AS THE winter snow, sleet and biting cold returned, Jason White warned Scotland supporters to prepare for a tough dogfight to open the RBS Six Nations Championship at Murrayfield.
Both Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, and his new opposite number Marc Lievremont named attacking sides for Sunday's first match, but the forecast for snow, rain and high winds, and a very soft pitch, is threatening to sweep the ball from ambiti
ous hands into the Murrayfield skies.
Scotland's last venture into horrible weather was a fraught encounter with Italy at the World Cup in Saint Etienne, which the Scots just scraped through to earn a quarter-final spot, but White, the Scotland captain, believes his side learned much from that match.
He said: "In bad weather the chances are it will be a tight game so our kicking will be important, but in Dan Parks we have an outstanding kicker. We have two guys in great form at nine and ten if it is wet and windy, to control the game for us. If it's snowy or very windy I imagine there will be a lot of kicking.
"We want to attack. We've picked an attacking team with Nick, two attacking wingers and Rory (Lamont] is definitely an attacking full-back, but it would be foolish to do that if it's blowing a gale and lashing down with rain.
"The lessons from the Italy game are that you must have a strong set-piece and good kick-chase, there are others. You have to play reasonably safe and not play too much rugby if it's really wet and windy, just be sensible."
The SRU admitted last night that the Murrayfield surface had been affected by the recent rain but said the game was not in doubt. "The pitch has taken a lot of water in recent days," explained the spokesman, "but the ground staff are working flat out forking it. the pitch is playable."
The full article contains 328 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
