Knee injury forces Chris Cusiter home from Argentina

• Picture: Ian Rutherford

The national team skipper has lost his fight to be fit for the second Test in Mar del Plata on Saturday and as a result he was shipped back home to continue the rehabilitation of his troublesome knee in Glasgow.

"He trained yesterday and he wasn't really ready having been out for seven weeks," said head coach Andy Robinson. "We knew it was always going to be touch and go. Part of the reason that he was brought out here was so that he could have treatment and get himself in a position to be available for the second Test and he hasn't managed to do that."

Robinson insisted that he was very happy with the performance from the other two scrum-halfs in the squad, Rory Lawson and Mike Blair, so the loss of Cusiter was not the hammer blow it might otherwise have been.

Both players came through the Tucuman Test unscathed so Cusiter's place in the squad will not be filled by an emergency replacement.

"It's quite tough when you're not playing," said the coach of his erstwhile captain, "it's not like the Ryder Cup where the non-playing captain has a specific role. He's been a very important part of the squad and obviously that was one of the reasons we had him out here.

"He's done well as a leader both on and off the pitch but now he is totally out of playing this weekend."

Cusiter will ponder his bad luck on the long flight home since he has missed some crucial matches of late. He was injured early on in the win against the Wallabies last November and he missed out altogether on last weekend's victory in Tucuman. With two such strong rivals for the No9 shirt, not to mention Al Kellock doing a very decent shift as stand-in skipper, Cusiter will need to be back to his best to regain both posts in time for the autumn internationals.

Once again Robinson walked into the press conference with a spring in his step and a grin on his face that just may have been caused by events on the other side of the globe as much as by Scotland's winning start to this two-Test series. Following England's loss to Australia last Saturday, Martin Johnston now boasts a poorer record as national coach than Robinson managed when he was at Twickenham. The current incumbent also has the sort of access to his players that Robinson could only dream of. Asked if he wanted to comment on the current plight of the England coach, Robinson kept his own council but his grin grew that little bit broader.

Robinson also revealed that, if he had his way, the matchday 22 would become the matchday 20. While Scotland's previous coach argued long and hard for an increase in the substitutes Robinson would like to cut the numbers by at least two.

As if to underline the point, the coach only called upon three substitutes last Saturday, Mike Blair, Alasdair Strokosch and Scott Lawson, so ensuring there was no dream debut for the utility back Jim Thompson, who may still get another chance this coming weekend.

"I would welcome the bench being reduced to five where you've got two front-row players and then you make up the other three players as you choose. I think it would work on safety grounds because the players would have to become more aerobic because they would have to last the 80 minutes. You've still got the coverage of front-row players so scrums would still happen as they do now.

"It would change the focus of the conditioning coaches, at the moment you can change half the team. Players only have to play half a game, some only play for 45 or 50 minutes and it affects the whole dynamic of the game, about how you are contesting against your opposition and trying to wear them down."