THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS
GARETH BLACK
RORY Lamont has emerged as favourite to take over the Scotland No 15 jersey in this weekend's RBS Six Nations match against France in Paris.

Hugo Southwell has been ruled out for up to three months after dislocating his shoulder during the first half of Scotland's 19-18 defeat to Ireland at Murrayfield last Saturday.

Lamont did well when he replaced Southwell for the second half and the 24-year-old Glasgow player has forced his way back into contention for a first international start since the autumn of 2005, when he started on the right wing against Samoa before retiring before half-time with concussion.

Reflecting on his 40-minute stint for Frank Hadden's side against the Irish, he said: "I was obviously delighted to get half a game - I've had to wait a long time to get significant match time like that.

"But it was absolutely heartbreaking to lose. I was pretty confident with 15 minutes left in the game that we could hold on, and go on to win it. But as Frank has already said, we didn't execute things properly and it ended up costing us the game. Overall I was pleased with the way I played. It wasn't perfect, but I was pretty happy with the impact I made.

"Whether that's enough for Frank to start me at 15 on Saturday is another question."

While Lamont would like to be considered primarily as a full-back, Hadden regards the player more as a winger.

However, Lamont said: "I've read about Frank not seeing me as a 'polished 15', but I've just got to try to prove him wrong."

This article was posted on 14-Mar-2007, 08:28 by Hugh Barrow.