Six Nations: Andy Robinson has a dilemma as Ruaridh Jackson makes return to fold

The French team will be announced today but Scotland head coach Andy Robinson is holding off for another 24 hours before confirming his line-up as he seeks a first win in the RBS Six Nations Championship since last year’s defeat of Italy.

With Max Evans continuing his rehab on the ankle injury suffered against Wales in the Millennium Stadium, Robinson is expected to start with the back three formation that he was forced into when Evans went off after 15 minutes. That means a Test start for 19-year-old Stuart Hogg, from Hawick, who has impressed at full-back and centre for Glasgow this season. He injected a threat to Scotland’s attack in Cardiff, notably in the second half when the game was opening up and he was denied a debut try only by the self-recognised error of French referee Romain Poite.

With Hogg at full-back and Lee Jones and Rory Lamont on the wings, Robinson could go further and shake-up his midfield. Edinburgh centre Matt Scott is the choice of many who have watched the youngster emerge as an inside centre who can offer a second stand-off presence and play the game with power and pace. He is definitely in the sights of the Scotland coaches, but he is not expected to be thrown a Test debut yet, with Robinson reluctant to make wholesale changes and send fresh combinations out against a French side confident of retaining the Six Nations crown.

The last time the coach sent out the same back line in two consecutive Tests was at the start of last year’s Six Nations, with changes made, either through injury or by design, in each of the 11 internationals since.

Yet, there are now signs of a more threatening group coming together with the addition of Hogg and Greig Laidlaw at stand-off.

The versatile Edinburgh half-back showed enough in his first Test start to earn another run-out in the No 10 jersey, which leaves a dilemma for Robinson over whether to restore Ruaridh Jackson, the fit-again Glasgow stand-off, to the matchday squad.

Jackson, who re-joined the training squad this week, was Robinson’s first-choice stand-off in the World Cup and in the planning for the Six Nations, only for the 24-year-old to be dogged by the hamstring injury he suffered in the opening minutes of the World Cup match with England. Laidlaw will start against France, but Robinson has to decide whether to keep Duncan Weir as the bench cover, with Weir still to make his Test debut, or promote Jackson after two club matches and continue his return with a second-half cameo on Sunday.

Mike Blair has also been maintaining his usual rivalry with Chris Cusiter, the Glasgow scrum-half, but he appears likely to continue on the bench as Robinson seeks to give Cusiter time to regain top form. The pack will have a familiar ring to it, however. Geoff Cross will retain the tighthead prop’s jersey knowing that he has another opportunity to prove his value before Euan Murray becomes available for the remaining two games.

Lock Jim Hamilton sat out training yesterday as he recovered from Gloucester’s derby win over Bath on Sunday, and a throat infection, while two other forwards in action at the weekend, Richie Vernon (ankle) and Scott Lawson (dead leg), received treatment from the Scotland medical team. Glasgow prop Ed Kalman was back in training, however, having recovered from neck pain suffered in his Test debut against Wales and so will resume as bench cover for both sides of the scrum in what is expected to be the Scottish forwards’ most intense set-piece examination of the championship.

Scotland’s last victory under Robinson was against Georgia in the World Cup, but he has secured just two wins in the last 12 Six Nations games. Having lifted Scotland to a record high of sixth in the IRB World Rankings in 2010, he only narrowly avoided taking the side to 12th for the first time on Sunday when England came from behind to beat Italy in Rome.

France at home will be another great test of his side’s ability to perform under pressure, but as he digests Philippe Saint-Andre’s line-up today, Robinson’s thoughts will be on whether his latest selection under pressure will produce a winning formula.