Strength in depth gives Scotland two full teams to choose fromCommentThe other morning, with pencil and envelope in hand, a 20-minute, one-man process produced a remarkably similar outcome to that which, we are often told, takes the Scotland selectors umpteen lengthy meetings.

This was before the 31-man squad for the Bank of Scotland Autumn Tests was announced and I confined myself to 30 names, based on the penchant of Frank Hadden, the Scotland coach, for having two full teams to train with.

So 14 backs were listed, all of whom the Scotland selectors have included, with Rory Lawson omitted from my list in favour of Chris Cusiter, who has been starting more regularly and been getting excellent reviews at Perpignan.


There were a couple of differences in the forwards. Scott MacLeod's latest dope-testing difficulties were not yet known about, so he was in there. A bit more thought might also have brought to mind the way Hadden had been raving about the form of Scott Gray a few weeks ago but did not, so the Northampton flanker did not actually come among those considered. In any case the other six back-row forwards are all close to automatic choices.

The only other difference was an expectation that Hadden would revert to type in going with experience by picking Gav Kerr.

So, against my own instincts, I included the veteran even though Geoff Cross has forced him out of the Edinburgh team. It was pleasing to see that the coach was actually prepared to trust form and include not only Cross but Ally Dickinson, who has won the trust of Gloucester's coaches - no mean feat for a relatively small prop in the Brobdignagian world of the English Premiership.

If there remains a question, it is whether there is a sameness of ability that is just short of world-class


Not that long ago, it was a much tougher business to identify a Scotland 30 - or 31 - because there were around 20 players of genuine international class and then it was a case of mixing and matching. Yet, other than pointing out what a smart**** I am - and I readily plead guilty as self-accused - the point is that there is now much greater depth of quality available.

Indeed, it got even more interesting when another 10 minutes' contemplation and scribbling produced a possible 22 for the All Blacks Test.

My choice, then - and this might well be much more different to the selectors' final 22 - would be: R Lamont; Paterson (because Mossy must be in there as a kicker while his all-round form has also improved greatly), M Evans, Morrison, T Evans; Parks, Blair, capt; Jacobsen, Ford, Murray, Hines, Hamilton, Strokosch, Barclay and Hogg. Replacements: Hall, Cross, Mustchin (for his versatility), Taylor (likewise now that Stade Francais use him as a lock), Cusiter, Godman and S Lamont.

Hadden's liking for muscular outside backs and Phil Godman's playmaking capabilities are the main reason for second-guessing myself. However, if anywhere close to correct, it means the Welsh provinces' decision to withhold their players has had much less effect on Scotland's preparations than if the English clubs had maintained their threat to prevent player release ahead of the week of the Test.

In terms of the depth of the squad, that would leave a back-up 22 that contains some names that will raise a few eyebrows.

Consider the following as a possible Scotland A XV: Southwell; Webster, Cairns, Henderson, Walker; De Luca (okay, it is stretching a point to play him at stand-off, but he could not be left out of both 22s), R Lawson; Dickinson, S Lawson, Low, MacLeod, Kellock (a Calcutta Cup-winning pairing in 2006), White, Gray and Brown (a colourful back-row combination in more ways than one). Replacements could include John Beattie, who played against Argentina in the summer and Rob Dewey, not to mention Scotland's most-capped player, Scott Murray.

That's all before mentioning injured quartet Fergus Thomson, Dave Callam, Ross Rennie and Simon Danielli. If there remains a question, it is whether there is a sameness of ability across the wider Scotland player pool that is just short of world-class level, which is why the dynamism of both Evans brothers as well as Rory Lamont could drastically change Scotland's back play.

There must, too, be real temptation to follow Stade's lead and put Simon Taylor directly into the second row to up the pack's overall pace and workrate, but that might be deemed a bit too radical.

Any way you look at it, though, there are hugely improved options both in the selection of the initial XV and in how impact might be made from the replacements bench.

Then again, whether any Scotland XV can generate enough firepower to seriously threaten either the All Blacks or the Springboks is quite another matter.

This article was posted on 23-Oct-2008, 08:37 by Hugh Barrow.