Parks backed to take Scots forward

Published on Thursday 5 June 2008 23:21

DAN Parks will retain the challenge of spearheading a new-look Scottish attack in the first Test match in Argentina this weekend with the firm belief of coach Frank Hadden that he has turned a corner since the RBS Six Nations Championship.

The 30-year-old stand-off endured a miserable finish to the campaign with personal errors being magnified by the fact they led to tries that ultimately killed off Scotland's bid to end a struggle of a championship with victory in Italy. There were suggestions that Parks had played his last match for Scotland, but he responded with fine displays for Glasgow at the tail-end of the season and proved to Hadden, and Sean Lineen, his club coach and assistant on this tour, that he could still be the pivot as they seek a more threatening approach.

For Scotland's first Test in Argentina in nearly 15 years, Hadden yesterday named a side with three new caps in Ben Cairns at outside centre, Thom Evans on the wing and Matt Mustchin, Edinburgh's New Zealand-born lock who qualified for Scotland on residency grounds only last week. But, directing the attack will be Parks and Hadden is confident he will do it well.

He said: "His ability to rise to challenges is extraordinary. I've always had a lot of confidence in him. During the Six Nations I was concerned about him being off the boil because of the long season he'd had.

"He'd not had the break he had the previous year and I felt we didn't see the best of him, but after the post-Six Nations appraisal with myself and Sean (Lineen] he has taken it all on board, as he always does, and risen to the challenge.

"Dan always knew he had to take the game to the opposition a bit more. What he was doing latterly, with Glasgow during the season and in the Six Nations, was taking it to the gain-line and then passing it. He wasn't offering himself as a threat and that was the thing I said to him, and Sean said to him, straight after the Six Nations, that he personally had to become more of a threat.

"In the very first game after the Six Nations he had a go right from the start and he's continued to do that. We knew that until the opposition started to see him as a threat then his passing and kicking game would be less effective, but he's finished the season as Glasgow's second top try-scorer.

"He has also turned himself from a 75 percent (successful] defender into a 90 percent-plus – Alan Tait has rarely seen that level of individual progress. As I said, he constantly rises to the challenge and is an absolute pleasure to work with."

His return as the leading stand-off is a terrific testament to Parks' inner strength because his mistakes almost acted like a personal magnet for the barrage of criticism that followed a championship in which Scotland lost four out of five games. It means even more for Scotland, in the sense that if he gets good ball and can attack the gain-line with a more genuine threat, and so tie in defenders, the back line of Graeme Morrison, Cairns, Evans, Simon Danielli and Chris Paterson, restored to full-back, has the ability to seriously worry Argentina.

As well as equalling Scott Murray's record of 87 caps, Paterson will tomorrow make his 28th outing in the No15 jersey, equalling his left wing appearances. Hadden clearly seems happier with Paterson at full-back. "It's fantastic that Chris has managed to get (to 87 caps] and it's testament to his hard work. People say it's about ability, but I think it's more to do with attitude than ability.

"There's no doubt that the work he has put in is paying dividends for him.

"His strength as an attacking player is his broken-field running. If you were to pick one thing that was really top-drawer it's that. Games today don't tend to be won now as sides go through their phases and sequences; it comes from that half-chance, the quick turnover, the counter-attack from the bad kick or a kick that's not chased well enough.

"Taking advantage of those situations is one of Chris' strengths – we have an exciting back three that is good at that."

trio earn debuts, pages 60-61