The Official Scottish Rugby Podcast

The Official Scottish Rugby Podcast returns to preview a bumper weekend of action in Edinburgh. Scotland round out their Famous Grouse Nations Series campaign when they host a resurgent Australia on Sunday. The result of that game will go a long way to setting the mood of November. Before that, Scotland 'A' are back in action on home soil for the first time in a decade as they host Chile at Hive Stadium. Caroline Blair and Chris Paterson preview both fixtures, and reflect on the Autumn as a whole. There is also special mention for an extra-special attendee to Sunday's game. Sione and Mosese Tuipulotu's 'Granny from Greenock', Jaqueline Thomson will watch her grandsons play rugby in the flesh for the first time, after she was flown over by Skyscanner, Official Partner of Scottish Rugby.

Caroline Blair and Chris Paterson journey into clubland to preview the 2024/25 season of the Arnold Clark Men's and Women's Premierships. At Bridgehaugh, home of Stirling County, Caroline is joined by ex-Scotland international Megan Gaffney and Stirling skipper Ciorstaidh Ainsworth to look at the runners and riders for the Arnold Clark Women's Premiership. Chris headed to Currie to preview the Men's competition in the company of Ayr's Blair Macpherson and Currie Chieftains' Charlie Brett.

Before jetting out to Canada for the opening game of the Skyscanner Americas Tour, Ben Healy and Harry Paterson invited Caroline Blair over for a cup of tea and a chat at their flat in Edinburgh. The Scotland and Edinburgh backs have been living together for the past four months and in this special episode they chat about what they get up to away from the rugby pitch, what it's like living in Edinburgh and reveal who they invite over for dinner parties. Harry also tells Caroline about the moment he found out on the morning of the game that he was going to start against France and make his Scotland debut in the last Six Nations. The pair also look ahead to the tour and the opportunities it represents for them both, starting with this weekend's game against Canada in Ottawa.

Caroline Blair and Chris Paterson sit down with Scotland men's Head Coach Gregor Townsend to discuss the 37-man squad he has selected for the upcoming Skyscanner Americas Tour. Scotland will play Canada, USA, Chile and Uruguay in July and the squad selected includes 10 uncapped players. Townsend talks about the benefits of the tour, why he has chosen a mix of youth and experience and the challeneges he expects from the four teams they'll play in North and South America.

Scottish Rugby referees, Hollie Davidson and Chelsea Gillespie join Chris and Caroline on this week's episode of the Official Scottish Rugby Podcast. Hollie talks about her recent appointment to referee world champions South Africa this summer, when they take on Portugal in a summer Test. It is another major milestone in Davidson’s career which saw her make history earlier this year, becoming the first female to be part of the officiating team in a Guinness Men’s Six Nations fixture, as an assistant referee in England’s win over Wales at Twickenham. In 2022 she also became the first woman to referee a men’s Six Nations team when Italy played Portugal. Chelsea talks about returning to refereeing after a 10-year hiatus, during a time which saw her contract meningitis and become a Mum. Both talk about their love for refereeing and some of the challenges they face both on and off the pitch.

Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm sits down with Caroline Blair to review their Guinness Women's Six Nations campaign to date, including last weekend's win against Italy in Parma - the first time in 25 years Scotland women have won on Italian soil. She looks ahead to their final match against Ireland in Belfast this weekend - a match which if they win will see them finish third in the table and qualify for both the Rugby World Cup and WXV1. Rachel also talks about her leadership style, the mood in camp and what the support of the fans means to her and the squad, following their first ever home sell at Hive Stadium this month.

Scotland international Louise McMillan joins us on this week's episode of the Official Scottish Rugby Podcast to reflect on her 50th cap for Scotland against France last month. Louise chats to Caroline and Chris about the upcoming sold-out match against England at Hive Stadium this weekend and why their first ever sell out means so much to the players. She talks about her journey to the Scotland team, the growth of the women's game in Scotland, including the benefits of the new Celtic Challenge competition, and her love for Taylor Swift.

Scotland women's attack coach Matt Banahan joins Caroline and Chris on this week's podcast. The former England international, who played for Gloucester and Bath, hung up his boots in 2021 and joined Bryan Easson's coaching team in 2023, ahead of their successful WXV 2 campaign in South Africa. Ahead of this year's Guinness Women's Six Nations, which gets underway this weekend, Banahan chats about the growth of the women's game, transitioning from player to coach and what their priorities are for the campaign ahead.

On this week's podcast Chris and Caroline are in the Scotland men's team hotel to speak to backrower, Andy Christie, who has made an impact off the bench during the last couple of rounds of the Guinness Men's Six Nations. Andy talks about coming back from injury, the win over England and looks ahead to this weekend's match against Italy in Rome. He also chats about the work he does for charities, including being a Patron for Show Racism the Red Card. Chris and Caroline then head to Hive Stadium to catch up with Scotland women's captain Rachel Malcolm and centre Emma Orr, ahead of the upcoming Guinness Women's Six Nations, which kicks off in just over two weeks.

This week our hosts Chris Paterson and Caroline Blair chat about the recent matches in both the U20 Six Nations and Guinness Men's Six Nations. Scotland men are one from two after the first two rounds of matches and next up they host England at Scottish Gas Murrayfield on Saturday 24 February. Meanwhile, Scotland U20 have narrowly lost their first two matches as they get set to welcome England to Hive Stadium on Friday 23 February. Chris and Caroline review both tournaments so far from a Scotland perspective.

Award winning British film producer, James Gay-Rees joins Chris and Caroline on this week's Official Scottish Rugby Podcast to chat about his brand new docuseries, Six Nations: Full Contact. The behind the scenes documentary, which is now available to watch on Netflix, follows Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, France and Italy during last year's Guinness Six Nations. James chats about the process of pitching the series to Netflix, some of the challenges they faced over the last 12 months and what suprised him when he was making the series.

Chris Paterson and Caroline Blair return for the first podcast of 2024 and this week they're joined by four members of Gregor Townsend's Scotland squad for the upcoming Guinness Men's Six Nations. Duhan van der Merwe, Ben Healy, Kyle Rowe and Harry Paterson look ahead to the Championship getting underway in just over two weeks.