HERALD REPORTS

KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer June 05 2007
Frank Hadden will today announce which players will both be working together and competing fiercely with one another over the next few weeks in bidding for places in Scotland's World Cup squad.

While 26 were pre-selected for what is effectively a summer- long training camp, he has stressed that no-one is guaranteed inclusion in that final 30, not even Jason White, the player still recognised by senior players as their natural leader.

That is, of course, merely because the Sale flanker has yet to prove his fitness and must do so in what is the most competitive area of the team. Five back-row forwards were pre-selected - Kelly Brown, Dave Callam, Ally Hogg and Simon Taylor the others - and four more made cases for themselves in the recent Churchill Cup, where Scotland finished fourth.

advertisementThat Donny Macfadyen was asked to captain the side in the two matches he started in that tournament is a measure of the regard Hadden has for the Glasgow Warriors flanker.

If, as now seems likeliest, the national coach sticks to his original plan to have 38 involved in this World Cup development squad, it is inconceivable that nine will be from the same department.

That may mean disappointment for Johnny Barclay, arguably the Warriors player of the year, or Al Strokosch. John Beattie should be involved, though, and he and Callam may effectively be going head to head for a place in the final 30.

There should be scope for them to do so, too, since several players have expressed unusual excitement at the training schedule put together by Mark Bitcom, their conditioning expert, which is apparently built around small groups working competitively to try to bring the best out of one another.

Players ready to go head to head for spot


That will be crucial in several positions. It seems relatively straightforward to identify 23 who are almost certain to go to France, with only three of those in the pre-selected group - Callam, Scott MacLeod and Nikki Walker - facing a real fight to prove anything beyond their physical readiness for the World Cup.

Many of us felt that Walker was fortunate to be ahead of Rory Lamont during the RBS 6 Nations Championship, since the latter's form was exceptional for Glasgow Warriors in the second half of the season. He then went a long way towards proving he is at least as good at full-back as on the wing during the Barclay's Churchill Cup. At lock, MacLeod was excellent for Llanelli during the season, but Al Kellock has proved himself to be a real leader at Glasgow, while Andy Hall has come from almost nowhere to start all three Churchill Cup matches and impressing hugely with his enthusiasm to add to the single cap he won five years ago.

Elsewhere there is so little to choose between Scott Lawson and Fergus Thomson that there is surely a powerful case, meantime at least, for letting them continue the rivalry they have had at club level over the past two years within the national camp. If not, experience will probably prevail.

Similarly, in the back three, the competition is so fierce that, unless Simon Danielli's groin problem rules him out of consideration, then the fastest winger available, Thom Evans, may be unlucky that too few opportunities emerged at the Churchill Cup for him to show that turn of foot.

Neither Gordon Ross nor Phil Godman have truly asserted themselves when presented with opportunities over the past year, which may, perversely, gain both a place in the development squad.

Across the midfield, the key to unlocking defences is yet to be found and while Nick De Luca caught the eye at the Churchill Cup, Graeme Morrison played well enough in bursts that his greater power and experience may see him in.



Scotland squad the protagonists
Pre-selected
Forwards
K Brown - Border Reivers
R Ford - Border Reivers
G Kerr - Border Reivers
A Kellock - Glasgow Warriors
E Murray - Glasgow Warriors
D Callam - Edinburgh
D Hall - Edinburgh
A Hogg - Edinburgh
A Jacobsen - Edinburgh
S Murray - Edinburgh
S Taylor - Edinburgh
J Hamilton - Leicester
N Hines - Perpignan
S MacLeod - Llanelli
J White - Sale
Backs
M Blair - Edinburgh
R Dewey - Edinburgh
M Di Rollo - Edinburgh
C Paterson - Edinburgh
H Southwell - Edinburgh
C Cusiter - Border Reivers
A Henderson - Glasgow Warriors
D Parks - Glasgow Warriors
S Lamont - Northampton
R Lawson - Gloucester
N Walker - Llanelli

Likely to be added
Forwards
A Dickinson - Edinburgh
C Smith - Edinburgh
A Strokosch - Edinburgh
A Hall - Newport
S Lawson - Sale Sharks
J Beattie - Glasgow Warriors
D Macfadyen - Glasgow Warriors
Backs
S Danielli - Border Reivers
P Godman - Edinburgh
S Webster - Edinburgh
G Morrison - Glasgow Warriors
G Ross - Castres

The Rugby World Cup runs from September 7 to October 20


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This article was posted on 6-Jun-2007, 09:31 by Hugh Barrow.