The Herald reports


KEVIN FERRIE, Chief Rugby Writer February 24 2009
Euan Murray looks certain to be back in the Scotland team for Saturday's meeting with Italy at Murrayfield.

Northampton's tighthead prop, now regarded as one of world rugby's best scrummagers, did not train with the rest of the squad yest erday. Like Simon Danielli, that was not because he was injured, but because he had played for his club on Sunday.

In Danielli's absence, it was Sean Lamont, who was dropped in favour of the Ulster winger for the trip to Paris, rather than Chris Paterson who took over on the wing in what looked to be the first-choice XV at training yesterday.

Eight other squad members missed the session through injury: Dougie Hall (ankle and shoulder), Craig Hamilton (ankle), Kelly Brown (head knock), Scott Gray (ankle), Allister Hogg (ankle), Jim Hamilton (shoulder) and Simon Webster (head knock), while Geoff Cross saw orthopaedic surgeon Graham Lawson at Spire Murrayfield Hospital yesterday to check on a knee injury and "has been cleared to continue his rehabilitation at pace".

Of the injured, the most problematic for the selectors, particularly against the Italians, is Hamilton, since he was not even among those doing rehab exercise when the squad trained at Myreside yesterday. Nathan Hines was, but he looked to be moving very gingerly.

In reality, both first-choice locks look certain to miss out against a team who specialise in scrummaging, in turn making Murray's return all the more vital.

With so many forwards sidelined, four more were consequently brought in: Edinburgh's Scott MacLeod and flanker Alan Macdonald, Glasgow Warrior Ed Kalman and Gloucester's Scott Lawson.

MacLeod's involvement looked the most significant of those. His rapid return, via a back-up game then appearances off the bench for Scotland A and Edinburgh, indicates what seems a belated recognition of the need to involve experienced locks.

The injuries to Hines and both Hamiltons have left Al Kellock as the squad's only other fit specialist second row, albeit Jason White is making a decent fist of his switch there.

After a year of personal turmoil during which he twice had to prove he had not taken performance-enhancing drugs, MacLeod could have been forgiven had he opted to seek to maintain a low profile while working his way back.

Instead, to his credit, his ever-tinted shock of hair looked to have had a fresh splash of peroxide, while brand-new white boots, the very ownership of which would once have seen him shunned by fellow forwards, shone in the sunshine of a lovely spring afternoon.

He and Kellock once formed a boiler-house combination for a Scotland side coached by Frank Hadden that claimed a famous win when, then relatively untried, they helped beat England in 2006.

One would think the presence of these two big men who, at their best, are rumbustious, abrasive performers, would have been reassuring for the head coach. Yet Saturday's likeliest second-row combination looks to be White and Kellock, with Hadden still unrepentant regarding the selection of non-specialists in the pack when he met the press yesterday.

It was odd that the national coach was doing so since he will front today's team announcement. Monday conferences normally feature one of his assistants.

Both on the basis of Buggins' turn and because pack selection has been the burning issue, Mike Brewer seemed the obvious candidate for what is doubtless seen as a chore.

Instead, Hadden was left to explain that while Hamilton's injury early on in Paris had been a setback to a squad that did not have another specialist lock available, they felt they had "got away with it".

He also said he felt Scotland had performed well in what he and his team had identified as the key areas, namely the collision and defence.

Which would be true if they were the key areas, but in the end they were not.

Hadden admitted to being as frustrated as anyone by the penalty count and the handling errors which he believed ultimately proved the crucial factors in determining the outcome.

Perhaps so, but the many mixed messages from those selecting the side before and during this campaign have also caused extreme frustration among bemused supporters.

That has contributed to the fact that Hadden was yesterday having to appeal for additional backing for what could be a make-or-break match in terms of his career.

"We must make every effort to get the fans behind us, right from the start. So far we have sold 48,000 tickets and obviously the more supporters that come then the better the atmosphere will be in terms of the volume of support for the players," he said.

Sadly, it seems those behind the scenes at Murrayfield have not learned from the mistakes of earlier in the season in such matters since there will again be no facility to purchase tickets on the day of the game.

As one Glasgow club player, who emailed The Herald yesterday, explained: "This weekend we have a game in Aberdeenshire in the Bowl which if the SRU insist on their ludicrous kick-off policy means we may have to leave at around 7am. However, should my game be cancelled I will be unable to go to Murrayfield as there is no cash gate allowed, meaning sitting at home watching a game which will probably have at least 15,000 empty seats."

This article was posted on 24-Feb-2009, 08:05 by Hugh Barrow.