Scotland have made five changes, one positional, from the team that began their Rugby World Cup campaign for Tuesday’s Pool C encounter against Romania at Murrayfield.

The changes see Simon Webster switch from wing to outside centre to the exclusion of Marcus Di Rollo; Chris Paterson is introduced on the wing; Gavin Kerr replaces the injured Allan Jacobsen at prop; and Ross Ford and Jim Hamilton are in for Scott Lawson and Scott Murray at hooker and lock respectively.

Head coach Frank Hadden said: “As usual the selection is about winning the game. We have also taken into account the nature of the powerful forward display with which Romania played against Italy at Marseille last week and have picked a heavyweight pack of our own.”

Tuesday’s match will be Hamilton’s first World Cup involvement. He said: “The Romanians are really physical and abrasive. Their forwards were dominant against Italy in the setpiece and around the breakdown. We’ve worked on that area this week and training has been that bit more physical so we get in the mindset.

“It’s awesome to be playing my first World Cup game although strange to be coming home to play after being in France. The support here has been great and I hope as many Scotland fans as possible will want to be a part of that and experience the World Cup fever as it is over here.”

On the selection of both Dan Parks and Paterson in the starting line-up, with Paterson on the wing, Hadden explained: “Both have outstanding strengths and it’s important for the team that we tap into those.” He would not be drawn on whether this trend would be maintained in future matches. “I want to keep the opposition analysts guessing,” he noted.

Webster, more immediately recognised as a winger, has featured at outside centre during the course of his 25 caps – scoring a try from that berth against the All Blacks in 2005 – and Hadden is looking forward to seeing him again in midfield.

“I first discovered him as a centre in the FIRA under-19 World Championship in Beaune, near Dijon in France in 2000. Matt Dey (the team’s frontline centre) was injured in the captain’s run and on the strength of what I’d seen of Simon in the tournament and on the recommendation of Willie Stewart from the Scottish Exiles, I had no hesitation in selecting him at centre.

“Simon’s performances at that tournament persuaded me to chase him longer than I chased any other player. It took me two years to sign him for Edinburgh and he has rewarded that persistence. He is the consummate professional, first down to training, last off the field and always wanting to get better.”

Webster said: “I am really looking forward to playing at centre as I hope to have more ball and be more involved from the start. On the wing you have more of a roaming role while at 13, you have more responsibilities and places to be which brings different challenges. I’m comfortable playing in either position and am just excited to be playing.”

Ross Ford came off the bench last week to score his first try for Scotland. He said: “I didn’t have to do much, just collect the ball and flip over the line but as it was my first try, it was quite special. There was a great atmosphere in the stadium. During the warm-up it was really empty and then when we came out of the tunnel, the roar was tremendous and hopefully that can be recreated at Murrayfield.

“It’s going to be a massive physical test again and a step up from last week’s game against Portugal. Romania will be more disciplined and will provide a huge test for the forwards defensively around the ruck. We got a few turnovers against Portugal as we were not fast enough at the breakdown so we need to get guys there in numbers to get quick ball.”


Scotland team to play Romania in Rugby World Cup Pool C on Tuesday 18 September at Murrayfield, kick-off 8pm

15 Rory Lamont (Sale Sharks)

14 Sean Lamont (Northampton Saints)
13 Simon Webster (Edinburgh)
12 Rob Dewey (Ulster)
11 Chris Paterson (Gloucester)

10 Dan Parks (Glasgow Warriors)
9 Mike Blair (Edinburgh)*

1 Gavin Kerr (Edinburgh)
2 Ross Ford (Glasgow Warriors)*
3 Euan Murray (Northampton Saints)*
4 Nathan Hines (Perpignan)
5 Jim Hamilton (Leicester Tigers)
6 Jason White (Sale Sharks) CAPTAIN
8 Simon Taylor (Stade Francais)*
7 Allister Hogg (Edinburgh)*

Substitutes

16 Scott Lawson (Sale Sharks)*
17 Craig Smith (Edinburgh)
18 Scott MacLeod (Llanelli Scarlets)
19 Kelly Brown (Glasgow Warriors)*
20 Chris Cusiter (Perpignan)*
21 Hugo Southwell (Edinburgh)
22 Nikki Walker (Ospreys)

* = Member of the Scottish Institute of Sport

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales). Touch-judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa) and Christophe Berdos (France). TMO: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)


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This article was posted on 17-Sep-2007, 08:36 by Hugh Barrow.