Rugby Union

Scotland's first World Cup warm-up Test ended in a heavy defeat at the Allianz Riviera and would have given head coach Gregor Townsend much to ponder.

Scotland’s Rugby World Cup warm-up series got off to a woeful start as they were put to the sword by a rampant France in Nice last night.

The sight of Gareth Anscombe being helped off the field at Twickenham and out of the World Cup will have sent nervous shivers down many spines. We are all aware of the risk of serious injuries in these warm-up internationals, an apprehension scarcely alleviated by the knowledge that injuries are suffered in training too. Indeed, a mishap in training has already deprived Wales of Toby Faletau.

Calcutta Cup-hoisting skipper Stuart McInally appears to be in pole position to lead Scotland into this year’s World Cup in Japan, which starts next month, but the Edinburgh hooker is taking nothing for granted.

Loyalty is often cited as an essential rugby value, but in the professional age – where careers are made or broken in the blink of an eye – it is a luxury which many young players feel they can’t afford.

France have named their team to play Scotland in the World Cup warm-up Test in Nice on Saturday night.

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend views Saracens centre Duncan Taylor as a “big player” as the build-up to the World Cup starts to get serious with a first warm-up Test against France in Nice on 
Saturday evening.

There’s not much love lost between the towns of Galashiels and Hawick but anyone with a knowledge of how the south of Scotland works – which may require a degree course for those not intuitively accustomed – will know that a fraternal bond lies beneath the complex and eternal feuding rivalries.

The thrilling prospect of Hawick duo Darcy Graham and Stuart Hogg playing together for Scotland for the first time looks set to be realised this weekend.

Gregor Townsend has named his squad for the Summer Test opener against France in Nice on Saturday.

The fact that Sam Johnson can joke about the ankle injury which had him briefly wearing a moon boot last week, and which has ruled him out of Scotland’s two World Cup warm-up games against France during the next fortnight, is surely a good thing.

All Blacks lock Scott Barrett has been banned for three weeks after a long judicial process following his red card in the first Bledisloe Cup Test against Australia in Perth.

Stuart Hogg was not quite his usual self yesterday. He was perfectly helpful and polite when he met the press, but that spark which ignites his character seemed to be missing. The assembled journalists did not have to push hard to identify what was wrong.

Scotland lock Grant Gilchrist has had enough injury misfortune in his career to take a philosophical reflection on the one that wrecked his World Cup four years ago but does admit that it lingers as unfinished business.

It may have been the annual general meeting but SRU chief executive Mark Dodson used part of his state of the union address, or Scottish Rugby Update to follow correct agenda parlance, to defend his near eight years at the helm.

He may still speak with a distinct Afrikaaner accent but four years on from his Scotland debut in the World Cup warm-up series ahead of England 2015, WP Nel no longer has any need to prove his devotion to the cause.

E ven as we get ready for the World Cup and anxiously scan the news for reports of any injuries – Wales have already been deprived of Toby Faletau – the law-makers are looking to the future beyond whatever happens in Japan, and have come up with a number of law changes or revisions which will be given trials at various levels of the game.

The Ayr franchise in the new part-time professional Super 6 league will be known as the Ayrshire Bulls, it has been confirmed, with an old legend returning to his roots.