Scott Staniforth is listed to start at centre against Scotland on Saturday where he will face` Andy Henderson.
Scott's brother Graydon (Stanners to the fans) played several matches for Hawks last season whilst on a pro contract with Glasgow--Graydon is now playing in France with Stade Aurillacois

Murrayfield camp confident of taking Wallabies all the way
Lewis Stuart




So it is as good a demonstration as any of how far Scotland have come in a year that there was no sign of any of that as player after player and coach after coach talked this week about the confidence in the camp that today they can claim their first Australian scalp since 1982, when Andy Irvine, now Scottish Rugby’s president, inspired a 12-7 win at Brisbane.

No promises. Just a firm conviction that the main thing that stands between them and a first win over a Southern Hemisphere power in four years is whether or not the players all perform to their potential. They insist they are still underdogs, but ones sniffing at a chance of becoming top dogs, knowing that if they do and other results go their way, they can climb above England in the world rankings.

As for Australia, suffice it to say that for the first time in a couple of decades, they are contemplating defeat. Not expecting it, no Wallaby side is ever that negative, but there is none of the usual swagger that suggests the only matter up for debate is the margin of victory.

Recent history is certainly on their side. It is 25 years since they lost at Murrayfield and since then they have won seven times, scoring 242 points. The Wallabies scored 29 points once and more than 30 in every other match while Scotland have never reached 20. It is a gloomy record for the Scots to read.

This time, though, there is a different feel to the game. The Wallabies are the ones experimenting, still struggling to find their best combinations. They are vulnerable in the tight five, four of whom are not just inexperienced at international level — two are making their first international starts — but inexperienced at every professional level. The front row is bulky but young, and a huge responsibility devolves on to Nathan Sharpe, the only member of that unit with a significant international record.

The midfield too is a far cry from the usual Australian line up of superstars. Scott Staniforth wins his fifth cap in a new position at inside centre as John Connolly, the coach, desperately tries for a unit that will allow him to keep Matt Giteau at scrum half.

Staniforth himself sees this as his big breakthrough chance a couple of weeks before his 29th birthday and he does have one advantage. “My brother, Graydon, played for Glasgow and Glasgow Hawks last season, so as I will be up against Andy Henderson, another Glasgow player, and it was my brother’s birthday last week, I took the chance to get some tips on what to expect,” he revealed.

It is also the 50th cap for Lote Tuqiri, back on the wing but worried after complaining that even at outside centre in the last couple of games he has hardly been seeing the ball. A far cry, though from his last visit to Murrayfied when Matt Williams, then the coach, ordered the touchline brought in five metres and he found himself continually out of bounds.

In contrast, Scotland have that settled look about them. It’s the same front five for the third week in a row, the same outside backs for the second week and it is only at scrum half, where Mike Blair is back after Chris Cusiter’s injury, and the injury-ravaged back row that there has been any chopping and changing.

It says something for the friendship within the squad that all the players handed unexpected chances went out of their way this week to commiserate with the rivals whose injuries had opened the way.

Rory Lawson, for example, delayed celebration of his near-certain debut cap off the bench to say: “I really feel for Chris [Cusiter]. He’s a really good mate and the way the injury happened makes it hard to stomach. It created an opportunity and he sent me a text saying he hoped it would be me who got the nod.”

Lawson is joined on the bench by Alastair Strokosch, another uncapped player. “I told my mother and she almost went off her head. Then it was texts flooding in from my whole family all over the place. They are a good side but we have an excellent chance of beating them.”

TEAMS

SCOTLAND: C Paterson (Edinburgh, captain); S Lamont (Northampton), M Di Rollo (Edinburgh), A Henderson (Glasgow), S Webster (Edinburgh); D Parks (Glasgow), M Blair (Edinburgh); G Kerr (Borders), D Hall (Edinburgh), E Murray (Glasgow), N Hines (Perpignan), S Murray (Edinburgh), S Taylor (Edinburgh), K Brown (Borders), D Callam (Edinburgh). Replacements: R Ford (Borders), A Jacobsen (Edinburgh), A Kellock (Glasgow), A Strokosch (Edinburgh), R Lawson (Gloucester), P Godman (Edinburgh), H Southwell (Edinburgh).

AUSTRALIA: C Latham (Reds); M Gerrard (Brumbies), S Mortlock (Brumbies, captain), S Staniforth (Force), L Tuqiri (Waratahs); S Larkham (Brumbies), M Giteau (Force); B Robinson (Waratahs), S Moore (Reds), G Shepherdson (Brumbies), N Sharpe (Force), A Campbell (Brumbies), R Elsom (Waratahs), G Smith (Brumbies), D Lyons (Waratahs). Replacements: T Polota-Nau (Waratahs), A Baxter (Waratahs), M Chisholm (Brumbies), P Waugh (Waratahs), W Palu (Waratahs), J Valentine (Waratahs), M Rogers (Waratahs).

Referee: D Courtney (Ireland).
Television: Today: BBC One, live coverage from 2.15pm (kick-off 2.30pm).

This article was originally posted on 23-Nov-2006, 09:56 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 25-Nov-2006, 18:09.