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Irish Examiner
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Lions Tour Podcast: Special occasion but Pumas deliver long list of learnings
Brendan O'Brien and Simon Lewis review Argentina's defeat of the Lions in their Aviva Stadium pre-tour clash. Just how bad was it for the Lions? The Irish Examiner Rugby Podcast Lions Tour Special is brought to you in partnership with Dove Men+Care – the official Personal Care Product of Choice for the British and Irish Lions. Video available later today
Scotsman
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Gregor Townsend addresses Scotland head coach future as he names 'discussions' that must happen
Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend looks on prior to the Guinness Six Nations 2025 match against France at Stade de France. (Photo by) | Getty Images The Scotland head coach has been discussing his future. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Gregor Townsend has opened up on his future as Scotland head coach as he prepares to take his side into their summer fixtures against Māori All Blacks, Fiji and Samoa. The former Northampton Saints and Montpellier star is now entering the final year of his current contract and openly discussed his desire to remain in charge following an underwhelming Six Nations campaign earlier this year. Now keen to move on from a fourth placed finish by impressing during the summer internationals and build towards a quartet of Autumn clashes with the likes of New Zealand and Argentina, Townsend has revealed he knows where he wants to improve and stressed talks about his own future will take place at some point in the near future. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad He told BBC Scotland Rugby Podcast: "If you get more into the year, those discussions would have to happen, whether they're initiated by my bosses or by myself. I think there's obviously a lot of discussions around the Six Nations, the reviews of that, where we believe we need to improve, but also the longer-term future, what are the challenges coming up for Scotland and that ties in with the pathway and the longer-term strategy. "But I feel there's a lot to be optimistic about with the current group we have, the players that are coming through and the experiences the players had this year. Yes, we're disappointed we didn't win more games, but I know the performances that the players are delivering are putting us in positions to beat the best teams in the world and that's a good foundation to have. The next step is making sure we win those games we put that effort into winning." 'He's a brilliant coach' Scotland defence coach Steve Tandy has been heavily linked with the Wales head coach vacancy. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group) | SNS Group Townsend also gave an insight into the future of Steve Tandy after he was strongly linked with the vacant Wales head coach job and revealed he expects to retain the services of his assistant ahead of the summer tour. "He's a brilliant coach, he's very connected with our players, he's excited about this summer tour. He's buzzing about working with the players again and there's nothing but speculation about him and other people that have been linked to the job outside of Scotland. We're very lucky to have Steve, we know that, and the players love working with him." Your next Scotland rugby read: Scotland star suffers British and Irish Lions heartbreak as he's replaced in squad after gutting injury blow
The Independent
28-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Scotland star Jamie Ritchie sure he ‘did all he could' to secure Lions selection
Scotland back-rower Jamie Ritchie insists he is comfortable with the feeling that he did everything he possibly could to put himself in with 'a real shout' for British and Irish Lions selection. The 28-year-old Edinburgh forward was disappointed not to be included in Andy Farrell's squad for the summer tour of Australia after bouncing back strongly this season from a tough start to 2024 when he lost the Scotland captaincy. Speaking for the first time since his Lions snub three weeks ago, Ritchie told the BBC's Scotland Rugby Podcast: 'Personally, I feel like I'd done all I could in terms of how I performed and stuff, so I was comfortable with that. 'At the end of the day, it's down to someone's opinion and decision-making and what they feel they need in their squad. At that point, it's outside of my control. For 2021, I feel like I was further away than I was this year, but I was more upset then. 'I'm a bit more mature now in terms of how I react to these things. Obviously, it would have been nice to have that moment, but I'm comfortable with the performances that I've put in to put myself in the mix. I said this to my wife because she was quite upset when we watched it together. 'I said to her, if you look at the position we were in a year ago after Six Nations, where it hadn't gone the way I wanted to in terms of selection and missing out on the captaincy and humming and hawing about whether or not I was going to go on the summer tour, if we'd said we'd be sitting here at the Lions announcement day, feeling like we were in with a real shout and then disappointed when it didn't happen, we would absolutely have taken it. 'That's the perspective that I'm taking on at the moment. I felt like I did all I could. The call didn't come, and that's OK.' Asked if he had been given any indication that he might be on a standby list, Ritchie said: 'I spoke to JD (Lions and Scotland coach John Dalziel) afterwards around some of the thinkings around selection. 'I've not heard about anything official, but I'm just trying to stay fit and concentrating on playing well for Edinburgh.' Scotland co-captain Rory Darge was in similarly philosophical mood to Ritchie over his own Lions snub, with the 25-year-old Glasgow flanker intent on using it as a 'motivator' to earn future inclusion. 'I know how much I put into this game and how much I put into preparing and going out and playing and putting my body through, so why should other people get to experience that?' said Darge, speaking on the same podcast. 'And I'm not saying that from a negative point of view, it's purely a positive point of view. 'I was delighted for the guys that are involved and it just was a bit of a motivator for me, really, and something to aspire to. 'You have to have that initial bit where you are gutted and you're like, 'why can't I be involved in that?' But then, really quickly you're able to be like, that's something to aspire to, that's something to hopefully one day be a part of.'
