Busy busy in other areas at the moment, so with not much happening on the Scottish Rugby front we’re keeping a low profile. However any little tidbits and nonsense will go up on the twitter feed (see the sidebars) until the pre-season excitement starts building…hope you are all enjoying your summer, or as we call it in Scotland, “summer”…

I’m an open-minded guy. I’ve tried sushi, and I even watched ‘The Proposal’ with my girlfriend, once.

So when I arrived in Canada to play rugby I did so without expectations. A good thing I did, too.  Within my first two days I received cultural shocks; shocks that highlighted the differences, both rugby-related and social in nature, between New World rugby nations, and ‘established’ ones.

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Hopefully you were all watching the match as Scotland clinched a historic victory in Argentina at the weekend, but if you weren’t then you can see some highlights here. Article continues…

Moves to Stade Francais were suggested at some point, but big Jim Hamilton has opted to join the big Scottish contingent at Kingsholm. Does this mean that Ross Ford’s lineout will go all to pot again, as it seems to have grown in usefulness since for club and country since Hamilton came back from injury this season…

BBC Story

Nick De Luca has been the unlucky victim of a backs reshuffle by Andy Robinson that sees Simon Danielli in on the wing and Max Evans shuffle in to his regular position at 13. De Luca had some luck making line breaks on the outside of the Argentinian defence last week and presumably the thinking is that Evans’ additional pace (if lesser power) will serve Scotland’s attack just as well if not better in that space. The rest of the team remains largely the same, and there’s still a spot on the bench for our new “ohno” man Scott Lawson alongside revived prop Alasdair Dickinson.

Scotland: Hugo Southwell, Sean Lamont, Max Evans, Graeme Morrison, Simon Danielli, Dan Parks, Rory Lawson, Allan Jacobsen, Ross Ford, Moray Low, Jim Hamilton Alastair Kellock (capt), Kelly Brown, Johnnnie Beattie, John Barclay.
Replacements: Scott Lawson, Alasdair Dickinson, Scott MacLeod, Alasdair Strokosch, Mike Blair, Phil Godman, Nick De Luca.

Chap over on the BBC 606 boards spotted these:

UPDATE: Scotland A have since also lost to Namibia 20-23, and this IRB Cup showing is a stark reminder that with end of season (or otherwise) injuries and so on we are not able to field nearly as strong A touring parties as we perhaps would like. The boys will have to up their game a bit to claim some pride against Argentina in the final game.

Argentina 16 – 24 Scotland

For once in recent Scottish rugby memory we are greeted – nay, even rewarded – by a final scoreline that reflects the actual game that preceded it. Based on the way they played, Scotland should have been the only team that won this match, although time has taught us this doesn’t always mean they would have. Article continues…

It has been confirmed that Scotland Sevens will be representing the land of wild haggis, Nessie and the Buckfast triangle at this years Commonwealth Games. Whether they will send the usual mix of academy players and the legend that is Colin Gregor, or whether they will turn out a team of pro-team ringers as they do at Murrayfield every year remains to be seen. Article continues…

Rory Lawson has been given the nod at 9 for Scotland, presumably to bring some Cusiter-style nuggetry to the half-backs in a side that is otherwise pretty similar to the sort we saw throughout the Six Nations. Article continues…

In English – BBC Alba are to show Edinburgh and Glasgow Magners League games next season.  Granted it’ll be in a language that only 3 men and their sheep understand and every fifth word will be an English word said in a funny way but it is a damn site better than what has gone beforehand!

Congrats to the BBC for doing this – might get some decent numbers tuning in!