Robinson opens door to eight new boys

Published on 06/08/2009 22:46

PLAYERS who grasped the chance to impress new Scotland coach Andy Robinson in Romania in June have been rewarded with call-ups to his first full Scotland training squad.

Robinson took over from Frank Hadden in June and led an A squad to the IRB Nations Cup title in Bucharest with three wins from three. Back on home soil and starting on the task of moulding a more successful national squad, he yesterday named a training group of 44 that includes eight uncapped players, for a pre-season camp at St Andrews later this month.

Seven of the eight played in the IRB Nations Cup, namely Edinburgh quartet John Houston, Alan MacDonald, Jim Thompson and Kyle Traynor, young Glasgow talents Ruaridh Jackson, Richie Vernon and Richie Gray, and the promising Worcester centre Alex Grove.

Although they are not free to start playing until October, the group also includes the four Scots who were involved in the British and Irish Lions summer tour of South Africa – Mike Blair, Ross Ford, Nathan Hines and Euan Murray – key figures in Robinson's plan to build a stronger, more consistent Scotland side.

While Hadden lost a few players in the fall-out from the Matt Williams era, notably skipper Gordon Bulloch and Tom Smith, Simon Taylor is the only player who appears at this stage to have decided he does not wish to continue his international career under the new coaching regime.

There does not appear to be any fall-out with Robinson insisting that he would still consider Taylor for Test duty. The door also remains open to Dan Parks, the Glasgow stand-off also left out of the squad. The 31-year-old was convicted of drink-driving at the end of last season and his rugby career appeared to be in serious jeopardy, but it emerged that he had signed a two-year contact prior to his court appearance and Glasgow and the SRU stood by the 47-times capped fly-half.

However, the selection of Phil Godman and Jackson, who impressed Robinson and assistant coaches Graham Steadman and Gregor Townsend in Romania, with Chris Paterson still viewed as emergency fly-half cover, is a clear sign of where the new coach wants to take his squad.

Having begun working a number of new ideas, philosophies and expectations into his charges in Romania, Robinson stated that he viewed the upcoming three-day camp as integral to laying foundations and setting in place the standards he will expect of his entire squad, with the full internationals rested from the A tour in the fold.

It is also crucial to starting to put in place his plans for how Scotland will play in his first series of matches, the Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Tests against Fiji, Australia and Argentina at Murrayfield in November.

Robinson added: "It's good to have a three-day get-together before the season starts where we will discuss our objectives and how we are going to work together. Our themes will be developing leadership, game understanding and improving individual skills and fitness."

There is an air among players of being in at the start of a new era where Test places are up for grabs again. Most of the squad were informed of their selection last week, so the announcement came as no surprise to Glasgow players in France preparing to face Clermont Auvergne or the Edinburgh squad in St Andrews facing Dundee HSFP in a training match last night.

But one of the uncapped players, Kyle Traynor, admitted it was an exciting step forward from the Romania tour. "I just thought about performing well in Romania when I was there, and didn't think about what was to come after it, but you were aware that you were among the first guys to get the chance to show the new Scotland coach what you could do at the next level up.

"He knows most of us anyway from his time with Edinburgh and Scotland A, but there is a feeling of this being a fresh slate and the belief that Andy will pick players on form, the way he did at Edinburgh. That's exciting, because you know then that playing well will put you in with a chance.

"I think quite a few guys showed they were capable of stepping up in Romania so it's good there are a few fresh faces in the squad, but it's up to us to take that further now by training and playing well."

SCOTLAND TRAINING SQUAD

for three-day training camp at St Andrews, 17-19 August:

Backs

Mike Blair (Edinburgh)

Ben Cairns (Edinburgh)

Chris Cusiter (Glasgow)

Simon Danielli (Ulster)

Nick De Luca (Edinburgh)

Thom Evans (Glasgow)

Max Evans (Glasgow)

Phil Godman (Edinburgh)

Alex Grove (Worcester)

John Houston (Edinburgh)

Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow)

Rory Lamont (Toulon)

Sean Lamont (Scarlets)

Rory Lawson (Gloucester)

Graeme Morrison (Glasgow)

Chris Paterson (Edinburgh)

Hugo Southwell (Stade Francais)

Jim Thompson (Edinburgh)

Nikki Walker (Ospreys)

Simon Webster (Edinburgh)

Forwards

John Barclay (Glasgow)

Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow)

Kelly Brown (Glasgow)

Geoff Cross (Edinburgh)

Alasdair Dickinson (Gloucester)

Ross Ford (Edinburgh)

Richie Gray (Glasgow)

Scott Gray (Northampton)

Dougie Hall (Glasgow)

Craig Hamilton (Edinburgh)

Jim Hamilton (Edinburgh)

Nathan Hines (Leinster)

Allister Hogg (Edinburgh)

Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh)

Alastair Kellock (Glasgow)

Scott Lawson (Gloucester)

Moray Low (Glasgow)

Alan MacDonald (Edinburgh)

Scott MacLeod (Edinburgh)

Euan Murray (Northampton)

Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester)

Kyle Traynor (Edinburgh)

Richie Vernon (Glasgow)

Jason White (Clermont Auvergne)