Scotland reinforce squad for Wales with Euan Murray returning to the fold

Published on Monday 8 February 2010 22:11

TWELVE players have been added to the Scotland squad as they prepare for Saturday's RBS Six Nations Championship match against Wales, but injuries permitting, coach Andy Robinson will make minimal changes to the starting line-up to be announced at noon today.

• Euan Murray: Best option. Picture: SNS

Prop Euan Murray, who sat out Sunday's 18-9 defeat by the French because he will not play on the Sabbath, should be back in the team for the visit to Cardiff. Robinson has warned that the Northampton player could not expect to regain his place automatically, but in the circumstances his immediate recall appears by far the best option. Allan Jacobsen could also return to the front row after being on the bench against the French as the coach seeks a far stronger performance in the scrum.

Otherwise there is little reason to change the pack, while among the backs only two positions will come under serious scrutiny – Phil Godman at stand-off and Graeme Morrison at inside centre. Morrison had a tough afternoon against Mathieu Bastareaud, the scorer of France's two tries, while Godman had a patchy game.

Edinburgh centres Ben Cairns and Nick de Luca are among the dozen who joined the squad yesterday, as are Glasgow's Dan Parks and Ruaridh Jackson.

Parks' kicking game will see him considered as an alternative No10 to Godman, though Robinson could this time opt to have him on the bench as back-up. Against the French, full-back Chris Paterson was used in that role, with Hugo Southwell coming off the bench to take over as the last line of defence. The other players added yesterday to the 22 who were on duty on Sunday were: Mike Blair, Jim Hamilton, Dougie Hall, Scott Gray, Simon Danielli, Rory Lamont and Nikki Walker. Those who played against France had a recovery session yesterday, with six continuing to be monitored by team doctor James Robson: Johnnie Beattie (hip bruising), Kelly Brown (shoulder strain), Thom Evans (calf bruising), Nathan Hines (calf strain), Morrison (leg bruising) and Paterson (calf bruising).

Blair, the scrum-half and former captain, only returned to action after an injury lay-off in the A game in Ireland on Friday. It would be a tough call on two counts to put the former captain straight into the squad.

First, one outing with the shadow team is likely to be judged insufficient preparation for a return to the Test arena. And second, Sunday's back-up scrum-half, Rory Lawson of Gloucester, did nothing to merit deselection, having been one of three unused substitutes alongside Alex Grove and Alan MacDonald.

Whoever is chosen to play in Cardiff, the augmented squad will train together for the next couple of days at least. Robinson wants his starting line-up to practise against another team rather than just running through drills, so some form of 15-against-15 contest will be enacted.

Paterson, who is just two tries short of equalling Scotland's all-time scoring record, will win his 100th cap if selected. At the other end of the scale, Glasgow lock Richie Gray is in line to win his second cap after making his debut as a late substitute at Murrayfield two days ago.

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