Scottish Rugby forced to deal with ‘post-match matter’ involving six players

Scottish Rugby said on Friday that it had spoken to six national team players following a reported breach of team protocols after their Six Nations victory over Italy last weekend.

Scotland beat Italy 33-22 for a bonus-point win at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. According to a BBC report, the players, including captain Stuart Hogg and Finn Russell, left the team hotel to visit a bar upon their return to Edinburgh.

Other players involved were Ali Price, Darcy Graham, Sam Johnson and Sione Tuipulotu, the report added.

“The Scotland management team have this week dealt with a post-match matter involving six players following the game against Italy last weekend,” the Scottish Rugby Union 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 focussed on achieving a positive result on Saturday.”

Russell has been disciplined before, with the flyhalf dropped on the eve of their Six Nations opener in Ireland in 2020 after “a breach of team protocol”. British media reported he had missed training after a night out.

The 29-year-old, who has been a mainstay in this year’s championship, dropped to the bench for the final game against Ireland on Saturday with Blair Kinghorn set to take his place.

Hogg, Graham, Johnson and Price were named in the team for the game in Dublin while Tuipulotu was released from the squad.