Scottish Rugby

BBC Sport Scotland's Andy Burke has been answering some of your Scottish rugby questions.

Stuart asked: Can Glasgow beat Toulon and go all the way in the Champions Cup?

Andy answered: I make Glasgow favourites to beat Toulon, but it will be another stern test.

Warriors are unbeaten at Scotstoun in a year, Toulon are 11th in the Top 14 and their record on the road is poor.

That being said, the French side are packed with quality players who, if they click into gear, are more than a match for anyone.

As with the Bulls last week, it will be a huge challenge for the boys up front, but as Toulouse, Saracens, Leinster and the Bulls have all found out this season, Glasgow have the steel in the pack to go with the style out the back.

I fancy Warriors to find a way through Toulon, perhaps by a score. A semi-final against Leinster at Murrayfield would be a titanic battle. I'd say Glasgow would still be slight underdogs, but they could do it.

Can they go all the way? I think on neutral ground in Bilbao, Toulouse or Bordeaux would be too strong were they to face one of those sides in the final. But let's take it one game at a time!

Paul asked: A lot has been said about the coaching set-up at Edinburgh, but should the playing squad get a refresh?

Andy answered: In a word, yes.

You would like to think Edinburgh will be announcing some signings in the near future. The club needs to give their fans reasons to believe next season is going to be better than what their team has served up in this dismal campaign.

I think the midfield needs serious surgery. Nobody has grabbed the number 10 jersey and made it their own, and although Ross Thompson showed glimpses of quality against Leinster, a tried and tested playmaker must be a priority. A nine to provide some proper competition for Ben Vellacott – who thrives with front-foot ball but whose game management can sometimes be suspect – would be a smart move.

The centre partnership has chopped and changed far too often and to little effect. I would like to see some upgrades in that department.

With Boan Venter departing in the summer, some loosehead prop cover will also be required.

That's a lot of work needing done and it's unlikely Edinburgh will go beyond Scotland to sign players in all those positions, so we have to hope there are some properly talented academy players waiting in the wings to step up.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Scotland head coach Sione Fukofuka expects Wales to adopt a power game when the sides meet in Saturday's Women's Six Nations opener on Saturday.

The sides last met in the opening match of last year's Rugby World Cup, when the Scots ran out convincing 38-8 winners in Salford.

But Fukofuka, who leads Scotland for the first time having taken charge of the team in January, expects a much tighter encounter at Cardiff's Principality Stadium.

"The rivalry probably doesn't have to be spoken about too much," Fukofuka said. "But the intent that we've approached this week in particular has been really, really exciting, so just now looking forward to kick-off.

"When you watch that [World Cup] game, it took a long time for Scotland to break that team down. Wales stayed in the contest, so we're expecting them to come with a lot of physicality.

"We're expecting them to compete everywhere, the collision zone in particular. They've picked a 6-2 bench, so it's a bit of a telling sign that they want to come physically at us.

"We're really prepared and pretty confident in the work that we put in that we're ready for what they're bringing."

Francesca McGhie, who scored a hat-trick of tries in that World Cup victory over Wales, has just missed out on the matchday 23 as she recovers from a shoulder injury, with Fukofuka expecting to have the wing available to face England at Murrayfield in round two.

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"Nothing has changed" at Edinburgh despite an improved performance against Leinster, says BBC Scotland's chief sports writer Tom English.

Sean Everitt's side were beaten 49-31 in the last 16 of the Champions Cup at the weekend, a result that effectively ends their season.

"I think Leinster showed Edinburgh zero respect," English said on the BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast. "I thought there was a terrible arrogance about what Leinster were trying to do. It was astonishing.

"Edinburgh's pressure and physicality was right up there to force interceptions and knock-ons. They dug in, they made a game of it. They lost it by plenty in the end but that was better than I thought they would do.

"Edinburgh have a very good pack, even though they might be missing a few. I thought they would come out all guns blazing, their season was riding on it.

"We see from Edinburgh that there's a good team desperately trying to break out - maybe not trying that hard but there is a good team there.

"They have a lot of decent things in place but it just never comes out or it will only come out for 10 or 15 minutes in the game.

"That performance didn't change anything for me. I think they need big change, not just at assistant coach level.

"They need to remove Sean Everitt, I think Edinburgh deserve a better, more experienced coach and then we might see Edinburgh move up a level."

Tom English and Andy Burke are on the road at Oriam reflecting on Glasgow and Edinburgh's fortunes in Europe as well as previewing Scotland's Women in the Six Nations and Glasgow Warriors' home Champions Cup semi–final against Toulon.

Will Edinburgh's season finish on Sunday if they lose to Leinster? Will an Edinburgh defeat mean the end for Everitt? And can Glasgow do something special in the Cup without affecting their URC campaign? Tom and Andy have you covered.

Is there a good team waiting to come out following Edinburgh's performance against Leinster at the weekend? How far can Glasgow go in the competition?

Tom and Andy are also chatting to new Scotland Women's attack coach Dave Butcher about why he's left his family in Canada to coach Scotland, plus full back Chloe Rollie and captain Rachel Malcolm fill them in on their preparations for the Six Nations and their opening match away to Wales at the Principality stadium.

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Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm admits her side might have to take a step backwards in some areas at this year's Six Nations, but is enthused by a new era with the national team.

Australian Sione Fukofuka replaced Bryan Easson as head coach in December, with defence coach Tyrone Holmes also leaving the set-up.

Caity Mattinson, Lisa Cockburn and Jade Konkel ended their international careers after last year's World Cup, with the latter among players critical of Scottish Rugby for a perceived lack of support for the women's national team.

The Scots are also without key players Anne Young and Evie Gallagher through injury.

They start their campaign in Cardiff on Saturday against Wales, who they beat 38-8 at the World Cup.

"If I look at it from a realistic perspective, I don't think it's going to be perfect. I don't know where we're going to be," Malcolm told BBC Scotland before the Six Nations opener.

"I'm very confident in the work we've done, but it is a new cycle. We've had two weeks as a group.

"It's exciting because we're going to see where we're at. Until you're put in that Test match arena, you don't know.

"I think there might be a step back in some areas, but hopefully a step forward in more."

Malcolm might not be sure where Scotland will stand in this year's Six Nations, but she knows where they want to get to.

"We are at the start of a new cycle, but by the end of this cycle we don't want to be seen as an underdog," she said.

"We want to be a team that other teams see as a threat and to do that we need to string together consistent performances.

"We want to be a team fighting in that top four, five teams in the world and we're at an exciting point in that journey. Everything's new, everything's fresh."

Grant Young
Fan writer

Two of the URC's biggest teams went head to head on Saturday as Storm Dave tried its best to disrupt the Champions Cup last-16 match between Glasgow and Bulls.

Some of the other ties in the competition were basked in sunshine but not Scotstoun as all four seasons hit in the space of two hours.

Both teams were packed with internationals and left it all on the table with a space in the quarter-finals at stake.

The returning Stafford McDowall carried incredibly and hit his tackles like life depended on it. His reaction and cheer when he scored in the corner was deserved.

Josh Mackay was superb at 15 despite the wet and blustery conditions and was unlucky to not get on the scoresheet.

The game was marred with handling errors which is to be expected in the conditions but definitely something the coaching staff will look to tidy up before they face French giants Toulon in the next round.

A one-point victory over Stormers was enough for them to make the trip to Scotstoun on Saturday.

The French side have struggled domestically but have set their sights on Champions Cup success this season.

With a squad littered in international class to call upon, a great set-piece and a monstrous pack, it will be an almighty battle on Saturday.

Can Glasgow keep believing all the way to the semi-finals?

Sandy Smith
Fan writer

I had a plan for Sunday's game against Leinster - watch until it becomes too painful.

Leicester being carved apart by Bordeaux in the afternoon just reinforced that plan.

The first interception try we scored this season came last week with James Lang's pitch-length effort, so to score a further three by the interval this week was a surprise that gave me enough hope to keep watching.

We even took the lead in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it four minute period in the second half before that all too familiar last 20 brace restored the natural order that referee Luke Pearce seemed all too keen to promote.

The penalty given against Darcy Graham for pushing over the Leinster defender being a prime example.

I think Ian Madigan on commentary and Pearce were the only people who didn't see Ryan Baird have a good look, move to the side, turn his back on Graham and then audition for an Oscar.

Ross Thompson scored two excellent tries and had a good game overall, but was inconsistent off the tee.

One snatched, and one scored after it fell off the tee with five seconds left on the shot clock, and another hit the post. The two misses, had they gone over, would have seen us seven points clear at 61 mins. Psychologically, that might have helped.

Incidentally, did the push on Piers O'Conor by Caelen Doris in the run-up to Thompson's second try not merit some kind of sanction?

It was also unfortunate that we subbed off Dylan Richardson just before the play that led to Darcy Graham's excellent try.

Ben Muncaster - who has had a hard time injury-wise - went down in the lead up to that score. A tiring Richardson would surely have been better than an out-of-position Glen Young.

It would have been all too easy to see the whole game go south after being 14-0 down after just nine minutes, but Edinburgh stuck to their task and at least went down fighting.

The headline is that the rest of the season is academic, and the footnote is that it will be 2028 before we might see this competition again.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external

Do you have any burning questions for our rugby experts after Glasgow Warriors reached the Champions Cup quarter-finals with a win over Bulls and a last-16 defeat for Edinburgh at Leinster?

Maybe you want to know more about Warriors' future plans with hooker Johnny Matthews being the latest summer exit to be announced.

Send in your questions via this link and a selection will be answered and published on this page later in the week.

George O'Neill
BBC Sport Scotland

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McDowall a top-class operator

The biggest surprise in Franco Smith's team for this massive last-16 match was his decision to pick Stafford McDowall at outside centre over British and Irish Lion Huw Jones.

McDowall was immense on a grim afternoon of wind and rain in Glasgow. He made a searing break that led to Warriors' first try and scored in the corner himself in the second half.

He was the standout performer for the hosts in a game where they had to dig deep against a team stacked with Springboks.

Smith's faith in youth pays off

When George Horne was forced off with an ankle injury in the first half, many Glasgow supporters would have feared the worst.

Horne is a bundle of energy and embodies much of what is good about Glasgow's attacking game.

However, 23-year-old Ben Afshar came off the bench and hardly put a foot wrong on the big stage.

There are several other examples in this Glasgow side of players that Smith has blooded, building depth by trusting youth and inexperience.

Just look at Gregor Hiddleston, Max Williamson and Alex Samuel.

Glasgow are real deal

It didn't really need this result to confirm it, but this Glasgow team are serious candidates to win not only the URC but the Champions Cup too.

They have won all of their European matches this season and are four points clear at the top of the URC league table.

Bulls might be eighth, but they were the last team to beat Warriors at Scotstoun and the physicality they bring is a challenge for any side.

Glasgow stood up to that challenge and the conditions, all while playing their attractive brand of attacking rugby.

Even a team of Toulon's stature will feel trepidation travelling to Scotstoun next weekend.

We asked for your views on Glasgow Warrior's 25-21 win against Bulls and Edinburgh's 49-31 defeat against Leinster.

Here's what some of you said:

Glasgow Warriors

Kenny: A tense game throughout but, even when Glasgow were behind, you felt like they'd eventually get their noses in front in the second half. I love that they kept trying, and sometimes succeeded, to play rugby even in conditions like these. Job done and on to the next one.

Chris: The confidence of knowing you can be 21-0 behind at half-time against the six-times champions and come away with a win. The way Glasgow have stuck to process shows that it will take one of the very best in Europe to beat them.

Stuart: Another big result shows why they are excelling on both fronts. The players and coaches won't say it but us fans can dream of something special this season.

Alan: Definitely a game for the forwards in that weather, and they all fronted up, but I thought Josh McKay was great. Secure under the high ball time and again, and his superb break in the last couple of minutes sealed the game.

Andrew: A true test of character to overcome a strong Bulls side in those conditions. Stafford McDowall has a strong case to stay ahead of Huw Jones for the time being, he is such a consistent player.

Edinburgh

Ewan: Three gifted tries hide the facts of another poor showing. The team played well but were never going to get the win. Amazing heart by the team but tactical naivety in not recognising Leinster's playbook left us bereft of ideas again. Wounded heroes who deserve better leadership.

Steve: Defensively at times the Edinburgh players didn't seem to trust the team-mate inside them and became narrow as a result. I just don't think Edinburgh are good enough in certain positions, and the coaches don't get as much out of the players as our west coast cousins seem to. Season over for Edinburgh, so hopes hang high on Glasgow.

Gordon: Edinburgh's attack was, yet again, shown to be impotent. Yes, they did score five tries, three were interceptions, one was due to poor Leinster defence and one was a piece of individualism. They had no phase play whatsoever in the Leinster 22 and very little in the Leinster half.

James: Edinburgh have a quality bunch of players, where the coach for the past three years has failed to build a winning culture. They lack creativity, the inability to score tries off phased play, the leaky defence is not where this team deserves to be. The SRU management have failed the players, the supporters and the national team, by extending the coaches contract for another two years.

Tom: Edinburgh were never going to win but it did show that Leinster can be sloppy. Leinster get so many penalties, some debatable, that you are always going to be playing in your own 22, so to beat them you need a defence that makes them take multiple phases to get into the red zone. Edinburgh can't do that and so lost too many tries. However, losing several players to injury didn't help. Can't criticise their effort and commitment, though.

Scotland fly-half Helen Nelson is certain her teammates won't underestimate Wales in their Six Nations opener, after they beat their rivals 38-8 at the World Cup last year.

Leinster turned on the style in the second half to beat Edinburgh 49-31 in a chaotic Investec Champions Cup last-16 game at the Aviva Stadium.

Read the match report here.

Have your say on the match here.

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Lock Alex Samuel believes Glasgow's fitness was crucial as they ground out a narrow victory over Bulls to reach the last eight of the Champions Cup.

Warriors trailed 14-12 at half-time as rain and wind battered Scotstoun, but Franco Smith's side wrestled the advantage in the second half to secure a 25-21 victory.

Samuel and his teammates will welcome French side Toulon to Scotstoun next weekend for their quarter-final.

"Bulls certainly brought it, I'm just glad we dug it out in tough conditions," Samuel said.

"There's a bit of rivalry ever since we went over there and won the URC. I think that's good for the sport.

"We're aiming high in both competitions, but we're just taking it match by match. Franco doesn't let us get too far ahead of ourselves. It's about Toulon next week, we're focused on that.

"We back our fitness all the time. We don't work so hard in pre-season to not dig out victories. We're one of the fittest teams in the competition and our second half performance shows that."

Glasgow Warriors battled past Bulls to reach the Champions Cup quarter-finals in an attritional and thrilling scrap in the rain and wind at Scotstoun.

Read the match report here.

Have your say on the game via this link.

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Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith speaking to Premier Sports: "It is play-off rugby, it is always going to be tight.

"Look at the Stormers earlier, it will be 80 minutes of it which is why I held the bench back a bit. It's good to introduce the boys to a bit of play-off mentality.

"They are a very determined side. They are starting to click, they came with a good plan for the weather. I have a lot of respect for Johan and what they are doing there.

"Stafford [McDowall] and Huw [Jones] are such quality players. They allow each other to be the best of themselves. Stafford deserved an opportunity."

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Skipper Kyle Steyn and four other Scotland internationals return to Glasgow Warriors' starting line-up for the Champions Cup last-16 tie with Bulls on Saturday.

Steyn leads from the wing while tight-head prop Zander Fagerson, number eight Jack Dempsey and fellow back-rows Matt Fagerson and Rory Darge also bolster Warriors after Six Nations duty with Scotland.

George Horne, who was rested for last weekend's URC win over Benetton, starts at scrum-half and Dan Lancaster is preferred at 10 to Adam Hastings. Huw Jones is not in the squad, with Stafford McDowall at outside centre.

Glasgow are seeded second having taken 20 points from 20 in the pool stage and another home tie awaits in the quarter-finals should they beat the South African visitors at Scotstoun.

"We are fully aware of the challenge that the Bulls will bring; they have a squad filled with international-calibre talent and have a strong track record of competing in knockout fixtures," said Warriors head coach Franco Smith.

"We know that we must front up to face what the Bulls throw at us, and training this week has been highly competitive with everyone driving each other forward."

Glasgow Warriors XV to face Bulls: McKay, Steyn, McDowall, Tuipulotu, Smith, Lancaster, Horne; Schickerling, Hiddleston, Z Fagerson, Williamson, Samuel, M Fagerson, Darge, Dempsey.

Replacements: Stephen, Bhatti, Talakai, Oguntibeju, Ferrie, Fraser, Afshar, Hastings.