Steve Swindall, the 24-year-old Glasgow Warriors flanker, will make his Scotland A debut on Wednesday in the Barclays Churchill Cup opener against the USA in Henley.

Elsewhere there are ten full caps in the starting line-up seeking to improve on Scotland A’s runners-up spot in last season’s competition in North America.

Head coach Frank Hadden said: “Steve has been part of an outstanding back-row and pack effort at Glasgow. He works hard and deserves his chance at this level.

“The Barclays Churchill Cup was introduced to create opportunity for players who might otherwise not be able to show the national coach what they can do. The fact the National Management Team are looking after the A team shows how important we believe this opportunity is for the players as we build towards the Rugby World Cup in the autumn.”

The USA lost 3-51 to England Saxons in their first game on Friday night at Sale but Hadden cautions against reading too much into that result. “We watched the game on Friday where the USA were completely dominated by a very powerful England front five. I expect the USA will react positively to that experience and we might not find it quite so straight-forward on Wednesday.”

Rory Lawson, who led Scotland A in last season’s Barclays Churchill Cup, where wins were posted against England Saxons and Canada, will skipper the team on Wednesday, though Hadden reiterated his intention to appoint a captain on a game by game basis throughout the tournament.

Scotland A team to play USA at Henley RFC on Wednesday 23 May (kick-off 6pm)


15 Rory Lamont (Glasgow Warriors-Hawks)

14 Simon Webster (Edinburgh Rugby)
13 Calum MacRae (Border Reivers)*
12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors-Hawks)
11 Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors)

10 Gordon Ross (Castres)
9 Rory Lawson (Gloucester)* CAPTAIN

1 Alasdair Dickinson (Edinburgh Rugby)*
2 Scott Lawson (Glasgow Warriors)*
3 Bruce Douglas (Border Reivers)
4 Andrew Hall (Newport Gwent Dragons)
5 Iain Fullarton (Saracens)
6 Steve Swindall (Glasgow Warriors-Hawks)
8 Johnnie Beattie (Glasgow Warriors)*
7 John Barclay (Glasgow Warriors)*

Substitutes

16 Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors-Hawks)*
17 Craig Smith (Edinburgh Rugby)
18 Mark Rennie (Bourgoin)
19 Alasdair Strokosch (Edinburgh Rugby)*
20 Rob Chrystie (Border Reivers)
21 Phil Godman (Edinburgh Rugby)
22 Robbie Kydd (Northampton Saints)

Referee: Phil Smith (Canada)

* = Member of Scottish Institute of Sport

This article was posted on 21-May-2007, 19:25 by Hugh Barrow.