Scotland team for Italy announced

Andy Robbinson makes 14 changes to the starting XV from last week. With Morrison the only survivor

15 Rory Lamont (Toulon) 24 caps, 6 tries, 30 points
14 Max Evans (Castres) 19 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
13 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh) 25 caps, 1 try, 5 points
12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors) 29 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
11 Simon Danielli (Ulster) 27 caps, 6 tries, 30 points
10 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues) 61 caps, 4 tries, 13 conversions, 45 penalties, 14 drop-goals, 223 points
9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh) VICE-CAPTAIN 71 caps, 5 tries, 25 points
1 Alasdair Dickinson (Sale Sharks) 20 caps
2 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) 27 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
3 Moray Low (Glasgow Warriors) 14 caps
4 Nathan Hines (Clermont Ferrand) 72 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
5 Alastair Kellock (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN 33 caps, 1 try, 5 points
6 Kelly Brown (Saracens) 45 caps, 4 tries, 20 points
8 Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks) 11 caps
7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors) 28 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
Substitutes
16 Dougie Hall (Glasgow Warriors) 35 caps, 1 try, 5 points
17 Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons) 38 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
18 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 11 caps
19 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) 7 caps
20 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 52 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
21 Ruaridh Jackson (Glasgow Warriors) 7 caps, 2 conversions, 1 penalty, 1 drop-goal, 10 points
22 Nikki Walker (Ospreys) 23 caps, 6 tries, 30 points

Really surprising to be honest. I thought Morrison's name would be nailed on for the trip.

Safe to say the pack that played against Ireland will travel, along with Sean Lamont, Paterson and Ansbro. Looks like Denton and Cuthbert did not do enough to make the cut.

Mike Blair / Dan Parks axis....I am not sure about that combination. I would also have prefered someone with a little more creative flair in the middle. Morrison has only one gear and one direction and we all know what he is capable of.

I'm also frightened of what Castro will do to poor Ali Dickinson.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:
Mike Blair / Dan Parks axis....I am not sure about that combination.

Same, neither has he had an outstanding season. Here's hoping Blair preforms better on the pitch than he did as a pundit during the Ireland match...

"I would also have prefered someone with a little more creative flair in the middle. Morrison has only one gear and one direction and we all know what he is capable of."

Morrison is a limited player, but a good defender, selected to help out Desperate Dan? For once I'm actually pleased to see NDL start. If he could continue from where he left off against Ireland that might just spark the back line into life.

" I'm also frightened of what Castro will do to poor Ali Dickinson."
Looks like we'll see a lot of reset scrums come Saturday.

Well I guess that Robbo has been true to his word in pretty much giving every player a shot to write their name on a ticket to NZ (with a short handful of exceptions, ie Grant, Harley) - I think that this policy would have been fine if we now had another two warm-up matches prior to the start of the competition, but as it stands, I don't think he's given enough live battle time to units/combinations that need to work together for real. I can only hope that there is a late-arranged match against a pro-distrcit combo.

I think our scrummage will have a very tough afternoon against the Italians - Dickinson clearly isn't selected for his set-piece ability, and Low has been badly out of form. We should be ok in the lineouts, Lawson (for all his penalty magnetism) has a decent arm, and I'd rely on Kellock and Hines to do a number both in attack and defense. Vernon is obviously being given a chance to stake his claim, and the pack as a whole looks like the gameplan will be to play with plenty of width and pace.

But then you look at the backs and scratch the heid . A 10-12 combo of Desparate and Morrison doesn't equate to width, pace and offloading, it shouts territory, kicking and grinding down - I am worried. Perhaps the saving grace is that the back 3 are all dangerous with ball in hand (if they ever get to see it), and NDL gets a deserved chance at OC given that he's put in a couple of his better performances for Scotland in the last couple of games.

I'm not counting chickens for this one.

That team should definitely do the job on Saturday, although it isn't the most exciting.

Might be a long afternoon for the front row but the rest of the pack should be good enough to win the forwards battle. Expecting a big game from Vernon who needs one to guarantee his place

Shame on the young guys in the squad, but their time will come. Other notable person who isn't getting a chance is Cairnsy who, again, is out of favour with Robinson.

I know it has been discussed on these boards already but surely a 3rd warm up game would have been a good idea?? Either to give your starting XV a chance to play together or play a weakened team to give the young guys and fringe players a chance!

I worry that a lot of our combinations won't have played together for months - especially in the backs.

Well we know now what the first half will look like. Think I'll watch this one on the telly !

To me the most significant selections are as follows:

1. Low starting ahead of Murray. This suggests to me that Robinson is considering not taking Euan Murray, and if Low plays well, he'll go to the WC as the second prop.

2. No involvement for Beattie or Denton, and with Barclay needing 80 minutes, I'm not sure what Rennie is doing on the bench (surely he's already on the plane). I'm really surprised that Beattie isn't being given another game, or at least put on the bench. Denton is clearly not being considered now. No way that brief cameo against Ireland suffices to put him on the plan. As a result of 1 above, I think both Beattie and Vernon will travel, with the better performer over the two games given the starting role. Big big chance for Vernon here against Parisse.

3. The inclusion of Nikki Walker on the bench. Cuthbert is obviously out now, and by including Walker rather than Sean Lamont on the bench (I'd have thought he would want him to have a shot at 12 in the warm-ups at some stage), it clearly shows that Walker impressed against Ireland, and will get a shot to do so again. Personally I can't see how both Danielli and Walker can go, so I'd have thought that a strong performance from Danielli would end Walker's chances.


My only real criticisms are not involving Beattie at all (he needs game time), not having the option to look at Sean Lamont at 12 and starting Parks rather than Jackson (I'd have switched them personally, and used Parks towards the end of the game, which will more likely be his role in the WC).

I'd also have included Ross Ford rather than Dougie Hall, but that's more a preference than anything else. Ford is clearly going and I can understand wanting Scott Lawson to have decent game time.

This is going to be a tough ask against Italy. Our second choice front row will be seriously tested and there are big big question marks around the abilities of Parks and Morrison to create the sort of opportunities that Rory Lamont and Simon Danielli need to prove themselves. If Mallett chooses a first choice Italian pack, this will be a great tester for the Romania and Georgia games, where the likes of Scott Lawson and Dickinson will likely see some action.

Well summed up FES - when you say it like that you've got to wonder what AR was thinking, especially picking Rennie instead of Beattie.

He's had Rennie on his bench as an impact sub before on several occasions, and whilst I think Rennie is a great player, he really only covers 7, whilst Barclay moving to 6 and Brown to 8 at the same time leaves you unbalanced.

Rennie is undoubtedly the best player not in the 1st XV in my view, but that doesn't mean he should be on the bench. Strokosch (to allow Brown a chance to play at 8) or Beattie would have been more sensible choices.

funnyExiledScot wrote:He's had Rennie on his bench as an impact sub before on several occasions, and whilst I think Rennie is a great player, he really only covers 7, whilst Barclay moving to 6 and Brown to 8 at the same time leaves you unbalanced.

Rennie is undoubtedly the best player not in the 1st XV in my view, but that doesn't mean he should be on the bench. Strokosch (to allow Brown a chance to play at 8) or Beattie would have been more sensible choices.

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