SCOTLAND stalwart Ally Hogg has admitted the stakes have been raised ahead of next month's tour of Argentina, with seedings for the 2011 World Cup now on the line.
The Scots will go off on tour lying 10th in the rankings and, following changes in the draw matrix, will require to win on tour or knock off one of the two former winners – South Africa and New Zealand – who visit Murrayfield in the Autumn so as to a
void going into a pool as outsiders to claim a quarter-final spot.
In the past, how a team performed in the previous World Cup determined whether they would be seeded to reach the quarters, but that has been altered to take into account IRB rankings. Hogg says: "We now have two big games in relation to getting up the IRB rankings and getting into that all important top eight for the World Cup seedings when they are announced later this year."
Scotland have slipped behind Fiji, while a measure of the challenge ahead can be gauged from the fact Argentina are third.
But, despite these statistics, Hogg is upbeat. He said: "Glasgow and Edinburgh finished strongly in the Magners League so, hopefully, we can take that forward."
Such optimism is shared by Edinburgh colleague Hugo Southwell, who says the upside of an injury-affected start to the season is that he is still full of running.
While stopping short of wishing an already hectic season was starting all over again Southwell makes clear his enthusiasm for the tour.
He said: "It took me a while to get into the season because of the World Cup and injuries but around Christmas I started to get on top of my game.
"Another two weeks on the end of the season is something I look forward to and, after that, there will be three weeks off to recharge the batteries and look forward to a big start to 2008-09 with Edinburgh playing Wasps and Bath in friendlies."
Scotland have been rocked by injuries and unavailabilities, with coach Frank Hadden yesterday calling up uncapped Edinburgh second row Matt Mustchin while doubtless breathing a sigh of relief that Simon Webster had been cleared to travel after injury.
But Southwell makes it clear he prefers to dwell on the fact both sides will be affected by French club commitments when in South America for a series that starts on June 7 and culminates a week later.
"I spoke to Felipe Contepomi after Edinburgh's recent match with his Leinster side and, while he expects to be facing us, there are doubts about Juan Martin Hernandez."
Hernandez was one of the main reasons why Argentina reached the semi-finals of the last World Cup but, even in his absence, Scotland will be cautious, with Southwell citing another reason why.
"Watching Saracens progress to the semi-finals of the recent Heineken Cup, it was noticeable that Francisco Leonelli was doing well for them," Southwell said.
"Leonelli is an Argentine we know well from his time at Edinburgh before moving to Glasgow, so we'll have to watch out for him if he is picked by the Pumas against us this summer."
The full article contains 539 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
