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Six Nations: Scotland make four changes ahead of France match

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Published on Thursday 23 February 2012 11:07

SCOTLAND rugby coach Andy Robinson has made four changes to the side that lost in Wales and opted for a new midfield partnership against France as he seeks a first win in five Tests.

Robinson’s record in the RBS Six Nations Championship stands at just two wins in 12 games and failures by players to finish off the improving attacking work in the side has left him hugely frustrated.

He has dropped Glasgow scrum-half Chris Cusiter and Nick De Luca, the Edinburgh centre, and replaced them with Mike Blair and Sean Lamont respectively, largely due to below-par displays in the opening games. Lamont moves from inside to outside centre, where he played often last season for the Scarlets, which opened the door for the return of Glasgow’s Graeme Morrison to the No 12 jersey for the first time since the World Cup.

Teenager Stuart Hogg, who made an impressive Test debut off the bench in Cardiff, is handed the starting full-back role against the French 40 years after Jim Renwick, also 19, made his Scotland debut in the centre against the same opposition.

With Max Evans out injured Rory Lamont switches from full-back to wing. The only other change to the side is in the pack where John Barclay starts at blindside flanker after replacing Alasdair Strokosch, who suffered a broken hand against Wales. That brings a new mix to the Scotland back row with two recognised openside flankers either side of No 8 David Denton.

Robinson explained: “I have looked at the team and what is going to be best for beating France. I am delighted for Stuart Hogg. He came into the squad for the St Andrews camp and did really well, played in the [Scotland A versus] Saxons game and was exemplary in his performance and then came off the bench in Cardiff and what you saw was a real composed performance.

“He has that ability to handle the pressure of international rugby and it’s great that he’s getting his first start. We’re disappointed with the injuries we got, to Max and Alasdair Strokosch, but we have good players to come in.”

Robinson’s frustration with the opening defeats has been etched on his face but he retains belief that his squad are close to cracking the winning code. He acknowledges that France will be a tougher prospect than England and Wales, arriving in Scotland intent on regaining the title they have won five times in the past decade, the last in 2010. Robinson said: “This is a different challenge. The other two [England and Wales] have the potential to move the ball against you and the French are the best at doing that, but the one area that you get severely tested by the French is the scrum and lineout, and that’s a key battle-ground on Sunday.

“They destroyed us in the scrum last year. They completely dominated us because we scrummaged as individuals. We have to scrummage collectively as an eight-man operation, while the lineout is an area France will go to if they’re not able to get their game going to secure possession, so we’ve got to be able to dominate there. France have got everything. They have the firepower to play in many different ways which is what makes them a very strong side.”

However, Robinson believes he has selected a side with the mix of experience and strength to subdue the French pack and back line, and the blend of ball-carrying ability and attacking nous in the back three, in particular, to cause France real problems.

The Scotland coach accepted that a third defeat on the trot would be difficult to stomach with away matches with Ireland and Italy to come, but insisted that this squad, with youngsters such as Lee Jones, Denton and Hogg pointing to a brighter future, was capable of lifting Scotland from their current world ranking of 12th.

He also paid tribute to the support of the Scottish fans, and the fact that Murrayfield is a 67,144 sell-out for Sunday.

“I want to thank the support that are going to be at the game,” he added. “For us to have a sell-out on a Sunday against France, for the first time since 1994, is testament to the energy that is here in Scotland and the desire for the team to be successful.

“The players and management are absolutely delighted that that’s the case. The messages of support also given to the players heading into this game drives them forward and we want to put in a performance that inspires that crowd to support the team. Unfortunately, the stats [defeats] are there and I have to be able to deal with that, but in terms of my enthusiasm, desire and how I see the team going out and playing.

“I have full confidence in how we’re playing and am looking forward to the game at the weekend.”

Scotland team to play France:

S Hogg (Glasgow Warriors); R Lamont (Glasgow Warriors), S Lamont (Scarlets), G Morrison (Glasgow Warriors), L Jones (Edinburgh); G Laidlaw (Edinburgh), M Blair (Edinburgh); A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), R Ford (capt, Edinburgh), G Cross (Edinburgh), R Gray (Glasgow Warriors), J Hamilton (Gloucester), J Barclay (Glasgow Warriors), R Rennie (Edinburgh), D Denton (Edinburgh).

Replacements: S Lawson (Gloucester), E Kalman (Glasgow Warriors), A Kellock (Glasgow Warriors), R Vernon (Sale Sharks), C Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors), D Weir (Glasgow Warriors), N De Luca (Edinburgh).


Comments

There are 57 comments to this article

Page 1 of 4


57

Saltireblue

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 09:52 PM

#54 JCA REID: You say..."I fear it will still be this one-dimensional stodge-fest that we've served up continually for several years now." Does this mean that you can't tell the difference between an Andy Robinson coached team and, say, a Matt Williams coached team. For your information, and despite losing both games so far, Scotland have made more carries, more metres gained, more clean breaks and beaten more defenders than any other side in the 6 Nations Tourney. Also, for all those computer keyboard selectors out there who have been whining about Rory Lamont, they should know that he has made more metres (239m) and Dave Denton more carries (35) than any other players in this tournament so far. You see Mr. JCA Reid...real selectors...and not the ones on these threads, have stat sheets to help them make decisions. They don't.



56

Saltireblue

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 09:50 PM

#54 JCA REID: You say..."I fear it will still be this one-dimensional stodge-fest that we've served up continually for several years now." Does this mean that you can't tell the difference between a Andy Robinson coached team and say a Matt Williams coached team. For your information, and despite losing both games so far, Scotland have made more carries, more metres gained, more clean breaks and beaten more defenders than any other side in the 6 Nations Tourney. Also, for all those computer keyboard selectors out there who have been whining about Rory Lamont, they should know that he has made more metres (239m) and Dave Denton more carries (35) than any other players in this tournament so far. You see Mr. JCA Reid...real selectors...and not the ones on these threads, have stat sheets to help them make decisions. They don't.



55

MrJaffa

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 02:20 PM

#54 JCA REID - Are you including the England and Wales games in your description of our 'one-dimensional stodge' style of play? Do you not recognise ANY difference in Scotlands play over the last few years?.........really???? I mean?? really?....... is it just like watching teams led by Matt Williams and Frank Hadden???? ...........or perhaps......just perhaps...... we are massively better defensively and over the last couple of games have looked far more dangerous in attack, scoring 3 legitimate tries and messing up on numerous more opportunities.



54

JCA REID

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 02:03 PM

we'll see what we we wil this Sunday but I fear it will still be this one-dimensional stodge-fest that we've served up continually for several years now. Although AR has improved the level of stodge-fest...it is still stodge fest.



53

Fly

Friday, February 24, 2012 at 12:01 PM

AR has looked at the players at his disposal and his game plan and I think he heas picked a team that's as good as he could have. Scott needs more time but he will get there. Ansbro and Evans injured. Would be wrong to throw Hogg in at 13 with little top level experience there. Not much left to choose from. AR has clearly targeted the French ability to play lengthy phases of continuous play - interesting facts on lengths of time the ball is in play. With that game plan, Morrison and Lamont can do a job. I would guess that's also a reason why another 7 is selected at 6 as quick ball from the breakdown is what will provide chances for the back 3 which is sharp. I'm happy with the plan and selections for this game with the players available. Long term, Scott, AnsbroEvans, see how Hogg develops at Glasgow at 13 could give us an exciting centre partnership from this group for the next WC.



52

anothereiver

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 09:50 PM

#51 No its not just you, I don't think Robinson has a clear idea what his best team is (especially the backs) even allowing for injuries or horses for courses. As someone else pointed out the better performers have been the newer caps, but will they get a decent run?



51

alexmait

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 08:57 PM

Is it just me, but does Robinson have something approaching a sporting version of ADHD? Jim Hamilton opines that the challenge with the Scottish set-up is the lack of selection consistency and too little time to get to bed in. So we have the ninth different half back combo in ten matches and a blunderbuss untried poor-man's heavyweight centre pairing - when what we need to do is score tries. Not convinced. Still, at least we have a fairly settled pack and glad to see Geoff Cross retained. Let's hope for dancing feet from the new Hawick tyro.



50

SeniorandSenior

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 06:56 PM

I've seen Graeme Morrison at lower levels and even when he first became a pro single handedly destroy teams. He's got size, pace, a bit of a step, what he really lacks is confidence. It's the top 2 inches, and I think that is true of quite a few Scotland players. It's why they can do well in the Pro 12, even the Heineken cup, but they don't do well in a test matches - they don't really think they're going to win.



49

AC19

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 02:04 PM

I'm not so worried by the selection. Just the finishing. These players have proved again and again that they can create opportunities and space, but that final 10 yards and it breaks down. The first 2 games they created so many opportunities and way more so than either England or Italy. And just look at the number of tries that Edinburgh and Glasgow have scored. Its the same guys, just different jerseys. I wish I knew what the problem was when they pull on the Scottish jersey, maybe they need to wear their club jersey first and the Scottish one on top. Whatever it is, you know you can do it - so DO IT! Go Scotland.



48

daffy_b

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:14 PM

Initially I also felt the selection at centres was a bit doubtful, but reading AR's coments on other pages, I now see where he's coming from and it might just work. One worry I do have though is nothing to do with the team. Its the referee (and before anyone gets on their high-horse, I am not getting in anti-referee excuses). But in the last several encounters that Scotland has had Wayne Banes as referee, he has continually blundered in his refereeing of the scrum and the breakdown (NB..I think WB is a very poor referee of the scrum in general, not just in Scotland games), The scrum and the breakdown being 2 areas which Scotland have previously been pretty poor at, but have recently been much improved on. I do hope the WB goes into the match with an open mind on the scrum and breakdown, and not with a closed mind attitude of Scotland's scrum is normally rubbish so I'll ping them if the scrum goes down. Then again, pre match opinions on Refs can come back to bite you - I was cautiously optimistic with Raymoind Poite before the Wales game, and then he went and had a shocker of a game.



47

DRG

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:08 PM

Mr Jaffa (40) just cheered me up. I figured the same as many others: the centre pairing lacks a bit of panache, but it turns out cockeyed optimism is just the thing we need. Am now looking forward to it hugely. And the rest of the team is what most folk would have chosen, methinks.



46

GrandSlammer

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:01 PM

My initial reaction to the centre choice was one of 'oh no...' On reflection, given injuries and lack of form we were given very little choice. To play a fast expansive game you require to have at least one centre who can crash it up (Lamont) whether at 12 or 13. This is the only way we are going to create space for the back three. It is unfortunate we don't have a ball playing 12 at present and I have to agree that Scott is probably just a few months short of getting a run for Scotland - his time will come in 2012 though. With this in mind and given Evans and Ansbro unavailability I think AR had little to choose from. Morrison's strength is his defence. Whilst we all want to see running rugby we have to ensure our defensive patterns are in shape first! No use Scotland scoring 3 tries but conceding 6 !! Lets get behind the boys - the team is looking much more of a threat now than it did 3 weeks ago !



45

Sevrup

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 12:43 PM

Forgive my ignorance but would it not be best to have 15 players on the pitch for the whole game? Another thought - why have scrums when the ball is no longer put in straight? It would speed up game.



44

scunnered

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 12:43 PM

Like others Morrison and Lamont is certainly not my ideal pairing in the centres. However, I do think on this occasion Robinson had little choice. Had Evans or Ansbro been fit I am certain one of those guys would have been at 13 with either Morrison or Lamont at 12. I would have to say I think this is Robinson's best selection of the current Six Nations to date - at least he seems to be taking form into account at last (eg. Hogg, Blair)



43

bvfnkls9fdsa0

Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 11:41 AM

Comment removed by moderator



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