate hoax, but life is better for such risks…

I headed out three weeks before my brother, Andy. We both made home in this student town with a population of about 200,000. It was perfect for us. We were painting houses and sanding decks, clearing warehouses and moving furniture but it was money for food and beer and at that time of year the sun was high and hot.

We were not wanting for jobs and our accommodation was cheap and comfortable. We were well looked after.

In social terms it was fantastic for the tourist. You could make a trip to Niagara or Toronto and Canada Day Weekend, which was one long party, would fall right in the middle of your stay. Once you overcame the national obsession for Tim Horton’s (you’ll find out…) you were glad of the multiple refuelling stops. The club had great ties with gyms and you could keep in shape. You met all sorts of people from concrete pourers, funeral directors to fellow students and even international rugby players. London, like many other Canadian rugby teams, was inclusive and welcoming to all types.

I suppose it helped that the team’s social base was the most popular and busiest bar in the centre of London’s main strip…

Three months my brother and I spent in London and we were both sad to leave and happy to have had the experience.

Since then London have dropped a division, but they still boast a number of quality players from age grade internationals to full Canada caps and coaches from Wales to New Zealand. They would give you a chance to play rugby in scorching heat amongst good friends and play your own way. That is what they want.

There will also be the chance to coach their seconds or thirds or even their women’s team. If you have the skills they can cater for you.

All London would ask is that you could commit to at least 3 months of time in the area and that you could attain a work visa for a short stay. It is perfect for students or those unwilling to go on the same old clichéd Gap Year. Their president would be happy to help you through this process and everything can be talked over: no one works in absolutes.

Believe me when I say that if you are a young, inventive, attacking player this is the sort of environment where you can thrive and that you can make good friends for life. If you think you would be interested in this great social and rugby-driven opportunity and you would be willing to commit then contact me at alan[at]scottishrugbyblog.co.uk and everything can be discussed in more detail.

Round 14 in the RaboDirect PRO12 sees the newly-minted Heineken Cup quarter-finalists entertain last year’s Celtic League runners-up in a vital match at Murrayfield.

Edinburgh Rugby won last year’s fixture, 23-16, largely thanks to the boot of Greig Laidlaw, but with only one win in their last five RaboDirect PRO12 outings, Michael Bradley’s team will have to be at their very best to down the Ospreys in this crucial clash. We’ve got 5 pairs of tickets to give away.

To Enter: COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

Are you the biggest fan in the RaboDirect PRO12? Follow them on @RaboDirectPRO12 and join Europe’s premier straight talking rugby fanbase by using #RaboPRO12.

Dove are always being nice to your skin and they’ve asked if we’d like to be nice to you, our faithful readers, and of course the answer is always yes. To be in with a chance to win 2 tickets for Edinburgh’s crunch game just drop us an e-mail and we’ll get the tickets posted out to the winner after the draw on Wednesday (18th) at noon. We’ve got three pairs to give away.

To enter: ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

Please only enter if you are based in the UK and can attend the game at Murrayfield on Sunday 22ndth, kick-off 3.15pm.

Dove Men+Care™ offers a range of personal care products that are formulated especially for men that deliver superior care. The deodorants offer 48 hour protection with unique caring ¼ moisturizer technology and the shower gels are clinically proven to fight skin dryness. For more information about Dove Men+ Care products visit, www.dovemencare.co.uk

For exclusive footage of Shane Williams and Will Greenwood please visit www.youtube.com/dovemenrugby

To have a chance of winning tickets to this inter-city festive cracker, simply answer the following question:

Q. What was the final score the last time Glasgow and Edinburgh met at Firhill?

ENTRIES ARE NOW CLOSED

Terms and conditions:

The winning entry will be selected at random from correct entries submitted. There is no cash or prize alternative. Tickets will not be posted but collected at Firhill on match day.

Specsavers – Official Sponsors of RaboDirect PRO12 match Officials

Specsavers understands that vision is vital to good sportsmanship, and its sponsorship of referees helps to ensure refs can see more clearly. The newly developed Specsavers Fairplay league demonstrates Specsavers commitment to making sure the game is played in good faith.

The Specsavers Fairplay League rewards the best disciplinary record, with the team with the fewest disciplinary points (1 point for each yellow card, and 3 points for each red card or upheld citing) at the end of each season given £10,000 to spend on their youth development programme.

To find out which team is the fairest of them all simply log on to http://www.rabodirectpro12.com/statzone/specsavers_fair_play_league

The event is one which will commemorate the rich history and unique competition of the Calcutta Cup, celebrating one of the oldest rivalries in sport. Former Scotland back-rower, and competitor in Scotland’s memorable victory over England in 2000, Stuart Reid felt it important to help set up this event. Perhaps more significantly, though, he and those at Glengoyne Whisky felt it important to align this event with some prominent charities.

On the eve of Scotland and England’s opening match in the RBS Six Nations past and present players (including: Jim Telfer, Fin Calder, Scott Hastings, Gary Armstrong, Brian Moore, Matt Dawson and Mike Teague) will join under the banner of the Auld Enemies dinner, but also under those of Help for Heroes and the Bill McLaren Foundation.

As we were told at the launch the two charities, one aimed at rehabilitating wounded servicemen and women, the other aimed at gifting rugby opportunities to youngsters, were happy to be associated with such an illustrious new event. The panel were in agreement, though, that they were humbled even by association with such noble causes.

The event itself was a formal one, though. I found myself looking on in reverence at those there to represent Help for Heroes. I watched as Stuart Reid, Finlay Calder and Gregor Townsend floated around the room, getting pulled away for chats between stop-offs at the shortbread plate. Cameras tried to catch glimpses of natural conversation- which there was plenty of.

Inevitably talk turned to rugby matters.

Calder in particular did not hold back when talking about the Scotland team at the World Cup. He did attest that “If you went back to the 2003 tournament, when we got through after scrapping for a last-minute try from Tom Smith, and 2007, when it was really close against Italy, they weren’t exactly glorious, so it [failure to reach the quarter-finals] was maybe coming. We went away in eighth place and came back in ninth [in IRB rankings], so it wasn’t a hanging offence, and we had a tough group,” in front of several journalists before following up with ““I couldn’t understand them taking off key players, guys playing the best rugby of their lives. Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford and Euan Murray I’d have on for the full monty” with Townsend, in earshot, simply smiling.

He conceded to me that this was perhaps still the fashionable thing to do, but was senseless when players were “having the game of their life”.

Calder is a man who is still very passionate about rugby. I could tell this as he ambushed me just when I thought it was safe to take my first sip of coffee. We spoke about what he thought of the fantastic wins at the weekend and he was full of praise for the young stand-offs Weir and Leonard. He finds the young Glasgow 10 “impressive” and by the third time he cracked the joke “Harry Leonard: he’s about 12 isn’t he?!” before going on to praise Bradley for consistently selecting him and telling of his promise, you knew he was pleased with the 19-year-old’s work.

Townsend agreed. “Both [Weir and Leonard] have done very well. Obviously this is Duncan’s second season at pro level, but he has made really good progress this year controlling games. Both 10s are learners. They want to get out there, see what they need to work on and actually do the work during the week.

“It’s been great seeing Harry come through as well because he’s only 19-years-old and for his third game at professional level to be a Heineken Cup victory away from home, that is going to give him a lot of confidence. Both of them know they are at the beginning of their career so there is still a lot to work on but it is really great from a coach’s point of view that we’ve got good young Scottish players standing up.”

In fact everyone at the event was impressed with Leonard. He is one of those nice surprises: a young player that comes out of obscurity to perform, thankfully, without too much media pressure or the pressure of lauding peers. So is Townsend leaving Edinburgh be, to nurture this talent until the right time for him to get his hands on him?

“We work fairly closely. I’m in Edinburgh one day a week and then Glasgow one day a week talking with Harry about his game and then Duncan. I have gone through with Duncan every match he has played at a professional level. It is an integrated process. Obviously their coaches at Edinburgh and Glasgow work with them much more than us and if they believe that they should be selected then great, but it is fantastic to see we’ve got more options coming through in key positions.”

In Glasgow this is predominantly the case. So many new contracts have been handed out for that very reason. In the Glasgow versus Bath game in particular the youngsters were at the fore. Someone asked me via Twitter after that game if Simon Taylor, in his battles with that young Warrior back-row, looked good enough to pip those to a Scotland recall. I doubted it, particularly after Lineen chose to heavily praise Harley and Wilson after the game. Nonetheless, I put this to Townsend: was there scope for recalls?

“That is an interesting question, that. If players are coming back in to help the development of other young Scottish players –obviously if they are Scottish qualified -then we’ll look at that as well. With the question of bringing in players we’ve got to make sure the balance is right, and they’re not keeping someone out but helping them on, particularly in areas where we’ve got strength. Back-row is certainly a position we’ve got a lot of strength.

“[Bringing older, experienced guys in to work with youngsters] depends on who’s available. What has been shown over the last couple of months is that young players have stepped up. You’ve got Rob Harley who was in this situation a year ago when Glasgow had a couple of injuries and he took his chance and has now proven himself to be one of the best players in the Glasgow squad, captaining them and leading the tackle count in the Pro12.

“Opportunities are there for young players and they are there for experienced players as well, but it is hard to look at a global picture. It is case by case.”

And with that everyone left, looking to the past but wandering into a future which felt slightly more secure. There was just enough time to grab another word with Calder who now wanted to speak about club rugby and back-rowers in that field.

He certainly has views: he reckons that the Club split has shown that eight teams look stronger than all others and that the league should be shortened further to that number, rather than a ten-team Premiership next season. He would also agree that there should be expanded participation in the B&I Cup. After all, Melrose and Ayr did very well in that competition at the weekend.

When he found out I played for Heriot’s he also wanted to make sure I knew he was a fan of Scotland 7s star Struan Dewar and then asked how destructive break-away Michael Maltman was getting on at Moseley. Good, I thought. See you when we play Stew Mel? Ok, sure.

He is aware of young rugby players and he passionately believes in bringing Scottish rugby forward. It is a good sign, then, that both he and Scotland Attack Coach Townsend like what they have seen in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Hopefully both teams, and both young 10s, prove them right in Round 2 of the Heineken Cup.

For more information on the Glengoyne Auld Enemies dinner visit their site. Booking information is found therein. Please do also visit Help for Heroes and the Bill McLaren Foundation sites.

Picture you and your mates in a camper van touring around with spending money to spend on excursions of your choice for example adventure excursions, stadium tours, tickets for rugby matches, plus you’ll receive enough McCoy’s to eat along the way. Sounds pretty amazing doesn’t it!

All you have to do is pick up a bag of your favourite Man Crisps to be in with the chance of winning one of four McCoy’s road trips. Not only that, but every pack entitles you to 10% off at SportsDirect.com!! Keep your eyes peeled for promotional packs in store and new scrumptious, limited edition Pickled Scrumion and Ruck of Ribs McCoy’s which have just hit stores nationwide in time for the Rugby World Cup.

And if you weren’t lucky enough to win first time round McCoy’s are giving you ANOTHER chance via the McCoy’s Facebook page, where you can take the Man Test for the chance to win the final 5^th ticket for the McCoy’s road trip.

For more information check out www.mccoys.co.uk or search for McCoy’s on Facebook. Terms and conditions can be found on the following link http://www.mccoys.co.uk/html/promo/terms.php.

McCoys New Rugby Man Crisps

But that’s not all:

Win yourself a month’s supply of Man Crisps, a Scottish rugby shirt and a £20 voucher for SportsDirect.com all thanks to McCoy’s

To celebrate the launch of McCoy’s New Zealand road trips promotion mentioned above, our friends at your favourite Man Crisps are also giving you the Scottish Rugby Blog reader a chance to win a Scotland Rugby Shirt, a month’s supply of McCoy’s and goodies from SportsDirect.com!

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is answer this simple question:

What are McCoy’s new limited edition flavours?

(A) Pickled Scrumion and Ruck of Ribs
(B) Hines Beans and Hot Geoff Cross Bun
(C) Sponge & Cusiterd and Richie Tea Biscuit

Post your answer in the comments section below, making sure you’ve left a valid email address (don’t worry, no one else can see it). Facebook or syndicated readers, please come on over to the site and comment here so we don’t miss your entry! Competition will close in about a week.

Go to www.mccoys.co.uk, search for McCoy’s on Facebook and see if you’re man  enough to take the Man Test. Terms and Conditions can be found on the following link http://www.mccoys.co.uk/html/promo/terms.php

It has useful information on events, travel etc and will also contain up to date information on the Scottish Embassies which are being established in Invercargill, Wellington and Auckland.  The embassies will provide a safe haven of good beer, good grub and good craic for all Scotland fans.

A million thanks go to Colin in Wellington for this invaluable resource!

As a travelling foot-soldier of Scottish Rugby you’ll know fine well that just as important as the game is the craic before and after games.  Part of the fun in travelling to any new city is finding new drinking dens where a spot of libation can be found.  Well, the good folks at Lion Nathan have agreed to put on Scottish Embassies in Invercargill, Wellington and Auckland through their Macs and Speights pubs.

More info will appear on the blog but also make sure you go to the facebook page – ScotlandRWC2011 where much more info for Scotland fans can be found.

 Also check out the Speights and Macs websites for specific info on venues:

http://www.macs.co.nz/brewbars/

http://www.speights.co.nz/Home.aspx

• The inaugural competition was held in 1987, co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand
• The 2011 tournament in New Zealand will be the seventh Rugby World Cup
• It will be the largest sporting event ever held in New Zealand, with around 70,000 visitors from all over the world expected to attend
• -The 2011 Rugby World Cup will take place over seven weekends from the 10 September to the 22 October
• The final, to be held in Auckland, is scheduled for New Zealand’s Labour Day long weekend
• New Zealand’s preparation for the event received an A+ rating from the chairman of the International Rugby Board
• 20 nations will compete in the tournament
• The opening match will be between New Zealand and Tonga
• Since its inception, the first game of every world cup has been kicked off with the same whistle
• The whistle was first used in a 1905 match between England and New Zealand – the All Blacks won 15-0
• The most tries by an individual team in a world cup match was 22, scored by Australia against Namibia in 2003
• The final score in that game was 142-0 – the biggest winning margin ever in a world cup game
• The most tries by a player was 6, scored by Marc Ellis for New Zealand against Japan in 1995
• The most tries by a single player in a tournament was 8, scored by Jonah Lomu for the All Blacks during the 1999 tournament
• Most appearances by a single player: Sean Fitzpatrick of New Zealand made 17 appearances for his country across three tournaments (1987, 1991, 1995)

If you’re thinking of following the action this year, try the DialAFlight website, where you’ll find plenty of cheap flights to New Zealand.