Six Scotland players have been disciplined for a breach of team protocols after a night out in Edinburgh following last week’s win away over Italy, it has emerged.
The BBC reported that Scotland captain Stuart Hogg, together with fellow British & Irish Lions Finn Russell and Ali Price, as well as Sione Tuipulotu, Darcy Graham and Sam Johnson, were sanctioned for leaving the team hotel to head to an Edinburgh bar after the squad arrived back from a 33-22 success in Rome.
The Scottish Rugby Union acknowledged on Friday there had been an issue of discipline involving six players without revealing the identities of those involved.
“The Scotland management team have this week dealt with a post-match matter involving six players following the game against Italy last weekend,” the SRU said in a statement. “The players involved have been spoken to individually and those conversations and outcomes will remain private.
“Preparations for the match against Ireland this week have been good and the whole squad is fully focused on achieving a positive result on Saturday.”
Hogg, Graham Johnson and Price, who won his 50th cap in Italy, are all in the starting XV for the match against Ireland in Dublin, Scotland’s final fixture of the 2022 Six Nations. Russell, however, has been dropped to the bench with Edinburgh’s Blair Kinghorn starting at flyhalf instead of the Racing 92 playmaker.
Tuipulotu has been released to play for Glasgow against Edinburgh in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship on Friday.
Scotland coach Gregor Townsend made no reference to any disciplinary issues when naming his side to play title-chasing Ireland on Thursday. The Scots have lost their past six matches against Ireland and have not won a Six Nations fixture in Dublin since 2010.
Victory for Scotland this weekend would mean Townsend’s men, currently fourth on the table, had won three of their five matches in the championship this season. A win would also deny Ireland a Triple Crown and end their bid to take the title before Grand Slam-chasing France face England in Paris later on Saturday.
© Agence France-Presse
