Scotland coach praises squad depth ahead of Fiji and has 'no doubts' over potential first-time starter

Scotland forward’s coach John Dalziel says he has “no doubts” that Edinburgh flanker Freddy Douglas can step into the starting seven jersey for the senior team if asked.

Rory Darge will miss Scotland’s third and final Nations Championship fixture of the summer against Fiji due to concussion protocols leaving some big shoes to fill in his position. Matt Fagerson switched from blind-side to open-side in last weekend’s defeat to South Africa when his Glasgow Warriors teammate was forced off and Edinburgh back-rower Magnus Bradbury came on for him later in the match.

Both are certainly capable of playing at seven at Test level while Bath’s Josh Bayliss can also perform there. Douglas is the only other ‘specialist’ in that position in the squad but has yet to start a senior international with only two caps off the bench to date.

Scotland coach has ‘no doubts’ that young flanker can step up and fill in for ‘incredible’ Rory Darge

Asked if he was confident in the 21-year-old stepping up, Dalziel said: “Absolutely and we've seen that with him before. Dargey, in terms of his output, it's really hard to replace somebody like him when he's fit and available.

“The way he bounces back and turns around for games is incredible really. Sitting behind somebody like that is hard, you have to wait your time. I've no complaints or doubts about Freddy if needed.

“If you look at Freddy and Dargey and you look at their height profile you probably think they're just a seven but their skill set, in terms of ball carry and all the other bits they do away from the post tackle work, is kind of that hybrid of where rugby back row players are now. Dargey has turned into one of our best line out options as well over the last period.

“Freddy and our sevens have to have that within them as well so the game's changing and they can influence it in many ways so we're really happy with the blend we have around all the back rows and the combinations."

It isn’t just the back row where Scotland have a noticeably deeper pool of quality players to call upon compared to just a few years ago. With a significant number of changes expected in the starting XV and replacements to take on the Flying Fijians, Dalziel is delighted with the strength in depth across the park.

He added: "It's given us a really good opportunity to experiment a little bit and build the depth up and give exposure in these games. This squad that we've picked, we've picked a squad that can all play in this championship, it wasn't like we were taking anybody to learn the game or whatever, it was there to be a real opportunity at the end of a long season.

"Coming off the back of that South Africa defeat, we're desperate to finish this tournament right so we'll take assessment today of where everybody's at and we'll pick the right team to go into the weekend."

The forwards coach also took time to praise the impact of hooker Gregor Hiddleston over the past two fixtures. The Glasgow man scored off the bench on debut against Argentina and made a major impact against the Springboks.

“Gregor was uncapped but had been in a couple of squads and during the whole Six Nations and not playing,” said Dalziel. “I think he's taken that disappointment back to Glasgow and put that into his performances. Gregor and he's looked every part of the Test player the last two weeks.”

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