Dates for the remaining Six Nations fixtures for women and men have been announced, although some venues and exact times are still to be confirmed.
The rescheduled fixtrues for the men are as follows:
Round 4 – 24/10/20
Ireland v Italy, Aviva Stadium, tbc
Round 5 – 31/10/20
Wales v Scotland, tbc, 14:15
Italy v England, Stadio Olimpico, 16:45
France v Ireland, Stade de France, 20:00
Rumours persist that the Wales game may take place at Twickenham, with the Principality Stadium still in use as a field hospital. Whether that helps Scotland overcome either of their away bogey-venues (TM me) remains to be seen. Scotland could be boosted by the return to the fold of both Richie Gray and Finn Russell, who have been rumoured to be open to a return to international rugby after periods of (largely) self-imposed exile.
Scotland’s coaching staff have also had an adjustment ahead of the new “season” with the previous temporary appointments of Glasgow assistant coach John Dalziel (forwards) and Pieter De Villiers (scrum) made permanent.
With the scrum making leaps forwards during what we saw of the Six Nations earlier in the year, that looks like a great bit of business from the Scotland management.
With Danny Wilson set to take charge of the bulk of the forwards work at Glasgow, Kelly Brown has joined the pro-team as a breakdown-focused coach, returning to the club he left a decade ago.
The Six Nations fixtures will apparently be followed up with a new 8-team tournament including Fiji and Japan that will replace the Autumn Internationals but full details of that are yet to be announced. Competitive rugby in the autumn – can Scotland cope?
The Women’s Championship suffered more cancellations with Italy locking down earlier during the pandemic which means that Scotland’s ladies will be in action during all three rounds of rescheduled fixtures.
For them it will be a rare opportunity for a second block of high-intensity training and top-level fixtures in a year, so on one hand coach Philip Doyle will probably welcome that opportunity for his players. But with one of the team falling ill with Covid-19 earlier in the year, the potential dangers will be closer to home than for some.
Round 4 – Weekend of 24th Oct
Scotland v France
Ireland v Italy
Round 5 – Weekend of 31st Oct
Wales v Scotland
Italy v England
France v Ireland
Round 3 – Weekend of 5th Dec
Italy v Scotland
Finalised details will be issued “in due course”.
More discussion of the new coaching appointments can be found on the podcast.
12 Responses
Gatlands chiefs lost again. Playing poorly, look unhappy with how they are having to play, defense is getting worse.
If i was the chiefs team i would be telling Gatland to ditch the lions and prioritise the team he is failing at.
9/10 losses in a row ? that must be a record for a NZ super rugby side.
It’s enjoyable, though. Must fill him with confidence.
A post on Edinburgh Rugby site stating due to a change in the WRU rules – Schoeman qualifies for Scotland in 2021 not the previously expected 2023. If true splendid news
Where on the Edinburgh site John, couldn’t find it.
You were up early this morning Eli
Its On the official Edinburgh rugby blog, posted by a guy who’s “good at stuff”
……………Looks like this will be your last season with Pierre Schoeman available during international windows. It appears that World Rugby have delayed the move from a 3-year residency period to a 5-year one. It’s moved back from 31/12/20 to 31/12/21.
The practical impact for Scotland is that Schoeman will be SQ in Jul/Aug 2021 rather than Jul/Aug 2023 as had originally been expected………..
The story originates with Rich Freeman, a journalist based in Japan. JRFU put out a statement and World Rugby’s Regulation 8 page has been updated in the footnotes to state that:
(1) The sixty-month residency requirement comes into effect after the cut-off date of December 31, 2021. The residency requirement up to and including December 31, 2021 is “thirty-six consecutive months of Residence immediately preceding the time of playing”.
It is legit, not a rumour.
Would be a real shame if Sutherland, who’s finally over his injuries and hitting real form and being touted by many for the Lions, would be usurped for his Scotland jersey so quickly. I’m curious to see the LH pecking order as Kebble is soon to be SQ as well.
A real turn in fortunes considering where we were with loose heads just a couple of seasons ago!
Indeed Scotty,
I reckon Kebble should start concentrating on TH & maybe next year replace Nel @ Edinburgh.
We will be able to start with Schoeman McInally Fagerson finishing with Sutherland Brown Kebble/Nel
I think Kebble would need A LOT of games at TH under his belt before he could play there internationally, which is unlikely to happen with Zander playing there for Glasgow. I think we’re more likely to see Kebble and Sutherland share the job until Shoeman is qualified next year and then for some real competition for a spot. There will be a lot of saffa accents in the team next year!
I’d like to see Bhatti get back in the mix. On form (e.g. against Aus and towards the end of his time at Glasgow) he’s excellent.
Bhatti must be 5th choice at current by the time rugby starts again right ?
Schoeman
Sutherland
Kebble
Dell
Bhatti/Reid ?
I wish he stayed at Glasgow, i think he could have and was tbh overtaking Kebble at the time of leaving.
He was keeping Kebble out of the starting XV; real shame he left.
I don’t think Schoeman’s ahead of Sutherland, by the way. He’ll have to earn that.