White and Blair return to Scotland duty as Paterson lines-up at stand-off
Posted: 07/Aug/07
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Captain Jason White and scrum-half Mike Blair return from injury to the Scotland team to play against Ireland at Murrayfield in the Bank of Scotland Corporate August Test on Saturday.

The match also sees Chris Paterson starting an international at stand-off for the first time since the French visited Murrayfield three years ago. Saturday will be Paterson’s 75th cap, the fourth Scot to reach that landmark.

Scotland head coach Frank Hadden said: “Inevitably much will be read into this selection given the proximity to the Rugby World Cup and the trimming of our squad next Tuesday to the final 30 who will be on duty for the tournament.

“But what’s uppermost in my mind, as ever, is picking a team to win an international match as we look to generate momentum going into the World Cup.

“At the beginning of the last Six Nations campaign we said Chris Paterson was not ready to start at stand-off. At the end of the Six Nations we said he was probably ready to start, so let’s have a look at him there.”

Tickets for the August Tests are priced from just £10, £20 or £30 for adults and from £5, £10 and £15 for under-18s, students and OAPs and are available via the credit card hotline on 0131 346 5100 (Mon - Fri, 9am - 8pm. Sat & Sun, 9am - 5pm) and in person from the Scottish Rugby Ticket Centre, Roseburn Street, Murrayfield. Please note there will be no tickets on sale on match day. Booking fees apply.

Hadden added: “We are all aware that politics have been getting the headlines recently but Saturday marks the start of some vitally important games and the more Scots who can come along to support us the better.”

As of 9am today almost 19,000 tickets had been sold for Saturday’s match.

Scotland team (sponsor The Famous Grouse) to play Ireland in the Bank of Scotland Corporate August Test at Murrayfield on Saturday 11 August (kick-off 2.30pm)

15 Rory Lamont (Sale Sharks)

14 Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints)

13 Rob Dewey (Ulster Rugby)

12 Andrew Henderson (Glasgow Warriors)Hawks

11 Simon Webster (Edinburgh Rugby)

10 Chris Paterson (Gloucester)

9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh Rugby)*

1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh Rugby)

2 Ross Ford (Glasgow Warriors)*

3 Euan Murray (Northampton Saints)Hawks

4 Nathan Hines (Perpignan)

5 Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers)

6 Jason White (Sale Sharks) CAPTAIN

8 Simon Taylor (Stade Francais)*

7 Allister Hogg (Edinburgh Rugby)*

Substitutes

16 Fergus Thomson (Glasgow Warriors)*Hawks

17 Craig Smith (Edinburgh Rugby)

18 Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets)

19 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors)*

20 Chris Cusiter (Perpignan)*

21 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)

22 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh Rugby)

This article was originally posted on 7-Aug-2007, 11:12 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 7-Aug-2007, 11:13.