Articles by Graham Bean

Sports

Scotland world rankings state of play revealed as key club match rescheduled for eve of Six Nations

World Rugby has confirmed that Scotland will be in the second band of seeds for the draw for the 2027 Rugby World Cup which will take place next month. Last Sunday’s defeat by Argentina at Murrayfield saw Gregor Townsend’s side slip from eighth to ninth in the world rankings, scuppering their hopes of being in the top six when the draw is made on December 3 in Australia, the host nation. The top six countries in the world will form the top band of seeds, followed by those ranked seventh to 12th in pot two, 13th to 18th in pot three and 19th to 24th in pot four. All 24 qualifiers are now known after Samoa pipped Belgium for the final place. South Africa, New Zealand, England, Ireland and Argentina have all confirmed their places as top seeds for the draw but France could still drop out of the top six if they lose to Australia by more than 15 points in Paris on Saturday. Such an outcome would see the Wallabies placed into Pool A of Band 1 as the host nation. Scotland, Fiji and Italy are guaranteed their places in Band 2 regardless of their results this weekend. While they will definitely be in pot two, the Scots can still move up and down within the rankings. Townsend’s side will regain the eighth place they lost after letting slip a 21-0 advantage over Argentina if they win against Tonga and Fiji lose to Spain. But Scotland will drop to 10th if they lose to Tonga and Italy beat Chile. Such a scenario would see the Scots drop below Italy for the first time since February 2013. They would go down to 11th in the unlikely scenario that they lose by more than 15 points and Wales stun New Zealand by the same margin, which would see the Welsh returning to the top 10 for the first time since July 2024. Meanwhile, Edinburgh Rugby’s home URC match against Ulster has been rescheduled for Friday, March 13. The game was postponed in early October due to Storm Amy. Original tickets remain valid for the new date and remaining briefs are now back on sale. The game will take place the night before Scotland’s final 2026 Six Nations clash against Ireland in Dublin which means Edinburgh are set to go into the match without their frontline Scotland players such as Darcy Graham, Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman and Grant Gilchrist.

Sports

Spooked and jeered Scotland serve up excruciating loss to add more pressure on Gregor Townsend

Boos rang round Murrayfield before the end of this astonishing encounter and supporters were leaving their seats and walking out before Justo Piccardo ran in Argentina’s fifth try of the second half. The match had already been won but the Pumas replacement added a little gloss, making the final scoreline 33-24. It was Argentina’s first victory on Scottish soil since 2009 and applied pressure on Gregor Townsend who had just watched his side squander a 21-0 lead. The supporters were voting with their feet. Having blown a huge chance last week to beat New Zealand, this was insult to injury. And for the second game in a row, it was a magician from the bench who came on and turned the game in the visitors’ favour. For the All Blacks, it was Damian McKenzie; for the Pumas, Santiago Carreras. The Argentine playmaker changed the course of the match, lifting his side after a flat first-half performance, aided and abetted by revitalised team-mates who had the small knot of visiting fans on their feet, chanting. But for Scotland, it will go down as one of their most excruciating autumn performances of the professional age. They were in complete control before a lack of composure changed the match completely. Scotland, through converted tries from Jack Dempsey and Ewan Ashman, went in 14-0 up at the break. Ashman’s second, converted again by Finn Russell, made it 21-0 but the game turned on a mistake by the stand-off in the 54th minute. Scotland were on the attack, looking good for a fourth try, when Russell threw a long, loose pass which landed between Kyle Steyn and Sione Tuipulotu. Argentina picked it up and charged up the other end and the game flipped on this moment. They never looked back. Scotland scrambled to defend but they were overrun and Blair Kinghorn was sent to the bin for repeated team infringements. Argentina’s first try, from captain Julian Montoya, soon followed and it was as if the dark blue dam had burst. They scored another, through Rodrigo Isgro, as Kinghorn cooled his heels, and three more came from Pedro Rubiolo, Pablo Matera and Piccardo. Scotland’s only counter was a Russell penalty, between their opponents’ second and third tries, which put the home side 24-12 ahead but did nothing to change the momentum of the second half. Scotland looked spooked. Their defence became too passive, they gave away too many penalties and there was an alarming vulnerability evident. The defeat confirms Townsend’s side will be in the second pot of seeds for the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw which takes place in Australia two weeks on Wednesday. Argentina will be among the elite, and rightly so. The last time these sides met at Murrayfield they shared 12 tries and six cards and it didn’t take long for the first sin-binning of the day. Juan Cruz Mallía had a first half to forget and his first transgression came as early as the fourth minute when he halted a Scotland attack with a deliberate knock on. It didn’t go down well with the home crowd as it denied Darcy Graham a dream start to his 50th Scotland appearance. Cutting inside from the right, the winger tried to find Jamie Dobie with a cute offload out the back but Mallía stepped in, illegally. There was an argument for awarding a penalty try as well as a yellow card but the officials reckoned No 8 Joaquín Oviedo could have halted the Scotland scrum-half, who was a late replacement for the ill Ben White before kick off. Scotland failed to make the most from the penalty, with Russell’s floated pass cut out by Gerónimo Prisciantelli, his opposite number - a harbinger of what was to happen after the break. Scotland were far more clinical eight minutes later. With Argentina still down to 14, Dobie spun the ball to Russell who found Dempsey who had run the perfect line and had far too much pace for the away defence. Russell’s conversion put Scotland 7-0 ahead. A smart piece of aerial play from Graham sparked the attack which led to Scotland’s second try. The winger is short on stature but did well to win the ball. Scott Cummings made good headway before centres Rory Hutchinson and Sione Tuipulotu both tried their luck. Argentina were creaking and Scotland didn’t panic, with Dobie picking out the lurking Ashman who had timed his run just right and spun over to score, with Russell again converting. Either side of Ashman’s first try, Mallía missed with two long-range penalty attempts, falling short on each occasion. Scotland remained in control but they continued to sustain casualties. Having lost White before kick-off, Gregor Brown failed an HIA eight minutes in and D’arcy Rae limped off before the break. Scotland still started the second half strongly, making the most of a botched Argentine penalty which failed to find touch. Once again, Ashman took the crash ball from Dobie and powered over. Russell knocked over the extras to make it 21-0 and all seemed well. There were 46 minutes on the clock and Felipe Contepomi had seen enough. The Pumas coach changed a third of his team with a quintuple substitution, the most significant alteration being the introduction of Santiago Carreras for Gerónimo Prisciantelli. The Gloucester fly-half orchestrated one of the most impressive comebacks witnessed by Murrayfield in its 100-year history. The Pumas butchered a golden chance in the 47th minute - causing Contepomi to bang the wall of the coaches’ box in frustration - but there were no mistakes after that. Instead, it was the Scots who were error-strewn. Russell’s wayward pass was the cue for mayhem. With Kinghorn yellow-carded, Montoya and Isgro made hay and suddenly Argentina believed, their two tries coming in the space of two minutes at the mid-point of the second half. The Argentina fans were loving it. Russell’s penalty failed to stem the tide. Scotland were getting caught offside and it was Townsend’s turn to bang his fist in frustration. A huge carry by Rubiolo gave Argentina their third try and Santiago Carreras’s conversion cut Scotland’s lead to five points. All the momentum was with the visitors and they took the lead for the first time in the 75th minute when Matera was awarded a try after a TMO check. Carreras’ conversion was met with angry shouts and booing as frustrated Scotland supporters upped and left, many of them missing Matera’s final try.

Technology

The Scotland legend who lived the elusive dream - leading team to win over New Zealand

When David Sole led his team to victory over the All Blacks in their own backyard he had the redoubtable Gavin Hastings alongside him. Derek White, the blond bomber of the back row, was also there, and so too was a youthful Andy Nicol. The match was the first of three Tests to mark the centenary of New Zealand Rugby Football Union and a win for the tourists was not in the script. But Sole’s men prevailed, a 28-14 triumph at Lancaster Park in Christchurch. “David Sole joined an elite band of modern players who have led a side to victory against the All Blacks,” noted The Scotsman on the Monday morning after the game, in April 1992. A momentous achievement. Why, then, was the small match report buried at the bottom of page 21, beneath far bigger pieces on Scotland Under-21s’ 28-19 defeat by their Welsh counterparts at Bridgehaugh (stand-off: G Townsend) and Ian Botham’s Sunday league debut for Durham? The exploits of Sole, Hastings and Co were given as much space as the Hawick Sevens and the forthcoming marriage of the original Jock-Bok, John Allan, who had been forced to withdraw from Scotland’s forthcoming tour to Australia due to his impending nuptials. Had The Scotsman underplayed Sole’s achievement? Well, possibly. But the main reason for this editorial slight was that the legendary prop forward had not been wearing the thistle in Christchurch. Instead, he had been bedecked in a rather garish quartered jersey of blue, red, yellow and green. The kit belonged to the World XV who had been invited to mark the centenary celebrations and ended up pooping the party. “It was after the 1991 World Cup,” explains Sole, now 63 and looking fit enough to don that famous headband once more. “1992 was the centenary of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union. So, they arranged for a World XV to go out and play three Tests. “You can't imagine now playing three Tests Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday against the All Blacks, but there you go. That's what we did. “The World select was chosen from all the players that had competed in the 1991 World Cup. So, there were quite a few Australians there. Jerry Guscott was there from England, a couple of French guys, a lovely Japanese guy who spoke not a word of English, a couple of Samoans and a few Scots. “Nick Farr-Jones was captain, but he was actually carrying an injury so, I was invited to be captain for the first Test and we beat the All Blacks 28-14. And there were a few South Africans there as well actually because that was their first foray back into international rugby after they'd been banned for the apartheid regime. “We beat the All Blacks which wasn't really in their script. We were meant to be the whipping boys for three Tests. So, they came back and they beat us quite heavily in the second Test [54-26 in Wellington]. And then in the third Test, they beat us up at Eden Park as well to win the series [26-15].” “But yeah, it was good,” adds Sole with commendable restraint. “Big Gav played and Derek White and Andy Nicol actually played as well in that first Test.” For virtually everyone else on these shores, beating the All Blacks remains an elusive dream. From Jim Telfer to Gregor Townsend, New Zealand’s domination has cast a long white cloud over Scottish rugby. The statistics have been rolled out with an almost monotonous regularity this week but they are worth repeating: the teams have met 32 times in 120 years and New Zealand have won 30 of those matches and drawn two. Saturday at Murrayfield sees the latest renewal of this fascinating fixture and Sole will be there. “Yes, I am going. I'm going with a new partner, Fiona Steele. “I think we've got enough attacking talent to cause their defence problems,” said Sole, speaking before the teams were announced. “I think we've got forwards who can be very competitive. We've got a solid set piece, which is the foundation.” And does he think Scotland can win? “I think it depends on who Gregor picks, but inevitably, if you can win the breakdown and even dominate the breakdown and create a quick ball, you're going to cause any defence problems. “I think Finn Russell is the outstanding 10 in the world at the moment, and he can break down any defences. So, it'll be interesting to see how Scotland approach it, given that they've got that attacking talent. “And if not now, when?” He leaves the last question hanging tantalisingly. Sole may have skippered a winning team against the All Blacks but his experiences of facing them with Scotland are laced with frustrations and what-ifs. Having led Scotland so memorably to the Grand Slam in 1990, Sole took the squad south for a two-Test tour of New Zealand that summer. This was a team in their pomp, still basking in that never-to-be-forgotten winner-takes-all victory over England at Murrayfield. ‘If not now, then when’ could equally have applied 35 years ago. But Scotland were well beaten in the first Test at Carisbrook, going down 31-16. It was a result that had been predicted by Sole's wife, Jane, whom he lost to cancer last year. She felt they had shown the All Blacks too much respect. “I think she was definitely right,” says Sole. “We were slightly in awe of them, I think, in that first Test. You have to remember, New Zealand had gone undefeated for four years and had won the World Cup comfortably in 1987, so it was a pretty special side that we were playing against.” In truth, they were two special sides. It was the world champions against the European champions and the second Test at Eden Park lived up to the billing. Unfortunately, it was, in Sole’s words, “the one that got away”. The Scots outscored the hosts by two tries to one, Alex Moore and Tony Stanger crossing for the visitors who led 18-9 with time running out in the first half. Grant Fox cut the advantage to six points with a penalty before the interval and repeated the trick early in the second half to make it 18-15 as Gavin Hastings saw two efforts of his own held up in the wind. The game then turned on a controversial moment involving the Scotland full-back who was caught by All Black Mike Brewer as he tried to field a kick from Kieran Crowley into the Scottish 22. Hastings was penalised for not releasing but Brewer appeared to be in an offside position when Crowley launched the ball forward. Fox slotted over the penalty to tie the scores and added another late on to win the match. It was a hugely frustrating conclusion as the game slipped away from the Scots. “There is always a little bit of an aura with the All Blacks, which undoubtedly gives them a bit of an advantage, but I think the second Test was a much more even match, and, for me, that's the one that got away,” says Sole. “We outscored them two tries to one, and there was a very dodgy decision, which led to Grant Fox kicking a goal, which could easily have been three points the other way.” It meant the heroes of 1990 couldn’t add a victory over the All Blacks to their Grand Slam. “We lost 21-18, and I'm not bitter and twisted about it at all!” smiles Sole. “I think, for me, that was an outstanding group of players, an outstanding group of men and friends. I think only three teams that have toured New Zealand have gone undefeated in the provincial games, and we were one of those three teams. So, in the history of All Black rugby, I think we kind of had a place up there somewhere. “It would have been the cream on the cake to have defeated them, particularly at Eden Park in Auckland, because that is very much a bastion of All Black rugby, and they don't lose too many Test matches there. So, coming so close made that doubly frustrating. “I think in that game, we respected them, but we weren't afraid of them, and I think when you go in to play against the All Blacks, you've got to respect them because of the history and the heritage. “They have the best record of any sporting team in the world in history in terms of win rate, but you can't allow that to interfere with your own mental preparation, and you've got to treat them as 15 individuals and give it your best shot. “I think the Scottish side at the moment has some outstanding players and outstanding talent in it, and if there is ever a chance or ever a time to win the first match against the All Blacks, Saturday is probably it.” The 1990 Grand Slam assured Sole’s team a place in the game’s annals but it took until last week for the man himself to be inducted into Scottish Rugby’s Hall of Fame. He and Scott Hastings were part of the new intake which means that six members of the 1990 squad have now been inducted, the others being Gavin Hastings, Finlay Calder, Gary Armstrong and Doddie Weir along with coaches Sir Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer. “Well, it's a lovely honour but I think it's one of those things, in a team sport it's hard to pick out individuals but it's very flattering to join such an illustrious group of Scottish rugby icons,” Sole said. “As I say, I’d put the whole team in there because one person can't do it. I was lucky enough to be the one who led the guys out and won the toss - actually, I can't remember who won the toss! - but did those little bits. “But it was as much everyone else's as mine. The honour is theirs as well as mine.” The victory over England in 1990 is remembered as much for Sole’s slow walk on to the field as Stanger’s decisive try. The sight of the captain striding out purposefully, headband on and ball in hand, is one of Scottish sport’s most enduring images. “If we'd been beaten, no-one would have spoken about it in the way that they do now,” says Sole. “But it captured the imagination of the crowd and that day was always going to be special in terms of atmosphere. “I think what we did in walking out so slowly and deliberately meant that it allowed the atmosphere to be sustained over such a long period of time. Normally in a match, you get a big crescendo when the players come out and you start and the game kicks off. But on that particular day, I just remember that it got to a crescendo and it stayed for the full 80 minutes. “Whether that gesture at the start contributed to that or not, I don't know. It was just a really special day in terms of atmosphere. It wasn't the greatest of games, but in terms of moments in time and what it all stood for, it was very special.” Sole revealed that two key souvenirs from the match are no longer in his possession, with one falling into royal hands. “I haven't got the headband, that would have been swept up afterwards with all the other bits and pieces in the Murrayfield dressing room, probably with a few cans or bottles. “And I actually gave the shirt to Peter Phillips [son of Princess Anne], who was at the game, and came down to the dressing room afterwards. I can't remember how old he would have been, maybe 13 or something like that, and he played loosehead prop at Gordonstoun, so I thought it might be a nice gesture to give him the shirt. So, you'll have to ask him what he's done with it.” Like most observers, Sole is an admirer of Townsend's current Scotland team and believes they have a chance on Saturday if everything falls into place. But is he wary of expecting too much. “I think you underestimate the All Blacks at your peril,” he said. “I used to love playing against the All Blacks, and I played them in various guises for a World XV, the Baa-Baas, Scotland. But they do have an aura, undoubtedly. Like any team, they will go through highs and lows. If you can catch them when they're at a bit of a low and you're on a high, then the odds of you winning are even better. I think Scotland are at that point. “As I said, I think there's an outstanding group of players in the Scotland team at the moment. The All Blacks are perhaps not as invincible as they have been in certain points in their history. “It's a great opportunity, especially at Murrayfield. I'm sure the atmosphere will be phenomenal, because we came so close the last time, [in 2022] when Doddie came out and presented the match ball. We came so close. I think knowing that they are fragile at the moment should give the Scottish guys some real confidence.”