The Monday Bulletin (3rd February): AC/DC headed for Murrayfield and World Cup Sevens to be scrapped
Today at 08:06 AM
by COLIN RENTON
Double disappointment for Scots in Celtic Challenge
It was a disappointing weekend for both of Scotland’s teams in the Celtic Challenge, with Edinburgh losing 5-26 away to Gwalia Lightning, which was their third defeat on the bounce after starting the campaign with back-to-back wins, while Glasgow Warriors remained winless from four matches played so far following a 21-64 thumping by table-toppers the Wolfhounds. Edinburgh are now fourth and Glasgow Warriors fifth in the six-team table, with five and six matches left to play respectively.
6N: Scotland v Italy debrief: a win to savour but more evidence of progress required
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6N: Scotland v Italy: Scotland player ratings
Henderson signs Tigers extension
Scotland lock Cameron Henderson has signed a contract extension with Leicester Tigers. The 25-year-old, who made his international debut in 2023, has been with Tigers since 2020. He returned from injury in December and started six consecutive games in the league and European Cup, taking him past 50 appearances for the club, and was called into Scotland’s Six Nations training squad last Monday.
AC/DC headed for Murrayfield
AC/DC, the legendary Australian rock band, has announced that they will return to Europe this summer to continue their 'POWER UP' tour, with 12 gigs scheduled across the continent, finishing up at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Thursday 21st August 2025. Tickets for the shows will be available from 10am on Friday 7th February.
Sydney set for global showdown
Sydney will be the venue for the final of the 2027 World Cup. An enlarged competition will feature 24 teams, with 12 spaces already allocated and the remainder being decided this year. Six other cities will host the earlier matches in the tournament, with Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle and Townsville also on the agenda.
Big scores on opening day of Euro Champs
At the same time as the Guinness Six Nations was kicking off over the weekend, the second tier Rugby Europe Championship was also getting underway. The competition is played in two groups of eight with the top two in each group qualifying for the knock-out phase as well as securing a place at the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Georgia launched their bid for a 17th title with a 110-0 drubbing of Switzerland. Meanwhile, evidence of the growing interest in the tournament came in the form of a sell-out crowd for the match between Spain and Netherlands in Madrid, with SRU referee Sam Grove-White in charge, which the hosts won comfortably 53-24. Elsewhere, Belgium produced this stunner against Portugal before eventually going down 40-30.
Les Belges en feu face au Portugal ! Quel essai en première main de Florian Remue avec une puissante percée de Jens Torfs ! pic.twitter.com/Ox7IKv7W0L
— Gauthier Baudin (@GauthierBaudin) February 1, 2025
World Cup sevens set to be scrapped
World Rugby is scrapping the Sevens World Cup, according to Spanish media reports. The men's competition started in 1993 and was joined in 2009 by a women's event. It was last played in 2022. The sports daily, Marca, claimed that World Rugby has informed the Spanish federation that the competition will be removed from the calendar. In future, the winners of the global circuit will be crowned world champions.
Steelers show their mettle with big win.
While Scotland were launching their Guinness Six Nations campaign with a bonus point win over Italy, international hooker George Turner was helping his new club, Kobelco Kobe Steelers, to a comfortable victory over Ricoh Black Rams. The 32-year-old came off the bench in a 44-15 win that leaves Steelers, who are coached by Dave Rennie and Mike Blair, in mid-table with three wins from six matches. Meanwhile, Greig Laidlaw's Urayasu D-Rocks occupy the basement slot in the table with a first win still proving elusive.
Wallabies heading for Belfast challenge
Several players likely to feature for Australia against the British & Irish Lions will be on show this Friday when Queensland Reds face Ulster in Belfast. Among those listed as set to appear in the match, labelled the Bank of Ireland Mid-Season Challenge, are Fraser McReight, Tate McDermott and Harry Wilson. Ulster will also be fielding several star men including Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale and James Hume.
Franco in the frame according to rumours
Glasgow Warriors coach Franco Smith is being touted as a possible replacement for Michael Cheika, who has announced that he will leave Leicester Tigers at the end of the season. Cheika has overseen an upturn in fortunes at the Mattioli Woods Welford Road outfit, which currently occupies fourth spot in the Gallagher Premiership table. However, he is keen to return to Australia after seeing out the one-year deal he agreed last year. Speculation has linked Smith with a possible switch, while former Munster boss Graham Rowntree is also said to be in the frame, and another possible contender for the job is Stuart Lancaster, who has been sacked by Racing 92.
Melrose secure two-year CGI sponsorship deal
Melrose Rugby have announced a new two-year sponsorship deal with CGI, one of the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world. The agreement will see CGI support and grow Melrose's well-established youth section as Principal Partner of the Club's Youth Camps. Thanks to CGI's support, Melrose will host up to four camps this calendar year at the Greenyards. CGI has also funded a brand-new rugby inflatable for the club to use during games at the Greenyards where young children can play while testing out their rugby skills.
Six Nations stat attack says Scotland pass fast
A statistical analysis of passes, kicks and line-outs during the opening weekend of the Six Nations, conducted by Sage (Official Insights Partner of Six Nations Rugby), reveals that Wales passed the ball more than any other team with 231 passes covering 1,353.2 metres (Scotland passed the ball 185 times covering 1,092.3 metres). However, Scotland had the fastest pass speed, at 31.1km/h (ahead of Ireland on 30.7km/h), with George Horne having the fastest individual pass speed at 39.7km/h. Meanwhile, England led the way in number of kicks in play, with their total of 37 (total distance: 942.5m) well ahead of next most prolific kickers Ireland on 29 kicks (for 858.5m). Scotland kicked 27 times for 836.6m, meaning they had the longest average kick of 31m, and longest average territory gain per kick of 27.3m. Interestingly, Scotland were one of three teams, alongside England and Ireland, who didn’t throw any line-outs to the middle, with 10 of their 13 throws (77 percent) going to the front, two (15 percent) going to the back, and one (8 percent) going over the tail. Scotland and Wales both had 100 percent success rates for their line-outs.
6N: Scotland v Italy reaction: Huw Jones ready to move on quickly from hat-trick heroics
The post The Monday Bulletin (3rd February): AC/DC headed for Murrayfield and World Cup Sevens to be scrapped appeared first on Scottish Rugby News from The Offside Line.
