Scottish Rugby

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Glasgow Warriors flanker Rory Darge and Edinburgh wing Darcy Graham have been named in the URC team of the season.

Scotland co-captain Darge has impressed in Glasgow's run to the URC semi-finals and scored his third try of the season in the quarter-final win over Stormers last weekend.

Fellow Scotland international Graham also makes the 'Elite XV' - which is determined by a media vote - after helping Edinburgh reach the play-offs for the first time in three years.

Graham scored six tries in 13 appearances and had the most clean breaks (23) of any player in the league.

The full URC 'Elite XV' is: Jamie Osborne (Leinster), Darcy Graham (Edinburgh), Tom Farrell (Munster), Andre Esterhuizen (Sharks), Blair Murray (Scarlets), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Craig Casey (Munster), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Wilco Louw (Bulls), RG Snyman (Leinster), Tadhg Beirne (Munster ), Jac Morgan (Ospreys), Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors), Cameron Hanekom (Bulls).

Former Ireland international Bernard Jackman - a European Cup winner with Leinster and now top Irish pundit - s Tom English and Andy Burke on this week's BBC Scotland Rugby podcast to preview Glasgow's URC semi-final in Dublin on Saturday.

There's also a look back at Edinburgh's season-ending play-off defeat and analysis of the reconstruction going on in Scottish Rugby.

Listen and subscribe on BBC Sounds

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Nigel Carolan is urging cool heads and a "ruthless" streak as Glasgow Warriors bid to defy the odds against Leinster in the URC semi-final in Dublin on Saturday.

Defending champions Glasgow made a strong start to the play-offs with a 36-18 home win over Stormers last weekend, but haven't won away to Leinster since 2019.

"We scored some cracking tries [against Stormers] even though we didn't have a massive amount of the ball. What it did show is that when we did get chances, we were pretty ruthless," said Glasgow assistant coach Carolan.

"It's what you need this time of the season as you approach the quarter and semi-finals.

"Every opportunity counts and it's important that you take those chances when they come about.

"The thing about Leinster, they really limit the chances that you do get. So, whatever we can create, it's important that we're nice and cool.

"Our mindset has got to be ruthless, but also nice and calm and composed, so we can execute them."

Carolan insists Glasgow are unburdened by the 52-0 shellacking they suffered against Leinster in Dublin in the Champions Cup last month.

"It's history now," he added. "Look, we've played them since [losing 13-5 in the final game of the URC regular season], so I think what we turned up with the last time we played them is a bit more us.

"I think what we saw on Friday night against the Stormers was more us again. We're building nicely, we've definitely got a bit of the mojo back from where we were.

"It's important that we got into this weekend on the back of a good performance last Friday and there's a lot of confidence we can take from it."

Sandy Smith
Fan writer

Edinburgh have played 26 games this season in all competitions. In 12 of those we have conceded a total of 16 tries in the 10-minute period following half-time.

It is more than we concede in any other part of our matches. Over the season it has arguably cost Edinburgh at least two league wins. On Saturday it cost us a chance of a semi-final.

The score Bulls got in the 51st minute and the fact they failed to cross the line again in the remainder of the match makes it hard to see past that 40-51 minute period as being decisive.

Early in the game the broadcasters showed a graphic that told us Bulls forwards were 57kg heavier than Edinburgh. That weight certainly showed at scrum time and as weird as might seem when you score five tries it felt like a rearguard action for much of the 80 minutes.

In a lot of ways our three games against Bulls this season typify what progress there has been.

Game 1. I described Edinburgh as asthmatic and wasteful. Only one try.

Game 2. A much improved and focused win. We looked like a team.

Game 3. A five-try thriller where we just fell short on power.

Depending on your viewpoint the progress is there. A semi-final and a quarter-final allied to a try count we have only sured once in our history is balanced out by the fact we won fewer games in the league than we did last year.

There are no trophies. That's not new and if that's your reason for ing Edinburgh, then to paraphrase Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, you've been misinformed.

But there is now a team you can be proud of. A team who are putting their bodies on the line for their long-suffering ers. A team that finally looks like it wants to live up to the 'on paper' reputation that seems to follow them about.

We have some departures that could hurt, Jamie Ritchie probably chiefly among those, but we have recruited well and I'm excited to see them make their mark alongside some of the young players who are stepping up.

I'm already looking forward to next season as long as we continue playing as if we have a chip on our shoulders as opposed to a silver spoon in our mouths.

Sandy Smith can be found at The Burgh Watch, external

Grant Young
Fan writer

Glasgow's swagger has returned.

On a night where several players made their final home appearance, a sense of pride, emotion and determination was in the air at Scotostoun as the Warriors swept into the semis with an 18-point win against Stormers.

Glasgow produced some of their best attacking rugby in weeks. Player of the game went to Rory Darge but it genuinely could have been one of about 10 of Franco Smith's men.

The lynchpin of the Glasgow turnaround has been the returning Sione Tuipulotu, who makes his team-mates better.

Stormers were left chasing their tail with so many missed tackles but the attacking verve of Glasgow was a joy on the eye.

Now a third trip to Dublin in two months awaits. Leinster are the number one seeds for a reason and boast a squad many teams could only dream of, but can Glasgow upset the odds?

The injury list may be shrinking but we are still without Zander Fagerson and Jack Dempsey, two players that can make a difference.

The Leinster pack can be dominant and it's probably been a weakness in recent games for Warriors.

The squad will need to believe to get over the line for a trip to the grand final. Can they counter the press defence of Leinster? Time will tell. Come on Glasgow!

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Scotland will face Italy this summer as part of their preparations for the Women's Rugby World Cup.

Bryan Easson's side begin their summer Test series away to the Italians in Viadana on Friday 25 July before facing Ireland at Virgin Media Park in Cork on Saturday 2 August.

Head coach Easson says the warm-up matches will be "key in sharpening our focus and ensuring we're in the best shape possible" for the World Cup in England.

Scotland open their World Cup campaign against Wales on 23 August and also take on Fiji and Canada in Group B.

As usual on a Monday, we're giving you the chance to put your burning rugby questions to our reporters, Tom English and Andy Burke.

Whether it's looking back on Glasgow and Edinburgh's weekend action, looking further ahead to the Lions tour, or anything else Scottish rugby related, our team are ready.

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

Andrew Petrie
BBC Sport Scotland

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Edinburgh find courage to end season with pride

Sean Everitt talked about a fast start and a strong finish. He got both of those, but it was the bit in the middle that saw the Bulls pull out of sight.

However, the fight Edinburgh showed to get ahead and then set up a tense-ish finale was irable.

They were able to pick themselves up off the canvas after the three-try blitz that would have left others floored. Tries from Ewan Ashman and Wes Goosen made a game of it, but they just couldn't climb the mountain.

If only they could show that hunger, fight and desire in every game, they wouldn't have had to face the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld - one of the hardest away days in the league.

Young guns offer hope for next season

There was a moment in the final 10 minutes that threatened to swing the game back Edinburgh's way.

Ali Price's up-and-under was chased by Harry Paterson, who smashed Canan Moodie back. Liam McConnell, the 20-year-old back-row just off the bench, cleaned out the ruck. Ben Muncaster followed to win the ruck penalty.

Three young players, all with huge futures, combining to set up a potential game-swinging moment. It didn't quite work out like that - the subsequent line-out was turned over by the Bulls - but it showed there is hope for the future.

With Dave Cherry away, promising hooker Paddy Harrison will get even more game time after a breakthrough season. Freddy Douglas, Muncaster and Liam McConnell will be knocking on the door. Tom Currie, too.

Connor McAlpine was on the bench for this one, with fellow scrum-half Hector Patterson also highly regarded. No scrum-half replacement will be sought for the outgoing Price.

Bradbury shows captain's qualities again

In the absence of co-captains Grant Gilchrist and Ben Vellacott, both missing through injury, it was once again Magnus Bradbury's turn to wear the armband.

It is now a long time since he was stripped off the captaincy due to an off-field incident, aged just 22.

Here, he delivered another stellar performance with the weight of responsibility having no burden at all.

He bungled one restart, which did prove costly, but spoke well after the game about how Edinburgh have had a tough season, but how they should be a top-four team.

Lofty ambitions? Sure. But if he can lift his team-mates to play at his level, there's no reason why they shouldn't be aiming that high.

We asked for your thoughts after Glasgow beat Stormers and Edinburgh lost to Bulls in the URC quarter-finals.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

GLASGOW

Stuart: Same as last year - game management was spot on. Played in the right areas when it mattered. Hopefully we can do the same next Saturday.

Ken: Glasgow starting to peak just at the right time.

Graeme: What a great result for the Warriors. I thought Tom Jordan was excellent and a good few others. Very proud to be a GW er. Bring on Leinster. Two in a row?

Charlie: Great victory. Some fantastic attacking play and many excellent performances from the backs. A colossal performance by the departing Henco Venter.

EDINBURGH

Steve: It appears Edinburgh hit the elevation wall a good 20 minutes before the Bulls, having been in control and playing as well as they have seen all season. A fair result on balance, but strange that our normally prolific ruck penalty count was so low.

Stair: Great end of season for Edinburgh. With 40 minutes gone we were the best team. As always we fell away in the third 20, only to come back into the game and almost create an upset. Far better outcome than I thought possible after our home surrender to Zebre some weeks ago. Well done and let's look forward to next year.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Darge responds to Lions disappointment

Rory Darge told BBC Scotland on last week's Scotland Rugby Podcast he's using the disappointment of missing out on selection for the British and Irish Lions as motivation. It certainly looked that way against the Stormers.

Darge was outstanding. Time and again he chopped down the big South African ball carriers and stymied their momentum by being his usual menace at the breakdown.

He led the way in the tackle charts with 23 and threw in two turnovers for good measure.

He is consistently good at the best of times, but a Rory Darge with a point to prove? That's one heck of a weapon for Glasgow in this United Rugby Championship play-off run-in.

Jordan shows his class

Tom Jordan is another player who can feel slightly aggrieved at missing out on the Lions after his sterling Six Nations performances for Scotland.

Warriors fans still feel aggrieved they will not see Jordan at Scotstoun next season, with the fly-half heading for Bristol this summer.

Four clean breaks, eight defenders beaten and 100m made tells only part of the story of Jordan's performance.

He was constantly testing the Stormers defence, refusing to be put down in the tackle, and the way he pumped up the crowd in key moments demonstrated a ferocious will to win.

Jordan will be a seismic loss to the team and the club, as a player and a character. Glasgow will hope he has one, ideally two, big performances left in him.

Things to work on for semi-final

It was a rather curious game in some respects.

Warriors lost the penalty count 16-4. Normally a disparity like that means the team on the wrong end is also on the wrong end of the result.

A combination of five excellent tries, some titanic goal-line defence and the Stormers sloppy handling meant being on the wrong side of the officials did not prove costly, but Glasgow will need to sort that out in the semi-final against Leinster.

The scrum, in the absence of Zander Fagerson, also creaked at various points and after the game Franco Smith identified the set piece as an area that must improve before next weekend.

There is a definite sense, however, that the defending champions are starting to show what they're all about.

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Captain Kyle Steyn says Glasgow were motivated to give their departing players another week in the Warriors shirt as they swept the Stormers aside to reach the United Rugby Championship semi-finals.

The reigning champions ran in five tries to seal a 36-18 victory over the South African side and set up a showdown against either Leinster or Scarlets, who meet in Dublin on Saturday, in the last four.

The likes of Henco Venter and Tom Jordan are among a number of players leaving the club this summer, and Steyn was delighted they were able to enjoy a special night under the lights at Scotstoun.

"If it is the last one at home then I'm really chuffed for those men because they deserve a send-off like that," Steyn told BBC Scotland.

"It was just an unreal night, the way the fans got behind us. I got goose bumps the way they clapped Henco off at the end.

"We're really chuffed that we've earned another week to be out there with them and ready to rip into it.

"At this time of year it's not about being perfect. It's about being able to kind of roll with the dice and just keep going no matter what.

"I was really proud of our big boys up front. I thought the way they defended when we were close on our line really set the tone for us and then the backs were good off the back of that."

A 12-minute blitz at the start of the second half helped the Bulls roar back from behind to knock Edinburgh out of the United Rugby Championship play-offs at the quarter-final stage.

What did you make of that one, Edinburgh fans? Was it just a bridge too far?

Who impressed you out in Pretoria? And did you gain any confidence for next season?

Let us know your thoughts here.

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Edinburgh head coach Sean Everitt told BBC Scotland: "You've got to deny entries 22. We weren't able to force enough rucks on the ball, and when they kept the ball in alive, - Keaghan Johannes' try is an example of that - they are really hard to stop. They've got a lot of pace up right.

"We wanted to stop momentum and force them to play from slow ball, but it wasn't always possible.

"We're disappointed in how we executed our kicking game, because they did win the aerial battle today. Some of those scraps that fall on the floor, it's a bounce of the ball, you need a little bit of luck as far as that's concerned.

"It was more around the the kicking game in the middle, third of the game that probably led to their win."

Glasgow fans, what did you make of your side's display as they swept Stormers aside to reach the URC semi-finals?

Who were the standout performers in your opinion?

Have your say.

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Glasgow Warriors head coach Franco Smith tells Premier Sports: "We were a little bit off it [at the end of the regular season] but I'm glad we could bounce back.

"We speak the whole season about the quality of the competition and quality of the sides. There was no easy game, always tough.

"Rory Darge played well, Henco Venter and Tom Jordan were also excellent tonight.

"It's good to have played Friday night. We get to wait and see and whatever comes our way, we will make sure we recover well.

"Good people make good players. We tried too hard to finish second in the competition and the weight of playing the semi-finals at home became too much in the end.

"It's a different competition. It's knockout rugby. It brings more excitement. The boys have learned and adapted. They really work hard and they believe in what we do."

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Duhan van der Merwe misses out on Edinburgh's URC quarter-final against Bulls in Pretoria on Saturday as head coach Sean Everitt makes just one change.

Scotland wing Van Der Merwe, who has been sidelined since March with ankle ligament damage, has resumed training and is with the squad in South Africa.

But Everitt said: "He's probably still a few days away from being ready to return to full match action. We're managing his return carefully to ensure he's fully prepared when he does step back onto the field."

Jamie Ritchie, who will Perpignan this summer, starts at blindside flanker as Ben Muncaster drops to the bench from the team that beat Ulster to clinch a play-off spot.

"We know the Bulls are always a massive physical threat, especially here at Loftus," added Everitt.

"To compete, and to win, we will need to be at our absolute very best. That means bringing ion and intensity, but crucially, it also demands composure and clinical discipline for the full 80 minutes."

Edinburgh XV to face Bulls: Goosen, Graham, Currie, Lang, Paterson, Thompson, Price, Schoeman, Ashman, Rae, Sykes, Skinner, Ritchie, Watson, Bradbury

Replacements: Harrison, Venter, Sebastian, McConnell, Muncaster, McAlpine, Healy, Bennett.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering some of your Scottish rugby questions

Jamie asked: What is success for Glasgow and Edinburgh in the play-offs? Is it crazy to think Edinburgh have a better chance at the title?

Tom answered: Let's talk Glasgow first. They have to beat the Stormers at home, that's a given. On current form, I'm worried. Anything other than a victory and the season will go down as a disappointment.

If they win, their problem then is that because they fell away to fourth they'll probably have to go to Dublin. They took the tough road to glory last season but this season looks even tougher.

With their injuries, I can't see them beating Leinster in Dublin. A competitive semi-final defeat would go down as a decent title defence in my book.

I wouldn't say Edinburgh have a better chance. They have a really hard assignment away to Bulls on Saturday and if they win that then, on seeding, they'll be playing Sharks away in the semi-final and, again on seeding, Leinster away in the final.

That's a brutal run. If they win the URC then forget the chat about Sean Everitt keeping his job, the only thing up for debate at that point will be where to put his statue.

Graham asked: With George Turner ing Harlequins can we look forward to him being part of the Scotland set-up again? We've missed him.

Tom Tom answered: Totally agree Scotland have missed him. He's still the best hooker and it's good news he's back close to home.

For, me, if he's still playing close to his best, he's first choice for Scotland. I hope he's making himself available come the autumn.

Davie asked: Great win for Bath in the Challenge Cup final but what has Finn Russell go to do? He got slated by the radio comms for having a poor game, this is the same commentator that criticises him for being a maverick. But when he controls a game behind a strong pack it's clearly not good enough either.

Tom answered: People are allowed their opinion. In my view, Finn Russell's game management is outstanding. Some have an outdated view of him as some kind of Harlem Globetrotter, but it's wildly unfair.

He's one of the best 10s I have seen and he's more mature now than he's ever been. His performance in the Challenge Cup final was quietly authoritative. No bells and whistles, just calm and dominant. The anti-maverick.

Put him behind a strong pack, as he'll have in the summer with the Lions, and he'll be brilliant. He can deliver the flashes of genius, but that's only part of what he is.

V.I.Pip asked: If Aberdeen, against all the odds, can win the Scottish Cup for the first time in 35 years, what's holding Scotland back from a Grand Slam? It's clearly about belief within the squad and clear, concise messaging from the management.

Tom answered: If only it was so easy. Scotland don't win championships or Grand Slams because they have to win four or five games in a row, with some of them against physically superior opponents.

They haven't been good enough to do that. They haven't had the artillery up front, where most rugby games are decided.

With all due respect to Aberdeen's opponents in the early rounds of the Scottish Cup, they were lower league. Then they beat nine-man Hearts in the semi-final. A Six Nations is a lot harder than that. You're playing against some of the best teams in the world. The attrition is through the roof.

I think these Scotland players believe in themselves, and they're a very fine side, but they're just not as good as Ireland and .