The Times November 5, 2009

Andy Robinson sends Max Evans home from Scotland squad for knee surgery

The Glasgow centre is set to miss the trio of internationals against Fiji, Australia and Argentina this month as he returns to hospital.

Lewis Stuart

Just three weeks after returning to action after six months out with a knee injury, Max Evans, the Scotland centre, is to go back into hospital to have an operation on his other knee. The operation was yesterday described as minor, but is still enough to rule him out of the battle for the outside centre berth in this month’s internationals.

"It’s a shame for him," Andy Robinson, the Scotland head coach, said after the training camp at St. Andrews wound up. "It is a little niggle but he needs to have it corrected. We expect him to be fine to play for Glasgow against Ulster at the start of December; he is not right now so, instead of delaying it, we have decided to have the operation done now. I was not going to pick him in this first game [against Fiji on November 14] because he is not right, he needs to get away, get it treated, he is not 100 per cent."

According to Robinson, Evans has been playing with the damage since he returned to action, first for Glasgow Hawks in a club game and then for the last two Glasgow matches before the international break, and he could have played with it for Scotland but would have risked aggravating the damage and would probably have struggled to produce his peak form.

Despite this setback and Alasdair Dickinson, the prop, also being ruled out of the matches with his shoulder damage, Robinson felt that the session had gone well, noting in passing that a punch thrown by one unidentified player demonstrated the commitment and aggression that the players had brought to it all. "That’s rugby," he said. "When you get these driving mauls you have got to be aggressive. It is a tough game, I like antagonism in training, I think it helps."

His confidence was further boosted by the first appearance of Chris Paterson, Scotland’s leading points scorer, at training yesterday after getting over the foot infection that had forced him out of last week’s Edinburgh club match while it was treated with antibiotics. On the downside, Robinson rated the chances of Ben Cairns, the centre who damaged a knee last week, as "touch and go" to be available for selection.

The only other minor worry came when Johnnie Beattie sat out yesterday’s session with a slight groin strain, but the medical staff said his absence was purely precautionary. Meanwhile, Kyle Traynor, the Edinburgh prop, was formally added to the squad as Dickinson’s replacement.

The radical step Robinson has taken this week is to invite Chris Cusiter and Mike Blair to share the captaincy, a move he defended yesterday, denying that he had ducked his first tough decision. "I’ve made the choice as to who is playing, that choice has been made, there is no cop-out on that," he said. "Over the years both players have been vying for a single spot. The coaches before me have chosen one and the other has suffered a little bit. Both are of equal quality to lead and play for Scotland. I have the highest regard for both players.

"We have two guys developing as captains and learning. This is a squad that is developing. We have two players we need to be at their very best, whichever one is on the pitch at any one time. If we keep doing the same things as we have always done, then we will get what we have always got. Part of what we need to look at is how we develop the leadership. It is different, but that does not mean it will not work. Let’s get the best out of both of them."

Robinson said Cusiter and Blair "totally understand their roles and are happy with it", a point that was brought home when he took them both out to dinner to talk the idea over. "I might as well not have been there except to pay for it," he said. "It was fantastic to see the way the two chatted and got on socially. The captain is important and the main thing we want from both players is that when they are on the pitch they are performing at their best."

This article was originally posted on 5-Nov-2009, 05:33 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 5-Nov-2009, 16:46.