Five players who have pulled on Hawks jerseys are listed v Georgia

Sunday, 11 September 2011
Only four players who began Saturday’s 34-24 victory over Romania remain in the starting line-up for Scotland’s second Rugby World Cup Pool B match against Georgia in Invercargill on Wednesday.
However head coach Andy Robinson is stressing the selection is about dealing with the specific challenges of playing two full-blooded international matches within four days. He said: “The selection is based on the four day turn-around from Saturday’s match and is about us continuing our winning start to the tournament with a victory over Georgia.  It should not be interpreted as a reflection on our performance against Romania.

Graeme Morrison, Rory Lamont and Max Evans are named in the Scotland team for Wednesday
 
“We spoke before the tournament about the need to utilise our squad over these opening two games given the proximity of the fixtures and that is what we have done.
“Of course we will look for considerable improvement on our display at the weekend, particularly in our discipline at the breakdown, an area where we have been consistently good in recent times. We simply must not give away cheap three points.”
This will be Scotland’s first cap international against Georgia, though they have played at A, under-21 and under-19 levels.  The most recent meeting was in the 2010 IRB Nations Cup in Bucharest where the Georgians won 22-21 against Scotland A.
Of the quartet remaining from Saturday, two switch positions with Sean Lamont moving out from centre to wing and Kelly Brown shifting from flanker to No 8. Max Evans, celebrating his 28th birthday today, and Allan Jacobsen remain at wing and prop respectively.
Three players in the Scotland XV will be making their Rugby World Cup debuts – the centre pairing Nick De Luca and Graeme Morrison and blindside flanker Alasdair Strokosch.
Captaincy passes to Rory Lawson, who has skippered Scotland on three occasions in the past year, emerging with a 100% winning record – against South Africa, Samoa and Ireland, all in EMC Tests.
Scotland have opted for a five/two forward/back split among their substitutes given Robinson’s firm belief that Georgia will pose a considerable threat up front.
Scotland team to play Georgia in Rugby World Cup Pool B on Wednesday 14 September at Rugby Park, Invercargill, kick-off 7.30pm local time
15 Rory Lamont (Toulon) 25 caps, 6 tries, 30 points
14 Max Evans (Castres) 21 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
13 Nick De Luca (Edinburgh) 26 caps, 1 try, 5 points
12 Graeme Morrison (Glasgow Warriors) 30 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
11 Sean Lamont (Scarlets) 57 caps, 8 tries, 40 points
10 Dan Parks (Cardiff Blues) 63 caps, 4 tries, 15 conversions, 48 penalties, 14 drop-goals, 236 points
9 Rory Lawson (Gloucester) 28 caps CAPTAIN
1 Allan Jacobsen (Edinburgh) 57 caps
2 Scott Lawson (Gloucester) 29 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
3 Euan Murray (Newcastle Falcons) 39 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
4 Nathan Hines (Clermont Auvergne) 74 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
5 Jim Hamilton (Gloucester) 32 caps, 1 try, 5 points
6 Alasdair Strokosch (Gloucester) 20 caps, 1 try, 5 points
7 Ross Rennie (Edinburgh) 9 caps
8 Kelly Brown VICE-CAPTAIN (Saracens) 47 caps, 4 tries, 20 points
Substitutes
16 Ross Ford (Edinburgh) 50 caps, 2 tries, 10 points
17 Geoff Cross (Edinburgh) 7 caps
18 Alasdair Dickinson (Sale Sharks) 22 caps, 1 try, 5 points
19 Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 13 caps
20 Richie Vernon (Sale Sharks) 13 caps
21 Chris Cusiter (Glasgow Warriors) 54 caps, 3 tries, 15 points
22 Chris Paterson (Edinburgh) 106 caps, 22 tries, 90 conversions, 167 penalties, 3 drop-goals, 800 points

This article was originally posted on 11-Sep-2011, 22:05 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 11-Sep-2011, 22:07.