Scotland pin hopes on experience

By Simon Turnbull
Wednesday, 19 November 2008

When Scotland sank to a shock defeat on their last meeting with Canada – a 36-22 reverse at the Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver in 2002 – they did so with inexperience on their side, Ian McGeechan choosing to field a quartet of debutants. Six years on, Frank Hadden, the present day Caledonian head coach, has plumped for experience for Saturday's re-match with the Canucks in Aberdeen, when a home win, coupled with some help from International Rescue, in the form of an Argentine win in Dublin, would put the Scots into the top eight in the world rankings and into the second seeds' pot for next month's World Cup draw. Injuries have accounted for four of the XV that came so close to taking the scalp of the Springboks at Murrayfield last Saturday – Chris Paterson, Thom Evans, Jason White and Ally Hogg – but all of their replacement are seasoned international stagers: Simon Webster, Nikki Walker, Alasdair Strokosch and Simon Taylor.


Still, there will be one fledgling waiting in the wings to make his bow for Scotland. Max Evans, the 25-year-old Glasgow centre (and brother of Thom, who has won three caps on the wing now) will get his chance from the bench, having scored a scorching try in the Scotland A team's 69-3 win against Georgia last week. In his youth, Max was a scrum-half in the same Wellington College team as his cousin, Kai Horstmann, the Worcester and England Saxons back-row man. He spent two years as a golf professional in Portugal before turning to rugby with London Scottish and then Glasgow Hawks in 2006. "Whether I come as a centre or as a wing, I can't wait to get that chance," he said.

Scotland: R Lamont (Sale); S Webster, B Cairns, N De Luca (all Edinburgh), N Walker (Ospreys); P Godman, M Blair (capt); A Jacobsen, R Ford (all Edinburgh), E Murray (Northampton), N Hines (Perpignan), J Hamilton (Edinburgh), A Strokosch (Gloucester), J Barclay (Glasgow), S Taylor (Stade Francais). Replacements: D Hall (Glasgow), A Dickinson (Gloucester), M Mustchin (Edinburgh), S Gray (Northampton), R Lawson (Gloucester), D Parks, M Evans (both Glasgow).

This article was posted on 20-Nov-2008, 11:22 by Hugh Barrow.