Rugby Union

Edinburgh let slip a match they should have won on Saturday, going down to a late penalty after having led for most of the game. But there were still plenty of positive aspects of the pre-season friendly, not least among them being the return of Lewis Carmichael from a 15-month 
injury lay-off.

Flanker Jamie Ritchie is set to miss Scotland’s World Cup opener with Ireland but Gregor Townsend admitted he is glad not to be dealing with a more serious casualty list.

Chris Harris has already secured Gregor Townsend’s seal of approval and now the Newcastle centre wants to help Scotland gain recognition as genuine World Cup contenders.

U npredictability is the fuel that fires the beauty of sport and the Rugby World Cup, which kicks off on Friday when the hosts face Russia in Tokyo, will be like no other that has been held since the tournament was launched in 1987.

Scotland Grand Slam hero Craig Chalmers has been rocked by the sudden death last weekend of his friend and Springboks legend Chester Williams.

In the mixed-bag pantheon of sporting movies, rugby doesn’t get much of a look in, but when star power like Clint Eastwood, Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman get involved you know a story worth telling must be there.

S cotland have only once lost their opening game at a World Cup but they know that next Sunday’s crunch match against Ireland in Yokohama has the potential to make or break their dreams in this one.

A dversity isn’t necessarily a bad thing for the Wallabies leading into a Rugby World Cup.

It raced along at record-breaking speeds in 2016 and the following year, required some repairs after spluttering in 2018, but it does now appear to be running smoothly again in 2019.

A s New Zealand attempt the unprecedented feat of winning the Rugby World Cup for the third time in a row, they arrive in Japan bolstered by many of the factors that underpinned their belated winning campaigns in 2011 and 2015, but much else has changed.

Edinburgh had victory snatched from them in the closing minutes of this, their second and final 
pre-season friendly, after leading for most of the match. Some elementary lapses cost them the win after two tries from Matt Scott and another from Jamie Farndale had appeared to put them in control, but besides those errors, there were also a lot of positive aspects for the coaches to reflect on.

Marr, Currie Chieftains and Hawick all made it two wins from two in the Tennent’s Premiership with respective home victories yesterday.

Glasgow Warriors defeated Ulster in their final pre-season friendly thanks to a late Adam Nicol try, but head coach Dave Rennie still wants the team’s defensive structures to improve ahead of the competitive campaign.

Hollywood has descended on Holyrood with Edinburgh’s medieval Old Town becoming a movie racetrack for sinister black hotrods to roar across the ancient cobbles in Fast & Furious 9.
But will the plot be any more ripping than the yarn I’m being told by Norrie Rowan?

So, our squad has arrived in Japan after months, even years, of preparation, the players supported by a host of back-room staff. It was all very different at the first World Cup in New Zealand 32 years ago. Rugby was still an amateur game and preparation was amateurish.

Grant Gilchrist says best friend Stuart McInally has hit the jackpot with the Scotland captaincy six years after going all in as he gambled his career on a switch to hooker.

Edinburgh Rugby have bolstered their squad with the capture of Scottish-born lock Sam Thomson.

The Rugby World Cup, which is due to start on September 20 in Japan is the showpiece event for rugby union and the third-largest sporting event in the world. Such an event is a fantastic opportunity to enhance the reputation of the sport globally.