Jimmy Cowan hopes to seize his chance

THE last time Jimmy Cowan was in Edinburgh, in 2005, he was handed a bit part as he came off the New Zealand bench to help secure a 29-10 win over Scotland as part of the Kiwis' last Grand Slam tour. In terms of the deficit, it was also the closest Scotland have come to beating the All Blacks in over a decade.

Cowan made his All Blacks debut on the 2004 tour of the northern hemisphere and has enjoyed 42 Tests, and 26 starts, since then but he has a particular goal this week. Piri Weepu, the first-choice scrum-half in the recent Tri Nations, made his debut in the same year, but recently overtook his cap total.

However, Weepu broke an ankle playing for the Wellington Lions last month and was replaced in the squad by another Wellingtonian, Alby Mathewson, who, in turn, replaced Cowan after the Australia defeat and made his first start against England at Twickenham.

Cowan, who hails from Southland and admits to some "Scottish-Irish ancestry, many generations back", is hopeful of being handed his chance to reaffirm his claims to the jersey against Scotland on Saturday. "It is great to be back in Scotland and I'm looking forward to Murrayfield," said the 28-year-old.

"It is very hard for Piri not to be here. It was a cruel blow for him and I really feel for the guy. But it's my chance now to make my mark and I'm looking forward to doing that.

"I don't have experiences of the World Cup because I made my debut the year after the 2003 tournament and was not involved at all in 2007 so it is great to be involved with all the excitement now really building back home ahead of next year's tournament.''