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!

Chris Cusiter has all but ruled himself out of at least the first test due to his wobbly knee, in stating he expects not be able to train fully till later in the week. Robbo had earlier said he would need to be training by today to be considered for inclusion. Argentina’s squad contains a number of familiar faces but reassuringly still no Juan Martin Hernandez, who seems to have been in hiding since about 2007.

Argentina squad:

Forwards: Patricio Albacete (Toulouse), Marcos Ayerza (Leicester), Alejandro Campos (Montauban), Manuel Carizza (Biarritz), Agustin Creevy (San Luis), Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (Toulon), Genaro Fessia (Cordoba Athletic), Juan Figallo (Montpellier), Mariano Galarza (Universitario de La Plata), Mario Ledesma (Clermont), Juan Manuel Leguizamon (Stade Francais), Rodrigo Roncero (Stade Francais), Martin Scelzo (Clermont).

Backs: Horacio Agulla (Brive), Lucas Borges (Albi), Felipe Contepomi (Toulon), Santiago Fernandez (Hindu), Agustin Figuerola (CASI), Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino (Leicester), Alfredo Lalanne (London Irish), Ignacio Mieres (Stade Francais), Martin Rodriguez (Atletico del Rosario), Gonzalo Tiesi (Harlequins).

Full team news later in the week.

Don’t forget it is live on the telly, Saturday 12th June. This should potentially be a great audience pull for the Beeb north of the border given that it lines up against coverage of England vs USA in the round ball game, but sadly more people will probably want to watch ITV1 – and shout at their TVs about how they don’t care about 1966 and stop being so biased whilst drinking Tennents and wearing their ABE shirts etc – than watch BBC2 Scotland (free from jingoistic adverts) and support their countrymen (and Dan Parks) doing something positive.

Trust me, you’ll still get a chance to shout at the TV.

A quick post on last night’s bore-fest against Japan.

Free entry, a free programme, minimal queues to grab a beer and a sunny evening.  The perfect recipe then to see a strong Scotland side warm up with a convincing victory over a Japan select?  Well not really, as despite all the potential it was really a bit boring.  Article continues…

While I was away stuck in the wilderness, it seems quite a lot has happened on the rugby front: Article continues…

The revelations of the last few days that the SRU don’t want to tour the big southern hemisphere nations because it will stifle our developing players has, understandably, been met with disdain from some quarters. Robbo says “as far as our overseas tours are concerned I do not believe it would be beneficial for us to play a series of three Tests against the individual SANZAR countries at the end of our season. What I believe works for us, from a performance perspective, is a mix between SANZAR and Tier 2 unions as that gives us the opportunity to develop players which is part and parcel of touring”. Meanwhile, a great number of Scottish fans will be saying, “WOW! Look at him spin!”

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Seeing as there is nothing left for the Scottish teams to think about now the season is done, here are some transfer tidbits as attention turns to next season for the pro-teams and everyone else gets to thinking about the summer tours. Article continues…

…As well as a few old ones. Ally Hogg continues the rehab of his playing career and he will be one of the old heads relied on to guide the younger players through the tournament. I would also look for hooker Fergus Thomson to make a big push here for senior selection in the autumn too, cementing his end of season form for Glasgow, with hulking winger Rob Dewey also on the comeback trail.

Interesting to see the two junior Blair brothers as the only real candidates at 10 in the absence of Ruaridh Jackson, although there are a couple of other fresh(ish) faces in the backs selection like former Watsonian Bryan Rennie and Bath youngster Jack Cuthbert.

Scotland A squad

Forwards: G Cross (Edinburgh), J Eddie (Glasgow), C Forrester (Glasgow), C Fusaro (Heriot’s), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Ryan Grant (Edinburgh), A Hogg (Edinburgh), A Kelly (Edinburgh), S MacLeod (Edinburgh), F Thomson (Glasgow), K Traynor (Edinburgh), S Turnbull (Edinburgh), R Vernon (Glasgow), J Welsh (Glasgow)

Backs: A Blair (Edinburgh), D Blair (Edinburgh), B Cairns (Edinburgh), J Cuthbert (Bath), R Dewey (Glasgow), J Houston (Edinburgh), G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), M McMillan (Glasgow), B Rennie (Exeter), M Robertson (Edinburgh), C Shaw (Scotland 7s and Glasgow), N Walker (Ospreys)

Sorry for the belated piece, guys; I’m currently playing rugby in Canada and have been enjoying, *ahem*, what North America has to offer. That is a report for another day, though…

So the Premier 1 season is done! Over! Finito! And what a surprising and refreshing season it has been for Scottish Club Rugby. With all the grumblings about the proposed changes to structure and format for the top divisions and whether it is what ‘amateur’ rugby needs, and a rumoured step away from an allegedly ailing cup competition perhaps it is a good time to reflect on the positives of this season.

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